Movies like The Old Man and the Crane (1983)
The best movies like The Old Man and the Crane (1983) are The Heron and the Crane (1974), Ploey: You Never Fly Alone (2018) and Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997). If The Old Man and the Crane hooked you with its animation, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMulan (1998)7.9/10 from 10,806 votes
- NewestCinderella (2025)Released 2025
The Heron and the Crane (1974)
Animated short about a love between a heron and a crane.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPloey: You Never Fly Alone (2018)
A plover chick has not learned to fly when his family migrates in the fall. He must survive the arctic winter, vicious enemies and himself in order to be reunited with his beloved one next spring.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997)
Astonished to find the Beast has a deep-seated hatred for the Christmas season, Belle endeavors to change his mind on the matter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabes in the Woods (1932)
Two Dutch children stumble on a clearing in the woods where gnomes are going about their business. The gnomes are friendly to the children. A witch comes and takes them away on her broom to her gingerbread house, where she turns nasty on them, turning the boy into a spider, her yowling cat to stone, and tries to turn the girl into a rat when a gnome's arrow stops her. While the gnomes are fighting the witch, Hansel and Gretl free the other children who have been imprisoned and transformed by the witch.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMickey's House of Villains (2002)
The villains from the popular animated Disney films are gathered at the House of Mouse with plans to take over. Soon, the villains take over the house and kick out Mickey, Donald and Goofy. It's all up to Mickey and his friends to overthrow evil and return the House of Mouse to normal--or as close to normal as it gets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Pied Piper (1933)
The people of Hamelin, overrun with rats, offer a bag of gold to anyone who can get rid of the rats. A piper offers to do the job, and successfully lures the rats into a mirage of cheese, which disappears. The citizens, disappointed that all he did was play a tune, offer only pocket change. The piper, angered, plays a new tune that has all the children of the city follow him, even the new twins the stork is preparing to deliver.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Little Matchgirl (2006)
An animated short based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale about a poor young girl with a burning desire to find comfort and happiness in her life. Desperate to keep warm, the girl lights the matches she sells, and envisions a very different life for herself in the fiery flames filled with images of loving relatives, bountiful food, and a place to call home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeowulf (2007)
A 6th-century Scandinavian warrior named Beowulf embarks on a mission to slay the man-like ogre, Grendel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
SnoozefestMovies like thisFantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
The Fantastic Mr. Fox, bored with his current life, plans a heist against the three local farmers. The farmers, tired of sharing their chickens with the sly fox, seek revenge against him and his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTale of Tales (1979)
Distant, well-worn memories of childhood are inhabited by a little gray wolf. Through astonishing imagery, the memory of all of Russia is depicted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStick Man (2015)
Stick Man lives in the family tree with his Stick Lady Love and their stick children three, and he's heading on an epic adventure across the seasons. Will he get back to his family in time for Christmas?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPete's Dragon (1977)
Pete, a young orphan, runs away to a Maine fishing town with his best friend a lovable, sometimes invisible dragon named Elliott! When they are taken in by a kind lighthouse keeper, Nora, and her father, Elliott's prank playing lands them in big trouble. Then, when crooked salesmen try to capture Elliott for their own gain, Pete must attempt a daring rescue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994)
Fred is cast as Ebenezer Scrooge in a stage adaption of the classic Christmas story, but is acting a bit stingy in real life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisWhere Is Anne Frank (2021)
The film follows the journey of Kitty, the imaginary friend to whom Anne Frank dedicated her diary. A fiery teenager, Kitty wakes up in the near future in Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam and embarks on a journey to find Anne, who she believes is still alive, in today's Europe. While the young girl is shocked by the modern world, she also comes across Anne's legacy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus (2022)
Christmas Eve takes a twisty turn when the Boss Baby accidentally swaps places with one of Santa's elves and gets stranded at the North Pole.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
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 animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Nutcracker Prince (1990)
After young Clara receives a wooden nutcracker as a Christmas gift, she dreams about a fantastical battle between her Nutcracker Prince and the evil Mouse King. At stake is the Nutcracker's freedom - and Clara's future happiness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse (2001)
When a huge snowstorm leaves everyone stranded, Mickey and all of his guests at the House of Mouse, including Pooh, Belle, Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel and many more of his old and new friends, break out the cookies and hot chocolate to help Donald mend his tattered Christmas spirit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPrep & Landing (2009)
Wayne gets a new rookie partner, Lanny, after his previous partner got the promotion he wanted. Lanny has to remind Wayne of the Spirit of Christmas and the importance of being an elf in Santa's Prep and Landing elite unit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMulan (1998)
When Imperial China calls one man from every family to defend the empire from invading Huns, a young woman disguises herself as a soldier to take her ailing father’s place. Facing ruthless invaders, brutal training, and the risk of execution if discovered, she must decide who she truly is—and what she’s willing to fight for.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisUnlucky Panos (1980)
Panos is one of the unluckiest men in the world. One day, while he was swimming in the lake, some villagers found his clothes on the shore and announced he had drowned.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Hrytsko’s Easter Eggs (1995)
In anticipation of the great Christian holiday of Easter, one of the boys wanted to get ready for it by making painted eggs himself, as required by a long-standing tradition. But he took eggs from a hen that was hatching her children. Falling asleep, Hrytsko saw a strange dream. Based on a fairy tale by Oleksandr Oles.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Unstable Fables: 3 Pigs and a Baby (2008)
When the three pigs find a tiny wolf cub on their doorstep, they decide to raise him as their own, unaware that they've played right into the plan of a special-ops team of wolves. As the newest addition to their family, Lucky grows into his teens not knowing his history, his role in the wolves' plan or the difficult choice he will have to make about the family that raised him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
SnoozefestMovies like thisCinderella (2025)
When Cinderella’s prized slippers vanish right before the royal ball, she and her fairy-tale friends must embark on a thrilling chase to find them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Chosen by prophecy but doubted by all, Po is an unlikely choice for the mystical title of the Dragon Warrior—a clumsy panda thrust into the world of kung fu as a deadly enemy threatens the Valley of Peace. Under reluctant guidance by Master Shifu and the Furious Five, Po must embrace who he is to unlock the power that no scroll can teach.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBarbie as Rapunzel (2002)
Barbie stars as Rapunzel, a young girl who is entrapped by a magical barrier by the wicked, Gothel. Rapunzel finds an escape where she finds a Prince and a feud between two kingdoms which goes back to the day she was kidnapped as a child.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSmooth Mouth (2021)
Willy watches his favourite western every night before bed, until this faithful eve in which he takes a bump to the noggin, leaving him in the local old folk’s home, which spurs his own spaghetti western of a situation
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
The Old Man and the Sea (1999)
An old fisherman makes the biggest catch of his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMickey and the Beanstalk (1947)
A mysterious thief has stolen the prosperous Happy Valley's most prized possession: the musical Singing Harp. Can Mickey, Donald, and Goofy find the answer in the irritable Willie the Giant's magnificent castle up in the blue sky?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Old Man and the Crane?
The closest matches to The Old Man and the Crane are The Heron and the Crane (1974), Ploey: You Never Fly Alone (2018) and Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Old Man and the Crane?
Start with The Heron and the Crane (1974), the closest match to The Old Man and the Crane.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Old Man and the Crane?
Mulan (1998), rated 7.9/10 by 10,806 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Old Man and the Crane?
Cinderella (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Old Man and the Crane chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Old Man and the Crane, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.