Movies like What's Michael? (1985)
The best movies like What's Michael? (1985) are 10 Lives (2024), Rudolf the Black Cat (2016) and Crayon Shinchan the Movie: My Moving Story! Cactus Attack! (2015). If What's Michael? hooked you with its animation and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest rated10 Lives (2024)7.7/10 from 235 votes
- NewestSimpsley (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseRudolf the Black Cat (2016)Also in Japanese
10 Lives (2024)
A pampered cat takes for granted the lucky hand he has been dealt after he is rescued and loved by Rose, a kind-hearted and passionate student. When he loses his ninth life, fate steps in to set him on a transformative journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRudolf the Black Cat (2016)
Rudolf, a black stray cat, is suddenly separated from his beloved master. He unexpectedly wakes up in a long-distance truck that takes him to metropolis Tokyo. There, he meets Ippai-attena, a big boss cat feared by everyone in town. Unable to return home, Rudolf starts a life as a stray with Ippai-attena, but Ippai-attena isn't all that he seems to be.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrayon Shinchan the Movie: My Moving Story! Cactus Attack! (2015)
The Noharas must survive a hoard of man-eating killer cacti after Shin-chan's father relocates the family to Mexico for work.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrayon Shinchan the Movie: The Legend Called: Dance! Amigo! (2006)
Something sinister's afoot in Kasukabe. Shin-chan doesn't know what it is, but he's pretty sure it involves samba-dancing doppelgängers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRecess: All Growed Down (2003)
T.J. and The Recess Gang are kidnapped by the Third Street School's kindergartners, who are in turn being bullied by a new kid in their class.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrayon Shinchan the Movie: Action Kamen VS Leotard Devil (1993)
Everyone's favorite TV superhero Action Mask shows up in Kasukabe, and he's trying to get something from Shin-chan -- but what could it be?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTom and Jerry: The Movie (1992)
The popular cartoon cat and mouse are thrown into a feature film. The story has the twosome trying to help an orphan girl who is being berated and exploited by a greedy guardian.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPhineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (2020)
Phineas and Ferb travel across the galaxy to rescue their older sister Candace, who has been abducted by aliens and taken to a utopia in a far-off planet, free of her pesky little brothers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSimpsley (2026)
When penniless con-artist Marge Bouvier is sent to Italy to convince wealthy sap Seymour Skinner to come home, she's tempted by the trappings of his affluent lifestyle. But there’s a big fat fly in the ointment: Skinner's clingy, dim-witted mooch of a houseguest, Homer Simpsley. Lies, lust and Italian lira are abound.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisStarDog and TurboCat (2019)
When vigilante cat, Felix, and loyal canine, Buddy, set out to find Buddy’s lost owner, they discover not only the power of friendship, but their inner superpowers along the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoraemon: The New Record of Nobita's Spaceblazer (2009)
Nobita finds a passage to a spaceship in another dimension. With their new friends, he and Doraemon fight the cruel leader of an exploited planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrayon Shinchan the Movie: Pursuit of the Balls of Darkness (1997)
The Noharas get caught between two rival clans when Himawari swallows a pretty bead that turns out to be a mysterious ball with hidden powers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoraemon the Movie: Nobita's Little Star Wars 2021 (2022)
During summer vacation Nobita picks up a small rocket containing Papi, a palm-sized alien president escaping rebels on his home planet Pirika.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoraemon: New Nobita's Great Demon - Peko and the Exploration Party of Five (2014)
Nobita is followed by a stray dog on his way home and decides to help it find its original owner with the help of Doraemon. They find out that the dog is actually a prince in its homeland in Africa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirls und Panzer der Film (2015)
When the Ministry of Education goes back on its promise to keep Ooarai Girls Academy open, the task of saving the five-mile-long Academy Ship from the wreckers falls to Miho and her barely-seasoned tankery team. However, things go off track almost immediately. While the Oorai tank crew may have won the high school tournament, they’re now facing a larger and more experienced university team, and if they fail, their armored vehicles will be forfeit! Will they be swapping their tanks for the memories? It’s possible, but winning a tank battle is all about tactics and teamwork, and the fledgling Ooarai students have more friends and allies than anyone suspects.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoraemon: Nobita and the Island of Miracles – Animal Adventure (2012)
Nobita and Doraemon use time tree Mochi and catch a big bird, which has been extinct for 500 years ago. To protect the animal, Nobita and Doraemon go to Beremon Island, overseen by a golden beetle named Herakles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Willoughbys (2020)
When the four Willoughby children are abandoned by their selfish parents, they must learn how to adapt their Old-Fashioned values to the contemporary world in order to create something new: The Modern Family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPAW Patrol: Jet to the Rescue (2020)
A royal relative steals a gem with the power to make things fly, the Paw Patrol takes to the skies to stop him and save Barkingburg.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCat Pack: A PAW Patrol Exclusive Event (2022)
When Mayor Humdinger transforms his robot cat Meow-Meow into a tiger-sized metal-eating menace, the PAW Patrol calls in the Cat Pack for help in the stopping the creature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBatman Unlimited: Mechs vs. Mutants (2016)
Mr. Freeze turns Killer Croc and Bane into super-sized monsters, and they bash their way through downtown Gotham until the Caped Crusader and his team of heroes join the fight in their giant robot mechs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
When a casino-owning dog named Charlie is murdered by his rival Carface, he finds himself in Heaven. Wanting to get back at his killer, he cons his way back to the living with the warning that doing so damns him to Hell. Once back, he teams with his old partner, Itchy, to prep his retaliation. He stumbles upon an orphan girl who can talk to the animals, thus allowing him to get the inside info on the races to ensure his wins to finance his plans. However, all the while, he is still haunted by nightmares of what's waiting for him on the other side unless he can prove that he is worthy of Heaven again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFritz the Cat (1972)
In late 1960s New York City, fed up with monotonous college life and police repression, free-spirited Fritz, an impenitent seducer and unrestrained party-animal, decides to explore the world. And just like that, as he flees NYC, heading to San Francisco, Fritz embarks on an endless adventure of illumination. Immersed in a world surrounded by drugs and sex, Fritz participates in mad orgies, brings about a revolution, incites mass urban riots, and crosses paths with drug-addled Nazi bikers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Close Shave (1996)
Wallace's whirlwind romance with the proprietor of the local wool shop puts his head in a spin, and Gromit is framed for sheep-rustling in a fiendish criminal plot.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTom and Jerry's Greatest Chases (2000)
A compilation of 14 Tom and Jerry original classic shorts: Yankee Doodle Mouse; Salt Water Tabby; Tee For Two; Mice Follies; The Cat Concerto; Solid Serenade; Zoot Cat; Johann Mouse; Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Mouse; Mouse in Manhattan; Jerry and the Lion; The Little Orphan; Kitty Foiled; Jerry's Diary
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & comedy
Madagascar (2005)
Four animal friends get a taste of the wild life when they break out of captivity at the Central Park Zoo and wash ashore on the island of Madagascar.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpookley and the Christmas Kittens (2019)
Spookley and Mistletoe encounter three stray kittens for whom they must brave a raging winter storm to find a home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Samurai Cat: The Movie (2014)
The ever versatile Kazuki Kitamura stars as masterless samurai Kyutaro Madarame, a feared swordsman who has fallen on hard times in old Edo. Caught between two warring gangs in an epic battle of cat lovers and dog lovers, he begrudgingly accepts the canine faction's offer to assassinate the opposite leader's beloved pet: an adorable white cat. Yet upon raising his lethal sword, he cannot bring himself to go through with the act, and the cat melts his ronin heart. But before finding peace as a newly minted cat person, the still fearsome Madarame will have to take on both gangs in a classic samurai street brawl.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Argylle (2024)
When the plots of reclusive author Elly Conway's fictional espionage novels begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organization, quiet evenings at home become a thing of the past. Accompanied by her cat Alfie and Aidan, a cat-allergic spy, Elly races across the world to stay one step ahead of the killers as the line between Conway's fictional world and her real one begins to blur.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhen the Cat's Away (1996)
When Chloe, a young Parisian, decides to take a long-overdue vacation, she has to find someone to look after Gris-Gris, her beloved cat. Everyone, including her gay male roommate, refuses to help her, but she finally makes an arrangement with the elderly Madame Renée, who often watches over other peoples' cats and dogs. However, when Chloe comes back, Madame Renée tells her that unfortunately the cat has been lost, and the unlucky owner goes on a search for her dear animal friend. While looking for the cat, she meets many colorful characters who populate the neighborhood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCritters (1986)
Carnivorous aliens arrive unannounced at a Kansas family farm; two intergalactic bounty hunters soon follow, determined to blow them off the planet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like What's Michael? and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like What's Michael??
The closest matches to What's Michael? are 10 Lives (2024), Rudolf the Black Cat (2016) and Crayon Shinchan the Movie: My Moving Story! Cactus Attack! (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after What's Michael??
Start with 10 Lives (2024), the closest match to What's Michael?.
What is the highest-rated movie like What's Michael??
10 Lives (2024), rated 7.7/10 by 235 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like What's Michael??
Simpsley (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like What's Michael??
Yes: Rudolf the Black Cat (2016), Crayon Shinchan the Movie: My Moving Story! Cactus Attack! (2015) and Crayon Shinchan the Movie: The Legend Called: Dance! Amigo! (2006).
How are movies similar to What's Michael? chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside What's Michael?, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.