Movies Like Grandpa and Billy

If you liked Grandpa and Billy (1982), a drama and family movie directed by Richard Friedlander, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Midnight Special (2016)
★ 6.3/10Also adventure and drama
A father and son go on the run after the dad learns his child possesses special powers.
2
The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (2013)
★ 6.9/10Also adventure and drama
A 10-year-old child prodigy cartographer secretly leaves his family's ranch in Montana where he lives with his cowboy father and scientist mother and travels across the country on board a freight train to receive an…
3
A Monster Calls (2016)
★ 7.3/10Also adventure and family
12-year-old Conor encounters an ancient tree monster who proceeds to help him cope with his mother's terminal illness and being bullied in school.
4
Marvel Rising: Chasing Ghosts (2019)
★ 6.4/10Also family and adventure
Hot on the trails of Sheath and Exile, Ghost-Spider teams up with the rest of the Secret Warriors to bring down the villains for good.
5
The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)
★ 6.8/10Also adventure and family
America is in the depths of the Great Depression. Families drift apart when faraway jobs beckon. A courageous young girl confronts overwhelming odds when she embarks on a cross-country search for her father. During her…
6
Anastasia (1997)
★ 7.6/10Also family and adventure
Ten years after she was separated from her family, an eighteen-year-old orphan with vague memories of the past sets out to Paris in hopes of reuniting with her grandmother. She is accompanied by two con men, who intend…
7
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (2017)
★ 6/10Also family and adventure
Can twelve 12-year-olds escape from the most ridiculously brilliant library ever created? Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library plunks a dozen sixth-graders into the middle of a futuristic library for a night of nonstop…
8
The Last Mimzy (2007)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and adventure
Two siblings begin to develop special talents after they find a mysterious box of toys, and soon their parents and even their teacher are drawn into a strange new world – and find a task ahead of them that is far more…
9
The Magic Faraway Tree (2026)
★ 6.7/10Also adventure and family
A modern family relocates to the countryside where the children discover a magical tree with eccentric residents. They're transported to fantastical lands, rekindling their family bond through adventures.
10
Dog Gone (2023)
★ 6.2/10Also family and adventure
When his beloved dog goes missing, a young man embarks on an incredible search with his parents to find him and give him life-saving medication.
11
PAW Patrol: Mighty Pups (2018)
★ 7.5/10Also adventure and family
When their latest scheme goes awry, Mayor Humdinger and his nephew Harold accidentally divert a meteor towards Adventure Bay. The meteor's golden energy grants the PAW Patrol superpowers. The heroic Mighty Pups are on…
12
Inkheart (2008)
★ 6.3/10Also adventure and family
The adventures of a father and his young daughter, in their search for a long lost book that will help reunite a missing, close relative.
13
Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
★ 6.4/10Also adventure and family
Tia and Tony are two orphaned youngsters with extraordinary powers. Lucas Deranian poses as their uncle in order to get the kids into the clutches of Deranian's megalomaniacal boss, evil millionaire Aristotle Bolt, who…
14
Propeller One-Way Night Coach (2026)
★ 6.2/10Also adventure and drama
During the golden age of aviation, a young airplane enthusiast and his mother embark on a cross-country journey to Hollywood—and their simple flight transforms into the trip of a lifetime.
15
Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical (2025)
★ 7.8/10Also family and adventure
Young princess Anna of Arendelle dreams about finding true love at her sister Elsa’s coronation. Fate takes her on a dangerous journey in an attempt to end the eternal winter that has fallen over the kingdom. She's…
16
The House of Magic (2013)
★ 6.3/10Also family and adventure
Thunder, an abandoned young cat seeking shelter from a storm, stumbles into the strangest house imaginable, owned by an old magician and inhabited by a dazzling array of automatons and gizmos. Not everyone welcomes the…
17
End of the Spear (2005)
★ 6.3/10Also adventure and drama
"End of the Spear" is the story of Mincayani, a Waodani tribesman from the jungles of Ecuador. When five young missionaries, among them Jim Elliot and Nate Saint, are speared to death by the Waodani in 1956, a series…
18
Descendants 2 (2017)
★ 7.4/10Also family and adventure
When the pressure to be royal becomes too much for Mal, she returns to the Isle of the Lost where her archenemy Uma, Ursula's daughter, has taken her spot as self-proclaimed queen.
19
Joseph (1995)
★ 8.3/10Also adventure and drama
Joseph, favored son of Jacob and great-grandson of Abraham, is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Rising to become prime minister of Egypt. Joseph governed the country during a seven year famine, during which…
20
The Secret Garden (2020)
★ 6.3/10Also family and drama
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. She meets her sickly cousin, and the two children find a…