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Movies that feel like The Secret of NIMH (1982)

If you loved The Secret of NIMH, the closest films we have are The Cat Returns (2002), The Land Before Time (1988) and Steven Universe: The Movie (2019). All three share The Secret of NIMH's epic and whimsical feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 10 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max and Netflix and others, checked against today's data.

A widowed field mouse must move her family -- including an ailing son -- to escape a farmer's plow. Aided by a crow and a pack of superintelligent, escaped lab rats, the brave mother struggles to transplant her home to firmer ground.

πŸ… 93% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.5 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Don Bluthepicwhimsicalcontemplativewarmcozydreamlike

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If The Secret of NIMH hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: The Secret of Kells (2009)

The Cat Returns poster
The Cat Returns
2002 Β· dir. Hiroyuki Morita
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.1adventure Β· fantasy Β· animation

The same preoccupation in both: crow

The difference: 20 years apart, and the 2000s show

Young Haru rescues a cat from being run over, but soon learns it's no ordinary feline; it happens to be the Prince of the Cats.

Feels alike?
The Land Before Time poster
The Land Before Time
1988 Β· dir. Don Bluth
πŸ… 65%β˜… 7.4family Β· animation Β· adventure

Don Bluth directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

An orphaned brontosaurus named Littlefoot sets off in search of the legendary Great Valley. A land of lush vegetation where the dinosaurs can thrive and live in peace. Along the way he meets four other young dinosaurs, each one a different species, and they encounter several obstacles as they learn to work together in order to survive.

Feels alike?
Steven Universe: The Movie poster
Steven Universe: The Movie
2019 Β· dir. Rebecca Sugar
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.7animation Β· family Β· adventure

Both land scale and whimsy at once

The difference: Leans tv movie where The Secret of NIMH does not

Two years after bringing peace to the galaxy, Steven Universe sees his past come back to haunt him in the form of a deranged Gem who wants to destroy the Earth.

Feels alike?
Anastasia poster
Anastasia
1997 Β· dir. Gary Goldman
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.2animation Β· family Β· fantasy

Villain runs into good against evil in each of them

The difference: Missing the stillness of The Secret of NIMH

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.

Feels alike?
An American Tail poster
An American Tail
1986 Β· dir. Don Bluth
πŸ… 76%β˜… 6.9adventure Β· animation Β· comedy

Both are Don Bluth films, and they rhyme

The difference: Not nearly as cozy as The Secret of NIMH

A young mouse named Fievel and his family decide to migrate to America, a "land without cats," at the turn of the 20th century. But somehow, Fievel ends up in the New World alone and must fend off not only the felines he never thought he'd have to deal with again but also the loneliness of being away from home.

Feels alike?
Frozen poster
Frozen
2013 Β· dir. Jennifer Lee
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.4animation Β· family Β· adventure

Villain sits at the heart of each

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.

Feels alike?
How to Train Your Dragon poster
How to Train Your Dragon
2010 Β· dir. Chris Sanders
πŸ… 99%β˜… 8.1fantasy Β· adventure Β· animation

Warm where it counts, cozy underneath

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.

Feels alike?
Brave poster
Brave
2012 Β· dir. Brenda Chapman
πŸ… 78%β˜… 7.1adventure Β· animation Β· family

Dreamlike adventure in both cases

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. Also figuring into Merida's quest β€” and serving as comic relief β€” are the kingdom's three lords: the enormous Lord MacGuffin, the surly Lord Macintosh, and the disagreeable Lord Dingwall.

Feels alike?
Peter Pan poster
Peter Pan
1953 Β· dir. Clyde Geronimi
πŸ… 79%β˜… 7.3animation Β· family Β· adventure

Animation built on scale, twice over

Leaving the safety of their nursery behind, Wendy, Michael and John follow Peter Pan to a magical world where childhood lasts forever. But while in Neverland, the kids must face Captain Hook and foil his attempts to get rid of Peter for good.

Feels alike?
Alice in Wonderland poster
Alice in Wonderland
1951 Β· dir. Clyde Geronimi
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.3animation Β· family Β· fantasy

Both trade on whimsy more than on being family

On a golden afternoon, wildly curious young Alice tumbles into the burrow and enters the merry, madcap world of Wonderland full of whimsical escapades.

Feels alike?
The Polar Express poster
The Polar Express
2004 Β· dir. Robert Zemeckis
πŸ… 55%β˜… 6.6adventure Β· animation Β· family

Fantasy with a pulse of warmth, in both cases

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.

Feels alike?
The Last Unicorn poster
The Last Unicorn
1982 Β· dir. Jules Bass
πŸ… 75%β˜… 7.3fantasy Β· animation Β· family

Cozy drama, and it commits to that

A unicorn learns from a riddle-speaking butterfly that she is supposedly the last of her kind, all the others having been herded away by the monstrous Red Bull. The unicorn sets out to discover the truth behind the butterfly's words. She is eventually joined on her quest by Schmendrick, a second-rate magician, and Molly Grue, a middle-aged woman who dreamed all her life of seeing a unicorn. Their journey leads them far from home, all the way to the castle of King Haggard.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more epic?

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The best-reviewed films that share The Secret of NIMH's defining feeling.