Film

Epic

A visually sumptuous animated adventure where a cynical teenager stumbles into a hidden world of leaf-sized warriors battling decay and renewal. Epic swings for genuine wonder—lush animation, high stakes, real peril—while keeping things fun and fast-moving. It's for anyone who loved Ferngully or the more earnest side of DreamWorks, and for families wanting something with actual visual craft.

TMDb rating3.3

If you liked this

How to Train Your Dragon2010

A teenager bonds with an outcast creature and discovers her true calling. Sharp writing, genuine character arcs, and animation that still holds up. The action sequences have real weight.

But If you want a story that breaks from the familiar template of "misfit finds their tribe," this plays that song pretty straight.

How to Train Your Dragon poster

FernGully: The Last Rainforest1992

The spiritual ancestor of Epic: a human girl in a magical forest world, tiny heroes fighting industrial destruction, stunning hand-drawn forests. It's earnest and strange in ways modern animation often isn't.

But The animation is dated, and the tonal whiplash between cute and dark can feel jarring if you're not in the mood for '90s environmental mythology.

FernGully: The Last Rainforest poster

The Secret of Roan Inish1994

Another girl-into-magical-world story, but live-action and slower. Irish mythology, genuine mystery, and a sense that this world exists whether she understands it or not. Moody and beautiful.

But It's deliberate and quiet where Epic is urgent. If you're after constant motion and jokes, this will feel glacial.

The Secret of Roan Inish poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Epic

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Warriors of the Wind1984

Both place a young woman at the center of a conflict between forces of growth and decay, but Nausicaä rejects the idea of good vs. evil entirely. Where Epic says you must choose a side and fight, Nausicaä asks: what if you don't? It's the philosophical inverse of Epic's binary worldview.

A young woman navigates a dying world and a war between nations, discovering her agency isn't in choosing a side but in forging a third path. The animation is hand-drawn and fluid, the ecological worldbuilding is intricate, and it treats its protagonist and audience with respect. It's about growing up in a broken world without losing compassion.

But It's a 1984 anime film, so the pacing and style are fundamentally different from Western animation. If you need constant momentum, the quieter moments where characters simply *process* will test your patience. Subtitles required.

Warriors of the Wind poster
More like this (8)

The Owl House2020

A human girl trapped in a demon realm, learning magic and fighting a fascistic emperor. Gorgeous character work, serialized storytelling that earns its emotional beats, and genuinely inventive magic system design.

But It's a TV series, so you're committing to multiple seasons. And the early episodes are lighter than the payoff, which some find slow.

The Owl House poster

Moana2016

A young woman on a mythological ocean quest, learning to trust herself and her companions. Stunning animation, excellent songs, and a script that respects its audience's intelligence about identity and legacy.

But If you're tired of the "finding yourself" narrative, this is absolutely that story told very competently but not subversively.

Moana poster

Raya and the Last Dragon2021

A woman on an epic quest through a fractured world, recruiting misfits and learning to trust. Gorgeous Southeast Asian-inspired visuals, compelling action, and a genuinely interesting take on what trust means.

But The plot can feel overstuffed and the pacing sometimes sacrifices character moments for plot momentum.

Raya and the Last Dragon poster

The NeverEnding Story1984

A boy reading a magical book that pulls him into its world. Practical effects and genuine imagination; it feels tactile in ways Epic doesn't. The stakes—literal reality collapsing—are presented with surprising seriousness.

But It's slow by modern standards, and some will find the practical creature effects charming while others find them kitschy.

The NeverEnding Story poster

Atlantis: The Lost Empire2001

An explorer joins a rag-tag expedition to find a hidden civilization. Hand-drawn with an unusual graphic style, genuinely fun ensemble cast, and it commits fully to the adventure without winking at you.

But The plot is pretty straightforward, and it has none of the emotional depth of better DreamWorks films. It's fun but slight.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire poster

Strange World2022

A family adventure into a bioluminescent alien landscape with high-concept visuals and a genuine attempt at exploring intergenerational trauma. The world-building is ambitious and the animation is striking.

But It underperforms commercially and narratively—the emotional core doesn't land as hard as the film wants it to, and the plot sometimes tangles itself.

Strange World poster

Over the Garden Wall2014

Both are forest narratives about children entering a hidden world, but where Epic's forest is beautiful and knowable, Over the Garden Wall's is ancient and indifferent. Epic wants you to save the world; Over the Garden Wall wants you to understand you might not make it out.

A 10-episode miniseries where two brothers get lost in a mysterious forest. It's animated but tonally grave—part folk tale, part horror, deeply melancholic. It trusts its audience to sit with dread and ambiguity. The art direction is painterly, the voice work is understated and perfect.

But It's short, so you're committing just five hours, but the mood is genuinely unsettling in places. If you want warmth and reassurance, this will unsettle you.

Over the Garden Wall poster

Wolfwalkers2020

Both celebrate natural beauty and feature a girl entering a hidden ecological world, but where Epic shows a forest that needs to be saved *for* civilization, Wolfwalkers asks whether civilization is worth saving at all. It's the grown-up version of Epic's environmental mythology.

A girl befriends a wolfwalker—a girl who transforms into a wolf—in 1600s Ireland. Hand-drawn animation in a style that looks like moving stained glass. It's about the clash between civilization and wildness, between control and freedom. Visually it's the most beautiful animated film of the last decade.

But It's deliberately stylized to the point of abstraction, which some find beautiful and others find mannered. And its moral argument—that wildness and civilization are incompatible—might feel reductive to some viewers.

Wolfwalkers poster

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FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Invizimals: A Tale of Two Dimensions