If you need a quick mood boost, grab some popcorn and watch one of these 66+ happy movies. They will lift your spirits, warm your heart, and rescue any wobbly day.
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If you've read my other post about using happy movies as a little "mood reset," you already know my favorite trick for wobbly days.
This post is the natural next step - your own good-mood cinematic toolbox. It has more than 66 uplifting movies you can reach for whenever you need a quick emotional pick-me-up. I come back to these again and again.
There should be something for you, too, in this varied movie list. Nostalgic classics, sweet romances, quirky comedies, musicals. Yes, different vibes, different eras, but all the movies mentioned have an uplifting message to give you a nice, feel-better glow.
If you're curious why movies can be such a powerful mood fix, you can read the companion post: Want to Boost Mood Fast? Watch a Happy Movie!
Types of Happy Movies in the List
The movie list below is sorted by release date, but here's a small sneak peek so you know what you're getting into. Think of this as your little roadmap through the 66+ happy movies.
This is your tiny guide to help you jump straight to your kind of feel-good film:
- Do you like black-and-white movies? Then "Roman Holiday" or "It's a wonderful life" could be the right choice for you.
- Musicals: "Singin' in the rain", "My fair lady", "The sound of music"," Mary Poppins", " Grease"
- Films for Foodies: "Ratatouille", " Julie & Julia"
- Literary adaptations: "A room with a view", "Pride & Prejudice", "Little Women", "Great Expectations"," A Midsummer Night's Dream", " PS: I Love you"
- Fairytale style: "Three Wishes for Cinderella", "The princess bride", " Ever after"
- Italian Flair: "Under the Tuscan Sun", "Roman Holiday", "Only you", " Letters to Juliet"
- Comedies to make you shake with laughter: "Along came Polly", "Ferris Bueller's Day off", "Big", "Groundhog Day", "Miss Congeniality", "About a boy", "Crazy, Stupid, Love", " Saving Grace"
- Romance, please: "The notebook", "The best man"," Only you", "You've got mail", " Notting Hill", "Love, actually"
- Colorful Bollywood: "Bride & Prejudice", "Pyaar Impossible!"
- Disney cartoons: "The sword in the stone", "The jungle book"
- Period movies: "Little Women", "Hysteria", "The Adventures of Robin Hood", "Out of Africa"
- Everything Jane Austen: "Sense & Sensibility", "Pride & Prejudice", " The Jane Austen Book Club"
- Dance movies: "Dirty Dancing", " Step Up"
- Christmas mood: "Groundhog Day", "It's a wonderful life"," Love, actually"
- Whimsical (quirky & enchanting): "Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain"
- The obligatory teen movie: "She's the man"
Here We Go: 66+ Happy Movies
The list of 66+ happy movies has a little bit of everything, and hopefully something that feels just right for you. Every movie comes with an uplifting spirit. Nothing too loud or chaotic (no slapstick comedies included).
Okay, now grab some popcorn (or ice cream), tuck yourself into a cozy corner, and let one of these stories make you smile.
1. The Adventures of Robin Hood
Release Date: 1946
Directors: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley
Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone
Release Date: 1946
Director: Frank Capra
Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
Release Date: 1952
Directors: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Stars: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds
Release Date: 1953
Director: William Wyler
Stars: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert
Release Date: 1963
Directors: Wolfgang Reitherman, Clyde Geronimi
Stars: Rickie Sorensen, Sebastian Cabot, Karl Swenson
6. My Fair Lady
Release Date: 1964
Director: George Cukor
Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway
7. Mary Poppins
Release Date: 1964
Director: Robert Stevenson
Stars: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson
Release Date: 1965
Director: Robert Wise
Stars: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker
Release Date: 1967
Directors: Wolfgang Reitherman, James Algar
Stars: Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, Louis Prima
10. Three Wishes for Cinderella
Release Date: 1973
Director: Václav Vorlícek
Stars: Libuse Safránková, Pavel Trávnícek, Carola Braunbock
11. Grease
Release Date: 1978
Director: Randal Kleiser
Stars: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing
Release Date: 1980
Director: Jack Gold
Stars: Ricky Schroder, Alec Guinness, Eric Porter
Release Date: 1985
Director: James Ivory
Stars: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Denholm Elliott
14. Out of Africa
Release Date: 1985
Director: Sydney Pollack
Stars: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer
15. An American Tail
Release Date: 1986
Director: Don Bluth
Stars: Dom DeLuise, Christopher Plummer, Erica Yohn
Release Date: 1986
Director: John Hughes
Stars: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara
17. Dirty Dancing
Release Date: 1987
Director: Emile Ardolino
Stars: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach
Release Date: 1987
Director: Rob Reiner
Stars: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright
19. Big
Release Date: 1988
Director: Penny Marshall
Stars: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia
Release Date: 1991
Director: Jon Avnet
Stars: Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson
21. Groundhog Day
Release Date: 1993
Director: Harold Ramis
Stars: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott
22. Only You
Release Date: 1994
Director: Norman Jewison
Stars: Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr., Bonnie Hunt
23. Little Women
Release Date: 1994
Director: Gillian Armstrong
Stars: Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst
Release Date: 1995
Director: Ang Lee
Stars: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, James Fleet
Release Date: 1995
Director: Simon Langton
Stars: Colin Firth, Jennifer Ehle, Susannah Harker
26. Sabrina
Release Date: 1995
Director: Sydney Pollack
Stars: Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, Greg Kinnear
Release Date: 1998
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hank Azaria
28. You've got Mail
Release Date: 1998
Director: Nora Ephron
Stars: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Greg Kinnear
29. Ever After
Release Date: 1998
Director: Andy Tennant
Stars: Drew Barrymore, Anjelica Huston, Dougray Scott
30. 10 things I hate about you
Release Date: 1999
Director: Gil Junger
Stars: Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Release Date: 1999
Director: Michael Hoffman
Stars: Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett
32. Notting Hill
Release Date: 1999
Director: Roger Michell
Stars: Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts, Richard McCabe
Release Date: 2000
Director: Donald Petrie
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Michael Caine, Benjamin Bratt
34. Coyote Ugly
Release Date: 2000
Director: David McNally
Stars: Piper Perabo, Adam Garcia, John Goodman
35. Saving Grace
Release Date: 2000
Director: Nigel Cole
Stars: Brenda Blethyn, Craig Ferguson, Martin Clunes
36. Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain
Release Date: 2001
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Stars: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus
Release Date: 2001
Director: Garry Marshall
Stars: Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway, Hector Elizondo
Release Date: 2001
Director: Sharon Maguire
Stars: Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant
39. Ice Age
Release Date: 2002
Directors: Chris Wedge, Carlos Saldanha (co-director)
Stars: Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Ray Romano
40. About a boy
Release Date: 2002
Director: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
Stars: Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette
41. Love Actually
Release Date: 2003
Director: Richard Curtis
Stars: Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Liam Neeson
Release Date: 2003
Director: Audrey Wells
Stars: Diane Lane, Raoul Bova, Sandra Oh
43. Along Came Polly
Release Date: 2004
Director: John Hamburg
Stars: Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Debra Messing
Release Date: 2004
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Stars: Martin Henderson, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Nadira Babbar
45. The Notebook
Release Date: 2004
Director: Nick Cassavetes
Stars: Gena Rowlands, James Garner, Rachel McAdams
Release Date: 2005
Director: Joe Wright
Stars: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn
47. The Best Man
Release Date: 2005
Director: Stefan Schwartz
Stars: Stuart Townsend, Raphael Schwartz, Jacob Collier
48. Imagine Me & You
Release Date: 2005
Director: Ol Parker
Stars: Piper Perabo, Lena Headey, Matthew Goode
49. Must Love Dogs
Release Date: 2005
Director: Gary David Goldberg
Stars: Diane Lane, John Cusack, Elizabeth Perkins
50. She's the man
Release Date: 2006
Director: Andy Fickman
Stars: Amanda Bynes, Laura Ramsey, Channing Tatum
Release Date: 2006
Director: David Frankel
Stars: Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Adrian Grenier
52. Step Up
Release Date: 2006
Director: Anne Fletcher
Stars: Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, Damaine Radcliff
53. Music and Lyrics
Release Date: 2007
Director: Marc Lawrence
Stars: Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore, Scott Porter
54. P.S. I Love You
Release Date: 2007
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Stars: Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Harry Connick Jr.
55. Enchanted
Release Date: 2007
Director: Kevin Lima
Stars: Amy Adams, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden
Release Date: 2007
Director: Robin Swicord
Stars: Kathy Baker, Hugh Dancy, Amy Brenneman
57. Stardust
Release Date: 2007
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Stars: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Sienna Miller
58. Ratatouille
Release Date: 2007
Director: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava
Stars: Dee Bradley Baker, Julianne Buescher, Brian Dennehy
Release Date: 2007
Director: Michael Lehmann
Stars: Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, Gabriel Macht
60. Lissi und der wilde Kaiser (German only)
Release Date: 2007
Director: Michael Herbig (as Michael Bully Herbig)
Stars: Lotte Ledl, Waldemar Kobus, Christian Tramitz
61. 17 Again
Release Date: 2009
Director: Burr Steers
Stars: Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann
62. Julie & Julia
Release Date: 2009
Director: Nora Ephron
Stars: Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Chris Messina
Release Date: 2010
Director: Jugal Hansraj
Stars: Priyanka Chopra, Anupam Kher, Uday Chopra
Release Date: 2010
Director: Gary Winick
Stars: Amanda Seyfried, Gael García Bernal, Vanessa Redgrave
Release Date: 2011
Directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Stars: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore
66. Hysteria
Release Date: 2011
Director: Tanya Wexler
Stars: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce
67. Cyrano, my love
Release Date: 2018
Director: Alexis Michalik
Stars: Thomas Solivérès, Olivier Gourmet, Mathilde Seigner
What's your favorite happy movie that will make you happy time and again? I'm so curious - please share in the comments.
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Wishing you planty of positive movies delights,
Ramona
♥
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