Movies like While the Clocks Are Ticking (1977)
The best movies like While the Clocks Are Ticking (1977) are The Wizard of the Emerald City, Part I (2025), Four Kids and It (2020) and Hansel and Gretel (1988). If While the Clocks Are Ticking hooked you with its family and fantasy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedUpon the Magic Roads (2021)6.8/10 from 317 votes
- NewestMomo (2025)Released 2025
The Wizard of the Emerald City, Part I (2025)
Ellie lives in a distant city. One day, the evil witch Gingema conjured a hurricane that took Ellie and her dog Totoshka to the country of the Munchkins. To return home, Ellie and her friends the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion will set off along the yellow brick road to the Emerald City in search of the Wizard who will grant their cherished wishes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFour Kids and It (2020)
A group of kids on holiday in Cornwall meet a magical creature on the beach with the power to grant wishes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHansel and Gretel (1988)
Hansel and Gretel tells the tale of two young children driven from home by their scolding mother. Losing their way in the dark forest they stumble upon the cottage of a kindly old woman. But is this kindly old woman everything she seems...?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShorts (2009)
A young boy's discovery of a colorful, wish-granting rock causes chaos in the suburban town of Black Falls when jealous kids and scheming adults alike set out to get their hands on it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Adventures of Buratino (1959)
A wooden boy Buratino tries to find his place in life. He befriends toys from a toy theater owned by evil Karabas-Barabas, gets tricked by Alice the Fox and Basilio the Cat and finally discovers the mystery of a golden key given to him by kind Tortila the Tortoise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrancer: A Christmas Tale (2022)
Ten-year-old Gloria and her recently widowed grandfather Bud befriend a mysterious reindeer when the family gather for Christmas. Bud comes to believe that Prancer may actually be magical, but Gloria fears his theory will send him straight to a retirement home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFairyTale: A True Story (1997)
In 1917, two children take a photograph, which is soon believed by some to be the first scientific evidence of the existence of fairies. Based on the true story of the Cottingley Fairies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Blue Bird (1940)
Peasant children Mytyl and Tyltyl are led on a magical quest for the fabulous Blue Bird of Happiness by the fairy Berylune. On their journey, they're accompanied by the anthropomorphized presences of a Dog, a Cat, Light, Fire, and Bread, among other entities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Fairy Tale After All (2022)
A stubborn teenage girl finds herself confronted by whimsical characters when she is transported into a world of fantasy and fairy tales while attending a school marionette show.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrincess (2008)
A reclusive princess and a directionless young man embark on a quest to save the world's mythical creatures from becoming extinct.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dirt Bike Kid (1985)
When his mother sends Jack off with money to buy groceries, he comes home with a magic supercharged dirt bike instead. His mother is furious, but when Jack uses the magic bike to save the local hot dog stand from the clutches of corrupt big business, he becomes the town hero.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnastasia: Once Upon a Time (2020)
Anastasia Romanov escapes through a portal when her family is threatened by Vladimir Lenin, and she finds herself in the year 1988, befriended by a young American girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisMomo (2025)
Momo is a young orphan girl who lives in the ruins of an old Roman amphitheater and becomes friends with everybody in the neighborhood. But when a powerful international corporation starts stealing everybody’s time, nobody has any time left for her, let alone their friends or families. Momo, together with Master Hora, the custodian of time, are the only ones who can go up against the time thieves before all is lost forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGodmothered (2020)
A young and unskilled fairy godmother that ventures out on her own to prove her worth by tracking down a young girl whose request for help was ignored. What she discovers is that the girl has now become a grown woman in need of something very different than a "prince charming."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlex & Me (2018)
An uplifting story of the passion and drive it takes to succeed and the power of family to help realize your dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wish of the Fairy Fish (2023)
If you go fishing, be prepared to draw the fish of your dreams, the magical Pike, which can grant any three wishes. Only Emelya let two wishes down the drain, and decided to save the third. Therefore, in order to achieve the hand of the royal daughter Anfisa, he will have to act without magical power, on his own. And Pike will help him, who without her skin will appear as an ordinary girl Vasilisa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe House Elf (2019)
In an ordinary Moscow there is an unusual House — with a strange apartment in which not a single resident has stayed for long. And as soon as an independent mother and her lovely 8-year-old daughter moved there, the new residents find out that their living space is not that ordinary, and that the real House Elf lives there. But the House Elf has long been offended by the whole human race and would do all imaginable filth in order to remain alone in the ill-fated apartment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNico the Unicorn (1998)
As an 11-year-old boy struggles to cope with a disability, he finds a pony who gives birth to a unicorn which he takes care of.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlice in Wonderland (1933)
In Victorian England, a bored young girl dreams that she has entered a fantasy world called Wonderland, populated by even more fantastic characters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUpon the Magic Roads (2021)
Romantic John the Fool and his friend Foal set out on a series of unpredictable adventures in different magical worlds. The two buddies will have to outsmart an evil tyrant king, catch the firebird, and find John’s true love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCinderella (1947)
In the fairy kingdom live stepmother, her evil daughters — Anna and Maryana, a limp husband-forester and his daughter from his first marriage — Cinderella. The stepmother exploits the poor girl as a housekeeper. With the help of her godmother-fairy, Cinderella gets to the royal ball, where a beautiful and very kind prince falls in love with her. At midnight, the magic ends, and poor Cinderella has to return to her former life. But on the crystal shoe that Cinderella lost while fleeing the palace to the battle of the palace chimes, the prince searches for the bride.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers (1984)
An intelligent, fearless boy living in a superstitious Transylvanian village goes out into the world to figure out what everyone else is afraid of, "the shivers." A king hires him to rid his castle of ghosts and evil spirits, expecting him to die like all who have tried before him, but the boy is more fearless than he could have known.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy & family
The Dancing Princesses (1978)
A made-for-TV retelling of the story "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," directed by Ben Rea, featuring Jim Dale as the Soldier, Freddie Jones as the destitute King, and Gloria Grahame as the Witch. Significant changes were made to the story, including reducing the number of princesses to six, and the soldier ultimately declining to marry any of the princesses due to their deceitful nature.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy & family
Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin the Serpent (2004)
When the fearsome Tugarin the Serpent steals the city's gold, the young hero Alyosha Popovich sets out on a daring quest to recover the treasure and bring the villain to justice. Along the way, he is joined by an unlikely group of companions: his loyal mentor Tikhon, a talking horse named Julius, the wise grandmother Babusya, a mischievous donkey, and the beautiful Lyubava. Together, they embark on an adventure filled with unexpected challenges, humor, and heroic deeds.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSila lásky (1990)
The beautiful Shahrazad told many stories to the ruler during the 1000 and 1 Nights, in order to save her life with the help of her wisdom and imagination. In this ruler, she opened the way to the knowledge of the strongest feeling - love. It is the story of the longed-for son of a powerful caliph, who falls in love with a princess who hates all men. After many adventures, he discovers that it is because of a dream in which he saw the betrayal of a pigeon towards a faithful dove. The strength of the caliph's son's love for the inaccessible princess convinces the wise people around him, even the princess's nanny, to help him show the truth hidden in the dream and meet his love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy & family
The Ewok Adventure (1984)
Wicket the Ewok and his friends agree to help two shipwrecked human children, Mace and Cindel, on a quest to find their parents.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThree Brothers (2014)
Three brothers leave their home to see the world. During their journey, young men as by miracle enter into famous fairy tales (Little Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Twelve Months) and face traps, unexpected moments and even love in a story full of humor and songs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & fantasy
Dukátová skála (2018)
Fourteen-year-old Pavel, alias Pako, falls into an underground tunnel during an expedition near Lukov Castle, injures his spine, and is confined to a wheelchair. After several months of rehabilitation, he and his mother Věra find it difficult to accept that he will never walk again. Local castle warden Jaromír also has his own problems to deal with in Lukov, as he struggles with grief over the death of his beloved wife. Lukov mayor Karel Zlejšek and his wife Naďa refuse to admit that their relationship is not developing as they had imagined and that this is affecting their son Petr's behavior. Adam and Eva's marriage is also going through a crisis, but so far they have managed to hide it from their children Aničkou and Tadeáš, or Nyny and Dydyn. Tokár arrives in the village with his daughters Dragica and Štěpánka – Šmudla – and tries to fit into everyday life in Lukov.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family
The Starfish (1952)
Three children, holidaying in a small Cornish fishing village, become intrigued by the locals' tales of an elusive witch.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Story of a Mother (2003)
In the coldest night, Death takes the life of a child, his mother will do everything to get him back, even losing everything she has.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like While the Clocks Are Ticking?
The closest matches to While the Clocks Are Ticking are The Wizard of the Emerald City, Part I (2025), Four Kids and It (2020) and Hansel and Gretel (1988). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after While the Clocks Are Ticking?
Start with The Wizard of the Emerald City, Part I (2025), the closest match to While the Clocks Are Ticking.
What is the highest-rated movie like While the Clocks Are Ticking?
Upon the Magic Roads (2021), rated 6.8/10 by 317 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like While the Clocks Are Ticking?
Momo (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to While the Clocks Are Ticking chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside While the Clocks Are Ticking, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.