Movies like The Pied Piper (1986)
The best movies like The Pied Piper (1986) are Hilda and the Mountain King (2021), A Christmas Carol (2009) and Wildwood (2026). If The Pied Piper hooked you with its animation and fantasy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWildwood (2026)8.5/10 from 255 votes
- NewestWildwood (2026)Released 2026
Hilda and the Mountain King (2021)
When Hilda wakes up in the body of a troll, she must use her wits and courage to get back home, become human again — and save the city of Trolberg.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Christmas Carol (2009)
Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWildwood (2026)
Prue and her classmate Curtis are drawn into a magical forest filled with enchanted creatures, loyal allies, and formidable adversaries as they embark on a desperate quest to rescue Prue's abducted baby brother from a murder of crows led by a mysterious woman named Alexandra.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWizards (1977)
After the death of his mother, evil mutant wizard Blackwolf discovers long-lost military technologies. Full of ego and ambition, Blackwolf claims his mother's throne, assembles an army, and sets out to brainwash and conquer Earth. Meanwhile, Blackwolf's gentle twin brother, the bearded sage Avatar, calls upon his own magical abilities to foil Blackwolf's plans for world domination — even if it means eliminating his own flesh and blood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWelcome to Smelliville (2021)
The Oggly family arrive at the municipal rubbish dump of Smelliville and must look for a new home, but they never feel really welcome anywhere. They stink and are for most humans just a tad too oggly. When Firebottom, the family dragon, crash-lands on the run-down rubbish tip of the small town of Smelliville, the Ogglies at once feel at home. And it's here they want to stay.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGuillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)
During the rise of fascism in Mussolini's Italy, a wooden boy brought magically to life struggles to live up to his father's expectations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMonster High: Frights, Camera, Action! (2014)
When Draculaura is led to believe she's the rightful heir to the vampire throne, she and her best ghoulfriends are whisked away to Transylvania for a royal coronation to die for. But they soon discover the hunt for the queen is not over yet. The Ghouls must locate an ancient artifact known as the Vampire's Heart in order to discover the identity of the true Vampire Queen. It's a fangtastic adventure that will lead them from the Tower of Londoom, to a haunted river boat in New Goreleans and finally to the glamorous boo-vie lots of Hauntlywood. Could this be the moment when Draculara finally receives her vampire powers and discovers screams really can come true?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMonster High: Scaris City of Frights (2013)
The Monstruitas of Monster High are obsessed with going to Scaris, The City of Frights for Fashion international competition where the winner will become the apprentice of the world famous Madame Ghostier designer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJames and the Giant Peach (1996)
When the young orphan boy James spills a magic bag of crocodile tongues, he finds himself in possession of a giant peach that flies him away to strange lands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEpic (2013)
A teenager finds herself transported to a deep forest setting where a battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil is taking place. She bands together with a rag-tag group of characters in order to save their world—and ours.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRise of the Guardians (2012)
When an evil spirit known as Pitch Black lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies 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 & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Canterville Ghost (1996)
When a teenaged girl moves to England, with her brothers and parents into the ancient Canterville Hall, she's not at all happy. Especially as there's a ghost and a mysterious re-appearing bloodstain on the hearth. She campaigns to go back home, and her dad, believing the ghost's pranks are Ginny's, is ready to send her back. But then Ginny actually meets the elusive 17th-century Sir Simon de Canterville (not to mention the cute teenaged duke next door), and she sets her hand to the task of freeing Sir Simon from his curse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrimal: Tales of Savagery (2019)
Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: Tales of Savagery features a caveman and a dinosaur on the brink of extinction. Bonded by tragedy, this unlikely friendship becomes the only hope of survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisScooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights (1994)
Scooby-Doo and Shaggy travel to Arabia to become the Caliph's Royal Food Tasters. But they bite off more than they can chew and are forced to run for their lives! It's a wild magic carpet ride as Scooby-Doo, Shaggy and their genie (Yogi Bear) and a jolly sailor named Sinbad (Magilla Gorilla) take you on an adventure of mistaken identities, exotic locations and fun-filled action and surprises!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNorthfork (2003)
The year is 1955, and a great flood is coming to Northfork, Montana. A new hydroelectric dam is about to be installed in the mountains above the town, ready to submerge the valley in the name of progress. It is the responsibility of a six-man Evacuation Committee to relocate the townsfolk to higher ground. Most have duly departed, but a few stubborn stragglers remain – among them a priest caring for a sickly orphan, a boy whose fevered visions are leading him to believe he is a member of a roaming band of lost angels desperately searching for a way home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrolls Holiday (2017)
When the eternally optimistic Poppy, queen of the Trolls, learns that the Bergens no longer have any holidays on their calendar, she enlists the help of Branch and the rest of the gang on a delightfully quirky mission to fix something that the Bergens don't think is broken.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)
When a sprite named Crysta shrinks a human boy, Zak, down to her size, he vows to help the magical fairy folk stop a greedy logging company from destroying their home: the pristine rainforest known as FernGully. Zak and his new friends fight to defend FernGully from lumberjacks — and the vengeful spirit they accidentally unleash after chopping down a magic tree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWatership Down (1978)
When the warren belonging to a community of rabbits is threatened, a brave group led by Fiver, Bigwig, Blackberry and Hazel leave their homeland in a search of a safe new haven.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLegend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010)
When a young owl is abducted by an evil Owl army, he must escape with new-found friends and seek the legendary Guardians to stop the menace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInu-Oh (2022)
A cursed dancer and a blind musician — both ostracized by society — become business partners and inseparable friends as their larger-than-life concerts propel them to stardom in 14th century Japan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCurse of the Golden Flower (2006)
During China's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as his wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest. Now his control over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSlow Bob in the Lower Dimensions (1991)
Nightmarish pilot about Robert Potemkin, a man with deformed back, who lives in the attic of his family's house. One night, his siamese sisters plan a prank on him, but sentient lizards send him to a parallel world to save photo-people.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & fantasy
Ratatouille (2007)
In one of Paris's finest restaurants, Remy, a determined young rat, dreams of becoming a renowned French chef. Torn between his family's wishes and his true calling, Remy and his pal Linguini set in motion a hilarious chain of events that turns the City of Lights upside down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & fantasy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisM (1931)
In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisUnderworld: Evolution (2006)
As the war between the vampires and the Lycans rages on, Selene, a former member of the Death Dealers (an elite vampire special forces unit that hunts werewolves), and Michael, the werewolf hybrid, work together in an effort to unlock the secrets of their respective bloodlines.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDelicatessen (1991)
In a post-apocalyptic world, the residents of an apartment above the butcher shop receive an occasional delicacy of meat, something that is in low supply. A young man new in town falls in love with the butcher's daughter, which causes conflicts in her family, who need the young man for other business-related purposes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCELSIUM (TBA)
When a young man opens his window on a hot summer night, an unwanted demonic creature is allowed inside - throwing him into a hot, sweaty fight for his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Begotten (1991)
Begotten is the creation myth brought to life, the story of no less than the violent death of God and the (re)birth of nature on a barren earth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last King of Scotland (2006)
Young Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan decides it's time for an adventure after he finishes his formal education, so he decides to try his luck in Uganda, and arrives during the downfall of President Obote. General Idi Amin comes to power and asks Garrigan to become his personal doctor.
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 The Pied Piper?
The closest matches to The Pied Piper are Hilda and the Mountain King (2021), A Christmas Carol (2009) and Wildwood (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Pied Piper?
Start with Hilda and the Mountain King (2021), the closest match to The Pied Piper.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Pied Piper?
Wildwood (2026), rated 8.5/10 by 255 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Pied Piper?
Wildwood (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Pied Piper chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Pied Piper, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.