Movies like How I Taught Myself to Be a Child (2019)
The best movies like How I Taught Myself to Be a Child (2019) are Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995), The Call of the Wild (1972) and The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon (1997). If How I Taught Myself to Be a Child 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 ratedThe Lion King (1994)8.3/10 from 20,405 votes
- NewestThe Physician II (2025)Released 2025
- In GermanThe Three Investigators in The Secret of Terror Castle (2009)Also in German
Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995)
Two teen girls, one from the city, one from the country, try to find the hidden gold of Bear Mountain learning about friendship, loyalty and courage on the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Call of the Wild (1972)
John Thornton, is a fearless man who's after more than gold; he wants to do what's right. Thornton works for the U.S. mail and is the only person daring and smart enough to figure out how to travel the deadly 600 miles from Skagway to Dawson, Alaska in the icy winter. His incredibly dog Buck is by his side and part of how he survives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon (1997)
Jack London's classic story from 1903 about Buck, a dog kidnapped from his home in California and taken to the Yukon where he is mistreated until a prospector discovers him and relates to his situation. Although the two are bonded, Buck yearns to run free with the wild dogs in the wilderness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlabama Moon (2009)
After the unexpected death of his survivalist father, an eleven year old boy raised in the Alabama wilderness must learn how to make a home in the modern world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLost on a Mountain in Maine (2024)
When twelve-year-old Donn Fendler gets tired of waiting for his father and brothers to join him on the summit of Maine's highest peak, he decides to find his own way back to camp. But Donn doesn't count on a fast-moving fog that obscures the path. He doesn't count on falling down an embankment that hides him from sight. And he doesn't count on taking a turn that leaves him alone to wander aimlessly for nearly two weeks in the empty mountain wilderness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Am David (2003)
A 12-year-old boy manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own, through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark, and a compass to help get him there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWish Upon a Unicorn (2020)
Two children discover that their mother is gone. The youngest of the pair, adventurer and upcomming singer, Long Johnson forces his older sister, Lily Johnson, to hunt down a unicorn with magical blood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Three Investigators in The Secret of Terror Castle (2009)
A new case for the cult detectives! Not by coincidence, a mysterious videotape falls into the hands of Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews during Jupiter's birthday party in Rocky Beach. On it is a recording of Jupiter's long dead parents. In their message they want to communicate to their son the key to an especially tricky riddle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Physician II (2025)
1050 AD: Robert Cole returns to England to bring the medical light of the Orient to his countrymen. But he fails because of the intrigues of the established London doctors, who feel threatened by the new knowledge. And it is not only the human body that is full of seemingly impenetrable secrets, the soul also holds its own mysteries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSchool of Magical Animals 2 (2022)
The students of the School of Magical Animals want to perform a musical for the school's anniversary. Will rehearsals end in chaos or will the class pull together? And what's up with the strange holes on the school grounds?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDiscovering Dinotopia (2002)
The citizens of Waterfall City flee for the tenuous safety of Earthfarm, abandoning their city to the dangerous Outsiders - who discover the key to Dinotopias future and threaten its survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPercy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)
In their quest to confront the ultimate evil, Percy and his friends battle swarms of mythical creatures to find the mythical Golden Fleece and to stop an ancient evil from rising.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPinocchio (2009)
The enchanted story of Pinocchio.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnow Queen (2002)
Since a bitter winter storm stole the life of Gerda's mother, she and her father have sadly continued to run the remote hotel they call home. Lonely and isolated, Gerda's only joy is Kai, the handsome bellboy. A mysterious guest with an icy stare arrives at the hotel one night, wrapped in fur and diamonds. By daybreak, the "Snow Queen" has vanished with Kai! Gerda embarks on a journey of morphing seasons, fantastical creatures, and long-frozen mysteries in a desperate quest to find her stolen love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJacob (1994)
Isaac's son Jacob deprives his brother Esau of his birthright and has to flee for his life. He finds shelter with his uncle Laban, but is himself deceived. Finally, Jacob has to face both his uncle and brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNicholas Nickleby (2002)
Nicholas Nickleby, a young boy in search of a better life, struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his coldheartedly grasping uncle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSlugTerra: Return of the Elementals (2014)
A new member has joined Eli and the Shane Gang! Junjie, once the protector of the Eastern Caverns, is a master of the slugslinging art of Slug Fu! But even with the power of five slingers, the Shane Gang find themselves in over their heads as they race across The 99 Caverns in search of the Legendary Elemental Slugs. The five Elementals are ancient slugs of great power, and the forbearers of all slugs found in SlugTerra today. In the wrong hands, they could bring Slugterra to the brink of destruction. So when an evil alliance starts hunting down the Elementals, Eli and his friends — old and new — take off in pursuit of the greatest threat their world has ever faced!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStrings (2004)
The story of Prince Hal who sets out to avenge his dead father against the city's rivals, the Zeriths, little knowing it was his wicked uncle Nezo who is the real killer, with his own designs on the throne.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Grit (1969)
The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy on a mission of 'justice', which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, 'Rooster' Cogburn because he has 'true grit', and a reputation of getting the job done.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Good Witch's Destiny (2013)
As Cassie's birthday approaches, Lori discovers disturbing parallels between Cassie and her great aunt, who disappeared years before on her birthday. When signs of a curse appear, Cassie conjures up a little magic to make things right again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRunt (2024)
In the Australian town of Upson Downs, ten-year-old Annie and Runt, her stray dog, attempt to win the Agility Course Championship at the Krumpets Dog Show in London in order to save their family's farm from drought and misery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & adventure
The Cutlass (1954)
The teenager Misha Polyakov, being with his mother in a Ukrainian village on vacation with his grandmother and about to return home to Petrograd, offers his best friend Genka to go with him. Suddenly, a white gang of Nikitsky bursts into the village and attacks Misha’s house, where Commissioner Polevoy lives. The purpose of Nikitskiy (aka Nikolskiy) is a dagger located at Polevoy. Saving the commissioner, Misha learns from him the history and secret of the weapon, and receives it for storage with a request to solve the secret. Having returned with adventures to Petrograd, Misha Polyakov with friends begins to unravel the riddle of the dagger, in the handle of which is encrypted text.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & adventure
The Lion King (1994)
Young lion prince Simba, eager to one day become king of the Pride Lands, grows up under the watchful eye of his father Mufasa; all the while his villainous uncle Scar conspires to take the throne for himself. Amid betrayal and tragedy, Simba must confront his past and find his rightful place in the Circle of Life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAnne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (2000)
Anne is persuaded to join her fiance, Gilbert, in New York City as he begins his tenure at a major hospital. However, any chance of lasting happiness is dashed when Gilbert enlists to serve in The Great War in Europe. Anne stays behind and takes up writing, but learns that contact has been lost with Gilbert. Seeing no other option, Anne decides to venture to Europe herself to find him. In doing so, she begins an adventure that will challenge her wits and imagination to the limit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & family
Treasure Planet (2002)
When space galleon cabin boy Jim Hawkins discovers a map to an intergalactic "loot of a thousand worlds," a cyborg cook named John Silver teaches him to battle supernovas and space storms on their journey to find treasure.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBy the Wayside (2012)
Four friends (a background actor, a documentarian, a homeless musician, and a virgin) descend into a life-awakening 24 hours that involve excess drinking, prostitutes, a sage-like lounge singer and psychedelic drugs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBringing Out the Dead (1999)
Once called "Father Frank" for his efforts to rescue lives, Frank Pierce sees the ghosts of those he failed to save around every turn. He has tried everything he can to get fired, calling in sick, delaying taking calls where he might have to face one more victim he couldn't help, yet cannot quit the job on his own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thin Red Line (1998)
The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Life as a Dog (1985)
A boy, obsessed with comparing himself with those less fortunate, experiences a different life at the home of his aunt and uncle in 1959 Sweden.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like How I Taught Myself to Be a Child?
The closest matches to How I Taught Myself to Be a Child are Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995), The Call of the Wild (1972) and The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon (1997). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after How I Taught Myself to Be a Child?
Start with Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995), the closest match to How I Taught Myself to Be a Child.
What is the highest-rated movie like How I Taught Myself to Be a Child?
The Lion King (1994), rated 8.3/10 by 20,405 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like How I Taught Myself to Be a Child?
The Physician II (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like How I Taught Myself to Be a Child?
Yes: The Three Investigators in The Secret of Terror Castle (2009), The Physician II (2025) and School of Magical Animals 2 (2022).
How are movies similar to How I Taught Myself to Be a Child chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside How I Taught Myself to Be a Child, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.