Movies like Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985)
The best movies like Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985) are Doraemon: Nobita and the Haunts of Evil (1982), The Cat Returns (2002) and Stormy Night (2005). If Night on the Galactic Railroad hooked you with its adventure and animation, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWolf Children (2012)8.2/10 from 2,575 votes
- NewestThe Imaginary (2023)Released 2023
- In JapaneseDoraemon: Nobita and the Haunts of Evil (1982)Also in Japanese
Doraemon: Nobita and the Haunts of Evil (1982)
Nobita and Doraemon venture to the Heavy Smokers Forest in the Congo, where they find a stray dog and a giant statue. After discovering that they are wanted for trespassing on isolated kingdom land, Nobita and the rest must utilize the power of the mysterious statue to prove their worth.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cat Returns (2002)
Young Haru rescues a cat from being run over, but soon learns it's no ordinary feline; it happens to be the Prince of the Cats.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStormy Night (2005)
After hiding together in an abandoned barn one stormy night, wolf Gabu and goat Mei pledge to be secret friends, despite being natural enemies. They must overcome hardship and persecution in hopes of finding another forest where they can be together in peace.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhen Marnie Was There (2014)
Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may or may not be real.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOcean Waves (1993)
At Kichijōji Station, Tokyo, Taku Morisaki glimpses a familiar woman on the platform opposite boarding a train. Later, her photo falls from a shelf as he exits his apartment before flying to Kōchi Prefecture. Picking it up, he looks at it briefly before leaving. As the aeroplane takes off, he narrates the events that brought her into his life...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisComet in Moominland (1992)
Moomintroll, Sniff and Little My set out to stop a comet approaching the Moominvalley. Along the way they meet Snufkin, the beautiful Snorkmaiden, Snork and Hemulen, who join them in their quest.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMary and The Witch's Flower (2017)
Mary Smith, a young girl who lives with her great-aunt in the countryside, follows a mysterious cat into the nearby forest where she finds a strange flower and an old broom, none of which is as ordinary as it seems.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArrietty (2010)
14-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family live in peaceful anonymity as they make their own home from items "borrowed" from the house's human inhabitants. However, life changes for the Clocks when a human boy discovers Arrietty.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both fantasy & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPatema Inverted (2013)
A young girl, from a civilization that resides in deep underground tunnels, finds herself trapped in an inverted world and teams up with a resident to escape and return home.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWolf Children (2012)
After her werewolf lover unexpectedly dies in an accident, a woman must find a way to raise the son and daughter that she had with him. However, their inheritance of their father's traits prove to be a challenge for her.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & family
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWelcome to the Space Show (2010)
Five children save the life of a dog-like alien while at a self-run summer camp. He attempts to reward them by taking them to an alien colony on the Moon. Events take a turn for the worse when his report on that attack that injured him causes passage from the Moon to the Earth to be banned, and children are stranded in space. The children need to find a way back home before camp ends and their parents discover that they are missing. They also have to avoid the poachers that injured their alien friend, and now seem to be stalking them all.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Fans watch both · both animation & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMirai (2018)
Four-year-old Kun struggles with jealousy after his newborn sister, Mirai, begins receiving most of his family’s attention. Retreating to the garden, he encounters Mirai as a teenager from the future and embarks on extraordinary journeys across his family’s past, gradually discovering new perspectives on love, belonging and what it means to become an older brother.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTotto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window (2023)
This engaging series of childhood recollections tells of an unconventional school in Tokyo during World War II that combined learning with fun, freedom, and love. The school had old railroad cars for classrooms and was run by an extraordinary man – its founder and headmaster, Sōsaku Kobayashi – who deeply valued children's independence, and who was a firm believer in freedom of expression and activity.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPanda! Go Panda! (1972)
Cheerful Mimiko’s small family grows when she adopts a talking baby panda and his full-grown papa. Despite Mimiko's best efforts, the appearance of Panny and Papa Bear disrupts the quiet pace of life in town, prompting zookeepers to reclaim the escaped bear pair.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013)
Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthrals all who encounter her. But, ultimately, she must confront her fate.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
When 17-year-old Makoto Konno gains the ability to 'leap' backwards through time, she immediately sets about improving her grades and preventing personal mishaps. However, she soon realises that changing the past isn't as simple as it seems, and eventually, will have to rely on her new powers to shape the future of herself and her friends.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both fantasy & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChildren Who Chase Lost Voices (2011)
The film centers on Asuna, a young girl who spends her solitary days listening to the mysterious music emanating from the crystal radio she received from her late father as a memento. One day while walking home she is attacked by a fearsome monster and saved by a mysterious boy named Shun. However, Shun disappears and Asuna embarks on a journey of adventure to the land of Agartha with her teacher Mr. Morisaki to meet a Shun again. Through her journey she comes to know the cruelty and beauty of the world, as well as loss.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)
The Yamadas are a typical middle class Japanese family in urban Tokyo and this film shows us a variety of episodes of their lives. With tales that range from the humorous to the heartbreaking, we see this family cope with life's little conflicts, problems, and joys in their own way.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRinging Bell (1978)
Chirin is an innocent though adventurous young lamb whose carefree life on the farm comes to an abrupt end when a wolf murders his mother. Confused and angry, Chirin pursues the wolf into the mountains, seeking revenge. The laws of nature are brutal, however, and hatred alone won't be enough to avenge the loss of his mother. Only the strong survive in the wild, and obtaining that strength may change Chirin forever.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (2022)
The unlikely friendship of a boy, a mole, a fox and a horse traveling together in the boy's search for home.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & family
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe House of the Lost on the Cape (2021)
A strange old woman allows a teenage runaway and a young orphan to stay in an abandoned house that overlooks the sea. However, when a menacing entity threatens their new home, they must band together and face their fears to save it.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Child of Kamiari Month (2021)
A year after losing her mother, a young girl learns that she must journey across Japan to the annual gathering of gods in the sacred land of Izumo.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpring and Chaos (1996)
Set in the beginning of the 20th century Japan, the film follows the bright and eccentric Kenji from his late student years through his adulthood. Kenji suffers the tragedy of being an artist whose art isn't recognized during his lifetime. Based on the life of the author Kenji Miyazawa, the film depicts his brief but intense existence.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
The Princess and the Pilot (2011)
The war between the Levamme Empire and the Amatsukami Imperium has been raging for years. In the midst of this struggle, the prince of the Levamme Empire declares his love for Juana del Moral and vows to end the war in one year, as part of his marriage proposal. When the Amatsukami catch wind of this, they assault the del Moral residence, targeting Juana's life. As a last-ditch effort to bring the prince his bride, the San Maltilia Airforce employs a mercenary of mixed blood—a bestado—to fly Juana to the prince in secret.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Tree of Palme (2002)
A Tree of Palme is an interpretation of the Pinocchio tale. It concerns a small puppet, Palme, who was tasked by his creator to look over his ailing wife, Xian. After her passing, Palme is visited by a mysterious woman who he mistakenly believes to be Xian. Shaken out of his sadness, Palme accepts her request to deliver something special to a far-off place known as Tama. This sets Palme off on a journey to discover his own emotions, and what it truly means to be human.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & adventure
Iblard Time (2007)
A quiet stroll through the imaginary world of Iblard, originally depicted in the paintings by Naohisa Inoue, influenced by Impressionism and Surrealism.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGauche the Cellist (1982)
Gauche is a diligent but mediocre cellist who plays for a small town orchestra and the local cinema in the early 20th century. He struggles during rehearsals and is often berated by his conductor during preparations for an upcoming performance of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony. Over the course of four nights, Gauche is visited at his mill house home by talking animals as he is practicing.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFranz Kafka's a Country Doctor (2007)
A hapless country doctor describes with breathless urgency a night-time summons to attend a young patient. Events soon take on a surreal aspect as "unearthly horses" transport him instantaneously to the bedside. The doctor, preoccupied with personal distractions and grievances against those he is employed to care for, fails to find what is revealed to be a vile, fatal wound. He is humiliated by the villagers, who are "always expecting the impossible from the doctor," and doomed to an endless return trip, losing everything.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Imaginary (2023)
Amanda and her imaginary friend Rudger go on thrilling make-believe adventures. But when Rudger finds himself alone, he faces a mysterious threat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Night on the Galactic Railroad?
The closest matches to Night on the Galactic Railroad are Doraemon: Nobita and the Haunts of Evil (1982), The Cat Returns (2002) and Stormy Night (2005). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Night on the Galactic Railroad?
People who watched Night on the Galactic Railroad most often go on to Doraemon: Nobita and the Haunts of Evil (1982), The Cat Returns (2002) and Stormy Night (2005).
What is the highest-rated movie like Night on the Galactic Railroad?
Wolf Children (2012), rated 8.2/10 by 2,575 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Night on the Galactic Railroad?
The Imaginary (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Night on the Galactic Railroad?
Yes: Doraemon: Nobita and the Haunts of Evil (1982), The Cat Returns (2002) and Stormy Night (2005).
How are movies similar to Night on the Galactic Railroad chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Night on the Galactic Railroad, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.