Movies like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
The best movies like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) are Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956), Tom Sawyer (1973) and Swallows and Amazons (2016). If The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 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 ratedTreasure Planet (2002)7.6/10 from 4,801 votes
- NewestThe Magic Faraway Tree (2026)Released 2026
Davy 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 thisTom Sawyer (1973)
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 thisSwallows and Amazons (2016)
Four children dream of escaping the tedium of a summer holiday with their mother. When finally given permission to camp on their own on an island in the middle of a vast lake, they are overjoyed. But when they get there they discover they may not be alone… The battle for ownership of a lonely island teaches them the skills of survival, the value of friendship and the importance of holding your nerve.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Three wealthy children's parents are killed in a fire. When they are sent to a distant relative, they find out that he is plotting to kill them and seize their fortune.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTreasure Island (1990)
Young Jim Hawkins, while running the Benbow Inn with his mother, meets Captain Billy Bones, who dies at the inn while it is beseiged by buccaneers led by Blind Pew. Jim and his mother fight off the attackers and discover Billy Bones' treasure map for which the buccaneers had come. Jim agrees to sail on the S.S. Hispaniola with Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey to find the treasure on a mysterious island. Upon arriving at the island, ship's cook and scallywag Long John Silver leads a mutiny of crew members who want the treasure for themselves. Jim helps the Squire and Hispaniola officers to survive the mutiny and fight back against Silver's men, who have taken over the ship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Magic Faraway Tree (2026)
A modern family relocates to the countryside where the children discover a magical tree with eccentric residents. They're transported to fantastical lands, rekindling their family bond through adventures.
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 thisThe Jungle Book (1994)
Raised by wild animals since childhood, Mowgli is drawn away from the jungle by the beautiful Kitty. But Mowgli must eventually face corrupt Capt. Boone, who wants both Kitty's hand and the treasures of Monkey City – a place only Mowgli can find.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTreasure Island (1934)
In this early film adaptation of the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, young Jim Hawkins is caught up with the pirate Long John Silver in search of buccaneer Captain Flint's buried treasure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTreasure Island (1972)
Young Jim Hawkins finds himself serving with pirate captain Long John Silver in search of a buccaneer's treasure, in this short adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
SnoozefestMovies like thisBridge to Terabithia (2007)
Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that she's rich, he's poor, she's a city girl, and he's a country boy the two become fast friends. Together they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants where they rule as king and queen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Dog Skip (2000)
A shy boy is unable to make friends in Yazoo City, Mississippi in 1942, until his parents give him a terrier puppy for his ninth birthday. The dog, which he names Skip, becomes well known and loved throughout the community and enriches the life of the boy, Willie, as he grows into manhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDennis the Menace (1993)
Mr. Wilson's ever-present annoyance comes in the form of one mischievous kid named Dennis. But he'll need Dennis's tricks to uncover a collection of gold coins that go missing when a shady drifter named Switchblade Sam comes to town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
SnoozefestMovies like thisNicholas Nickleby (2002)
Nicholas Nickleby, a young boy in search of a better life, struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his coldheartedly grasping uncle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDavid Copperfield (1935)
A young man journeys from a difficult childhood to maturity, exploring social injustice, personal development, and the complexities of human relationships.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Women (1949)
Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Great Gilly Hopkins (2015)
Young and feisty Gilly Hopkins devises a scheme to escape from her new foster home and reunite with her birth mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJumping Ship (2001)
Michael has big plans to show his cousin Tommy a good time aboard a luxury yacht until he discovers that the yacht he's chartered is actually an old rusted fishing boat. But when modern-day pirates chase the fishing boat, the boys are forced to jump ship, leaving them stranded on a desert island with the boat's captain, Jake Hunter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big Sky (1952)
Two tough Kentucky mountaineers join a trading expedition from St. Louis up the Missouri River to trade whisky for furs with the Blackfoot Indians. They soon discover that there is much more than the elements to contend with.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cutlass (1954)
The teenager Misha Polyakov, being with his mother in a Ukrainian village on vacation with his grandmother and about to return home to Petrograd, offers his best friend Genka to go with him. Suddenly, a white gang of Nikitsky bursts into the village and attacks Misha’s house, where Commissioner Polevoy lives. The purpose of Nikitskiy (aka Nikolskiy) is a dagger located at Polevoy. Saving the commissioner, Misha learns from him the history and secret of the weapon, and receives it for storage with a request to solve the secret. Having returned with adventures to Petrograd, Misha Polyakov with friends begins to unravel the riddle of the dagger, in the handle of which is encrypted text.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & adventure
Runt (2024)
In the Australian town of Upson Downs, ten-year-old Annie and Runt, her stray dog, attempt to win the Agility Course Championship at the Krumpets Dog Show in London in order to save their family's farm from drought and misery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & adventure
Treasure Planet (2002)
When space galleon cabin boy Jim Hawkins discovers a map to an intergalactic "loot of a thousand worlds," a cyborg cook named John Silver teaches him to battle supernovas and space storms on their journey to find treasure.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Exploits of Moominpappa – Adventures of a Young Moomin (2022)
A beautiful summer day in Moomin Valley. Suddenly, a wasp stings Moomintroll, who falls ill and has to stay in bed. To cheer him up, Moominpappa recounts his youthful adventures; his misunderstood childhood, escape from an orphanage and his historic meeting with the inventor Hodgkins.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & adventure
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
A young boy wins a tour through the most magnificent chocolate factory in the world, led by the world's most unusual candy maker.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (2000)
Anne is persuaded to join her fiance, Gilbert, in New York City as he begins his tenure at a major hospital. However, any chance of lasting happiness is dashed when Gilbert enlists to serve in The Great War in Europe. Anne stays behind and takes up writing, but learns that contact has been lost with Gilbert. Seeing no other option, Anne decides to venture to Europe herself to find him. In doing so, she begins an adventure that will challenge her wits and imagination to the limit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family
Casper (1995)
Casper is a kind young ghost who peacefully haunts a mansion in Maine. When specialist James Harvey arrives to communicate with Casper and his fellow spirits, he brings along his teenage daughter, Kat. Casper quickly falls in love with Kat, but their budding relationship is complicated not only by his transparent state, but also by his troublemaking apparition uncles and their mischievous antics.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
The Grinch decides to rob Whoville of Christmas - but a dash of kindness from little Cindy Lou Who and her family may be enough to melt his heart...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArcha pro Vojtu (2002)
The world is suddenly more complicated because Vojta is different. Different from the others!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship's thoughtful surgeon, his best friend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?
The closest matches to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer are Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956), Tom Sawyer (1973) and Swallows and Amazons (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?
Start with Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956), the closest match to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?
Treasure Planet (2002), rated 7.6/10 by 4,801 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?
The Magic Faraway Tree (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?
Yes: Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956), Tom Sawyer (1973) and Swallows and Amazons (2016).
How are movies similar to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.