Movies like The Little Ark (1972)
The best movies like The Little Ark (1972) are Return to Nim's Island (2013), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) and Bookworm (2024). If The Little Ark hooked you with its family and adventure, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe King of Kings (2025)8.3/10 from 220 votes
- NewestSketch (2025)Released 2025
Return to Nim's Island (2013)
Fourteen year old Nim, more determined than ever to protect her island and all the wildlife that call it home, faces off against resort developers and animal poachers. Soon she realizes she can’t depend on her animal cohorts alone and must make her first human friend – Edmund, who’s run away to the island from the mainland – to save her home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
Tom Sawyer and his pal Huckleberry Finn have great adventures on the Mississippi River, pretending to be pirates, attending their own funeral and witnessing a murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBookworm (2024)
Eleven-year-old Mildred’s life is turned upside down when her mother lands in hospital and estranged, American magician father, Strawn Wise, comes to look after her. Hoping to entertain the bookish tween, Strawn takes Mildred camping in the notoriously rugged New Zealand wilderness, and the pair embark on the ultimate test of family bonding – a quest to find the mythological beast known as the Canterbury Panther.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDora and the Search for Sol Dorado (2025)
Dora, Diego, and their new friends trek through the perilous dangers of the Amazonian jungle in search of the ancient and powerful treasure of Sol Dorado to keep it out of enemy hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOddball (2015)
An eccentric chicken farmer, with the help of his granddaughter, trains his mischievous dog Oddball to protect a penguin sanctuary from fox attacks in an attempt to reunite his family and save their seaside town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pagemaster (1994)
Rich knows a lot about accidents. So much so, he is scared to do anything that might endanger him, like riding his bike, or climbing into his treehouse. While in an old library, he is mystically transported into the unknown world of books, and he has to try and get home again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (1988)
After her father's ship is carried off by a sudden storm, the spunky Pippi Longstocking is stranded with her horse, Alfonso,and her pet monkey, Mr. Neilson, and takes up residence in the old family home, which is thought by neighborhood children to be haunted. Soon, two children, Tommy and his sister Anika, venture into the house only to meet up with Pippi. The three soon become friends and get into various adventures together, including cleaning the floor with scrubbing shoes, dodging the "splunks", going down a waterfall in barrels, and helping Pippi with the problem of having to go to an orphanage. Older children will probably get the most out of this movie.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
SnoozefestMovies like thisTwo by Two: Overboard! (2020)
Two misfit castaways struggle to reunite an unorthodox family, out-run a volcano, and negotiate a peace deal on a creaking Ark.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDavy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956)
Davy Crockett and his sidekick Georgie compete against boastful Mike Fink ("King of the River") in a boat race to New Orleans. Later, Davy and Georgie, allied with Fink, battle a group of river pirates trying to pass themselves off as Native Americans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving (1995)
When the water supply to the Great Valley is blocked, Littlefoot and his friends must cooperate with a group of bullies to find the reason the cause.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe King of Kings (2025)
Charles Dickens tells his young son Walter the greatest story ever told, and what begins as a bedtime tale becomes a life-changing journey. Through vivid imagination, the boy walks alongside Jesus, witnessing His miracles, facing His trials, and understanding His ultimate sacrifice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLassie (1994)
On their way to start a new life at a sheep farm in rural Virginia, the Turner family are halted by a wreck on the highway that has claimed the life of a truck driver. Spotting the trucker's now-abandoned collie on the side of the road, they take pity on the dog and adopt her. As the city family copes with the change to rural life, including a feud with a neighboring farm family who resent the city interlopers, the ever-loyal Lassie helps them adjust to their new surroundings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
While working underground to fix a water main, Brooklyn plumbers—and brothers—Mario and Luigi are transported down a mysterious pipe and wander into a magical new world. But when the brothers are separated, Mario embarks on an epic quest to find Luigi.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water (2002)
Littlefoot befriends with a mysterious, fun-loving dolphin-like creature named Mo, who is trapped in "new water" caused by heavy rain. The gang then goes on an adventure to the "big water" to bring Mo home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhite Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf (1994)
A boy and his dog, White Fang, must try to save the noble Haida tribe from evil white men in turn-of-the-century Alaska.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSketch (2025)
When a young girl’s sketchbook falls into a strange pond, her drawings come to life—chaotic, real, and on the loose. As the town descends into chaos, her family must reunite and stop the monsters they never meant to unleash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists (1996)
When Littlefoot's grandfather falls ill, the only way to cure him is with a flower from the forbidding land of the mists, which holds unexpected perils and danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Simple Twist of Fate (1994)
When Michael McCann is thrown over by the woman he loves, he becomes something of a misanthrope and a miser, spending all of his spare money on collectible gold coins. Living in the same town is an affluent family with two sons: John and Tanny. Tanny's a wild boy, whom John cannot control, and one night he breaks into McCann's house, and steals the gold and disappears, which nearly confirms McCann's distrust of mankind. But then, a mysterious young woman dies in the snow outside McCann's house, and her small daughter makes her way to McCann's house and into McCann's life and heart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Loud House Movie (2021)
The Loud family travel to Scotland and discover they are descendants of Scottish royalty as they move into their giant ancestral castle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChang Can Dunk (2023)
Chang, a 16-year-old, Asian American, bets the high school basketball star that he can dunk by Homecoming. The bet leads 5' 8" Chang on a quest to learn to dunk—not only to impress his crush, Kristy, but to gain the respect of his high school peers too. But before he can rise up and truly throw one down, he'll have to reexamine everything he knows about himself, his friendships and his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie (2008)
A boatload of beloved VeggieTales pals embark on a fun and fresh pirate adventure with their trademark humor and silly songs in The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - A VeggieTales Movie! Larry the Cucumber, Mr. Lunt and Pa Grape find themselves on the ride of their lives when they are mysteriously whisked back to the time when pirates ruled the high seas.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & family
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Trip to Bamsdorf (1956)
Toni and his sister Rita travel alone by train to visit their grandma in Bamsdorf, eight stations down the line...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & family
The Ant Bully (2006)
Fed up with being targeted by the neighborhood bully, 10-year-old Lucas Nickle vents his frustrations on the anthill in his front yard ... until the insects shrink him to the size of a bug with a magic elixir. Convicted of "crimes against the colony," Lucas can only regain his freedom by living with the ants and learning their ways.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & family
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Blues Brothers (1980)
Just released from prison, Jake Blues puts his old band back together with his brother Elwood to save the Catholic home where they were raised.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDogma (1999)
An abortion clinic worker with a special heritage is called upon to save the existence of humanity from being negated by two renegade angels trying to exploit a loophole and re-enter Heaven.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaya and the Starboy (1988)
The story about a class of star-boys who travel with their research spaceship to "Outdoor School" to see life on Earth. Since they wear "snurke" - a kind of shiny badges, they are invisible to Earthlings. But the star-boy Gubang's desire to meet the Earthlings in personal is so strong that he can not resist. He befriends a girl named Maya and gives her "snurko" so that she could see him. This causes severe complications both on Earth and in spaceship. Of course, everything finishes with a happy end.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
National Treasure (2004)
Modern treasure hunters, led by archaeologist Ben Gates, search for a chest of riches rumored to have been stashed away by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin during the Revolutionary War. The chest's whereabouts may lie in secret clues embedded in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and Gates is in a race to find the gold before his enemies do.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow to Steal a Dog (2014)
Ji-so is a young girl who doesn't have a house because of her bankrupted dad. In order to get money to buy a house she plans to steal a wealthy person's dogs to earn reward money when she returns them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family
Barbie of Swan Lake (2003)
Barbie as Odette, the young daughter of a baker, follows a unicorn into the Enchanted Forest and is transformed into a swan by an evil wizard intent on defeating the Fairy Queen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Red Balloon (1956)
A young boy discovers a stray balloon, which seems to have a mind of its own, on the streets of Paris. The two become inseparable, yet the world’s harsh realities finally interfere.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Little Ark?
The closest matches to The Little Ark are Return to Nim's Island (2013), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) and Bookworm (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Little Ark?
Start with Return to Nim's Island (2013), the closest match to The Little Ark.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Little Ark?
The King of Kings (2025), rated 8.3/10 by 220 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Little Ark?
Sketch (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Little Ark?
Yes: Return to Nim's Island (2013), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) and Bookworm (2024).
How are movies similar to The Little Ark chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Little Ark, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.