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How to Train Your Dragon poster

Movies that feel likeHow to Train Your Dragon (2010)

As the son of a Viking leader on the cusp of manhood, shy Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III faces a rite of passage: he must kill a dragon to prove his warrior mettle. But after downing a feared dragon, he realizes that he no longer wants to destroy it, and instead befriends the beast – which he names Toothless – much to the chagrin of his warrior father.

If you loved How to Train Your Dragon, the closest films we have are Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010), Brave (2012) and Epic (2013). All three share How to Train Your Dragon's dreamlike and epic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Secret of Kells (2009).

🍅 99% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Chris Sandersdreamlikeepicwhimsicalwarmcozy
8 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Disney Plus

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If How to Train Your Dragon hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) · How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole poster
🍅 52%★ 6.9animation · adventure · family

An unlikely young hero taking wing against a warlike order

The difference: Grimmer and self-serious — owl warfare with little humor

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.

Brave poster
Brave
2012 · dir. Mark Andrews
🍅 78%★ 7.1adventure · animation · familyDisney+

A stubborn kid defying a parent's idea of who they should be

The difference: Sharper and earthbound — folklore mischief instead of soaring

In the mystical Scottish Highlands, Merida is the princess of a kingdom ruled by King Fergus and Queen Elinor. An unruly daughter and an accomplished archer, Merida one day defies a sacred custom of the land and inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom. In an attempt to set things right, Merida seeks out an eccentric old Wise Woman and is granted an ill-fated wish.

Epic poster
Epic
2013 · dir. Chris Wedge
🍅 65%★ 6.6animation · adventure · familyMax

A hidden world of wild nature, sky battles and found courage

The difference: Generic beats — the wonder never lands as hard

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 characters in order to save their world—and ours.

Frozen poster
Frozen
2013 · dir. Jennifer Lee
🍅 89%★ 7.4animation · family · adventureDisney+

A misunderstood outsider and the family love that finally lands

The difference: Musical and princess-shaped — no wind-in-your-face flying

Young princess Anna of Arendelle dreams about finding true love at her sister Elsa’s coronation. Fate takes her on a dangerous journey in an attempt to end the eternal winter that has fallen over the kingdom. She's accompanied by ice delivery man Kristoff, his reindeer Sven, and snowman Olaf. On an adventure where she will find out what friendship, courage, family, and true love really means.

The Secret of Kells poster
The Secret of Kells
2009 · dir. Tomm Moore
🍅 90%★ 7.5animation · family · fantasy

Viking-era myth where a boy's courage outgrows the walls around him

The difference: Hand-drawn and hushed — illuminated art over soaring action

Adventure awaits 12 year old Brendan who must fight Vikings and a serpent god to find a crystal and complete the legendary Book of Kells. In order to finish Brother Aiden's book, Brendan must overcome his deepest fears on a secret quest that will take him beyond the abbey walls and into the enchanted forest where dangerous mythical creatures hide. Will Brendan succeed in his quest?

Anastasia poster
Anastasia
1997 · dir. Gary Goldman
🍅 83%★ 7.2animation · family · fantasyDisney+

A lonely young person chasing belonging across a big cold world

The difference: Old-fashioned musical romance — no animal bond at its centre

Ten years after she was separated from her family, an eighteen-year-old orphan with vague memories of the past sets out to Paris in hopes of reuniting with her grandmother. She is accompanied by two con men, who intend to pass her off as the Grand Duchess Anastasia to the Dowager Empress for a reward.

Return to Never Land poster
Return to Never Land
2002 · dir. Robin Budd
🍅 46%★ 5.8adventure · fantasy · animationDisney+

A doubting child swept into flight and old-fashioned wonder

The difference: A thin Disney sequel — modest animation, made for little kids

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.

The Polar Express poster
The Polar Express
2004 · dir. Robert Zemeckis
🍅 55%★ 6.6adventure · animation · family

Wonder handed to a doubter who has to choose to believe

The difference: Gentler and dreamier — a single night, with little at stake

When a doubting young boy takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery that shows him that the wonder of life never fades for those who believe.

Kirikou and the Sorceress poster
Kirikou and the Sorceress
1998 · dir. Michel Ocelot
🍅 96%★ 7.5fantasy · adventure · animationPrime Video

Both land dream logic and scale at once

Drawn from elements of West African folk tales, it depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves his village from the evil witch Karaba.

Arthur and the Invisibles poster
Arthur and the Invisibles
2006 · dir. Luc Besson
🍅 21%★ 6adventure · fantasy · animation

Whimsical where it counts, warm underneath

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Ten-year-old Arthur, in a bid to save his grandfather's house from being demolished, goes looking for some much-fabled hidden treasure in the land of the Minimoys, tiny people living in harmony with nature.

Song of the Sea poster
Song of the Sea
2014 · dir. Tomm Moore
🍅 99%★ 8family · animation · fantasy

Fantasy with a pulse of comfort, in both cases

The difference: Takes it somewhere less epic than How to Train Your Dragon does

The story of the last Seal Child’s journey home. After their mother’s disappearance, Ben and Saoirse are sent to live with Granny in the city. When they resolve to return to their home by the sea, their journey becomes a race against time as they are drawn into a world Ben knows only from his mother’s folktales. But this is no bedtime story; these fairy folk have been in our world far too long. It soon becomes clear to Ben that Saoirse is the key to their survival.

Ponyo poster
Ponyo
2008 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 91%★ 7.6animation · fantasy · familyMax

Dreamlike animation, and it commits to that

When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. Ponyo is a curious, energetic young creature who yearns to be human, but even as she causes chaos around the house, her father, a powerful sorcerer, schemes to return Ponyo to the sea.

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The best-reviewed films that share How to Train Your Dragon’s defining feeling.