Movies like The Little Princess (1939)
The best movies like The Little Princess (1939) are Anne of Green Gables (1934), Bright Eyes (1934) and Pollyanna (1960). If The Little Princess hooked you with its family and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAnne of Green Gables (1985)8.1/10 from 263 votes
- NewestAnne of Green Gables (2016)Released 2016
Anne of Green Gables (1934)
Anne Shirley, an orphan, is fostered by farmer Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla, who were expecting a boy to be sent them to help with their farm work. They accept Anne, who quickly endears herself to them and to the local villagers.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Bright Eyes (1934)
An orphaned girl is taken in by a snobbish family at the insistence of their rich, crotchety uncle, even as her devoted aviator godfather fights for custody.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Pollyanna (1960)
A young girl comes to an embittered town and confronts its attitude with her determination to see the best in life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeidi (1937)
Heidi is orphaned and her uncaring maternal Aunt Dete takes her to the mountains to live with her reclusive, grumpy paternal grandfather, Adolph Kramer. Heidi brings her grandfather back into mountain society through her sweet ways and sheer love. When Dete later returns and steals Heidi away to become the companion of a rich man's wheelchair-bound daughter, the grandfather is heartsick to discover his little girl missing and immediately sets out to get her back.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCaptain January (1936)
A little girl named Star lives with a lighthouse keeper who rescued her when her parents drowned. A truant officer decides she should go to boarding school, but she's rescued by relatives.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family
The Littlest Rebel (1935)
Virgie Cary's father, a rebel officer, sneaks back to his rundown plantation to see his dying wife and is arrested. A Yankee officer takes pity and sets up an escape. Everyone is captured and the officers are to be executed. Virgie and Uncle Billy beg President Lincoln to intercede.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Little Women (1933)
Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret Garden (1949)
When Cholera takes the parents of Mary Lennox, she is shipped from India to England to live with her Uncle Craven. Mary changes the lives of those she encounters at her Uncle's remote estate.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & drama
Little Women (1949)
Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSkippy (1931)
Skippy, the mischievous son of a wealthy doctor, meets Sooky in poverty-ridden Shantytown, and together they try to save Sooky's pet from a cruel dogcatcher.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945)
Welcome to Fuller Junction, Wisconsin, a friendly small town settled by Norwegian farmers. Here we see the exploits of two young cousins, Selma and Arnold, who learn about their world and experience the ups and downs of life as the season pass.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Curly Top (1935)
Wealthy Edward Morgan becomes charmed with a curly-haired orphan and her pretty older sister Mary and arranges to adopt both under the alias of "Mr. Jones". As he spends more time with them, he soon finds himself falling in love with Mary.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Blue Bird (1940)
Peasant children Mytyl and Tyltyl are led on a magical quest for the fabulous Blue Bird of Happiness by the fairy Berylune. On their journey, they're accompanied by the anthropomorphized presences of a Dog, a Cat, Light, Fire, and Bread, among other entities.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family
SnoozefestMovies like thisSon of Lassie (1945)
Laddie (Son of Lassie) and his master are trapped in Norway during WW2 - has he inherited his mothers famous courage?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Captains Courageous (1937)
Harvey, the arrogant and spoiled son of an indulgent absentee-father, falls overboard from a transatlantic steamship and is rescued by a fishing vessel on the Grand Banks. Harvey fails to persuade them to take him ashore, nor convince the crew of his wealth. The captain offers him a low-paid job, until they return to port, as part of the crew that turns him into a mature, considerate young man.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Champ (1931)
A broken-down alcoholic prizefighter struggles to keep custody of his adoring son.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Little Colonel (1935)
After Southern belle Elizabeth Lloyd runs off to marry Yankee Jack Sherman, her father, a former Confederate colonel during the Civil War, vows to never speak to her again. Several years pass and Elizabeth returns to her home town with her husband and young daughter. The little girl charms her crusty grandfather and tries to patch things up between him and her mother.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family
Anne of Green Gables (2016)
Anne Shirley, an orphan, is fostered by farmer Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla, who were expecting a boy to be sent them to help with their farm work. They accept Anne, who quickly endears herself to them and to the local villagers.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNational Velvet (1945)
Mi Taylor is a young wanderer and opportunist who finds himself in the quiet English countryside home of the Brown family. The youngest daughter, Velvet, has a passion for horses and when she wins the spirited steed Pie in a town lottery, Mi is encouraged to train the horse.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWee Willie Winkie (1937)
In 1897, little Priscilla Williams, along with her widowed mother, goes to live with her army colonel paternal grandfather on the British outpost he commands in northern India.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938)
Rebecca's Uncle Harry leaves her with Aunt Miranda who forbids her to associate with show people. But neighbor Anthony Kent is a talent scout who secretly set it up for her to broadcast.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Pollyanna (1920)
When Pollyanna is orphaned, she's sent to live with her crotchety Aunt Polly. Pollyanna discovers that many of the people in her aunt's New England hometown are as ill-tempered as her aunt. But Pollyanna's incurable optimism - exemplified by her "glad game", in which she looks for the bright side of every situation - brings a change to the staid old community.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Our Little Girl (1935)
Don Middleton is so caught up with his work he neglects his wife Elsa. Lonely Elsa begins to spend more time with Don's best friend and they become attracted to one another. Don and Elsa decide to get a divorce, unaware of the effect their problems are having on their daughter Molly. When Elsa announces plans to remarry, Molly runs away from home.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
A year in the life of a turn-of-the-century middle class family, leading up to the opening of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnne of Green Gables (1985)
Anne Shirley, an orphan, is fostered by farmer Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla, who were expecting a boy to be sent them to help with their farm work. They accept Anne, who quickly endears herself to them and to the local villagers.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (1974)
Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with his dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret Garden (1993)
A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and forgotten. Aided by one of the servants' boys, she begins restoring the garden, and eventually discovers some other secrets of the manor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Little Princess (1995)
When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity and sense of self-worth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (2003)
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOliver Twist (1997)
An orphan endures a harsh life in a workhouse before fleeing to London, where he falls in with a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the criminal Fagin, and eventually finds a better life, exposing the cruelties of poverty and child labor in Victorian England.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Little Princess?
The closest matches to The Little Princess are Anne of Green Gables (1934), Bright Eyes (1934) and Pollyanna (1960). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Little Princess?
People who watched The Little Princess most often go on to Anne of Green Gables (1934), Bright Eyes (1934) and Pollyanna (1960).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Little Princess?
Anne of Green Gables (1985), rated 8.1/10 by 263 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Little Princess?
Anne of Green Gables (2016) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Little Princess?
Yes: Anne of Green Gables (1934), Bright Eyes (1934) and Pollyanna (1960).
How are movies similar to The Little Princess chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Little Princess, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.