Movies like The Ugly Duckling (1982)
The best movies like The Ugly Duckling (1982) are How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019), Robin Robin (2021) and Lamp Life (2020). If The Ugly Duckling hooked you with its family and animation, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPiper (2016)8.1/10 from 1,791 votes
- NewestDRAWN OUT (2025)Released 2025
How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019)
It's been ten years since the dragons moved to the Hidden World, and even though Toothless doesn't live in New Berk anymore, Hiccup continues the holiday traditions he once shared with his best friend. But the Vikings of New Berk were beginning to forget about their friendship with dragons. Hiccup, Astrid, and Gobber know just what to do to keep the dragons in the villagers' hearts. And across the sea, the dragons have a plan of their own...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & adventure
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRobin Robin (2021)
A bird raised by mice begins to question where she belongs and sets off on a daring journey of self-discovery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLamp Life (2020)
Bo Peep explains what happened to herself and her sheep between the events of Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 4.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKubo and the Two Strings (2016)
Kubo mesmerizes the people in his village with his magical gift for spinning wild tales with origami. When he accidentally summons an evil spirit seeking vengeance, Kubo is forced to go on a quest to solve the mystery of his fallen samurai father and his mystical weaponry, as well as discover his own magical powers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCars Toon Mater's Tall Tales (2008)
Mater the tow truck travels from country to country as he retells his infamous but unbelievable stories.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisToy Story That Time Forgot (2014)
During a post-Christmas play date, the gang find themselves in uncharted territory when the coolest set of action figures ever turn out to be dangerously delusional. It's all up to Trixie, the triceratops, if the gang hopes to return to Bonnie's room in this Toy Story That Time Forgot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Inseparables (2023)
The animated buddy movie follows the misadventures of Don, a runaway puppet with boundless imaginations, and DJ Doggy Dog, an abandoned plush looking for a friend, who cross paths in Central Park and team up against all odds for a epic friendship adventure in New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHawaiian Vacation (2011)
The toys throw Ken and Barbie a Hawaiian vacation in Bonnie's room.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMinions & More Volume 2 (2022)
This collection of 11 short films produced by Illumination includes: From the "Despicable Me" franchise: Mower Minions (2016); Yellow Is the New Black (2018); Competition (2015); Cro Minion (2015); Binky Nelson Unpacified (2015); Panic in the Mailroom (2013). From the "Secret Life of Pets" franchise: Super Gidget (2019). From the "Sing" franchise: Eddie's Life Coach (2017); Gunter Babysits (2017). From the "Lorax" franchise: Serenade (2012); Wagon Ho! (2012).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Boxtrolls (2014)
An orphaned boy raised by underground creatures called Boxtrolls comes up from the sewers and out of his box to save his family and the town from the evil exterminator, Archibald Snatcher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll (2016)
As Po looks for his lost action figures, the story of how the panda inadvertently helped create the Furious Five is told.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five (2008)
Ordered to teach a martial arts class of rambunctious bunny kittens, Po tells stories of each of the Furious Five's pasts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPiper (2016)
A mother bird tries to teach her little one how to find food by herself. In the process, she encounters a traumatic experience that she must overcome in order to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLa luna (2012)
A young boy comes of age in the most peculiar of circumstances. Tonight is the very first time his Papa and Grandpa are taking him to work. In an old wooden boat they row far out to sea, and with no land in sight, they stop and wait. A big surprise awaits the boy as he discovers his family's most unusual line of work. Should he follow the example of his Papa, or his Grandpa? Will he be able to find his own way in the midst of their conflicting opinions and timeworn traditions?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLou (2017)
A lost-and-found box holds a mysterious and unseen monster within.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRoom on the Broom (2012)
Animated film based on the wonderful children's picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The story of a kind witch who invites a surprising collection of animals to join her on her broom, much to the frustration of her cat. The gang ultimately saves the witch from a fearsome dragon, and in gratitude she rewards them with a magnificent new broom which has room for everyone. A magical tale about friendship and family from Magic Light Pictures, the producers of the hugely successful The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSanjay's Super Team (2015)
SANJAY'S SUPER TEAM follows the daydream of a young Indian boy, bored with his father's religious meditation, who imagines "a kind of ancient, Hindu version of The Avengers," with the gods appearing like superheros.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFerdinand the Bull (1938)
This Oscar-winning short tells of a bull who preferred to sit under trees and smell flowers to clashing horns with his fellow animals. As luck would have it, an untimely bee reveals Ferdinand's ferocious side via pained howls and wild stomping. This lands him in the bull-fighting arena amidst characters based on Walt's animators with a matador reportedly modeled after Walt himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBao (2018)
An aging Chinese mother suffering from empty nest syndrome gets another chance at motherhood when one of her dumplings springs to life as a lively, giggly dumpling boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIt's a SpongeBob Christmas! (2012)
At Christmastime in Bikini Bottom, everyone's excited except Plankton, who always gets a lump of coal from Santa. But he vows this year he'll finally get his wish – the Krabby Patty formula! And it won't be by being good. He's gonna make everyone in Bikini Bottom bad!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNube (2024)
After witnessing an old dark stormy cloud painfully rain and die in sorrow; Noma, a puffy white cloud realizes that Mixtli, her daughter, a dark stormy cloud, is in danger of raining prematurely.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & family
Ah (2011)
Combined units of colorful blocks. They act like people. However, the color disappears, you feel it differently.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Ninety-Five Senses (2022)
A heartfelt depiction of a man facing his own mortality while reflecting on the grave mistakes of his youth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
The Tell-Tale Heart (2010)
A computer-generated rendering of the classic Poe tale about a man's sanity being a point of contention as he confesses to murdering an elderly man, driven by the victim's pale blue 'vulture eye', culminating in guilt-induced auditory hallucinations of the victim's beating heart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Learning Disabilities in Primary Care (2022)
People with learning disabilities often experience worse physical and mental health. This film is a starting point to address these inequalities.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
DRAWN OUT (2025)
On the eve of leaving for college, Randy discovers that the childhood drawings she's long forgotten are not quite ready to let her go. When her imaginary friends come to life, they pull her into a surreal final adventure through her own home, one that forces her to confront buried memories, unresolved guilt, and the fear she's been avoiding. As fantasy and reality collide, Randy must decide whether to run from her past or face it head-on, learning that growing up doesn't mean leaving every part of yourself behind.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family
One Million Years B.C. (1966)
As the Earth wrestles with its agonizing birth, the peoples of this barren and desolate world struggle to survive. Driven by animal instinct they compete against the harsh conditions, their giant predators, and warring tribes. When two people from opposing clans fall in love, existing conventions are shattered forever as each tribe struggles for supremacy and Man embarks on his tortuous voyage of civilization.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCorpse Bride (2005)
In a 19th-century European village, a young man about to be married is whisked away to the underworld and wed to a mysterious corpse bride, while his real bride waits bereft in the land of the living.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSolar Beats (2008)
Walking towards the fire. In a ceaseless stream of light, people, landscapes and objects lead us to mysterious regions. French filmmaker Patrick Bokanowski’s work is hard to classify - and all the richer for it. Together with his wife Michèle, whose musique concrète compositions form the basis of the sound design, Bokanowski offers a prolonged, dense and visually visceral experience of the kind that is rare in cinema today. Difficult to define and locate, its strangeness is quite unique.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Ugly Duckling?
The closest matches to The Ugly Duckling are How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019), Robin Robin (2021) and Lamp Life (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Ugly Duckling?
Start with How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019), the closest match to The Ugly Duckling.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Ugly Duckling?
Piper (2016), rated 8.1/10 by 1,791 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Ugly Duckling?
DRAWN OUT (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Ugly Duckling?
Yes: How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019), Robin Robin (2021) and Lamp Life (2020).
How are movies similar to The Ugly Duckling chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Ugly Duckling, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.