Film

A Troll in Central Park

A 1994 animated film about a kind troll banished from his realm to Manhattan, where he befriends two kids and tries to garden in a city of concrete. It's earnest, weird, and pitched at a strange intersection of family film and Don Bluth's darker sensibilities. For people who love oddball animation and are not afraid of sincerity.

TMDb rating2.6

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FernGully: The Last Rainforest1992

Colorful animated adventure with a similar environmental heart and cast of quirky creatures. Robin Williams voices the lead and Tim Curry chews scenery as a villain. A genuine artifact of early-90s animated idealism.

But Preachy about conservation, and the pop songs date it hard. Some sequences drag.

FernGully: The Last Rainforest poster

The Secret of NIMH1982

Don Bluth's masterpiece about outcasts finding refuge from a hostile world. Beautifully animated, genuinely thrilling, and unafraid to be both dark and tender. Essential viewing for animation lovers.

But Darker than you might expect from its premise. The climax is genuinely unsettling, and pacing sags in the middle.

The Secret of NIMH poster

Anastasia1997

Another Don Bluth film with lush animation, a odd-couple buddy dynamic, and a villain who is a total force of nature. Bartok the bat steals scenes. Great songs that actually land.

But Heavily stylized design won't appeal to everyone. The historical liberties are wild. Some songs are grating on repeat.

Anastasia poster

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Over the Garden Wall2014

Both present magical worlds that are genuinely dangerous, where kindness is the protagonist's greatest strength and also their greatest vulnerability.

Miniseries about two brothers lost in a mysterious forest. Autumn-colored, melancholic, and genuinely eerie. It has the same tonal mix of whimsy and unease, and the same commitment to emotional sincerity in a strange world.

But Darker and slower than typical animation. The mystery doesn't fully resolve. Some find the folk-horror elements disturbing rather than atmospheric.

Over the Garden Wall poster
More like this (8)

The Land Before Time1988

Don Bluth again. Dinosaur kids on an odyssey through a beautiful, dangerous world. Emotionally sincere without ever condescending. Holds up beautifully and genuinely moves.

But The death of Littlefoot's mother is genuinely traumatic for young viewers. Pacing is slow by modern standards.

The Land Before Time poster

Help! I'm a Fish2000

Danish animated film about kids transformed into fish, exploring an underwater world. Weird, colorful, unapologetic about its oddness. Perfect for people who love animation that swings for the fences.

But Low-budget animation shows throughout. Plot is thin and the pacing is uneven. Some voice acting is flat.

Help! I'm a Fish poster

The Pagemaster1994

Live-action boy enters an animated fantasy library where books come alive. Released the same year as Troll in Central Park, similarly weird and sincere. Great voice cast and a real sense of wonder.

But The live-action/animation blend looks dated now. Heavily dependent on literary references that won't land for all ages.

The Pagemaster poster

Osmosis Jones2001

Hybrid live-action and animation film about a white blood cell cop inside the human body. Surreal, colorful, genuinely inventive. Bill Murray and Frank Sinatra in there somewhere.

But The live-action framing device is terrible and kills momentum. The tone whiplashes between gross-out and earnest repeatedly.

Osmosis Jones poster

Thumbelina1994

Don Bluth yet again. Tiny girl navigates a world of danger and weirdness. Animation is gorgeous, supporting cast is weird and memorable. Barry Manilow score is unhinged in the best way.

But Extremely thin plot stretched to feature length. Some of the comedy is flat. Will test your patience if you're not in the mood.

Thumbelina poster

Rock-A-Doodle1991

Surreal animated film about a rooster who's an Elvis impersonator. Absolutely unhinged premise executed with real animation talent. The kind of movie that makes you wonder what were they thinking.

But The premise is genuinely bizarre and alienating. Pacing is all over the place. Some will find it incomprehensible rather than charming.

Rock-A-Doodle poster

Spirited Away2001

Both feature a kind outsider learning to navigate a world governed by rules and cruelty they don't agree with, using gentleness as their only tool.

Miyazaki's masterpiece: a girl navigates a bathhouse inhabited by spirits and monsters. Gorgeously animated, completely unafraid of strangeness. A work of genuine imagination in every frame.

But Subtitled and runs two hours. The pacing is deliberate; things happen when they want to. Western audiences sometimes find it slow or inaccessible.

Spirited Away poster

The Happiness of the Katakuris2002

Both are unapologetically earnest about family, love, and gardening while surrounded by darkness and danger. Both commit fully to their strangeness rather than winking at it.

Japanese horror-comedy musical about a family running a guest house where guests mysteriously die. Grotesque, hilarious, genuinely touching. Stop-motion sequences. Nothing you've seen before.

But Extremely weird and relies on Japanese comedy sensibilities. Graphic imagery mixed with sentimentality will unsettle or bore you. Tonal whiplash throughout.

The Happiness of the Katakuris poster

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