Best movies like Flipper
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Many kids might say their best friend is a puppy or a pony. But for 12-year-old Sandy, the most special pet of all is the exuberant dolphin he rescues and who returns the favor by rescuing Sandy from sharks.The dolphin named Flipper first swam into the world's minds and hearts in this 1963 film starring Chuck Connors and Luke Halpin as Sandy (a role he would continue in the 1964-68 TV series that followed.) James B. Clark, a long-time family filmmaker whose credits include "Island of the Blue Dolphins" and "My Side of the Mountain," directs the story of hard times (Hurricane Hazel and its aftermath) and joy (Sandy's dolphin-powered rides through the waves). And two fins up for Mitzie, the animal star who plays flipper.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Family, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: melancholic, touching, exciting, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, sentimental, romantic, clever
Best tv shows and movies like Flipper (1963):
Similar in 88%
Blue Fin (1978)
Plot Summary:
Based on the children's novel by celebrated South Australian author 'Colin Thiele' , this is an emotional father and son story about tuna fishing of Southern Blue Fin tuna in South Australia's Port Lincoln fishing district. Accident prone son Snook is forever making mistakes much to the chagrin of his father Pascoe. But when tragedy strikes the fishing boat during a deep sea fishing trek in the Southern Ocean, the boy is called on to become a man in a rites of sea passage to reconcile is past mishaps and save both his father and the ship from certain disaster.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 268
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: Australia
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: semi serious, independent film
Similar in 88%
Unnatural History (2010)
Plot Summary:
Teenager Henry Griffin acquired many skills through years of travelling the world with his anthropologist parents. Sent to live with his uncle and cousin in Washington DC, and with the help of his cousin Jasper and friend Maggie, he must now use those skills to solve the modern mysteries of high school.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, History, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, humorous, semi serious, feel good, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 89%
Flipper (1995)
Plot Summary:
Flipper, is an American revival television series of the original 1964 Flipper television series. The first two seasons aired in first-run syndication; seasons 3 and 4 aired on the PAX network. The 1995 version brought back Bud Ricks as a scientist doing marine research in Florida. The dolphin Flipper was one with whom Dr. Ricks was working. This TV show is available for online viewing on hulu in the United States and at Rogers On Demand in Canada. Although the show was set in Bal Harbour, Florida, it was largely filmed in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. However three episodes during the first season, including the pilot, were filmed in Pigeon Key, Florida and at the Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key, Florida.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Family, Mystery
Country: USA, Australia
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: feel good, realistic, captivating, entertaining, light, serious
Similar in 84%
Bigfoot (2009)
Plot Summary:
The whole family will enjoy huge laughs and giant, hairy adventures with this touching tale about a big-hearted Bigfoot. Lost in the forest, he befriends three kids, Percy, Madison and Leonard, who are determined to protect him. When two local bullies kidnap the legendary creature with plans to sell him to the highest bidder, it's up to his human buddies to rescue him and return him to his home.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 385
Genere: Adventure, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: feel good, captivating, entertaining, light, touching, offbeat, humorous, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 81%
Flipper's New Adventure (1964)
Plot Summary:
While widowed Porter Ricks is away at school learning to be a park ranger, his teen-aged son, Sandy, under adult supervision from a neighbor, remains at the family home in the Florida Keys with his pet dolphin, Flipper. While Po (as Porter is called by most) is away, Sandy learns that the family home, built on state land, is being torn down to make way for a highway. In turn, Sandy would be sent to live with relatives, while Flipper would be sent to the seaquarium permanently. Not wanting to be separated from Flipper, Sandy, using his skiff, runs away with Flipper. A distraught Po returns home to look for his son. Meanwhile, the Hopewell family from Britain are vacationing in the area. Their sailboat is hijacked by three escaped convicts, who take the father, Halsey, hostage, and set the three Hopewell women - mother Julia, and teen-aged daughters Gwen and Penny - adrift, they who eventually land on the island where Sandy is hiding... Written by Huggo.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 626
Genere: Family, Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, suspenseful, semi serious, cult film
Similar in 77%
Flipper (1964)
Plot Summary:
Flipper, from Ivan Tors Films in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television, is an American television program first broadcast on NBC from September 19, 1964, until April 15, 1967. Flipper, a bottlenose dolphin, is the companion animal of Porter Ricks, Chief Warden at fictional Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve in southern Florida, and his two young sons, Sandy and Bud. The show has been dubbed an "aquatic Lassie", and a considerable amount of juvenile merchandise inspired by the show was produced during its first-run.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: feel good, realistic, captivating, light, semi serious, sitcom, serious
Similar in 88%
Namu, the Killer Whale (1966)
Plot Summary:
Based on the amazing true story of a marine biologist (Robert Lansing) who befriends a six-ton Orcawhale, this "honest, fascinating and vigorously wholesome film" (Citizen-News) is heartwarming fun for the whole family. Like all close pals, Hank (Lansing) and Namu love spending time together. Whether sharing a morning swim or soaking up the afternoon sun, these two are virtually inseparable. Trouble is, the local fishermen mistakenly think that Namu is a threat. Racing against time, Hank must enlist the help of a young widow and her daughter to save Namu and prove that he's a gentle giant!.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 360
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: semi serious, psychotronic
Similar in 81%
Cheetah (1989)
Plot Summary:
An American boy and girl, spending six months in Kenya with their scientist parents adopt a cheetah, only to realize that they must set it loose so that it can learn to hunt and be free. However, when the animal is captured by poachers planning to race it against greyhounds, the two city kids, together with a young African goat herder they befriended, head off into the wild to rescue the cheetah.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, semi serious, romantic, clever, touching, unusual plot structure, sweet, melancholic, twist ending
Similar in 82%
The Biscuit Eater (1972)
Plot Summary:
Nothing warms the heart like the story of a boy and his dog. Lonnie (Johnny Whitaker) and Text (George Spell) are two friends determined, against all odds, to turn a misfit hound into a hero. Tennessee farmer and dog trainer Harve McNeil (Earl Holliman) tells his son Lonnie that his dog, Moreover, is a good-for-nothing "biscuit eater.".
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 518
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 87%
Big Red (1962)
Plot Summary:
Wealthy sportsman James Haggin (Walter Pidgeon) lives on a Quebec estate called Wintapi. Émile Fornet (Émile Genest), handler of Haggin's hunting dogs, and Émile's wife Therese (Janette Bertrand), Haggin's cook and housekeeper, live in a separate house on the estate. To start a line of top show dogs, Haggin purchases the winner of the Montreal Kennel Club show, an Irish setter named Red.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 825
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, feel good, serious
Similar in 75%
My Side of the Mountain (1969)
Plot Summary:
Film adaption of the novel by Jean Craighead George. A family movie made by Paramount Studios, the story revolves around thirteen-year old Sam Gribley (Teddy Eccles), a devotee of Thoreau, as many were back in the in 1960's. Sam decides to leave the city (set in Toronto) to spend a sabbatical in the Canadian woods and see if he can make it as a self-sufficient spirit after his parents promise a summer trip that doesn't pan out.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, serious, realistic
Similar in 76%
The Amazing Panda Adventure (1995)
Plot Summary:
Far from home in the lush bamboo forests of China, ten-year-old Ryan Tyler, with the help of a young girl, goes on a wonderful journey to rescue a baby panda taken by poachers.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, scary, exciting, romantic, feel good, unusual plot structure, sweet, entertaining, melancholic
Similar in 78%
Heidi (2015)
Plot Summary:
Heidi, is an eight-year-old Swiss orphan who is given by her aunt to her mountain-dwelling grandfather. She is then stolen back by her aunt from her grandfather to live in the wealthy Sesemann household in Frankfurt, Germany as a companion to Klara, a sheltered, disabled girl in a wheelchair. Heidi is unhappy but makes the best of the situation, always longing for her grandfather.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Germany, Switzerland
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sincere, scenic, psychological, touching, unusual plot structure, contemplative, feel good, educational, fairy tale
Similar in 77%
An American Girl: Saige Paints the Sky (2013)
Plot Summary:
Meet nine-year old Saige, a talented artist with a passion for horses, in this modern-day story about finding your voice! Saige is excited about the new school year, until she discovers that art-her favorite class-has been cut. On top of that, her best friend, Tessa, seems to be spending more and more time with another girl. For help, Saige turns to her grandma Mimi, a well-known artist and horse-woman, who inspires her to take action. Can Saige find the courage to overcome her fears and save the art program-and her friendship with Tessa? Heart-warming, empowering, and fun, it's a movie for every girl who has ever dreamed big. Written by Anonymous (IMDB.com).
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 523
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, humorous, captivating, light, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 88%
Zeus and Roxanne (1997)
Plot Summary:
Mary Beth is a marine biologist that gets annoyed when a dog called Zeus stows aboard her research boat. Nevertheless she is intrigued when the intrusive canine makes best-friends with her captive dolphin, Roxanne. She falls in love with Zeus's owner, Terry, a musician who rides a bike.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sweet, melancholic, touching, feel good, humorous, semi serious, light, clever, unusual plot structure, entertaining
Similar in 89%
Beethoven's 5th (2003)
Plot Summary:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. When Sara takes Beethoven to spend summer vacation with wacky Uncle Freddie in an old mining town, the mischievous canine "digs up" the missing clue to a legendary hidden fortune of Rita and Moe Selig. Now everybody wants to be the dog's best friend as his discovery unleashes a frenzy of treasure hunting among the community's cast of kooky creatures. With help from Uncle Freddie and Garrett (a friend or maybe more), Sara and Beethoven try to help uncover a secret that has been in the crazy little town for years. Description above from the Wikipedia article Beethoven's 5th (film), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Family, Adventure
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, entertaining, light
Similar in 79%
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 76%
Roald Dahl's Danny the Champion of the World (1989)
Plot Summary:
Somewhere in England, in the Autumn of 1955, a widowed father and his son live an idyllic life together. Only their gas station happens to sit on a piece of land that a local developer wants to buy. And when he won't take no for an answer, and sets government inspectors and social works onto Danny and his father, Danny and his father decide to get even with Hazell and his pheasant- shooting friends in a manner in keeping with their own family tradition.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 79%
Santa Buddies (2009)
Plot Summary:
When Puppy Paws (the fun-loving son of Santa Paws) gets bored, he finds Budderball on Santa's naughty list and figures he's just the dog to show him how to be an ordinary pup. When the magical Christmas Icicle starts to melt however, and the world begins to forget the true meaning of the season, it's up to Puppy Paws and his newfound Buddies to journey back to the North Pole and save Christmas.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: Canada, USA, UK
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: feel good, fairy tale, sweet, light, exciting, touching, offbeat, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 89%
Flipper (1996)
Plot Summary:
Sandy Ricks is sent by his mom to Coral Key, a rustic island in the Florida keys, to spend the summer with his uncle Porter Ricks. Sandy dislikes everything about his new environment until a new friend comes into his life, a dolphin named Flipper, that brings uncle and nephew together and leads Sandy on the summer adventure of a lifetime.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Adventure, Crime, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: exciting, cult classic, sincere, touching, feel good, serious, realistic, scary, sentimental, light
Similar in 82%
Free Willy 3: The Rescue (1997)
Plot Summary:
Willy the whale is back, this time threatened by illegal whalers making money off sushi. Jesse, now 16, has taken a job on an orca-researching ship, along with old friend Randolph and a sarcastic scientist, Drew. On the whaler's ship is captain John Wesley and his son, Max, who isn't really pleased about his father's job, but doesn't have the gut to say so. Along the way, Willy reunites with Jesse.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, humorous, retro, epic, semi serious, exciting, romantic, feel good, unusual plot structure
Similar in 81%
Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove (2010)
Plot Summary:
After young Kirra (Bindi Irwin) leaves her Australian home to summer with her grandfather (Beau Bridges) in South Africa, she soon discovers a baby orca stranded in the lagoon near her grandfather’s rundown seaside amusement park. She names the lonely whale Willy--and embarks on a great quest to lead the little guy back to his anxious pod.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: serious, sentimental, touching, realistic, uplifting
Similar in 89%
Dolphin Tale (2011)
Plot Summary:
A story centered on the friendship between a boy and a dolphin whose tail was lost in a crab trap.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: uplifting, sentimental, touching, realistic, serious, inspirational, social, saga
Similar in 87%
Dolphin Tale 2 (2014)
Plot Summary:
The team of people who saved Winter's life reassemble in the wake of her surrogate mother's passing in order to find her a companion so she can remain at the Clearwater Marine Hospital.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: uplifting, sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, inspirational, saga, serious
Similar in 82%
The Young Black Stallion (2003)
Plot Summary:
When courageous young Neera becomes separated from her family in the desert, she chances upon a wild colt. Together they find friendship, trust, and their way back home only to discover her family is about to lose everything!.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 79%
Free Willy 2 (1995)
Plot Summary:
Jesse becomes reunited with Willy three years after the whale's jump to freedom as the teenager tries to rescue the killer whale and other orcas from an oil spill.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: France, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, feel good, sweet, retro, epic, anamorphic, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 85%
Max (2015)
Plot Summary:
A dog that helped soldiers in Afghanistan returns to the U.S. and is adopted by his handler's family after suffering a traumatic experience.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family, War
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, suspense, serious, realistic, sad, motivational, inspirational, experimental, romantic
Similar in 87%
Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995)
Plot Summary:
Teenager Angus adopts a stray dog and names him Yellow. Several days later, while travelling along the coast of British Columbia with Angus's father, John, the boy and dog become stranded when turbulent waters capsize their boat. Angus's parents relentlessly badger rescue teams. Angus, schooled by his father in wilderness survival skills, and assisted by the intelligent Yellow Dog, tries to attract rescuers.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: sentimental, emotional, touching, exciting, serious, light, romantic, feel good, unusual plot structure, humorous
Similar in 78%
Andre (1994)
Plot Summary:
The true story of how a marine seal named Andre befriended a little girl and her family, circa 1962.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, sad, feel good, humorous, semi serious, fairy tale, light, inspirational, romantic
Similar in 88%
Free Willy (1993)
Plot Summary:
When maladjusted orphan Jesse vandalizes a theme park, he is placed with foster parents and must work at the park to make amends. There he meets Willy, a young Orca whale who has been separated from his family. Sensing kinship, they form a bond and, with the help of kindly whale trainer Rae Lindley, develop a routine of tricks. However, greedy park owner Dial soon catches wind of the duo and makes plans to profit from them.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 82000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, uplifting, feel good, sweet, light, inspirational, retro, sexy, epic