Best movies like Back to the Secret Garden
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A youngster living in a stately home discovers the magical garden Mary, Colin & Dickon stumbled across years before - but faces a battle with the housekeeper over whether to nurture it.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 991
Genere: Family, Fantasy
Country: USA, Germany, UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, atmospheric, feel good, serious
Best tv shows and movies like Back to the Secret Garden (2000):
Similar in 88%
Karla & Jonas (2010)
Plot Summary:
Karla met Jonas during a summer vacation at the lake. After being unable to stop thinking about him and their kiss she phones him, making up a school assignment about children living in an orphanage, which is precisely where Jonas lives.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 259
Genere: Family
Country: Denmark
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: sentimental, feel good, light, sincere, captivating, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 83%
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life (2011)
Plot Summary:
Jeremy Fink and his best friend Lizzy must search high and low throughout the streets of Manhattan for clues to unlock the mysterious box he received a month before his birthday.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 386
Genere: Family
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, sentimental, captivating, light, feel good, entertaining, touching, interesting
Similar in 90%
The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure (2012)
Plot Summary:
It's Schluufy's birthday, and the Oogieloves (Goobie, Zoozie and Toofie), along with their friends J. Edgar, Windy Window and Ruffy, are organizing a party. (Shh! It's a secret.) Everything is going along just perfectly until J. Edgar trips and loses the last five magical balloons in all of Lovelyloveville--OH NO! The Oogiloves set out to find the magical balloons in time to save their friend's party. Along the way, they meet some very interesting characters indeed, including Dotty Rounder (Cloris Leachman), Bobby Wobbly (Carey Elwes), Milky Marvin (Chazz Palminteri), Rosalie Rosebud (Toni Braxton) and Lola and Lero Sombero (Christopher Lloyd and Jaime Pressly). Can these new friends help them recover the magical balloons and get back to the cottage in time to celebrate Schluufy's surprise birthday?.
IMDB Rating: 1.7
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Musical
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: humorous, sentimental, semi serious, light, entertaining
Similar in 84%
The Secret of the Magic Gourd (2007)
Plot Summary:
The Secret of the Magic Gourd follows the wondrous adventures of a young schoolboy named Wang Bao. When Wang Bao discovers a magical gourd that can instantly grant his every wish, the awkward child suddenly becomes a hero amongst his curious classmates. When the gourd proves more of a burden than a blessing and the boy decides to get rid of it, he quickly discovers that's easier said than done.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 849
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: China, Hong Kong, USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: captivating, entertaining, light, feel good, semi serious
Similar in 89%
Gooby (2009)
Plot Summary:
Imagine if you'd had a six-foot tall monster to help you through the rough times when you were 11! Willy is terrified about moving into the family's new house. He's convinced it's filled with evil space aliens out to get him. In response to his wish for someone to save him, Gooby comes to life as a loveable, full-size, scraggly, orange, furry creature who in fact seems more frightened of the world than Willy. The two have hair-raising adventures and learn something about the power of friendship. In the end, Gooby fulfills Willy's initial wish by bringing Willy and his dad together in a touching and exciting climax.
IMDB Rating: 2.9
IMDB Votes: 968
Genere: Family, Fantasy
Country: Canada
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sincere, feel good, light, captivating, entertaining, offbeat, humorous, not serious
Similar in 88%
The Magicians (2010)
Plot Summary:
Little Ben, a great admirer of an illusionist, dreams of making magic, and convinces her father to have his own show. The downside is that the parent is quite clumsy and accidentally makes Ben"s partner dissapear. And the police does not much believe in the magic.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 422
Genere: Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, captivating, feel good, humorous, light, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 87%
Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller (1988)
Plot Summary:
When the joker Tommy Tricker plays some practical jokes on some of his friends, his best friend Ralph, a stamp collector, discovers the secret of "stamp travel" to make him travel around the world on a stamp to bring back the mysterious Charles Merriweather, who never returned on a stamp for 75 years.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Country: Canada
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, humorous, semi serious, independent film, nostalgic
Similar in 90%
A Christmoose Carol (2005)
Plot Summary:
A bullied young boy befriends a flying, talking moose that crashed through his ceiling after a test-flight with Santa went terribly awry in this holiday film for the whole family. But later, just as Mr. Moose and Beril strike up a friendship, the young boy's nefarious landlord Mr. Pannecke decides a mounted moose head would make a fine new addition to his trophy wall. But Santa has other plans for Mr. Moose, and when he turns up looking for his lost pal, Beril is faced with the prospect of losing his one and only friend.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 299
Genere: Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: Germany
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, feel good, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 83%
Body Troopers (1996)
Plot Summary:
A little kid shrinks himselfs so that he can travel into the body of his grandfather. Here he has to kill the kidney-stone his grandfather is suffering from.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Country: Norway
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, offbeat, feel good, humorous, surreal, semi serious, fast, cult film
Similar in 80%
The Nutcracker (1993)
Plot Summary:
On Christmas Eve, a little girl named Marie falls asleep and dreams herself into a fantastic world in which her toys become larger than life. She meets up with the Nutcracker Prince who takes her on a journey to his kingdom and defends her from the Mouse King.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Family, Fantasy, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: feel good, semi serious, humorous, stylized, independent film, fairy tale, atmospheric, whimsical
Similar in 78%
Mel (1998)
Plot Summary:
Set in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, the legend of Swanson Lake is kept by one man, Bill (Ernest Borgnine). And he's not about to surrender it! When Bill's grandsons come for a summer visit, they stumble into a big-time adventure with a giant turtle named Mel. When Bill's neighbor Bailey (Jack Scalia) tries to kidnap Mel in order to feature him in a proposed theme park, the grandsons plot to hide Mel from the neighbor. Then the fun begins, and Mel becomes an unlikely hero!.
IMDB Rating: 3.9
IMDB Votes: 278
Genere: Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: independent film, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 84%
After the Wizard (2011)
Plot Summary:
A 12-year-old Kansas orphan turns to the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman for help during a difficult time. She imagines that things have not gone well in Oz since the Wizard left and that the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman must travel to Kansas to find Dorothy.
IMDB Rating: 3.1
IMDB Votes: 378
Genere: Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, semi serious, exciting, captivating
Similar in 79%
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1989)
Plot Summary:
Bonnie and cousin Sylvia, two very young children, are left at home in Willoughby Hall while their parents travel overseas. Only the servants and the prowling wolves are their companions. News arrives that Lord and Lady Willoughby are missing and an evil looking governess suddenly arrives at the hall.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 542
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: UK
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: spooky, independent film, serious
Similar in 89%
The Snow Queen (2005)
Plot Summary:
When Gerda befriends penniless Kay their growing friendship is cut short as one cold winter night a fragment of glass pierces Kay's eye, turning his heart cold. Enchanted by the Snow Queen he is swept away on her chariot over the glittering landscape to her frozen palace in the North. Gerda embarks on a magical and perilous journey to find and rescue Kay, finally arriving in the realm of the Snow Queen. But will this little girl in her red velvet cloak be able to match the power of the winter witch?.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 434
Genere: Family, Fantasy
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 56 min
Plot tags: semi serious, humorous, sincere, captivating, mysterious, dark fantasy, fairy tale
Similar in 75%
The Secret Garden (1987)
Plot Summary:
When a spoiled English girl living in 19th century India loses both parents in a cholera epidemic, she is sent back to England to live in a country mansion. The lord is a strange old man-- frail and deformed, immensely kind but so melancholy. She wishes to discover what has caused him so much sorrow and to bring joy back to the household. It all must have something to do with the screams and wails which echo through the house at night and no one wants to talk about.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Family, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, sentimental, light, captivating, disturbing, sad, fairy tale, atmospheric, serious
Similar in 87%
The White Pony (1999)
Plot Summary:
The search for a mystical pony in Ireland.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 225
Genere: Family, Fantasy
Country: Ireland, USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: offbeat, feel good, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 83%
Where Is Winky's Horse? (2007)
Plot Summary:
In the sequel to "Winky's Horse", 8-year old Winky looks after the horse of St Nicholas. Then one day the horse runs away.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 462
Genere: Family
Country: Netherlands, Belgium
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: feel good, light, captivating, entertaining, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 82%
Heidi (1968)
Plot Summary:
Heidi is an orphaned girl initially raised by her aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland. In order to get a job in Frankfurt, Dete brings 5-year-old Heidi to her grandfather, who has been at odds with the villagers for years and lives in seclusion on the alm. He at first resents Heidi's arrival, but the girl manages to penetrate his harsh exterior and subsequently has a delightful stay with him and her best friend, young Peter the goat-herd.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 665
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: West Germany, USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, feel good, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
Adventures of Bailey: Christmas Hero (2012)
Plot Summary:
It's "Christmas time" at the Baker household, and Bailey is at it again. Worried that he will not get any presents from Santa because he's been a bad doggie, Bailey learns about a mysterious Native American Indian called the "Handsome Fellow," who may be able to make his Christmas wishes come true. With thoughts of tennis balls, stuffed animals and more dog bones then he can count, he sets out to find this legend, inadvertently dragging his brother along for the ride. But when Bailey's misguided missteps cause harm to Duke and even threaten their family's Christmas plans, Bailey must not only find a way to save his brother, but he is also forced to make a big decision... one that just might enable him to finally understand the "true" meaning of Christmas.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 118
Genere: Family
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, sentimental, feel good, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 75%
Little Ghost (1997)
Plot Summary:
While on location in a spooky Italian villa with his Hollywood big-shot mom and her dorky boyfriend, twelve-year-old Kevin befriends a Renaissance-era girl ghost who helps him cause unrest on the set.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Family, Fantasy
Country: Romania, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, feel good, humorous, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 86%
Northpole (2014)
Plot Summary:
Northpole, the magical city where Santa and his elves live and work is in trouble. Families around the globe have gotten too busy to enjoy the season together, and Northpole depends on their holiday happiness to keep running. In the hopes of turning things around, a determined young elf befriends a little boy with a lot of spirit. His skeptical journalist mom doesn’t have room in her heart for anything but the facts, so it’s going to take a little nudge from his charming teacher to create an unbeatable Christmas team to turn around this town and share the importance of the season with the whole world.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: feel good, sentimental, captivating, humorous, serious
Similar in 87%
The Secret Garden (2020)
Plot Summary:
Mary Lennox is born in India to wealthy British parents who never wanted her. When her parents suddenly die, she is sent back to England to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven. She meets her sickly cousin Colin and the two children find a wondrous secret garden lost in the grounds of Misselthwaite Manor.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Family, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: UK, France, USA, China
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, mysterious, sentimental, exciting, touching, feel good, light, crying, period drama
Similar in 90%
Roberto Benigni's Pinocchio (2002)
Plot Summary:
Roberto Benigni adapts the classic children's tale by Carlo Collodi for the big-budget family-oriented comedy Pinocchio.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: Italy
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, feel good, humorous, semi serious, stylized, light, retro, anamorphic, scary, inspirational
Similar in 89%
Kids World (2000)
Plot Summary:
What would you wish for if you were eleven and could have anything in the world? Your parents don't understand you. Your teenage brother is constantly getting you in trouble...for things he did! You're in love with the twelve-year-old girl across the street... who, unfortunately, is dating the local bully. Then, one afternoon, while being chased by the bully, you fall into a sinkhole, which happens to be in an ancient Indian burial ground. You find a glass, which you discover turns out to be a witchdoctor's Wishing Glass. When Ryan Mitchell discovers the Wishing Glass, he wishes that all the teenagers and parents would disappear. Soon it's "Kids World," with no adults and teenagers - nobody over the age of 12 anywhere! You can only imagine what happens next... *IT'S A CANADIAN FILM*.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 303
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: Germany, New Zealand, USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, semi serious, independent film, suspense
Similar in 90%
The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996)
Plot Summary:
One of puppet-maker Geppetto's creations comes magically to life. This puppet, Pinocchio, has one major desire and that is to become a real boy someday. In order to accomplish this goal he has to learn to act responsibly. This film shows you the adventures on which he learns valuable lessons.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Musical
Country: USA, Germany, UK, Czech Republic, France
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, touching, offbeat, feel good, humorous, mysterious, anamorphic, independent film, semi serious, exciting
Similar in 79%
The Secret of Moonacre (2008)
Plot Summary:
When 13 year old Maria Merryweather's father dies, leaving her orphaned and homeless, she is forced to leave her luxurious London life to go and live with Sir Benjamin, an eccentric uncle she didn't know she had, at the mysterious Moonacre Manor.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Romance
Country: Hungary, UK, France, Australia, USA, New Zealand
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, feel good, sentimental, captivating, mystical, romantic, scenic, mystic, period piece, happy
Similar in 80%
When Santa Fell to Earth (2011)
Plot Summary:
Christmas is just two weeks away, it is pouring with rain, and Ben is struggling to get into the Christmas spirit. Suddenly, Bens life takes a turn for the better when Santa Niklas Goodfellow and his Christmas caravan come crashing down to Earth in the middle of thunderstorm and land in Foggy Lane. Santa is on the run from the ruthless Gerold Geronimus Goblynch and his army of nutcrackers who have outlawed all of the old magical ways and have transformed the bright and peaceful Christmas world into a dark and hostile place, governed by greed and money. Goblynch has banned work for all Santas and confined the Christmas angels to tiny prison cells, where they can no longer hear the dearest wishes of children. Goblynch also wants to force Santa Niklas Goodfellow, the last real Santa, to work for his commercialized Christmas company and forces him to do hard labour in the ordering department of the Christmas Palace.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 270
Genere: Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: Germany
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, semi serious, melancholic, sentimental, touching, captivating, educational
Similar in 85%
Christmas Story (2007)
Plot Summary:
Hundreds of years ago in Lapland, a little boy named Nikolas loses his family in an accident. The villagers decide to look after the orphaned boy together. Once a year - at Christmas - Nikolas moves to a new home. To show his gratitude, Nikolas decides to make toys for the children of the families as good-bye presents. Over the years, Nikolas's former adoptive families become many, and soon almost every house has presents on its doorstep on Christmas morning. At thirteen, Nikolas is sent to live and work with Iisakki, a grumpy old carpenter, who forbids Nikolas to continue making presents for Christmas. Gradually, however, Nikolas wins Iisakki's trust. Together they begin to look after the Christmas traditional that Nikolas has begun. When the aged Iisakki has to leave Nikolas and move away, the tradition of Christmas presents is once again at risk. Thankfully, Nikolas comes up with a solution that brings children joy every Christmas, even continuing to today.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: Finland
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, captivating, serious
Similar in 83%
The Secret Garden (1993)
Plot Summary:
A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and neglected. Aided by one of the servants' boys, she begins restoring the garden, and eventually discovers some other secrets of the manor.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 44000
Genere: Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: costume drama, touching, atmospheric, feel good, fairy tale, sentimental, period piece, serious, realistic, light
Similar in 83%
Pollyanna (2003)
Plot Summary:
Pollyanna Whittier goes to live with her wealthy but bitter aunt after the tragic death of her father. Pollyanna shares a game her father taught her -- the 'Glad Game' -- in which everyone can find a silver lining in even the darkest cloud, and her sunny nature, good humor and determination to look on the bright side of life prove to have an astonishing effect on those around her. With the help of her orphaned friend, Jimmy Bean, she casts her spell on the grumpiest townsfolk of Beldingsville -- including the cynical shut-in Mrs. Snow, the morose millionaire Mr. Pendleton and the enigmatic Dr. Chilton. And Pollyanna masterminds the romance between her Aunt's maid, Nancy, and the handyman, Tim. It is only Aunt Polly, who cannot bring herself to embrace Pollyanna's innocence and joy. But all is not straightforward in Pollyanna's war against pessimism, since she must overcome a personal tragedy that threatens to banish "glad" from her vocabulary forever.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, uplifting, sentimental, realistic, semi serious, humorous, tear jerker, period drama, tearjerker