AniTube: family films and series about animal friends, from Lassie, Benji and Hachiko to Black Beauty, Seabiscuit, Belle and Sebastian, We Bought a Zoo and Free Rein, and where to watch them

How AniTube looks

AniTube takes its look from the Brazilian site whose name it shares, a home page built by the RiverLab studio with a calm, deep colour and bright cyan details. The page is a dark teal-black, close to the colour of a night sky over the sea, with a soft gradient that grows a little bluer towards the bottom of the screen. The header is slim: the AniTube wordmark sits at the left, with a cyan play button, Ani in white and tube in cyan, and at the right a row of bold cyan capital links and two round cyan buttons, one for search and one for the menu.

Below the header comes the hero, a large white heading with a small cyan pill button and a short line of text, just as the original page invited visitors with a bold headline and a bright button. A white search bar sits beneath it with a cyan button, ready for the name of a favourite animal film.

The most recognisable detail of the design is the way each section is titled. A thin white line runs across the page, and in its centre sits a dark pill with a white border and the section name in bold capitals, like a label tied round a parcel. Latest arrivals, Being watched right now, Horses and ponies, Dogs and the rows of series and films all begin this way, so the page reads as a series of tidy chapters.

The cards follow the original episode cards closely. Each one is a wide picture from the film, fading into the dark colour of the page at the bottom, with a white play arrow in the centre. A small dark pill at the top left shows the year, and another at the bottom right shows the running time of a film or the number of episodes in a series. Beneath the picture, the title appears in bold white letters with a short line below it, and when you move the pointer over a card the fade rises gently over the picture and the title turns cyan.

Beside the Latest arrivals row, a right-hand column holds three widget boxes with centred capital headings, as the original did: Picks, with a short list of favourite titles; Shelves, with the main animal collections and the number of titles on each; and Check this out, with one poster chosen for the week. Lower down, rows of tall posters sit above small information boxes with a hairline divider, echoing the original rows of newly added series and films. The footer is black, with a round cyan button that returns to the top of the page and a centred copyright line in bold white letters.

The typeface is Montserrat, the same clean and friendly font the original site used, and every colour on the page comes from the archived style sheet: the deep teal-black, the bright cyan and its slightly darker hover shade, the translucent widget boxes and the black footer.

Using the site

AniTube is simple to use on a phone, a tablet or a computer. The search bar finds any title by name, so typing Lassie, Seabiscuit or Hachiko brings the right page straight up. The header links lead to the whole catalogue, to the Dogs, Horses and Wild animals shelves, and to an A to Z list of every title, and the round menu button opens the same links on a small screen, together with My List and the help pages.

Every title page shows the poster, the story, the year, the running time or the full episode list, the main cast, the director and the studio. A Watch now button sits near the top of the page. Choose your country once and AniTube remembers it, so the button always opens JustWatch for the right place, with the subscription, rental, purchase and free services that carry the title there.

My List keeps the films and series you plan to watch. Press the button on any title page to add it, and the list stays in your browser, ready the next time you visit. You can export it to a small file and import it on another device, which makes it easy to plan a film night on a laptop and open the list later on the family television.

The shelves are the best way to browse. Each one has a short introduction and a grid of cards, sorted with the most popular titles first. The Top rated shelf gathers the films and series audiences have scored most highly, and the decade shelves are a lovely way to compare an animal story of the fifties with one made in the last few years.

Loyal dogs

Dogs are the heart of AniTube, with 47 titles on their shelf, and the films about them share a simple, powerful idea: a dog gives its whole heart to the people it loves. Some of these stories are full of laughter and mischief, some are adventures across mountains and snowfields, and some are gentle tales of a child and a dog growing up together. All of them celebrate loyalty, courage and the kind of friendship that asks for little more than a walk, a meal and a kind word.

For younger viewers, Billy and Buddy is a perfect start. Based on the much-loved Belgian comic strip, it follows a red-haired boy and a red-haired cocker spaniel who choose each other at a shelter and quickly become inseparable. Benji, the 2018 film, brings back the scruffy little hero of the seventies as two school children befriend an orphaned puppy who turns out to be braver than anyone expected, and For the Love of Benji sends the original Benji on a dash through the streets and harbours of Athens.

From Asia come some of the warmest dog films in the catalogue. Little Q, from Hong Kong, follows a Labrador puppy who trains as a guide dog and forms a deep bond with a pastry chef who is losing his sight. Hearty Paws, from Korea, follows a brother and sister and the puppy who becomes part of their small family, and How to Steal a Dog is a sweet Korean comedy about a girl with a clever, if slightly misguided, plan to help her family find a home. A Tale of Mari and Three Puppies, from Japan, tells the true story of a mother dog who protects her puppies through an earthquake in a mountain village.

A Dog Named Palma is inspired by a real shepherd dog who waited at a Moscow airport after her owner was called away, and who found a new friend in a lonely nine-year-old boy. Chillar Party, from India, follows a gang of children in a housing colony who stand up for a street dog they love, and June & Kopi, from Indonesia, follows a street dog as he settles into a new home with a young couple.

The story of Hachiko

Few animal stories have travelled as far as the story of Hachiko, the Akita dog who walked to Shibuya station in Tokyo every afternoon to meet his friend, a university professor, and who kept coming back to the station for years after the professor passed away. A bronze statue of Hachiko still stands outside the station, and visitors from all over the world meet beside it.

AniTube holds two films about him. Hachiko, made in Japan in 1987, tells the story in its original setting, with careful attention to the quiet routines of the professor's household and the faithful daily walk to the station. Hachiko, made in China in 2023, moves the story to a modern Chinese city and a family of its own, with a pastoral dog at its heart. Watching both is a lovely way to see how the same story of devotion can be told in two different countries and two different eras.

These films are deeply moving, and younger children may need a hug at the end. They are wonderful for older children and adults, and they often lead to good conversations about loyalty, memory and the love that lasts.

Lassie and Benji

Lassie is probably the most famous dog in screen history. The brave collie first appeared in a short story by Eric Knight in 1938, and her films and series have delighted families ever since. AniTube gathers several chapters of her story. Challenge to Lassie, from 1949, is set in old Edinburgh and tells a tale of a loyal dog and the townspeople who stand up for her, a story close to the famous legend of Greyfriars Bobby.

The German films Lassie Come Home and Lassie: A New Adventure bring the collie into the present day. In the first, a boy named Florian must say goodbye to Lassie when his family moves to a flat, and Lassie sets off on a long journey across the country to find him. In the second, Flo and Lassie spend a summer with Aunt Cosma, her foster children and her dog Pippa, and solve a mystery in the village together.

On television, Lassie, the Canadian series of 1997, and The New Lassie, which ran from 1989 to 1992, follow a boy and his faithful dog through a string of adventures, each episode ending with a family that is a little closer than before.

Benji is Lassie's cheerful cousin in spirit. Created by the director Joe Camp in the seventies, the little mixed-breed dog became a star with his bright eyes and his talent for getting into and out of trouble. For the Love of Benji and Benji show two sides of his career, half a century apart.

White Fang and the northern trails

Jack London's novel White Fang, published in 1906, follows a wolf dog through the Yukon during the gold rush, and it has inspired films around the world. White Fang, the Italian, French and Spanish film of 1973, follows the wolf dog as he helps a reporter and a young boy stand up to a greedy boss in a mining town. White Fang to the Rescue, from 1975, continues his adventures in the Klondike, and White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf, from 1994, follows a young prospector and his wolf dog as they help the Haida people of Alaska protect their valley.

The northern trails continue in other films. Spirit of the Wind tells the true story of George Attla, the Alaskan sled dog racer who rose from a childhood illness to win the great races of the North. The Courage of Kavik, the Wolf Dog follows a champion sled dog who survives a plane crash and makes a long journey home to the boy who cared for him, and Hero Dog: The Journey Home follows an Alaskan Malamute who leads a man through the wilderness while his children set out to find him.

The Journey of Natty Gann is one of the finest family adventures of the eighties. During the Great Depression, a young girl travels across America to find her father, and along the way she befriends a wolf who becomes her protector and companion. On television, the series Call of the Wild retells Jack London's other great dog novel, following Buck through the snowy North.

Horses and racing legends

Horses are the second great family of AniTube, with 42 titles on the Horses and ponies shelf. Horse films are about trust and patience: a rider learning to read a horse, a horse learning to trust a person, and the thrill of galloping together across a field or down the final stretch of a racecourse. Several of the best are true stories, and they show that a horse with heart can lift the spirits of a whole country.

Seabiscuit is a classic of the genre. During the Great Depression, a small and overlooked racehorse, a determined owner, a quiet trainer and a jockey who is too tall for the job come together and become champions, and their victories give hope to millions of listeners gathered round their radios. Secretariat tells the story of Penny Chenery, who took over her father's stables and guided Secretariat to the Triple Crown of 1973 with a run that still amazes racing fans.

Ruffian follows the brilliant filly who won race after race in the seventies, and 50 to 1 is the true story of Mine That Bird, a small horse from New Mexico whose cowboy owners took him all the way to the Kentucky Derby. Ride Like a Girl, from Australia, follows Michelle Payne, the first woman to win the Melbourne Cup, and the family of ten children who raised her among horses.

Jappeloup tells the story of a small French show jumper and his rider, Pierre Durand, and their journey to Olympic gold in 1988. Hidalgo is a sweeping adventure inspired by the long-distance rider Frank Hopkins and his mustang, who travel to Arabia for a great race across the desert. Thunderhead: Son of Flicka, from 1945, follows a boy training a white colt on a Wyoming ranch, and Smoky, from 1946, follows a wild horse and the cowboy who wins his trust.

Pony farms and riding stables

For young riders, the pony club films of Germany and the Netherlands are pure joy. The Windstorm films follow Mika, a city girl who discovers a rare gift for understanding horses during a summer at her grandmother's farm, and the black stallion Windstorm who becomes her closest friend. Windstorm 2 brings Mika back to Kaltenbach for another summer, and Windstorm 4 follows the family and the riding instructor Kaan as they work to keep the farm going.

The Immenhof films are much older, but just as charming. Die Mädels vom Immenhof, from 1955, introduces Granny Jantzen and her granddaughters on their pony farm in northern Germany, Hochzeit auf Immenhof and Ferien auf Immenhof continue the story as the farm becomes a pony hotel, and Frühling auf Immenhof, from 1974, returns to the farm a generation later. Together they are a sunny picture of summer holidays, Icelandic ponies and the lakes of Holstein.

Bibi & Tina and Bibi & Tina: Bewildered and Bewitched mix riding with a touch of magic, as the young witch Bibi Blocksberg visits her friend Tina at the Martinshof stables. Wendy - Der Film follows a girl who learns to ride again at her grandmother's stables, Wild Heart follows a girl who befriends an untamed horse in the countryside, and Poly, from France, follows a Shetland pony and the girl who rescues him from a travelling circus.

From the Netherlands come Winky's Horse and Where Is Winky's Horse?, two gentle films about a little girl from China who settles in a Dutch town and dreams of a pony of her own, with a little help from Sinterklaas.

Wild horses and open country

Some horse films are about the freedom of horses who belong to the wind. White Mane, from 1953, is one of the most beautiful short films ever made: in the marshes of the Camargue in the south of France, a fisherman's son befriends the proud white stallion who leads a herd of wild horses. Running Free follows a horse born in a mining town in Namibia who finds his way to the open desert.

Black Beauty, the 2020 film, retells Anna Sewell's great novel with a wild mustang from the American West and a spirited teenager named Jo Green, who forge a bond that carries them through many changes. The Man From Snowy River II returns to the high country of Australia, with Jim Craig riding among the brumbies again, and the series The Man from Snowy River follows the McGregor family and their horses across several seasons in the same mountains.

The western films bring horses together with humour. The Rounders stars Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda as two cowboys trying to tame a horse with a mind of its own, Hang Your Hat on the Wind follows a young boy who finds a runaway thoroughbred in the desert, and Hot to Trot is a silly comedy about a talking horse with a gift for the stock market.

The horse series are among the most loved in the catalogue. Free Rein follows a teenager from Los Angeles who spends a summer on an English island and bonds with a mysterious black horse called Raven. Wildfire follows a young woman who finds a new start at a racing ranch, Follyfoot is set on a farm that cares for old and retired horses, and The New Adventures of Black Beauty continues Anna Sewell's story in New Zealand. The classic western series Fury, My Friend Flicka, National Velvet, The Adventures of Champion and Thunder are wonderful for families who love the Saturday morning shows of long ago.

Cats with character

Cats have a gift for stealing every scene they appear in, and the Cats and farmyard friends shelf holds 26 titles full of whiskers, wool and feathers. A Street Cat Named Bob is the true story of James Bowen, a street musician in London whose life changed when a ginger cat followed him onto a bus and stayed for good. Bob played himself in the film, and the pair became famous across the world.

A Cat's Life, from France, follows a curious kitten from a Paris flat who discovers the woods and meadows around a country house, with a ten-year-old girl as his guide. Miss Minoes, from the Netherlands, is a delightful fantasy about a cat who turns into a young woman and helps a shy newspaper reporter uncover a secret in his town, with the help of every cat on the rooftops.

The classic cat films come from the sixties. That Darn Cat! stars Hayley Mills and a Siamese cat named DC who comes home one evening wearing a wristwatch, which sets off a comic mystery. The Three Lives of Thomasina, set in a Scottish village, follows a girl, her beloved cat and the gruff vet who learns to open his heart. In The Adventures of Milo and Otis, a ginger kitten and a pug puppy grow up together on a Japanese farm and set off on a long journey through forests, rivers and snow to find each other again.

Farmyard friends

The farmyard films are full of humour and warmth. Emil and the Piglet and New Mischief by Emil follow Astrid Lindgren's cheerful troublemaker on his family's farm in the Swedish countryside, where Emil nurses the smallest piglet of the litter back to health and becomes its friend for life. Rudy, the Racing Pig, from Germany, follows a city family who win a piglet in a raffle and discover that he is a born racer.

Rams, from Australia, is a gentle comedy about two farming brothers who have spent years apart, and the prize sheep that bring them back together. Kauwboy, from the Netherlands, follows a lively ten-year-old boy who raises a young jackdaw in secret, and Rocca Changes the World, from Germany, follows a brave and clever girl, her pet squirrel and the new friends she makes at school.

The Goose Princess is a classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm, with a princess who tends the geese of a royal court, and Sophie's Misfortunes, from France, follows the Countess of Ségur's much-loved little girl, whose adventures in a country chateau are full of animals, mischief and lessons learned.

Lions, bears and wolves

The Wild animals shelf holds 40 titles about the great creatures of forests, mountains and plains. The story of Elsa the lioness, raised by George and Joy Adamson in Kenya, is one of the most famous animal stories of the twentieth century. The series Born Free, from 1974, continues the story on television with the Adamsons and their lions, and To Walk with Lions follows George Adamson in his later years, still caring for the lions of the Kora reserve.

King, from France and Belgium, is a bright, funny adventure about two children who find a lion cub who has escaped at the airport and set off on a road trip to take him home to Africa. An Elephant Called Slowly, from 1969, follows Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, the stars of the original Born Free, as they look after a house in Kenya and are adopted by three orphan elephants.

The Bear, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, is one of the most remarkable animal films ever made. An orphaned bear cub in the mountains of British Columbia befriends a great male grizzly, and the story is told almost entirely through the eyes of the bears, with beautiful landscapes and very few words. Grizzly Falls follows a boy and a mother grizzly in the Canadian wilderness, Gentle Giant follows a boy and a black bear in the Florida swamps and led to the series Gentle Ben, and The Night of the Grizzly follows a family who settle in Wyoming and meet a very big bear.

The series Grizzly Adams follows a gentle mountain man who lives in the forest with a grizzly bear named Ben and helps every traveller who passes by. Clara and the Secret of the Bears, from Switzerland and Germany, mixes a mountain adventure with an old legend of the bears of the Alps.

Wolves have their own stories of friendship. Alpha is set in Europe twenty thousand years ago, where a young hunter separated from his tribe befriends an injured wolf, and the two make their way home together across the snow, a tale of how dogs first became our companions. Wolf Summer, from Norway, follows a girl who befriends a mother wolf and her pup in the hills near her home, and Tinke the Wolfgirl, from Denmark and Sweden, follows a young shepherd who finds a mysterious little girl alone in the hills and brings her home.

Down under

Australia has given the world some of its most unusual animals, and AniTube holds a wonderful group of Australian stories. Kangaroo, from 2025, is inspired by the true story of the Kangaroo Sanctuary in Alice Springs. A former television presenter named Chris is stranded in an outback town and teams up with Charlie, a twelve-year-old Indigenous girl, to rescue and care for orphaned baby kangaroos, and the film celebrates their friendship and the sanctuary that grows from it.

Red Dog: True Blue follows a boy sent to his grandfather's cattle station in the Pilbara who befriends a scruffy, adventurous puppy, and The Adventures of Skippy revives the famous bush kangaroo of the sixties for a new family of park rangers. Izzy's Koala World follows a young girl on Magnetic Island in Queensland, where her family rescues injured koalas, nurses them back to health and returns them to the eucalyptus trees.

The series Dolphin Cove follows an American family who move to Queensland to work with dolphins, and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles brings Mick Dundee and his young son from the outback to the city, where his bush skills and his gift with animals come in very handy.

Dolphins and whales

The Dolphins and whales shelf is small, with 7 titles, but it holds some of the most memorable stories in the catalogue. Big Miracle tells the true story of Operation Breakthrough in 1988, when three grey whales became trapped under the ice near Barrow, Alaska. A young television reporter, a Greenpeace volunteer, the local Iñupiat community, oil workers and even the American and Soviet governments came together to cut a path through the ice, and the whole world followed the rescue on the evening news.

When the Whales Came, set on the Isles of Scilly in 1914, follows two children who befriend an old man living alone on the far side of their island, and discover why he cares so deeply for the whales that swim in its waters. Beneath the Blue follows a team of dolphin researchers who work to protect the animals they study, and Salty, from 1973, follows two brothers in the Florida Everglades and the playful sea lion who turns their new home upside down.

On television, seaQuest DSV imagines a future in which people live and work under the ocean, with a great submarine and a bottlenose dolphin named Darwin as one of its most valued crew members. Moby Dick, the 1956 film with Gregory Peck, is the great adventure of the sea, the story of Ishmael, Captain Ahab and the white whale, best suited to older children and adults.

Vets, zoos and shelters

Behind every happy animal there is often a person who cares for it, and several films and series on AniTube celebrate those people. We Bought a Zoo is based on the memoir of Benjamin Mee, a writer who bought a run-down zoo in the English countryside with his two children. The film moves the story to California, with Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, and it is a warm, funny and moving story about a family learning to start again among lions, tigers and bears.

The Little Ponderosa Zoo follows a family who run a small rescue zoo and prepare for the yearly festival that keeps it going, and Zebra in the Kitchen, from 1965, is a comedy about a boy who sets the animals of a small town zoo free and the chaos that follows.

The vets have their own stories. Young James Herriot tells the early life of the Scottish student who became the most famous vet in the world, the author of the books that inspired All Creatures Great and Small. Animal Practice is a cheerful American comedy set in a busy New York animal hospital, with a capuchin monkey named Dr. Rizzo as its scene stealer. Beast is a British comedy set in a veterinary surgery, and The Chase is a Yorkshire drama about two sisters who run a country practice.

Strays follows the new director of an animal shelter in Hamilton, Ontario, and her eccentric team. Wild at Heart follows a British vet and his family who move to South Africa to run an animal reserve, Life Is Wild follows a blended family from New York who move to a lodge in South Africa, and Second Noah follows a couple in Florida who adopt eight children and share their home with a menagerie of rescued animals. A Peaceable Kingdom is set in a busy Los Angeles zoo.

Animal series

The Animal series shelf holds 40 series, from the fifties to today, and they are perfect for families who like to follow a story over several evenings. The classic dog series include Lassie, The New Lassie, Here's Boomer, a gentle drama about a scruffy mixed-breed dog who travels from town to town helping the people he meets, and Run, Joe, Run, about a German shepherd and the trainer who searches for him.

Turner & Hooch is a modern series about a young United States marshal who inherits a big, slobbery French mastiff and discovers that the dog is a brilliant partner. It's Bruno! is a short and funny series about a man in Brooklyn and his beloved puggle, and Due South follows a polite Canadian Mountie and his half-wolf companion Diefenbaker in the streets of Chicago.

Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way is a classic of British television, with the famous dog trainer Barbara Woodhouse showing owners how to teach their dogs to sit, stay and walk to heel. Her cheerful voice and her famous command of walkies made her one of the best-known faces on television in the early eighties.

The wilder series include Maya, about an American boy in India who travels with a young friend and an elephant named Maya, Grizzly Adams, Born Free and The Adventures of Skippy. Wolfblood is a British fantasy series about teenagers with a wolf-like gift, and The Chronicles of Narnia, the BBC series of 1988, brings Aslan the lion and the talking animals of Narnia to life. Gulliver's Travels, the two-part adaptation of 1996, takes Ted Danson to the land of the Houyhnhnms, a nation of wise horses.

Caitlin's Way follows a city girl who moves to a ranch in Montana and finds her place among horses and open skies, and The People's Choice, a sitcom from the fifties, is remembered for Cleo, a basset hound who comments on the action in her own voice.

Classic animal comedies

The sixties were a golden age for family animal comedies, and AniTube holds several of the best. The Ugly Dachshund stars Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette as a couple whose prize dachshund has a litter of puppies, along with a Great Dane puppy named Brutus who grows up believing he is a dachshund too. The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit follows an advertising man who buys a show jumper for his daughter and names the horse after a client's stomach medicine.

Lt. Robin Crusoe U.S.N. stars Dick Van Dyke as a navy pilot stranded on a tropical island, with a chimpanzee for company, and That Darn Cat! remains one of the most loved cat comedies of all time. The Shakiest Gun in the West stars Don Knotts as a nervous frontier dentist, and Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood is a playful tribute to the silent era, inspired by the real canine star Rin Tin Tin.

From later decades come The Great Outdoors, with John Candy and Dan Aykroyd at a lakeside cabin visited by a very large bear, Son of the Mask, in which a family dog causes cartoon chaos, and Best in Show, a gentle mockumentary about the owners who bring their dogs to a great national dog show.

Belle and Sebastian

Belle and Sebastian began as a French television series in 1965, written by Cécile Aubry and starring her own son Mehdi as a boy who lives in a village high in the Alps and befriends a great white Pyrenean mountain dog. The story became a favourite across Europe and Japan, and a new series of French films brought it back with breathtaking mountain scenery.

Belle and Sebastian: The Adventure Continues is set in 1945, as Sebastian waits for the return of his friend Angelina, whose plane has gone down in the mountains. Sebastian and Belle set off to find her, and the journey brings the boy face to face with a father he has yet to meet. Belle and Sebastian 3: The Last Chapter follows Sebastian at twelve, now a big brother to Belle's three puppies, as he chooses to stay in the Alps to protect his friend and her family.

Belle and Sebastian: Next Generation tells the story afresh for a new century. A ten-year-old boy from the city spends a summer with his grandmother and aunt in the mountains, expecting a dull holiday among the sheep, and instead finds a great white dog who needs his help.

The mountains of France inspire other films in the catalogue too. Vicky and Her Mystery follows a father and his eight-year-old daughter who move to the hills of the Cantal, where the girl finds a puppy who turns out to be a young wolf. The Fox and the Child, from the director of March of the Penguins, follows a girl in the Jura mountains who befriends a wild fox over the course of a year, and Foxter and Max, from Ukraine, is a lively fantasy about a boy who paints a dog on a wall and watches it come to life.

Animal films around the world

One of the joys of AniTube is the range of countries its films come from. France is especially well represented, with A Cat's Life, The Fox and the Child, Poly, Jappeloup, King, White Mane, Sophie's Misfortunes and the Belle and Sebastian films, each with the beautiful landscapes and gentle humour that French family cinema does so well.

Germany gives the catalogue its pony films, the Immenhof and Windstorm series, Bibi & Tina, Wendy - Der Film and Wild Heart, as well as Lassie Come Home, Lassie: A New Adventure, Rocca Changes the World and Rudy, the Racing Pig. The Netherlands contributes Winky's Horse, Miss Minoes, Kauwboy and Bonkers, a sweet film about a girl and a family who have loved elephants for generations.

From Scandinavia come Emil and the Piglet, New Mischief by Emil and Pippi in the South Seas, all based on the stories of Astrid Lindgren, along with Operation Arctic, a Norwegian adventure about three children stranded on an island near the North Pole who learn to live alongside the polar bears, and Wolf Summer. The Polar Bear King is a Norwegian fairy tale about a prince under a spell, and Dragon Girl is a cheerful Norwegian Christmas film about a girl and a baby dragon.

From Asia come Little Q from Hong Kong, Hearty Paws and How to Steal a Dog from Korea, A Tale of Mari and Three Puppies, The Adventures of Milo and Otis and Hachiko from Japan, Hachiko from China, Chillar Party from India and June & Kopi from Indonesia. Australia and New Zealand add Kangaroo, Red Dog: True Blue, Ride Like a Girl, Rams and Dean Spanley, a charming and unusual film starring Peter O'Toole about an old gentleman, his son and a clergyman who remembers a past life as a spaniel.

Animals through the year

Animal films suit every season. In spring, when lambs and foals appear in the fields, try Emil and the Piglet, Frühling auf Immenhof or Rams. In summer, the riding films come into their own: Windstorm 2, Bibi & Tina, Free Rein and the Immenhof films all take place during long summer holidays, and Belle and Sebastian: Next Generation spends a summer in the mountains.

In autumn, The Fox and the Child begins as the leaves turn gold, and The Bear follows its cubs through the mountain seasons. In winter, the northern films are perfect: Spirit of the Wind, The Courage of Kavik, the Wolf Dog, Hero Dog: The Journey Home and Operation Arctic are full of snow and adventure.

At Christmas, Christmas with Tucker follows a boy spending the holidays on his grandparents' farm in Kansas and the dog who helps him through a difficult winter, Dragon Girl turns the festive season upside down, and Where Is Winky's Horse? follows Winky during the Dutch celebration of Sinterklaas. The Dog Who Stopped the War, a Canadian classic, follows the children of a Quebec village and their great snowball battle over the Christmas holidays, with a big Saint Bernard named Cleo at its heart.

Picks by age

For the youngest viewers, choose gentle stories with plenty of animals and very little peril. The Adventures of Milo and Otis is simple and lovely, Winky's Horse and Where Is Winky's Horse? are made for small children, Little Red Riding Hood and The Goose Princess are classic fairy tales with animal friends, and The Feather Fairy is a magical winter fairy tale from Slovakia. Poly and A Cat's Life are also gentle choices.

From about seven, children enjoy adventure and humour. Billy and Buddy, Benji, Miss Minoes, Bibi & Tina, Rudy, the Racing Pig, King and The Ugly Dachshund are bright and funny, and Belle and Sebastian: The Adventure Continues and Lassie Come Home offer real adventure with happy endings.

Older children and teenagers will enjoy the true stories and the bigger dramas: Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Ride Like a Girl, Jappeloup, Hidalgo, Alpha, The Journey of Natty Gann and Black Beauty. The series Free Rein, Wolfblood and Wildfire were made with teenagers in mind.

For grown-ups watching together, Secondhand Lions, Gifted, A Street Cat Named Bob, We Bought a Zoo, Dean Spanley and The Bear are rich, moving films that reward every member of the family.

Planning an animal film night

An animal film night is one of the easiest family evenings to plan. Begin by letting everyone choose a favourite animal, then open the matching shelf on AniTube and pick a film together. Dog lovers can browse the 47 titles on the Dogs shelf, riders can open Horses and ponies, and those who dream of safaris can head to Wild animals. If the family is divided, the Top rated shelf is a good compromise, with 42 titles that audiences have scored most highly.

Add the chosen title to My List, check the running time on its page, and press Watch now to see where it is available in your country. Many of the films are under two hours, which makes them easy to fit into a school-night evening, and the series are perfect for a week of short episodes after dinner.

A few small touches make the night special. Popcorn shaped like paw prints, a blanket for the family dog on the sofa, or a drawing competition for the best picture of the film's animal hero can turn an ordinary evening into a memory. For a horse film, try a quiz about famous racehorses; for a wild animal film, find the country on a map and look up the real animals that live there.

After the film, talk about what everyone enjoyed. Which animal was the bravest? Which friendship was the strongest? Would you rather ride a racehorse like Seabiscuit, sail with a dolphin like Darwin, or walk through the snow with a sled dog team? These conversations are often the best part of the evening.

How Watch now works

AniTube is a guide, and every title page leads to the official services that carry the film or series. The Watch now button opens JustWatch, a service that tracks where films and series are available, for the country you choose. It shows streaming subscriptions, rentals, purchases and free services with advertising, so you can pick the option that suits your family.

Availability changes over time and from country to country. A film that streams on one service in the United Kingdom may be available to rent in Canada or free with advertising in Australia. Choosing your country in AniTube makes sure the button always opens the right list. Fifteen countries are available, from the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia to Brazil, Portugal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Sweden and India.

Older films and series, especially those from the forties, fifties and sixties, sometimes appear on free services and classic film channels, and the European films are often found with subtitles or dubbing on family services. The title page lists the original language of every film, so you can see at a glance whether a story comes from France, Germany, Japan or elsewhere.

The help pages

AniTube has sixteen help pages, each a short guide to one corner of the catalogue. How to watch with AniTube explains the search bar, the title pages and the Watch now button. Dog films introduces the loyal dogs of the catalogue, and Belle and Sebastian follows the boy and his great white dog in the Alps.

White Fang and the wolf dogs heads into the snow with sled dogs and wolf dogs. Horse films covers the racing legends and wild stallions, and Pony club films visits the riding stables of Windstorm, Immenhof and Bibi and Tina.

Cats and farmyard friends gathers the clever cats, piglets and sheep, Wild animals meets the lions, bears, wolves and kangaroos, and Dolphins and whales heads out to sea. Vets and zoos celebrates the people who care for animals, and Animal series lists the best series to follow over several evenings.

Classic animal comedies collects the sixties family comedies, Animal films from around the world travels from France and Germany to Japan and India, A family film night suggests titles by age, Finding a title shares search tips and snowy picks, and My List explains how to save and share your plans.

Real animals on set

Many of the films on AniTube were made with real animals, and the stories behind the cameras are often as remarkable as the films themselves. The trainers who work with animal actors spend months preparing for a single scene, teaching a dog to run to a mark, a horse to rear on cue or a cat to sit still beside an actor. In many films, several animals share one role, each with a special skill: one dog for running, another for sitting quietly, another for close-ups.

The Bear took years to plan and film, with trained bears working alongside the crew in the mountains of the Dolomites, standing in for the Canadian wilderness of the story. The Adventures of Milo and Otis was filmed over several years on the island of Hokkaido. In A Street Cat Named Bob, the real Bob shared the role with other ginger cats, but played many of his own scenes, including the famous walks on James's shoulders.

The racing films used real racehorses and expert riders. In Seabiscuit, several horses played the champion, and the race scenes were filmed at real racecourses with jockeys in the saddle. Ride Like a Girl includes Michelle Payne's brother Stevie Payne playing himself, as he did in real life as her strapper and closest supporter.

Caring for a pet after the film

Animal films often spark a wish for a pet of one's own, and that is a wonderful conversation for a family to have. Before bringing a dog, cat or pony home, it helps to think about the time, space and care each animal needs. A dog needs daily walks and company, a cat needs a calm home and a place to explore, and a pony needs a field, a stable and regular visits from a farrier and a vet.

Many families begin by volunteering at a local shelter, helping to walk dogs or socialise kittens, or by booking riding lessons at a stable. Others sponsor an animal at a sanctuary or a zoo, receiving photographs and news of their adopted friend. These are lovely ways to bring the warmth of an animal film into everyday life, and they help animals in need at the same time.

Films like Strays, The Little Ponderosa Zoo and Izzy's Koala World show the rewarding work of shelters and sanctuaries, and they can inspire children to find out how they might help in their own town.

Hidden gems

Beyond the famous titles, AniTube holds many smaller films that deserve a wider audience. The Biscuit Eater, from 1940, is the oldest film in the catalogue, the story of two boys in Georgia who raise a hunting dog named Promise and enter him in the great field trials. Lad: A Dog, from 1962, is based on the stories of Albert Payson Terhune about a noble collie and a little girl who learns to walk again with his help.

Gentle Giant is the film that began the much-loved series Gentle Ben, and Thunderhead: Son of Flicka continues the classic story of My Friend Flicka with gorgeous Technicolor views of Utah. Gibby is a sweet and funny modern film about a teenage gymnast and a mischievous capuchin monkey, and Against the Wild II: Survive the Serengeti follows two children and their dog in the African bush.

Motocross Kids mixes dirt bikes with family fun, Running Forever follows a father and daughter brought together by a horse, Christmas with Tucker is a quiet and lovely winter story, and Robinson Crusoe, Luis Buñuel's version of 1954, shows Crusoe's companionship with the dog, goats and parrot who share his island. Lost in Alaska sends Abbott and Costello to the gold rush country, and Secondhand Lions is a warm comedy about a boy, two great-uncles, a farm full of animals and an old lion who comes to live among them.

A perfect first night

If you are new to AniTube, start with a film that everyone in the family can enjoy together. Belle and Sebastian: The Adventure Continues has mountains, a brave dog and a happy ending; Seabiscuit is an inspiring true story for older children and adults; We Bought a Zoo is warm and funny; and The Adventures of Milo and Otis is perfect for the youngest viewers. For a series, Free Rein and Lassie are easy to enjoy over a week of evenings.

After the first film, let each member of the family choose the next one from their favourite shelf. Soon everyone will have a favourite animal hero, whether it is a collie, a black stallion, a ginger cat or a lion cub, and the family will have a shared list of stories to return to again and again.

Why animal films matter

Animal films teach children some of the most important lessons of growing up. They show how to care for another living creature, how to be patient and gentle, and how loyalty and kindness are repaid many times over. They introduce children to the wider world, from the mountains of the Alps to the plains of Kenya and the ice of the Arctic, and they encourage a love of nature that can last a lifetime.

They also bring families together. A parent who grew up with Lassie can share her with a child today, and a grandparent who remembers the Saturday morning horse series can watch them again with a grandchild. Animal films cross generations, languages and borders, because a dog's joy, a horse's courage and a cat's curiosity need little translation.

Above all, animal films are a celebration of friendship. Whether it is a boy and his dog in the snow, a girl and her pony in a summer field or a family and the lion cub they carry home, these stories remind us how much richer life is when we share it with the animals we love.

Happy viewing

AniTube is made for families who love animals and the stories told about them. Search for a favourite title, browse the shelves, add a few films to My List and press Watch now when the evening comes. Every page is ready with its story, its cast and its episodes, and the help pages are ready with a fresh idea for every evening. Enjoy the wagging tails, the galloping hooves and the purring cats, and happy viewing from everyone at AniTube.

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