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The Book of Life poster

Movies that feel likeThe Book of Life (2014)

The journey of Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans fantastical worlds where he must face his greatest fears.

If you loved The Book of Life, the closest films we have are Song of the Sea (2014), The Secret of Kells (2009) and Epic (2013). All three share The Book of Life's whimsical and warm feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Last Unicorn (1982).

🍅 82% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Jorge R. Gutierrezwhimsicalwarmcozydreamlikeromantic
8 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Disney Plus

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If The Book of Life hit the spot, these will too

Song of the Sea poster
Song of the Sea
2014 · dir. Tomm Moore
🍅 99%★ 8family · animation · fantasy

Both land whimsy and warmth at once

The difference: Takes it somewhere less romantic than The Book of Life does

The story of the last Seal Child’s journey home. After their mother’s disappearance, Ben and Saoirse are sent to live with Granny in the city. When they resolve to return to their home by the sea, their journey becomes a race against time as they are drawn into a world Ben knows only from his mother’s folktales. But this is no bedtime story; these fairy folk have been in our world far too long. It soon becomes clear to Ben that Saoirse is the key to their survival.

The Secret of Kells poster
The Secret of Kells
2009 · dir. Tomm Moore
🍅 90%★ 7.5animation · family · fantasy

Cozy and dreamlike in the same breath

Adventure awaits 12 year old Brendan who must fight Vikings and a serpent god to find a crystal and complete the legendary Book of Kells. In order to finish Brother Aiden's book, Brendan must overcome his deepest fears on a secret quest that will take him beyond the abbey walls and into the enchanted forest where dangerous mythical creatures hide. Will Brendan succeed in his quest?

Epic poster
Epic
2013 · dir. Chris Wedge
🍅 65%★ 6.6animation · adventure · familyMax

Whimsical animation in both cases

The difference: Leans harder into adventure than The Book of Life does

A teenager finds herself transported to a deep forest setting where a battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil is taking place. She bands together with a rag-tag group characters in order to save their world—and ours.

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole poster
🍅 52%★ 6.9animation · adventure · family

Warm family, and it commits to that

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

When a young owl is abducted by an evil Owl army, he must escape with new-found friends and seek the legendary Guardians to stop the menace.

The Princess and the Frog poster
The Princess and the Frog
2009 · dir. Ron Clements
🍅 86%★ 7.2animation · romance · fantasyDisney+

The same preoccupation in both: musical

The difference: Sits closer to romance than The Book of Life does

A waitress, desperate to fulfill her dreams as a restaurant owner, is set on a journey to turn a frog prince back into a human being, but she has to face the same problem after she kisses him.

A Christmas Carol poster
A Christmas Carol
2009 · dir. Robert Zemeckis
🍅 52%★ 6.8animation · family · fantasyPrime VideoDisney+

Both lean on comfort more than on fantasy

Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.

Ponyo poster
Ponyo
2008 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 91%★ 7.6animation · fantasy · familyMax

Animation built on dream logic, twice over

When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. Ponyo is a curious, energetic young creature who yearns to be human, but even as she causes chaos around the house, her father, a powerful sorcerer, schemes to return Ponyo to the sea.

Arthur and the Invisibles poster
Arthur and the Invisibles
2006 · dir. Luc Besson
🍅 21%★ 6adventure · fantasy · animation

Family with a pulse of whimsy, in both cases

Ten-year-old Arthur, in a bid to save his grandfather's house from being demolished, goes looking for some much-fabled hidden treasure in the land of the Minimoys, tiny people living in harmony with nature.

The Last Unicorn poster
The Last Unicorn
1982 · dir. Jules Bass
🍅 75%★ 7.3fantasy · animation · familyPrime Video

Fantasy built on romance, twice over

The difference: Made in the 1980s, in a different era of the craft

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.

The Lorax poster
The Lorax
2012 · dir. Chris Renaud
★ 6.4animation · family

One thread runs through both: musical

A 12-year-old boy searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world.

Kirikou and the Sorceress poster
Kirikou and the Sorceress
1998 · dir. Michel Ocelot
🍅 96%★ 7.5fantasy · adventure · animationPrime Video

Both lean on warmth more than on animation

Drawn from elements of West African folk tales, it depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves his village from the evil witch Karaba.

Return to Never Land poster
Return to Never Land
2002 · dir. Robin Budd
🍅 46%★ 5.8adventure · fantasy · animationDisney+

Both lean on comfort more than on family

In 1940, the world is besieged by World War II. Wendy, all grown up, has two children; including Jane, who does not believe Wendy's stories about Peter Pan.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Book of Life’s defining feeling.