Movies like My Dad's a Detective (2009)
The best movies like My Dad's a Detective (2009) are White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf (1994), Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado (2025) and The Magic Faraway Tree (2026). If My Dad's a Detective hooked you with its adventure and family, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSlumberland (2022)7.2/10 from 999 votes
- NewestThe Magic Faraway Tree (2026)Released 2026
White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf (1994)
A boy and his dog, White Fang, must try to save the noble Haida tribe from evil white men in turn-of-the-century Alaska.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDora and the Search for Sol Dorado (2025)
Dora, Diego, and their new friends trek through the perilous dangers of the Amazonian jungle in search of the ancient and powerful treasure of Sol Dorado to keep it out of enemy hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Magic Faraway Tree (2026)
A modern family relocates to the countryside where the children discover a magical tree with eccentric residents. They're transported to fantastical lands, rekindling their family bond through adventures.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBookworm (2024)
Eleven-year-old Mildred’s life is turned upside down when her mother lands in hospital and estranged, American magician father, Strawn Wise, comes to look after her. Hoping to entertain the bookish tween, Strawn takes Mildred camping in the notoriously rugged New Zealand wilderness, and the pair embark on the ultimate test of family bonding – a quest to find the mythological beast known as the Canterbury Panther.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Legend of Ochi (2025)
In a remote village on the island of Carpathia, a shy farm girl named Yuri is raised to fear an elusive animal species known as ochi. But when Yuri discovers a wounded baby ochi has been left behind, she escapes on a quest to bring him home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDavy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956)
Davy Crockett and his sidekick Georgie compete against boastful Mike Fink ("King of the River") in a boat race to New Orleans. Later, Davy and Georgie, allied with Fink, battle a group of river pirates trying to pass themselves off as Native Americans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturn to Nim's Island (2013)
Fourteen year old Nim, more determined than ever to protect her island and all the wildlife that call it home, faces off against resort developers and animal poachers. Soon she realizes she can’t depend on her animal cohorts alone and must make her first human friend – Edmund, who’s run away to the island from the mainland – to save her home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTo Grandmother's House We Go (1992)
When precocious twins Sarah and Julie feel like Mom is tired of them, they take off on an exciting adventure to their grandmother's house and encounter a pair of villains along the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTreasure Island (1972)
Young Jim Hawkins finds himself serving with pirate captain Long John Silver in search of a buccaneer's treasure, in this short adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
SnoozefestMovies like thisSlumberland (2022)
A young girl discovers a secret map to the dreamworld of Slumberland, and with the help of an eccentric outlaw, she traverses dreams and flees nightmares, with the hope that she will be able to see her late father again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReturn to Never Land (2002)
In 1940, the world is besieged by World War II. Wendy, all grown up, has two children; including Jane, who does not believe Wendy's stories about Peter Pan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnce Upon a Forest (1993)
A young mouse, mole and hedgehog risk their lives to find a cure for their badger friend, who's been poisoned by men.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPan (2015)
Living a bleak existence at a London orphanage, 12-year-old Peter finds himself whisked away to the fantastical world of Neverland. Adventure awaits as he meets new friend James Hook and the warrior Tiger Lily. They must band together to save Neverland from the ruthless pirate Blackbeard. Along the way, the rebellious and mischievous boy discovers his true destiny, becoming the hero forever known as Peter Pan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwo by Two: Overboard! (2020)
Two misfit castaways struggle to reunite an unorthodox family, out-run a volcano, and negotiate a peace deal on a creaking Ark.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTreasure Island (1934)
In this early film adaptation of the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, young Jim Hawkins is caught up with the pirate Long John Silver in search of buccaneer Captain Flint's buried treasure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness (2022)
A brave young animal explorer teams up with two trusty friends to find a powerful artifact before his greedy uncle can get his paws on it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLEGO DC: Shazam! Magic and Monsters (2020)
It’s high time the Justice League took notice of Shazam, but joining the world’s greatest team of superheroes is a lot harder when they’ve all been turned into kids.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Luck of the Irish (2001)
A teenager must battle for a gold charm to keep his family from being controlled by an evil leprechaun.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome Away (2020)
Before Alice went to Wonderland, and before Peter became Pan, they were brother and sister. When their eldest brother dies in a tragic accident, they each seek to save their parents from their downward spirals of despair until finally they are forced to choose between home and imagination, setting the stage for their iconic journeys into Wonderland and Neverland.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
SnoozefestMovies 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 family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFefe: A Fantastic Adventure (2026)
Marcos, a 10-year-old boy, is devastated after his kitten Fefe goes missing. In his search, he finds a book about tales and legends from the city of Foz do Iguaçu. His sister, Mariana, joins him on the adventure to help him find Fefe. Walking through the streets of Foz, they notice black cats painted on all the walls, and Marcos immediately realizes that this has something to do with the disappearance of his feline best friend. As Marcos and Mariana get closer to the truth about Fefe's whereabouts, he decides to return to the company of his human best friend. They both discover the true meaning of friendship, unconditional love, and companionship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & adventure
Treasure Island (1990)
Young Jim Hawkins, while running the Benbow Inn with his mother, meets Captain Billy Bones, who dies at the inn while it is beseiged by buccaneers led by Blind Pew. Jim and his mother fight off the attackers and discover Billy Bones' treasure map for which the buccaneers had come. Jim agrees to sail on the S.S. Hispaniola with Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey to find the treasure on a mysterious island. Upon arriving at the island, ship's cook and scallywag Long John Silver leads a mutiny of crew members who want the treasure for themselves. Jim helps the Squire and Hispaniola officers to survive the mutiny and fight back against Silver's men, who have taken over the ship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Phantom Tollbooth (1970)
A young boy named Milo unexpectedly receives a magic tollbooth and, out of boredom, drives through it and enters a fantastical, animated kingdom in turmoil following the loss of its princesses, Rhyme and Reason.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Adventures of Timmy the Tooth: The Brush in the Stone (1996)
Timmy gets a case of the itchy polka dots on the day of the Flossmore Valley Fair. It's up to Mr. Wisdom to read Timmy a medieval story about the origins of the childhood disease.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & adventure
Storm Boy (2019)
Storm Boy lives a lonely life with his reclusive father on a desolate coastline, but when he forms a close bond with a pelican, Mr. Percival, his life takes a new and unexpected turn.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBear Grylls, Young Adventurer: Endangered (TBA)
Before he was a global icon of adventure, one 14-year-old Bear Grylls was a pretty ordinary kid – until he was recruited into the Secret Ops Squad, a covert search and rescue organization run exclusively by kids.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & family
Bear Grylls, Young Adventurer: Icebreaker (TBA)
Further animated adventures of 14-year-old wilderness savant Bear Grylls.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & family
Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur (1980)
When Suneo does not show Nobita the fossil of a dinosaur claw, he takes up a challenge to find a dinosaur. He digs up a hillside and finds an egg, which later hatches and becomes a dinosaur.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTopkapi (1964)
Arthur Simon Simpson is a small-time crook biding his time in Greece. One of his potential victims turns out to be a gentleman thief planning to steal the emerald-encrusted dagger of the Mehmed II from Istanbul's Topkapi Museum.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnakes on a Plane (2006)
FBI agent Neville Flynn boards a flight from Honolulu, Hawaii to Los Angeles, escorting a key witness to testify against a mob boss at an upcoming trial. An on-board assassin releases a crate full of hundreds of deadly venomous snakes in an attempt to eliminate the witness. Flynn and a host of frightened passengers and crew must band together to survive the slithery threat.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like My Dad's a Detective?
The closest matches to My Dad's a Detective are White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf (1994), Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado (2025) and The Magic Faraway Tree (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after My Dad's a Detective?
Start with White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf (1994), the closest match to My Dad's a Detective.
What is the highest-rated movie like My Dad's a Detective?
Slumberland (2022), rated 7.2/10 by 999 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like My Dad's a Detective?
The Magic Faraway Tree (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to My Dad's a Detective chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside My Dad's a Detective, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.