Movies Like Follow the Drinking Gourd

If you liked Follow the Drinking Gourd (1990), a history and family movie directed by John McCally, 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
How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019)
★ 8/10Also animation and family
It's been ten years since the dragons moved to the Hidden World, and even though Toothless doesn't live in New Berk anymore, Hiccup continues the holiday traditions he once shared with his best friend. But the Vikings…
2
Light of the World (2025)
★ 8.9/10Also animation and drama
It's 30 AD and everyone is expectantly awaiting the coming Messiah. While Jesus isn't exactly what they imagined, there is something special about this man. Soon, John, James, Andrew, Peter, and others begin to follow…
3
Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas (2011)
★ 6.5/10Also animation and family
When Sid accidentally destroys Manny's heirloom Christmas rock and ends up on Santa's naughty list, he leads a hilarious quest to the North Pole to make things right and ends up making things much worse. Now it's up to…
4
Zog (2018)
★ 6.7/10Also family and animation
Zog is a keen young dragon who wants to learn to fly, roar, and breathe fire, so he studies at the Dragon School. He is desperate to impress his teacher and win a golden star, but he is prone to accidents and he has to…
5
Hilda and the Mountain King (2021)
★ 7.6/10Also animation and family
When Hilda wakes up in the body of a troll, she must use her wits and courage to get back home, become human again — and save the city of Trolberg.
6
Song of the South (1946)
★ 6.5/10Also family and animation
Uncle Remus draws upon his tales of Br'er Rabbit to help little Johnny deal with his confusion over his parents' separation as well as his new life on the plantation.
7
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (2022)
★ 8.2/10Also animation and family
The unlikely friendship of a boy, a mole, a fox and a horse traveling together in the boy's search for home.
8
Welcome to Smelliville (2021)
★ 6.7/10Also animation and family
The Oggly family arrive at the municipal rubbish dump of Smelliville and must look for a new home, but they never feel really welcome anywhere. They stink and are for most humans just a tad too oggly. When Firebottom…
9
David (2025)
★ 8/10Also animation and family
From the songs of his mother’s heart to the whispers of a faithful God, David’s story begins in quiet devotion. When the giant Goliath rises to terrorize a nation, a young shepherd armed with only a sling, a few…
10
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (2021)
★ 7.5/10Also animation and family
The Guardians of Arcadia reunite to battle the nefarious Arcane Order, who've reawakened the primordial Titans.
11
Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980)
★ 7.3/10Also family and drama
Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American…
12
PAW Patrol: Jet to the Rescue (2020)
★ 7.1/10Also animation and family
A royal relative steals a gem with the power to make things fly, the Paw Patrol takes to the skies to stop him and save Barkingburg.
13
Dragons: Rescue Riders: Secrets of the Songwing (2020)
★ 7.3/10Also animation and family
When a musical dragon with a beautiful voice hypnotizes the dragons and people of Huttsgalor, the Rescue Riders have to find a way to break the spell.
14
Where Is Anne Frank (2021)
★ 6.6/10Also animation and drama
The film follows the journey of Kitty, the imaginary friend to whom Anne Frank dedicated her diary. A fiery teenager, Kitty wakes up in the near future in Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam and embarks on a journey to…
15
Emancipation (2022)
★ 7.7/10Also drama and history
Inspired by the gripping true story of a man who would do anything for his family—and for freedom. When Peter, an enslaved man, risks his life to escape and return to his family, he embarks on a perilous journey of…
16
Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas (2009)
★ 6.8/10Also animation and family
George and The Man In The Yellow Hat are having a merry time counting down to Christmas. But neither can decide what to give each other. Will they find the answers before Christmas morning?
17
Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess (2012)
★ 7.4/10Also animation and family
Set in the storybook world of Enchancia, the music-filled movie follows Sofia, an average girl whose life suddenly changes when her mother marries the king and she is whisked off to live in a castle with her mom, new…
18
Ploey: You Never Fly Alone (2018)
★ 6.2/10Also animation and family
A plover chick has not learned to fly when his family migrates in the fall. He must survive the arctic winter, vicious enemies and himself in order to be reunited with his beloved one next spring.
19
Monster High: Frights, Camera, Action! (2014)
★ 7.5/10Also family and animation
When Draculaura is led to believe she's the rightful heir to the vampire throne, she and her best ghoulfriends are whisked away to Transylvania for a royal coronation to die for. But they soon discover the hunt for the…
20
Free State of Jones (2016)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and history
In 1863, Mississippi farmer Newt Knight serves as a medic for the Confederate Army. Opposed to slavery, Knight would rather help the wounded than fight the Union. After his nephew dies in battle, Newt returns home to…