Best tv shows like The Magic School Bus
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
An eccentric schoolteacher takes her class on wondrous educational field trips with the help of a magical school bus.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, sentimental, retro, feel good, humorous, semi serious, educational, 2d animation, nostalgic
Best tv shows and movies like The Magic School Bus (1994):
Similar in 81%
Adventures from the Book of Virtues (1996)
Plot Summary:
Growing up can be confusing! When Zach and Annie face difficulties in their lives, they go to special place called Plato’s Peak. There, Plato—a talking buffalo!—and his friends are always willing to lend a helping hand.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 431
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: educational, clever, offbeat, humorous, serious, anthology, epic fantasy, 2d animation, fable
Similar in 82%
Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs (2005)
Plot Summary:
In "Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs," a young red-headed boy explores life-issues with a team of dinosaur friends. His Nana gave him a bucket full of toy dinosaurs that allows him to visit a special place called Dino World. Whether he wants to stay up late, keep a library book past its due date, take care of a baby bird, or it's something else, Harry can work it out in this imaginative land. His dinosaur friends are Taury, Trike, Pterence, Patsy, Sid and Steggy. Back at home, Harry is looked after by his mother and his Nana.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 307
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Country: Canada, UK
Duration: 11 min
Plot tags: semi serious
Similar in 85%
Rupert (1991)
Plot Summary:
Rupert is an animated television series based on the Mary Tourtel character Rupert Bear, produced by Nelvana, Ellipse Programmé and TVS for the first season, with Scottish Television taken over control when TVS closed. Aired from 1991 to 1997 with 65 half-hour episodes produced. It was broadcast in syndication on YTV in Canada. In the United States, the show first aired on Nickelodeon before moving to CBS; repeats of the series came to Qubo's digital service in January 2007, and still airs there. The show was broadcast in the UK on CITV and has recently been re-airing on the satellite and cable channels Tiny Pop and KidsCo. In Australia, the show was broadcast on the ABC public broadcasting network and on TV2 in New Zealand as part of the Jason Gunn Show.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Country: Canada, France, UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: retro, feel good, humorous, semi serious, 2d animation
Similar in 77%
The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures (1997)
Plot Summary:
Country mouse Emily and her cousin from the big city, Alexander, visit each other and have adventures together at the turn of the century. They always seem to run into trouble and bother with humans, other animals and exciting situations, but when they put their heads together, they can solve any problem. And in the process, they learn about the places they visit and the things they see.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 305
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, France, USA
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, exciting, feel good, humorous, stylized, semi serious, neo noir, 2d animation
Similar in 79%
Mona the Vampire (1999)
Plot Summary:
Mona the Vampire is a Canadian/French animated television series based on the series Robyn le Vampire, directed by Louis Piché and Jean Caillon, originally based on the short stories created and written Sonia Holleyman and later written by Hiawyn Oram. It is mainly shown on YTV, Radio-Canada, VRAK.TV, CBBC and Cartoon Network Poland. The series follows the extraordinary adventures of 10-year-old Mona Parker and her friends as they battle a new foe of the supernatural in every episode. The show was produced in Montreal by Cinar, in association with Alphanim, Fancy Cape Productions, Agogo Media and Tiji.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Horror
Country: Canada, France, Hong Kong
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: retro, gothic, spooky, humorous, stylized, semi serious, nostalgic
Similar in 80%
The Berenstain Bears (1985)
Plot Summary:
The Berenstain Bears is an Australian-American co-produced animated television series based on Stan and Jan Berenstain's Berenstain Bears children's book series, produced by DIC Entertainment, Hanna-Barbera and Southern Star Productions. It aired on the United States from September 14, 1985 until March 7, 1987 on CBS with over 52 11-minute episodes in 26 half-hour shows produced. Each show consisted of two episodes, the first being an adaptation of one of the books, the second being an original story. The series was nominated in 1987 for a Daytime Emmy award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming; it was also nominated that year for a Humanitas Prize in the category of Non-Prime Time Children's Animated Show. Reruns aired briefly on TLC's Ready Set Learn block from September 28 to November 13, 1998 when a contract dispute forced TLC to pull the show off the schedule. During the early 2000s, reruns were later seen as part of a kids' programming block from DiC Entertainment on the now-defunct UPN, but the episodes were edited and time-compressed by DiC.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, educational, 2d animation
Similar in 82%
Pearlie (2008)
Plot Summary:
A magical fairy and her friends go on magical and wild adventures while avoiding being seen by 'persons'.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 274
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: Australia, Canada
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, feel good, captivating, fairy tale, offbeat, 2d animation
Similar in 81%
Little Einsteins (2005)
Plot Summary:
A group of musically gifted and ethnically diverse children travel around the world in an artificially intelligent rocket named Rocket.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Music, Musical, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, UK, Canada
Duration:
Plot tags: semi serious, feel good, humorous, entertaining, funny, thought provoking, captivating, educational, interactive
Similar in 81%
Timothy Goes to School (2000)
Plot Summary:
Timothy Goes to School is a cartoon series based on the Yoko series and other individual books by Rosemary Wells such as "Shy Charles", "Fritz and the Mess Fairy" and "Noisy Nora", but is titled after the book of the same name. It features a young raccoon, Timothy, who attends a fictional primary school. The series aired on PBS Kids as part of the PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch from 2000 until 2004. Reruns were later broadcast on Discovery Kids in the US until 2006. This show airs on YTV, Treehouse TV, and TVO Kids in Canada, and also Tiny Pop, a digital TV channel in the UK. In Brazil was aired on TV Cultura. In Mexico and Latin America, was broadcast on ZAZ. The series premiered on September 30, 2000 and aired its last episode on December 28, 2001.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 521
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Family
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: feel good, semi serious, humorous, 2d animation
Similar in 81%
The Magic School Bus Rides Again (2017)
Plot Summary:
Ms. Frizzle's sister takes her class on a slew of wild science adventures in this update of the beloved animated show.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 915
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 26 min
Plot tags: educational, feel good, humorous, semi serious, captivating, anime, exciting
Similar in 88%
Franklin (1997)
Plot Summary:
Franklin is an Canadian educational animated television series, based on the Franklin the Turtle books by Brenda Clark and Paulette Bourgeois. The television series was named after its main character, Franklin the Turtle. It was produced by PolyGram Television, Alphanim, LuxAnimation, Nelvana, Neurones Enterprises, Reader's Digest for Young Families, TF1, Funbag Animation Studios, Europool, Mini TFO, and Family Channel, and syndicated by Summit Entertainment.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: France, Canada, USA
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, retro, educational, exciting, feel good, humorous, edutainment, 2d animation
Similar in 87%
The Fairly OddParents (2001)
Plot Summary:
The Fairly OddParents is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series revolves around Timmy Turner, a 10-year old boy who is granted two fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda. The series started out as cartoon segments that ran from September 4, 1998 to March 23, 2001 on Oh Yeah! Cartoons and was later picked up as a series. The series is produced by Frederator Studios and, as of season 6, Billionfold, Inc. For the first four seasons, it was distributed outside the United States by the Canadian company, Nelvana International. Having aired for more than 16 years, The Fairly OddParents is the longest-running fantasy TV series in American television history, and currently stands as Nickelodeon's second longest-running animated series (behind SpongeBob SquarePants).
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 45000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: humorous, not serious, feel good, adult cartoon, sentimental, sitcom, exciting, absurd, black comedy, slapstick comedy
Similar in 88%
Babar (1989)
Plot Summary:
Babar is a Canadian/French/Japanese animated television series produced in Quebec, Canada by Nelvana Limited and The Clifford Ross Company. It premiered in 1989 on CBC and HBO, subsequently was rerun on HBO Family and Qubo. The series is based on Jean de Brunhoff's original Babar books, and was Nelvana's first international co-production. The series' 78 episodes have been broadcast in 30 languages in over 150 countries. Episodes of Babar currently air on Ion Television and Qubo. While the French author Laurent de Brunhoff pronounces the name Babar as "BUH-bar", the TV series in its first five seasons pronounces the name as "BAB-bar". In 2010, a computer-animated sequel series spin-off of Babar titled Babar and the Adventures of Badou was launched. The new series focuses on a majority of new characters.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: Canada, France
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: feel good, semi serious, humorous, entertaining, light, retro, touching
Similar in 78%
Martha Speaks (2008)
Plot Summary:
Martha, a beloved family dog, is accidentally fed alphabet soup — this gives her the power of speech and the chance to speak her mind to anyone that will listen.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Family
Country: USA, Canada, Philippines
Duration: 28 min
Plot tags: educational, sincere, light, entertaining, feel good, captivating, sentimental, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 89%
Super Why! (2007)
Plot Summary:
Super Why! or The Reading Adventures of Super Why! is a CGI animated show developed by Angela C. Santomero and Samantha Freeman Alpert. The TV series is produced by New York City-based Out of the Blue Enterprises and Toronto-based DHX Media through its Decode Entertainment division. The show debuted on PBS stations on September 3, 2007. The series airs on PBS Kids and PBS Kids Sprout in the USA, Kids' CBC in Canada. Thai PBS from Thailand broadcasts the shortened version, the episodes are 5 years behind the U.S.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: educational, fairy tale, light, entertaining, feel good, captivating, exciting, offbeat, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 84%
The Cat in the Hat: Told From the Cold (2010)
Plot Summary:
Come join in the fun, on new adventures we go, With The Cat in the Hat and his friends all in tow! Discover how water can turn into snow, That penguins don't fly but, boy can they go! Black bears get ready for a very long sleep, Before the weather gets cold and the snow is too deep.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 744
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical, Sci-Fi
Country: Canada, UK, USA
Duration: 26 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, semi serious, educational, light, captivating, offbeat, stylized, edutainment
Similar in 88%
Littlest Pet Shop (2012)
Plot Summary:
Forced to move out from her suburban hometown because of her father's promotion, Blythe Baxter moves into an apartment located in a crowded city. Her apartment is located above the eponymous Littlest Pet Shop, a pet store containing a day camp for various pets. Her adventure begins when she discovers that she alone can miraculously understand and talk to all of the pets as well as other animals other than themselves. She and the pets go on several adventures together, only to find their day camp is being driven out of business due to a larger pet store managed by twins Whittany and Brittany Biskit, along with their father Fisher Biskit. Having no other options, the pets turn to Blythe to help them save it from closing down.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, semi serious, 2d animation
Similar in 87%
Curious George (2006)
Plot Summary:
Curious George is an animated television series based on the Curious George children's book series, which features Jeff Bennett as the voice of The Man with the Yellow Hat. Frank Welker, who voiced George in the 2006 feature film, returns here as the voice of Curious George. The show is currently broadcast on PBS Kids. The series illustrates and explains various concepts in math and science and each live-action segment shows schoolchildren engaging in experiments that teach the math or science concept featured in the previous cartoon.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: educational, sincere, humorous, witty, feel good, clever, semi serious, slapstick, 2d animation, learning
Similar in 86%
Chloe's Closet (2009)
Plot Summary:
An animated children's program about a little girl, her security blanket, and the adventures she has wile playing dress up in her closet.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 67
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Ireland, France
Duration: 11 min
Plot tags: computer animated, feel good, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 76%
The Care Bears Family (1986)
Plot Summary:
The Care Bears live in a faraway place up in the clouds called Care-a-Lot. They travel around the world on Missions in Caring, whilst evil villains such as Professor Coldheart and Lord No Heart, try to thwart their plans.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, semi serious, children's program, prehistoric, retro, anime, touching, 2d animation
Similar in 75%
Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends (2004)
Plot Summary:
Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends is an animated program based on the children's books by David Kirk, which airs on Nick Jr. in the United States, on Treehouse TV in Canada, and on Discovery Kids in Brazil. Each episode follows the everyday adventures of a family of bugs, who have made their home in what is called the Hollow Tree, led by the gentle, kind-hearted Miss Spider. Our gifts, they are many: We hop, fly and crawl. But kindness is the finest of all! - Miss Spider.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 555
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: Canada
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, semi serious, computer animated
Similar in 78%
Pinky Dinky Doo (2005)
Plot Summary:
Pinky Dinky Doo dances her way into her Story Box to tell stories and solve problems using her big imagination and fancy words.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 286
Genere: Animation, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, feel good, light, exciting
Similar in 76%
Peep and the Big Wide World (2004)
Plot Summary:
Peep and the Big Wide World is an animated cartoon that teaches nature and basic science concepts to preschoolers. The main characters include a yellow baby chick named Peep and his friends Quack, a teenaged blue drake, and Chirp, a baby red robin with pink eyelids. The current show, narrated by Joan Cusack is based on a National Film Board of Canada cartoon short of the same name, created in 1988 by Kaj Pindal and narrated by Peter Ustinov, and another short, "The Peep Show", from 1962. The original short comprised three 10-minute films featuring Peep, Quack, and Chirp as they meet a cat, a ladybug, a turtle and a frog who speaks from both sides of his mouth. The show is produced by WGBH in Boston and 9 Story Entertainment in Toronto, Canada. In the US, this show formerly aired on Discovery Kids as part of its commercial-free and sponsor-free "Ready, Set, Learn!" programming block. It now airs nationally in the United States on public television, distributed by American Public Television. In Canada, it airs on TVOntario. DVDs and books are also available for purchase. Peep and the Big Wide World is currently sponsored by the National Science Foundation in conjunction with WGBH-TV as part of an education and outreach program. The principal investigator is Kate Taylor, also of the ZOOM block. The National Science Foundation is the only permanent sponsor of the show. Northrop Grumman, The Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Toyota funded the show for only season two. The Discovery Kids Foundation funded the show for only season one. In 1999, the show was produced by Clumsy PriStar Television. The VHS copies are produced from Clumsy Pristar's home viewings.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 724
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, semi serious, clever, educational
Similar in 89%
Arthur (1996)
Plot Summary:
The show revolves around the lives of 8-year-old Arthur Read, an anthropomorphic aardvark, his friends and family, and their daily interactions with each other.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Musical
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: educational, feel good, humorous, touching, light, captivating, anime, semi serious, 2d animation, nostalgic
Similar in 83%
We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993)
Plot Summary:
Captain New Eyes travels back in time and feeds dinosaurs his Brain Grain cereal, which makes them intelligent and non-violent. They agree to go to the Middle Future in order to grant the wishes of children in New York city. They are to meet Dr. Bleeb of the Museum of Natural History, but get sidetracked with their new children friends and run into the Captain's evil brother, Professor.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 72 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, entertaining, captivating, sentimental, retro, sweet, cult classic, independent film, smart
Similar in 86%
Go, Diego, Go! (2005)
Plot Summary:
Go, Diego, Go! is a children's television series created by Chris Gifferd and Valerie Walsh, and is a spin-off of Dora the Explorer. The show premiered on September 6, 2005 and ended on September 16, 2011 on Nickelodeon. It also aired as part of the Nick Jr. on CBS block from September 17, 2005 to September 9, 2006. On December 20, 2006, Nick Jr. announced that it had ordered twenty new episodes that were in production. Since April 2008, the show has been dubbed into Spanish and airs in the United States on Univision as part of their Planeta U block.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, light, entertaining, educational
Similar in 76%
Justin Time (2011)
Plot Summary:
Looking for adventure? Then come along as Justin and his imaginary pals Olive and Squidgy star in the biggest stories of all time. Justin’s imagination catapults him into larger-than-life adventures all around the world!.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 236
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: Canada
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: exciting, humorous, semi serious, feel good, captivating, entertaining, educational, 2d animation
Similar in 83%
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006)
Plot Summary:
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is an American animated television series, that premiered in prime time on Disney Channel on May 5, 2006. The program was originally part of the Playhouse Disney daily block intended for preschoolers. On February 14, 2011, it was moved to the Disney Junior block, serving as Playhouse Disney's replacement. It is the only Mickey Mouse program to be aimed at preschoolers. The series was co-developed by Bobs Gannaway, who is also responsible for Jake and the Never Land Pirates. Production of the show was put on a four-month suspension in the spring of 2009, due to the death of voice artist Wayne Allwine, the longtime voice of Mickey Mouse. Production resumed when Bret Iwan has been cast as the fourth performer of Mickey's voice. On June 23, 2013, Bill Farmer, the voice actor for Goofy and Pluto, confirmed on his official Twitter account that Mickey Mouse Clubhouse would cease production after 7 years of episodes. However, reruns will still continue on the Disney Junior 24/7 service.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: educational, humorous, feel good, semi serious, computer animated, 3d animation, funny, light, entertaining, captivating
Similar in 77%
The Smurfs (1981)
Plot Summary:
Classic Saturday-morning cartoon series featuring magical blue elf-like creatures called Smurfs. The Smurfs, named for their personalities, inhabit a village of mushroom houses in an enchanted forest. These loveable creatures are led by Papa Smurf and live carefree... except for one major threat to their existance: Gargamel, an evil but inept wizard who lives in a stone-built house in the forest; and his feline companion, the equally nasty Azrael.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA, Belgium
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: feel good, entertaining, light, retro, funny, sentimental, not serious, slapstick comedy, slapstick, children's program
Similar in 80%
Corn & Peg (2019)
Plot Summary:
A unicorn and a pegasus, two inseparable best friends, strive to make their world of Galloping Grove a better place.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 98
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: Canada, USA
Duration:
Plot tags: light, feel good, humorous, captivating