Movies like The Nutcracker (1987)
The best movies like The Nutcracker (1987) are The Nutcracker (1993), A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits (2016) and A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish (2019). If The Nutcracker hooked you with its music and fantasy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)7.5/10 from 1,231 votes
- NewestA Very Jonas Christmas Movie (2025)Released 2025
The Nutcracker (1993)
On Christmas Eve, a little girl named Marie falls asleep and dreams herself into a fantastic world in which her toys become larger than life. She meets up with the Nutcracker Prince who takes her on a journey to his kingdom and defends her from the Mouse King.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits (2016)
A contemporary musical version of the classic Cinderella story in which the servant step daughter hope to compete in a musical competition for a famous pop star.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish (2019)
Kat is an aspiring singer-songwriter who dreams of making it big. However, her dreams are stalled by her reality: a conniving and cruel stepfamily and a demoralizing job working as a singing elf at billionaire Terrence Wintergarden’s Santa Land.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)
An imaginary world comes to life in a holiday tale of an eccentric toymaker, his adventurous granddaughter, and a magical invention that has the power to change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
A retelling of the classic Dickens tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, miser extraordinaire. He is held accountable for his dastardly ways during nighttime visitations by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration (2022)
In honor of the 30th anniversary of the animated classic, this animated and live-action blended special showcases the fan-favorite movie, along with new musical performances, sets and costumes inspired by the classic story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Very Jonas Christmas Movie (2025)
Kevin, Nick, and Joe Jonas face a series of escalating obstacles as they struggle to make it from London to New York in time to spend Christmas with their families.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrancer: A Christmas Tale (2022)
Ten-year-old Gloria and her recently widowed grandfather Bud befriend a mysterious reindeer when the family gather for Christmas. Bud comes to believe that Prancer may actually be magical, but Gloria fears his theory will send him straight to a retirement home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFantasia (1940)
Walt Disney's timeless masterpiece is an extravaganza of sight and sound! See the music come to life, hear the pictures burst into song and experience the excitement that is Fantasia over and over again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFantasia 2000 (2000)
Blending lively music and brilliant animation, this sequel to the original 'Fantasia' restores 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' and adds seven new shorts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
Sam the snowman tells us the story of a young red-nosed reindeer who, after being ousted from the reindeer games because of his glowing nose, teams up with Hermey, an elf who wants to be a dentist, and Yukon Cornelius, the prospector. They run into the Abominable Snowman and find a whole island of misfit toys. Rudolph vows to see if he can get Santa to help the toys, and he goes back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. But Santa's sleigh is fogged in. But when Santa looks over Rudolph, he gets a very bright idea...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Man Who Cried (2000)
A young refugee travels from Russia to America in search of her lost father and falls in love with a gypsy horseman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScrooge: A Christmas Carol (2022)
On a cold Christmas Eve, selfish miser Ebenezer Scrooge has one night left to face his past — and change the future — before time runs out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDashing Through the Snow (2023)
Eddie Garrick is a good-hearted man who has lost his belief in the wonder of Christmas. While spending time with his nine-year-old daughter Charlotte on Christmas Eve, he befriends a mysterious man in a red suit named Nick.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoney: Rise Up and Dance (2018)
Street dancer Skyler comes out of the shadow of her trained dancer sister, Tosha, & joins a dance competition with the Honey dance studio; the prize is a college scholarship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattle of the Year (2013)
A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother Cinderella Story (2008)
A guy who danced with what could be the girl of his dreams at a costume ball only has one hint at her identity: the Zune she left behind as she rushed home in order to make her curfew. And with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in front of him, he sets out to find his masked beauty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSave the Last Dance (2001)
After the death of her mother, Sara moves to the South Side of Chicago to live with her father and gets transferred to a majority-black school. Her life takes a turn for the better when befriends Chenille and her brother Derek, who helps her with her dancing skills.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTake the Lead (2006)
A former professional dancer volunteers to teach dance in the New York public school system and, while his background first clashes with his students' tastes, together they create a completely new style of dance. Based on the story of ballroom dancer, Pierre Dulane.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabes in Toyland (1934)
Ollie Dee and Stannie Dum try to borrow money from their employer, the toymaker, to pay off the mortgage on Mother Peep's shoe and keep it and Little Bo Peep from the clutches of the evil Barnaby. When that fails, they trick Barnaby, enraging him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisR65: The Silver Generation (2007)
This work is a mockumentary about the love for the silver generation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
The Polar Express (2004)
When a doubting young boy takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery that shows him that the wonder of life never fades for those who believe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeter I. Tschaikowski: Ballett von Cayetano Soto aus der Leipziger Oper (2024)
A dance story about Tchaikovsky, illuminating the long-hidden moments of his life. Through his compositions, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky influenced and shaped classical ballet like few other composers. The myth of his music remains unbroken to this day. Cayetano Soto draws an engaging portrait of a man who could not live his life the way he wanted to. In "Tchaikovsky", the view behind the glorious moments of a biography is revealed - in brokenness, courage and genius. Recorded at the Leipzig Opera.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Heartbeats (2017)
When a bubbly American hip hop dancer goes to India with her family for a wedding, she is impressed by a new dance style and falls in love with the man who introduced her to it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDie Kameliendame (2007)
"Lady of the Camellias" (Kameliendame) was premiered in Jan 1978 at the Stuttgart ballet. Choreographer and text writer was John Neumeier who had been requested in 1972 by ballerina Marcia Haydee to write a full length ballet. He suggested "Lady of the Camellias" , the Dumas fils autobiographical novel. The idea of using Chopin music was suggested by ballet conductor Gehart Markson. The ballet was a success and this version was also presented in 1979 at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Neumeier revised it for the Hamburg Ballet now directed by Brazilian ballerina Marcia Haydee after the death of famous director John Kranko. The revised version with sets and costumes by Jugen Rose and conducted by Heribert Beissel was recorded as a movie in 1987.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Voudoun Gods on the Slave Coast (2014)
Vodoun Gods On The Slave Coast explores the ceremonial splendor of sacred dance and ritual in Benin, the birthplace and cradle of Vodoun. Formerly known as Dahomey, Benin was also called the Slave Coast due to its importance in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Today, the worship and supplication of Vodoun gods remains integral to everyday life in Benin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
An Urban Allegory (2024)
A ballet dancer is late for an audition for a show inspired by Plato's Allegory of the Cave. She arrives with her seven-year-old son, Jay, and begs the director to give her a chance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
The Family Man (2000)
Jack's lavish, fast-paced lifestyle changes one Christmas night when he stumbles into a grocery store holdup and disarms the gunman. The next morning he wakes up in bed lying next to Kate, his college sweetheart he left in order to pursue his career, and to the horrifying discovery that his former life no longer exists. As he stumbles through this alternate suburban universe, Jack finds himself at a crossroad where he must choose between his high-power career and the woman he loves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGIRLS BAND CRY The Movie: Youth Rhapsody (2025)
After she drops out of school and moves to Tokyo by herself, Nina Iseri meets Momoka Kawaragi, the vocalist of her favourite band, and discovers the allure of music. Together with Subaru Awa, who always hides her true intentions, Tomo Ebizuka, who was ignored by her parents, and Rupa who has no relatives, Nina starts the rock band Togenashi Togeari. The five girls who all have their own worries confront the absurdities of the world and search for their place to belong.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
AC/DC - Ride On, Bon! (2004)
On February 19th, 1980 one of the greatest Rock´n´Roll singers of all times died: Ronald Belford Scott. 'Ride on Bon' contains very rare live footage of the biggest Hard-rock band in music history and will drive true AC/DC fans crazy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Nutcracker?
The closest matches to The Nutcracker are The Nutcracker (1993), A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits (2016) and A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Nutcracker?
Start with The Nutcracker (1993), the closest match to The Nutcracker.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Nutcracker?
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), rated 7.5/10 by 1,231 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Nutcracker?
A Very Jonas Christmas Movie (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Nutcracker chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Nutcracker, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.