Preview of Family Movies for 2007 Holiday Season

What Family Friendly Movies Are Playing at the Theater This Holiday Season?

With the Writer's Guild of America on strike and all our favorite television shows going dark, the place to be this holiday season for a little entertainment is the theater. The holiday season on the big screen is fairing up pretty nicely as an option for family outings to include not only some holiday-themed movies, but some other fun family films.

Again, like this summer, I am surprised to only find one G-rated movie. Even the chipmunks got a PG rating this year. The list of family films this season includes only 1 1/2 animated films. I counted Disney's unique offering, Enchanted, as half since it's half animation and half live action.

Without further delay, here's a rundown by release date:

Bee Movie
In this animated feature, Barry Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) decides he can't be like his best friend Adam Flyman (Matthew Broderick) and settle for a typical life in the hive making honey. But when he set out to discover the rest of the world, he had no idea what an adventure it would be. Along the way, Barry makes a few new friends, including Mooseblood (Chris Rock), a mosquito headed to Alaska, and a human named Vanessa Bloome (Renee Zellweger). But with adventure comes mishap and Barry and Vanessa find themselves racing against time to saved the flowers. For a full review, click here.

Rated PG for mild suggestion humor and a brief depiction of humor. View Trailer at www.beemovie.com. Release Date: Currently in theaters.

Fred Claus
Every family has its black sheep. In the Claus family, it's Fred (Vince Vaughn), Nicholas's (Paul Giamatti) older brother. When Fred's shady dealings finally land him in jail, Santa steps in to bail his brother out, offering him a job in his toy workshop. Can this sheep change the color of is wool? Or will Fred's antics jeopardize not only his relationship with Nicholas, but the whole Christmas holiday? Kathy Bates stars as Mother Clause and Rachel Weisz is Wanda.

Rated PG for mild language and some rude humor. View Trailer at fredclaus.warnerbros.com. Release Date: Currently in theaters.