Six years after going AWOL in a video arcade's many realms, gentle giant Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) and royal road racer Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) return in this animated Disney sequel, which has the pair going online via a Wi-Fi router (obviously unsecured) and discovering that the world we've built online is never as straightforward as it's meant to be. The theme at play is learning to deal with separation from a friend, but, as is the modern animated manner, it's layered beneath a mass of (Disney-sanctioned) pop culture references that run from Stormtroopers to classic princesses. If nothing else, you'll learn to be careful with your credit card details. December 26, rated PG

MARY POPPINS RETURNS

Watch it if: You're ready for more of Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Don't watch it if: The lack of Julie Andrews cameo is a deal-breaker for you.

Disney really knows how to play the long game – a mere 54 years after Mary Poppins proved to be a hit musical, with Julie Andrews as the singing nanny who fixes a dysfunctional London family, a sequel has the character, now played by Emily Blunt, returning to help her former wards when tragedy strikes in 1930s London. Mary still flies by umbrella, and most elements here are fashioned to reflect the original, including animated sequences with the cast added in as live-action figures. There are songs, there is quintessentially British spirit, and Meryl Streep's spot comes with an almighty accent. January 1, rated G

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD

Watch it if: You've become invested in this scaly and terrific fantasy realm.

Don't watch it if: Flying sequences that swoop and soar leave you queasy.

2010's How to Train Your Dragon was an unexpected hit, heartfelt and thrilling in how it created a fantasy world of Vikings and their dragon adversaries where a friendship between a child struggling with their birthright and a lonely creature underpinned the adventure. The 2014 sequel added new elements – a heartrending Cate Blanchett vocal performance, airy Icelandic pop songs – to further the story, and now the trilogy concludes with a final instalment from writer/director Dean DeBlois. Jay Baruchel's Hiccup is now grown and the chief of his tribe, but a new challenge forces him to risk what he's previously helped to build. Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Kristen Wiig and Kit Harington all return. January 3, no rating as yet

INSTANT FAMILY

Watch it if: You need reminding that Rose Byrne is genius comic actor.

Don't watch it if: You're not ready for some Hollywood schmaltz at the finale.

Director Sean Anders (Daddy's Home, Horrible Bosses 2) wanted to make a film that reflected the experiences he and his wife had as foster parents, and the result is this anti-comedy about a childless couple – Rose Byrne and Mark Wahlberg's Ellie and Pete Wagner – who venture into a family-friendly foster-care system and somehow emerge with three children, including teenager Lizzie (Isabela Moner). Her age, and the issues she brings (such as sexting), are indications this is a family film for older children and parents who want to laugh at the struggles of their movie star equivalents. January 10, rated M

STORM BOY

Watch it if: You want to hear Australian voices in a coming-of-age experience.

Don't watch it if: You have a phobia of pelicans.

Colin Thiele's 1966 book is imprinted on the psyche of successive generations of Australian children: it has long been on reading lists, made into a successful 1976 movie, and more recently a well-received stage production. The latest incarnation, directed by Shawn Seet (television's The Code and Deep Water), adds a contemporary frame and explicit ecological concerns to the original story. The central character, Mike, is both the boy (an exemplary Finn Little) who raises a trio of orphaned pelicans while living in isolation with his withdrawn father (Jai Courtney), and the ageing man whose childhood memories challenge his current outlook. The South Australian locations and use where possible of real pelicans provide a genuine foundation. January 17, rated PG

THE HATE U GIVE

Watch it if: You have teenagers ready to consider America's fractious racial identity.

Don't watch it if: You're looking for a 90-minute diversion.

Most family movies skew to a younger audience, but George Tillman jnr's adaptation of Angie Thomas' 2017 novel is a politically mindful drama that features the unnecessary police shooting of a black teenager as the motivating act. The central character is the sole witness to this loss of life, 16-year-old Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg), who has dual lives in the working-class black neighbourhood where she lives with her extended family and the high school in a wealthy white district that she attends via scholarship. The crux of the film, which does not shy away from activism and conflict, is Starr's response to the shooting, while the supporting cast is rounded out by leading black actors such as Regina Hall, Anthony Mackie, Issa Rae, and Common. January 31, rated M