Movies like The Magic Ballad (1982)
The best movies like The Magic Ballad (1982) are Babes in the Woods (1932), The House (2022) and The Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow (2013). If The Magic Ballad hooked you with its animation, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedOnce Upon a Studio (2023)8.3/10 from 457 votes
- NewestSing: Thriller (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseNaruto OVA 9: Chunin Exam on Fire! and Naruto vs. Konohamaru! (2011)Also in Japanese
Babes 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 thisThe House (2022)
Across different eras, a poor family, an anxious developer and a fed-up landlady become tied to the same mysterious house in this animated dark comedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow (2013)
When Brainy Smurf is favored to win the annual Smurfberry Hunt for the ninth year in a row, Gutsy Smurf sets out to discover how Brainy wins every year. Gutsy’s investigation takes him into spooky Smurfy Hollow–and right into Gargamel’s trap! Can Brainy and Gutsy, with the help of Smurfette, put aside their rivalry before Gargamel captures them–or worse, they come face-to-face with the legendary ghost, the Headless Horseman?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisSing: Thriller (2024)
Buster Moon dreams up a star-studded spectacle set to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in this animated short featuring characters from the hit "Sing" films.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDC Showcase: The Phantom Stranger (2020)
Jess joins her friends at a party in a dilapidated mansion hosted by the mysterious Seth. When odd things begin to happen to Jess and her friends, the Phantom Stranger intervenes to save her from a dreary fate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThru the Mirror (1936)
Mickey has been reading Alice in Wonderland, and falls asleep. He finds himself on the other side of the mirror, where the furniture is alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKubo and the Two Strings (2016)
Kubo mesmerizes the people in his village with his magical gift for spinning wild tales with origami. When he accidentally summons an evil spirit seeking vengeance, Kubo is forced to go on a quest to solve the mystery of his fallen samurai father and his mystical weaponry, as well as discover his own magical powers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrolls Holiday in Harmony (2021)
Queen Poppy plans the first annual Trolls Kingdom Secret Holiday Gift Swap, but things don't go quite as expected.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters (2011)
Po and the Furious Five uncover the legend of three of kung fu's greatest heroes: Master Thundering Rhino, Master Storming Ox, and Master Croc.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five (2008)
Ordered to teach a martial arts class of rambunctious bunny kittens, Po tells stories of each of the Furious Five's pasts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCars Toon Mater's Tall Tales (2008)
Mater the tow truck travels from country to country as he retells his infamous but unbelievable stories.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOnce Upon a Studio (2023)
Created for Disney's 100th anniversary, the short features Mickey Mouse corralling a gallery of legendary Disney characters for a group photo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRobin Robin (2021)
A bird raised by mice begins to question where she belongs and sets off on a daring journey of self-discovery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGet a Horse! (2013)
Mickey, Minnie, Horace Horsecollar, and Clarabelle Cow go on a musical wagon ride until Peg-Leg Pete tries to run them off the road.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFerdinand the Bull (1938)
This Oscar-winning short tells of a bull who preferred to sit under trees and smell flowers to clashing horns with his fellow animals. As luck would have it, an untimely bee reveals Ferdinand's ferocious side via pained howls and wild stomping. This lands him in the bull-fighting arena amidst characters based on Walt's animators with a matador reportedly modeled after Walt himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNaruto OVA 9: Chunin Exam on Fire! and Naruto vs. Konohamaru! (2011)
Naruto faces off against his old pupil Konohamaru in a tournament during the chuunin entrance exams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMinions & More Volume 2 (2022)
This collection of 11 short films produced by Illumination includes: From the "Despicable Me" franchise: Mower Minions (2016); Yellow Is the New Black (2018); Competition (2015); Cro Minion (2015); Binky Nelson Unpacified (2015); Panic in the Mailroom (2013). From the "Secret Life of Pets" franchise: Super Gidget (2019). From the "Sing" franchise: Eddie's Life Coach (2017); Gunter Babysits (2017). From the "Lorax" franchise: Serenade (2012); Wagon Ho! (2012).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShort Peace (2013)
A traveler is confronted by spirits in an abandoned shrine; a story of honor and firefighting in ancient Japan; a white bear defends the royal family from a monstrous red demon; ragtag soldiers battle a robotic force in futuristic Japan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYo-kai Watch: The Movie - The Great Adventure of the Flying Whale & the Double World, Meow! (2016)
A giant whale appears and flies above Sakura New Town. With the whale’s sound of crying, some changes occur to Kenta Amano and Yokai.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe House That Jack Built (1976)
Story about the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Bearpuncher (2022)
Bearpuncher, a mountaineer with a monstrous curse, aims her ursine fist towards all that may threaten the safety of the Smoky Mountains. But when she discovers a destroyed lab while tracking a mysterious wildfire, she stumbles into a conflict she can’t punch her way out of.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
The ErlKing (2003)
This animated short is a visual representation of Goethe's poem, The ErlKing that uses sand-on-glass animation set to the music of Franz Schubert. The moving images, resembling woodcuts, capture the haunting, nightmarish quality of the tale of the ErlKing who steals and kills a little boy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
The 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 animation
Growth Vitamin (1988)
The teacher at school made a scientific experiment - he put two rats in different cages. One of the rats was given carrots containing vitamin of growth, and the other did not feed. Time passed, and the rat, to whom nothing was given, became thicker than the rat that was fed. It turned out that one student from pity fed another rat.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
NO LITTERING (2013)
While enjoying a date in a park, a man carelessly tosses an empty bottle onto the ground. His selfish littering promptly summons an imposing figure wearing a white hockey mask. The gruesome events that follow tell an admonishing tale about the importance of preserving the outdoors and defending the environment from the ugly menace of litter. The short was made for the tve YouTube Relay project, but wasn't included because it's too violent.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
The Lion and the Mouse (1976)
This animated short by Evelyn Lambart is a visual adaptation of the famous Aesop fable "The Lion and the Mouse," in which a mouse proves to a lion that the weak and small may be of help to those much mightier than themselves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005)
During the holiday season, when the animals of the Central Park Zoo are preparing for Christmas, Private, the youngest of the penguins notices that the Polar Bear is all alone. Assured that nobody should have to spend Christmas alone, Private goes into the city for some last-minute Christmas shopping. Along the way, he gets stuffed into a stocking
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Story of Christmas (1973)
This short animation tells the familiar story of Christmas in an innovative and colourful way. Filmmaker Evelyn Lambart uses glowing zinc cut-outs to give this traditional tale a contemporary twist. Akin to a joyful medieval manuscript, the film is embellished by the artist's own whimsy—heraldic trumpet sounds, luminescent light, and wildflowers in every scene tell the message of rebirth. A film without dialogue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Sweet Dreams (2008)
A cupcake escapes a city of sweets and is marooned on an island with vegetables where he learns to reform his destructive ways in this tasty stop-motion from the talented Kirsten Lepore.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Like The Magic Ballad and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Magic Ballad?
The closest matches to The Magic Ballad are Babes in the Woods (1932), The House (2022) and The Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Magic Ballad?
Start with Babes in the Woods (1932), the closest match to The Magic Ballad.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Magic Ballad?
Once Upon a Studio (2023), rated 8.3/10 by 457 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Magic Ballad?
Sing: Thriller (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Magic Ballad?
Yes: Naruto OVA 9: Chunin Exam on Fire! and Naruto vs. Konohamaru! (2011), Short Peace (2013) and Yo-kai Watch: The Movie - The Great Adventure of the Flying Whale & the Double World, Meow! (2016).
How are movies similar to The Magic Ballad chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Magic Ballad, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.