Movies like Es war einmal (2014)
The best movies like Es war einmal (2014) are Babes in the Woods (1932), Descendants 2 (2017) and Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2002). If Es war einmal hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedDescendants 2 (2017)7.4/10 from 1,842 votes
- NewestDisenchanted (2022)Released 2022
- In GermanThe Singing Ringing Tree (1957)Also in German
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDescendants 2 (2017)
When the pressure to be royal becomes too much for Mal, she returns to the Isle of the Lost where her archenemy Uma, Ursula's daughter, has taken her spot as self-proclaimed queen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCinderella II: Dreams Come True (2002)
As a newly crowned princess, Cinderella quickly learns that life at the Palace - and her royal responsibilities - are more challenging than she had imagined. In three heartwarming tales, Cinderella calls on her animal friends and her Fairy Godmother to help as she brings her own grace and charm to her regal role and discovers that being true to yourself is the best way to make your dreams come true.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCinderella III: A Twist in Time (2007)
When Lady Tremaine steals the Fairy Godmother's wand and changes history, it's up to Cinderella to restore the timeline and reclaim her prince.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDescendants (2015)
A present-day idyllic kingdom where the benevolent teenage son of King Adam and Queen Belle offers a chance of redemption for the troublemaking offspring of Disney's classic villains: Cruella De Vil (Carlos), Maleficent (Mal), the Evil Queen (Evie) and Jafar (Jay).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaleficent (2014)
A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. She rises to be the land's fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal – an act that begins to turn her heart into stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading King's successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom – and to Maleficent's true happiness as well.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDisenchanted (2022)
Disillusioned with life in the city, feeling out of place in suburbia, and frustrated that her happily ever after hasn’t been so easy to find, Giselle turns to the magic of Andalasia for help. Accidentally transforming the entire town into a real-life fairy tale and placing her family’s future happiness in jeopardy, she must race against time to reverse the spell and determine what happily ever after truly means to her and her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCharming (2018)
Three fairy tale princesses find themselves engaged to the same guy, Prince Charming.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeauty and the Beast (2017)
A live-action adaptation of Disney's version of the classic tale of a cursed prince and a beautiful young woman who helps him break the spell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Little Matchgirl (2006)
An animated short based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale about a poor young girl with a burning desire to find comfort and happiness in her life. Desperate to keep warm, the girl lights the matches she sells, and envisions a very different life for herself in the fiery flames filled with images of loving relatives, bountiful food, and a place to call home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEnchanted (2007)
The beautiful princess Giselle is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn't operate on a "happily ever after" basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid - even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince back home - she has to wonder: Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997)
Astonished to find the Beast has a deep-seated hatred for the Christmas season, Belle endeavors to change his mind on the matter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Singing Ringing Tree (1957)
A brave prince must seek the fabled singing, ringing tree in order to win the heart of a beautiful princess.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarbie Mariposa & the Fairy Princess (2013)
Join Mariposa and her new friend, Princess Catania, in this magical adventure to save the fairy land of Shimmervale. Together, the girls learn that with great friends, the sky is the limit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)
Maleficent and her goddaughter Aurora begin to question the complex family ties that bind them as they are pulled in different directions by impending nuptials, unexpected allies, and dark new forces at play.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBarbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow (2007)
Elina goes to a fairy school to learn dancing and fairy magic. The spring of the fairy land is soon threatened by evil Laverna who intends to prevent fairies from performing the annual vital rainbow dance. Elina must stop quarreling with her fellow students and unite them to save the first bud of the spring.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSofia the First: Once Upon a Princess (2012)
Set in the storybook world of Enchancia, the music-filled movie follows Sofia, an average girl whose life suddenly changes when her mother marries the king and she is whisked off to live in a castle with her mom, new step-father, King Roland II, and step-siblings, Amber and James. Along the way this ordinary girl learns to navigate the extraordinary life of royalty, and in the process makes everyone around her feel special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Es war einmal?
The closest matches to Es war einmal are Babes in the Woods (1932), Descendants 2 (2017) and Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2002). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Es war einmal?
Start with Babes in the Woods (1932), the closest match to Es war einmal.
What is the highest-rated movie like Es war einmal?
Descendants 2 (2017), rated 7.4/10 by 1,842 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Es war einmal?
Disenchanted (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like Es war einmal?
Yes: The Singing Ringing Tree (1957).
How are movies similar to Es war einmal chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Es war einmal, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.



















