Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
Three beloved pets travel through rugged wilderness to find their way back to their family, mixing laugh-out-loud animal antics with genuinely tense moments of peril. The story resolves warmly, with all animals safe and the family reunited, making any tears along the way happy ones.
Most comfortable for kids around 5 and up; sensitive younger viewers may need a reassuring lap for the scarier stretches.
If you’d rather skip
The film opens by establishing that the pets believe they have been left behind -- a helpful moment to briefly reassure a sensitive child that the family does come back.
First night in the forest: dark atmosphere, ominous coyote howls, and an unsettling point-of-view shot through the trees may disturb younger viewers.
Sassy is swept over a waterfall and presumed dead for several minutes; her companions grieve and the scene is emotionally intense before she is revealed to be safe.