Movies like John, the Hero (1939)
The best movies like John, the Hero (1939) are Brigadoon (1954), Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration (2022) and MirrorMask (2005). If John, the Hero hooked you with its fantasy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedScooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob (2021)7.5/10 from 206 votes
- NewestA Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)Released 2025
Brigadoon (1954)
Americans Jeff and Tommy, hunting in Scotland, stumble upon a village - Brigadoon. They soon learn that the town appears once every 100 years in order to preserve its peace and special beauty. The citizens go to bed at night and when they wake up, it's 100 years later. Tommy falls in love with a beautiful young woman, Fiona, and is torn between staying or going back to his hectic life in New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMirrorMask (2005)
In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCinderella (1965)
After the success of the live 1957 Cinderella on CBS (with Julie Andrews), the network decided to produce another television version. The new script hewed closer to the traditional tale, although nearly all of the original songs were retained and performed in their original settings. Added to the Rodgers and Hammerstein score was "Loneliness of Evening", which had been composed for South Pacific but not used.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNext Stop, Christmas (2021)
Angie wonders what her life would be like if she had married a former boyfriend who became a famous sportscaster. She takes the train home to spend Christmas with her family and inexplicably finds herself 10 years in the past. With the advice of the train's enigmatic conductor, Angie has the chance to revisit that Christmas and learn what — and who — is truly important to her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)
Sarah and David are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present... and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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
SnoozefestMovies like thisAlice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972)
An all-star cast highlights this vibrant musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll's immortal tale. One day, plucky young Alice follows a white rabbit down a hole and discovers a world of bizarre characters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob (2021)
An evil sorceress transports the gang back to the age of chivalrous knights, spell-casting wizards, and fire-breathing dragons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOn a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)
Daisy Gamble, an unusual woman who hears phones before they ring, and does wonders with her flowers, wants to quit smoking to please her fiancé, Warren. She goes to a doctor of hypnosis to do it. But once she's under, her doctor finds out that she can regress into past lives and different personalities, and he finds himself falling in love with one of them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Raven (1963)
A magician who has been turned into a raven turns to a former sorcerer for help.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLegends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (2014)
Dorothy wakes in post-tornado Kansas, only to be whisked back to Oz to try to save her old friends, the Scarecrow, the Lion, the Tin Man, and Glinda, from a devious new villain, the Jester. New comrades Wiser the Owl, Marshal Mallow, China Princess, and Tugg the Tugboat join Dorothy on her latest magical journey through the colorful landscape of Oz to restore order and happiness to Emerald City.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDisenchanted (2022)
Disillusioned with life in the city, feeling out of place in suburbia, and frustrated that her happily ever after hasn’t been so easy to find, Giselle turns to the magic of Andalasia for help. Accidentally transforming the entire town into a real-life fairy tale and placing her family’s future happiness in jeopardy, she must race against time to reverse the spell and determine what happily ever after truly means to her and her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnicorn Store (2017)
A woman named Kit moves back to her parent's house, where she receives a mysterious invitation that would fulfill her childhood dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisNaughty or Nice (2012)
Krissy Kringle receives a delivery intended for Santa Claus. A magical book that shows if a person has been naughty or nice. She uses the book's power to find out about those around her, which leads to some very unusual and unintended results. Krissy realizes that everyone has some good and some not so good in them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
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 fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBorrowed Hearts (1997)
Single mom Kathleen Russell (Roma Downey) and her daughter Zoey pretend to be Kathleen's boss's "family" so he can close a major business deal with the mysterious Mexican financier Javier Del Campo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKristin's Christmas Past (2013)
Kristin, a cynical 34-year-old, drinks a mysterious champagne on Christmas Eve and wakes up seventeen years in the past, sharing a room with her 17-year-old self. Given the chance to change the worst Christmas of her life, she attempts to fix past mistakes, only to discover surprising truths about her family that may help her mend her present-day relationships.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisPinocchio (2009)
The enchanted story of Pinocchio.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCinderella (1997)
Cinderella chafes under the cruelty of her wicked stepmother and her evil stepsisters, until her Fairy Godmother steps in to change her life for one unforgettable night. At the ball, she falls for handsome Prince Christopher, whose parents, King Maximillian and Queen Constantina, are anxious for him to find a suitable paramour.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFinian's Rainbow (1968)
An Irishman and his daughter arrive in the American South with a stolen pot of gold, hoping to make their fortune. Pursued by a leprechaun desperate to recover his treasure, they become entangled in a battle over land, love, and prejudice in Rainbow Valley—where the gold’s magic turns wishes, and lives, upside down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisGulliver's Travels (1939)
Gulliver washes ashore on Lilliput and attempts to prevent war between that tiny kingdom and its equally-miniscule rival, Blefiscu, as well as smooth the way for the romance between the Princess and Prince of the opposing lands. In this he is alternately aided and hampered by the Lilliputian town crier and general fussbudget, Gabby. A life-threatening situation develops when the bumbling trio of Blefiscu spies, Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch, manage to steal Gulliver's pistol.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLa Divina Commedia Opera Musical (2018)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)
Hat check man Louis Blore is in love with nightclub star May Daly. May, however, is in love with a poor dancer but wants to marry for money. When Louis wins the Irish Sweepstakes, he asks May to marry him and she accepts even though she doesn't love him. Soon after, Louis has an accident and gets knocked on the head, where he dreams that he's King Louis XV pursuing the infamous Madame Du Barry.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Sky High Festigal (2021)
Welcome to the High Academy of Guardian Angels! Malachiana (Eliana Tidhar) is a student at the High Academy of Guardian Angels and has one dream: to become a guardian angel for a family. But – she is the only one in the entire class who does not receive the guardian angel wings at the festive ceremony, where the fiery Angels duo (Static and Ben El Tavori) perform. The director of the Academy of Guardian Angels (Israel Katorza) offers her a task that, if she completes, will make her big dream come true and she'll be a family angel: enter the life of the Osher family, a family that includes a father (Ran Danker) and his five children (Noa Kirel, Bar Miniali, Shahar Tabuch, Kim Or Azoulay and Eden Elena) who have still not recovered from their mother's death ten years ago. All they have left of her is the soundtrack of their love story – the great songs of the legendary Zehava Ben, during whose performance Ran proposed marriage to the mother years ago.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Waar de vogeltjes hoesten (1974)
'Waar de vogelstjes hoesten' is a rare, satirical fable presented as a fantasy musical. The film tells the surreal love story of a flower girl and a scarecrow who leave their rural home for the big city. Upon arrival, they quickly become corrupted by industrial capitalism and victims of their own growing greed. Featuring unique choreography by Lydia Chagoll, this experimental production serves as a powerful artistic critique. It explicitly warns against the degradation of the environment and the spiritual pollution of modern human society.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Sin of an Angel (1979)
A being from a different plane decides to come down on earth to see how human beings are living; over there he meets a evil man who try to manipulate him to his personal benefit. The angel comes to Tomar to live with the people of the earth and lives among human beings, gets to know the magician Solomon who discovers that Tomar has a magical eye and convinces him to work with him, Solomon covets in his wife's sister Jasmine and rapes her, Solomon exploits that Tomar does not have His fingerprints persuade him to steal the treasury of the hotel where Solomon and Tomar present with them, but they fail to monitor the police for them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 3 (2014)
During a chicken picnic, Yellow Guy gets upset after Green Bird kills a butterfly. Yellow Guy then meets a butterfly that takes him on a journey to discover his concept of love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRevolutionary Girl Utena: The Musical Comedy (1997)
A musical theater show based on the manga "Revolutionary Girl Utena"
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like John, the Hero?
The closest matches to John, the Hero are Brigadoon (1954), Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration (2022) and MirrorMask (2005). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after John, the Hero?
Start with Brigadoon (1954), the closest match to John, the Hero.
What is the highest-rated movie like John, the Hero?
Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob (2021), rated 7.5/10 by 206 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like John, the Hero?
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to John, the Hero chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside John, the Hero, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.