Best movies like Where the Red Fern Grows
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Where the Red Fern Grows is the heartwarming and adventurous tale for all ages about a young boy and his quest for his own red-bone hound hunting dogs.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sad, depressing, epic, emotional, tear jerker, touching, feel good, semi serious, independent film, tearjerker
Best tv shows and movies like Where the Red Fern Grows (1974):
Similar in 80%
The Yearling (1994)
Plot Summary:
In 1870s Florida, a rural family struggles to survive. A lonely twelve-year-old son, Jody (Wil Horneff), the lone surviving child, against his mother's better judgment eventually persuades his parents to allow him a pet fawn, which Jody grows to love deeply. Tragic conflict arises when the fawn begins eating the family's food crops.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 332
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 89%
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 76%
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 78%
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 80%
My Dog the Champion (2013)
Plot Summary:
Champion is a "diamond in the rough" story about a dog named Scout, a cattle dog who decided she didn't like herding cattle. Scout's owner, Billy, a rancher struggling to stay in business, pegs her as a useless, broken tool and has every intention of replacing her. But when the rancher's city slicker granddaughter, Madison, spends the summer on his ranch, the two outcasts form a special bond that ushers Scout into the new arena of Dog Agility Competition. With the help of a cute teenage farm boy, Madison uncovers Scout's uncanny skill at agility competition and the trio spend their summer training for the Annual Youth Trainer Challenge.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 135
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: humorous, touching, feel good, semi serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
The Incredible Journey (1963)
Plot Summary:
The story of three pets, a cat and two dogs, who lose their owners when they are all on vacation. Can they find their way home?.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: road movie, touching, exciting, uplifting, feel good, serious, realistic, fairy tale, funny, light
Similar in 82%
Saving Shiloh (2006)
Plot Summary:
In this third movie about Shiloh, Judd Travers is accused of killing a man he once fought in a bar. Everyone in the town consider Judd to be guilty except Marty Preston, but even him has some doubts. Trying to clear Judd's name Marty and his friend searches the woods to find the criminal.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 930
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, sincere, touching, captivating, saga
Similar in 79%
A Dog of Flanders (1999)
Plot Summary:
Poor but happy, young Nello and his grandfather live alone, delivering milk as a livelihood, in the outskirts of Antwerp, a city in Flanders (the Flemish or Dutch-speaking part of modern-day Belgium). They discover a beaten dog (a Bouvier, a large sturdy dog native to Flanders) and adopt it and nurse it back to health, naming it Patrasche, the middle name of Nello's mother Mary, who died when Nello was very young. Nello's mother was a talented artist, and like his mother, he delights in drawing, and his friend Aloise is his model and greatest fan and supporter.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Family, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, inspirational, entertaining, tear jerker, melancholic, touching, sad, serious, realistic, sexy
Similar in 89%
Miracle Dogs Too (2006)
Plot Summary:
Zack, a young boy, finds two cocker spaniels caged in the woods and takes them home. The animals, Sissy and Buddy, have magical healing powers that change the people of a small town.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 340
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sentimental, feel good, serious, touching
Similar in 90%
Storm (2009)
Plot Summary:
Drengen Freddie elsker hunde og hader hundemishandlere. Så da han ser en mand på gaden være rigtig modbydelig mod sin hund, tager han affære og kidnapper hunden, som han giver navnet Storm. Freddie gemmer Storm på sit værelse, for hans far vil sikkert ikke synes om få en ekstra beboer i huset. Men så begynder Storm at vise ualmindeligt stort talent på væddeløbsbanen.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 206
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Denmark
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, serious, humorous, realistic, crying
Similar in 86%
Follow Me, Boys! (1966)
Plot Summary:
Lem Siddons is part of a traveling band who has a dream of becoming a lawyer. Deciding to settle down, he finds a job as a stockboy in the general store of a small town. Trying to fit in, he volunteers to become scoutmaster of the newly formed Troop 1. Becoming more and more involved with the scout troop, he finds his plans to become a lawyer being put on the back burner, until he realizes that his life has been fulfilled helping the youth of the small town.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: retro, touching, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 86%
Where the Red Fern Grows (2003)
Plot Summary:
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann.".
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, semi serious, gothic, sad, independent film
Similar in 87%
Shiloh (1996)
Plot Summary:
An abused beagle runs away from his owner. On the road, he meets young Marty Preston and follows him home. The boy immediately forms a bond with the dog and names him Shiloh. His stern father won't let him keep the dog because it belongs to Judd Travers, a local hunter. After Shiloh is mistreated again, he runs away and returns to Marty. Knowing his father will once again make him bring Shiloh back to Judd, he makes a home for the dog in an old shed up the hill from the Prestons' house and hides him from his family. His secret is soon discovered when a stray attacks the dog one night and he must turn to his father for help.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sweet, touching, emotional, semi serious, feel good, gothic, epic, independent film, fairy tale, sentimental
Similar in 84%
Air Bud 3 (2000)
Plot Summary:
In this second heartwarming and hilarious sequel to the popular favorite, Air Bud masters two new starring roles: soccer (real football) player and fatherhood. Loaded with laughs and cool soccer action, Buddy teams up alongside U.S. women's soccer greats.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family, Sport
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: feel good, sentimental, touching, humorous, exciting, semi serious, independent film, uplifting
Similar in 82%
Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season (1999)
Plot Summary:
After young Marty Peterson rescued Shiloh from his abusive owner, Judd Travers, he thought his troubles were over. But when Judd starts threatening to take "his" dog back, Marty is afraid of losing the best friend he's ever had. Even after Shiloh's keen senses help save Judd's life, the old man refuses to mend his mean-spirited ways, convincing everyone in town he's just too nasty to change. Now, in a long-short gamble to keep the dog he loves, Marty sets out to prove that just like a mistreated animal, a man filled with hate can be healed by the power of kindness.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 80%
The 12 Dogs of Christmas (2005)
Plot Summary:
This holiday tale has all the elements of a classic heartwarmer--cuddly dogs, small town spirit, and even a full-fledged Christmas pageant. Set during the meager years of the Great Depression, 12 DOGS OF CHRISTMAS follows the story of Emma, a 12-year-old who is sent to live in Doverville, a rural town, with her aunt. The town has, like the rest of the nation, fallen on lean times and seem to have lost all interest in celebrating. However, Emma manages to enlist the town's dogs into a colorful holiday pageant that reminds the inhabitants that even the Great Depression cannot ruin the spirit of Christmas.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 996
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: feel good, light, humorous, sentimental, touching
Similar in 89%
Rascal (1969)
Plot Summary:
A comedy filled with tenderness as a baby raccoon snuggles his way into the life of a lonely boy. He becomes the boy's only companion during his father's frequent absences. Because of Rascal, both father and son realize their responsibility to each other.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 516
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, feel good, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 86%
Lassie (2005)
Plot Summary:
A family in financial crisis is forced to sell Lassie, their beloved dog. Hundreds of miles away from her true family, Lassie escapes and sets out on a journey home.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA, France, Ireland, UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, humorous, semi serious, sad, crying, realistic, independent film
Similar in 88%
Smitty (2012)
Plot Summary:
SMITTY is a family film about a rescue dog. When life gets tough for Ben, a friendly paw is all it takes to pull him through. Mischievous thirteen-year-old Ben is sent to his grandfather's farm for the summer, where he crosses paths with a lovable mutt. With help from the unlikely canine companion, Ben learns the importance of friendship, family and responsibility.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 659
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, light, feel good, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 76%
My Dog Skip (2000)
Plot Summary:
A shy boy is unable to make friends in Yazoo City, Mississippi in 1942, until his parents give him a terrier puppy for his ninth birthday. The dog, which he names Skip, becomes well known and loved throughout the community and enriches the life of the boy, Willie, as he grows into manhood. Based on the best-selling Mississippi memoir by the late Willie Morris.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: feel good, touching, sentimental, sad, uplifting, heartbreaking, tear jerker, sweet, crying, sincere
Similar in 82%
Marley & Me (2008)
Plot Summary:
A newly married couple who, in the process of starting a family, learn many of life's important lessons from their trouble-loving retriever, Marley. Packed with plenty of laughs to lighten the load, the film explores the highs and lows of marriage, maturity and confronting one's own mortality, as seen through the lens of family life with a dog.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 166000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: touching, sad, feel good, funny, sentimental, tear jerker, emotional, heartbreaking, intense, humorous
Similar in 88%
Sounder (1972)
Plot Summary:
The Morgans, a loving and strong family of Black sharecroppers in Louisiana in 1933, face a serious family crisis when the husband and father, Nathan Lee Morgan, is convicted of a petty crime and sent to a prison camp. After some weeks or months, the wife and mother, Rebecca Morgan, sends the oldest son, who is about 11 years old, to visit his father at the camp. The trip becomes something of an odyssey for the boy. During the journey he stays a little while with a dedicated Black schoolteacher.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, touching, realistic, thought provoking, gothic, social, southern gothic, sincere, uplifting
Similar in 80%
Chestnut: Hero of Central Park (2004)
Plot Summary:
Ray and Sal, two orphaned sisters, adopt and hide a Great Dane puppy from their two adopted parents living in a luxury downtown New York apartment that expressely forbids dogs.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, touching
Similar in 77%
Because of Winn-Dixie (2005)
Plot Summary:
A girl, abandoned by her mother when she was three, moves to a small town in Florida with her father. There, she adopts an orphaned dog she names Winn-Dixie. The bond between the girl and her special companion brings together the people in a small Florida town and heals her own troubled relationship with her father.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, light, sweet, feel good, funny, gothic, teen, happy, comedy drama
Similar in 75%
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)
Plot Summary:
Remake of the popular Disney classic, this time featuring some well known voices as two dogs and a cat trek across America encountering all sorts of adventures in the quest to be reunited with their owners.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 50000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: touching, sweet, feel good, exciting, epic, inspirational, retro, romantic comedy, hilarious, semi serious
Similar in 86%
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 77%
Wonder (2017)
Plot Summary:
The story of August Pullman – a boy with facial differences – who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 175000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA, Hong Kong, Canada
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: inspirational, uplifting, touching, sincere, thought provoking, motivational, sad, feel good, tear jerker, cute
Similar in 81%
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
Similar in 83%
A Little Princess (1995)
Plot Summary:
When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity and sense of self- worth.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, fairy tale, heartbreaking, serious, humorous, realistic, semi serious, sweet, sad
Similar in 88%
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008)
Plot Summary:
The Great Depression hits home for nine year old Kit Kittredge when her dad loses his business and leaves to find work. Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin stars as Kit, leading a splendid cast in the first ever "American Girl" theatrical movie. In order to keep their home, Kit and her mother must take in boarders - paying house - guests who turn out to be full of fascinating stories. When mother's lockbox containing all their money is stolen, Kit's new hobo friend Will is the prime suspect. Kit refuses to believe that Will would steal, and her efforts to sniff out the real story get her and friends into big trouble. The police say the robbery was an inside job, committed by someone they know. So if it wasn't Will, then who did it.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: sentimental, melancholic, inspirational, stylized, feel good, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, crying