Best movies like Pollyanna

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Pollyanna Starring Georgina Terry, Amanda Burton, Kenneth Cranham, Aden Gillett, and more. If you liked Pollyanna then you may also like: 3 Men and a Little Lady, Unexpected, Winter Stories, Owd Bob, The Railway Children and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

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Pollyanna Whittier goes to live with her wealthy but bitter aunt after the tragic death of her father. Pollyanna shares a game her father taught her -- the 'Glad Game' -- in which everyone can find a silver lining in even the darkest cloud, and her sunny nature, good humor and determination to look on the bright side of life prove to have an astonishing effect on those around her. With the help of her orphaned friend, Jimmy Bean, she casts her spell on the grumpiest townsfolk of Beldingsville -- including the cynical shut-in Mrs. Snow, the morose millionaire Mr. Pendleton and the enigmatic Dr. Chilton. And Pollyanna masterminds the romance between her Aunt's maid, Nancy, and the handyman, Tim. It is only Aunt Polly, who cannot bring herself to embrace Pollyanna's innocence and joy. But all is not straightforward in Pollyanna's war against pessimism, since she must overcome a personal tragedy that threatens to banish "glad" from her vocabulary forever.

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3 Men and a Little Lady

Sylvia's work increasingly takes her away from the three men who help bring up Mary, her daughter. When she decides to move to England and take Mary with her, the three men are heartbroken at losing the two most important females in their lives.

Unexpected

An inner-city high school teacher discovers she is pregnant at the same time as one of her most promising students and the two develop an unlikely friendship while struggling to navigate their unexpected pregnancies.

Winter Stories

An adult Martin Roy reminisces about his life in the 1966/67 school year. At fifteen years old and in his last year of junior high school, he breathed, ate and slept hockey. He collected hockey cards, played street hockey with his friends, tried skating and ice hockey for the first time in his life, but was most fascinated with his local national league team, the Montréal Canadiens, and its star player, Henri Richard. He dreamed of growing up and working for the Canadiens franchise. But a more immediate goal was to get tickets to one of their games, using M. Richard and his banker father, Hervé, as possible conduits to that goal.

5.9 / 10 1998 Family
suggested by: user278v0t0qj5x

Owd Bob

Recently orphaned David must move to the Isle of Man to live with his grandfather, Adam, who's a sheep farmer. Both long for the end of the summer, having nothing in common but their love for dogs, notably Adam's precious champion sheepdog Bob. David strikes a friendship with Maggie, the sassy daughter of friendly neighbor Keith Moore, but Adam hates that family on account of an old canine competition-related tragedy. Other neighbors suspect Bob and the Moore's dog of the recent series of nocturnal sheep-kills.

The Railway Children

After the enforced absence of their father, the three Waterbury children move with their mother to Yorkshire, where they find themselves involved in several unexpected dramas along the railway by their new home.

Rascal

A comedy filled with tenderness as a baby raccoon snuggles his way into the life of a lonely boy. He becomes the boy's only companion during his father's frequent absences. Because of Rascal, both father and son realize their responsibility to each other

Juno

Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

The Great Depression hits home for nine year old Kit Kittredge when her dad loses his business and leaves to find work. Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin stars as Kit, leading a splendid cast in the first ever "American Girl" theatrical movie. In order to keep their home, Kit and her mother must take in boarders - paying house - guests who turn out to be full of fascinating stories. When mother's lockbox containing all their money is stolen, Kit's new hobo friend Will is the prime suspect. Kit refuses to believe that Will would steal, and her efforts to sniff out the real story get her and friends into big trouble. The police say the robbery was an inside job, committed by someone they know. So if it wasn't Will, then who did it.

Anne of Green Gables

At the turn of the century on Prince Edward Island, Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla decide to take on an orphan boy as help for their farm. But they get an unexpected jolt when they're mistakenly sent a girl instead: Anne Shirley.

Benji: Off the Leash!

Benji and his friends try to save his mother from a puppy mill.

The Biscuit Eater

Nothing warms the heart like the story of a boy and his dog. Lonnie (Johnny Whitaker) and Text (George Spell) are two friends determined, against all odds, to turn a misfit hound into a hero. Tennessee farmer and dog trainer Harve McNeil (Earl Holliman) tells his son Lonnie that his dog, Moreover, is a good-for-nothing "biscuit eater."

Pollyanna

A young girl comes to an embittered town and confronts its attitude with her determination to see the best in life.

Follow Me, Boys!

Lem Siddons is part of a traveling band who has a dream of becoming a lawyer. Deciding to settle down, he finds a job as a stockboy in the general store of a small town. Trying to fit in, he volunteers to become scoutmaster of the newly formed Troop 1. Becoming more and more involved with the scout troop, he finds his plans to become a lawyer being put on the back burner, until he realizes that his life has been fulfilled helping the youth of the small town.

Pete's Dragon

Pete, a young orphan, runs away to a Maine fishing town with his best friend a lovable, sometimes invisible dragon named Elliott! When they are taken in by a kind lighthouse keeper, Nora, and her father, Elliott's prank playing lands them in big trouble. Then, when crooked salesmen try to capture Elliott for their own gain, Pete must attempt a daring rescue.

Crush

Three 40-something women in a small English town meet weekly for a ritual of gin, cigarettes, and sweets -- and swapped stories arguing which of them has the most pathetic love life. Kate is headmistress at the local school; her best friends are the town's police chief and a cynical, thrice-divorced doctor.

Dancer, Texas Pop. 81

Four guys, best friends, have grown up together in DANCER, TEXAS POP. 81, a tiny town in West Texas. Years ago, they made a solemn vow to leave town together as soon as they graduate. Now, it's that weekend and the time has come to "put up or shut up." The clock is ticking and as all 81 people in the town watch, comment, offer advice and place bets, these four very different boys with unique backgrounds struggle with the biggest decision of their lives... whether to stay or leave home.

The Secret Garden

A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and neglected. Aided by one of the servants' boys, she begins restoring the garden, and eventually discovers some other secrets of the manor.

Ramona and Beezus

Ramona is a little girl with a very big imagination and a nose for mischief. Her playful antics keep everyone in her loving family on their toes, including her older sister Beezus, who's just trying to survive her first year of high school. Through all the ups and downs of childhood, Ramona and Beezus learn that anything's possible when you believe in yourself and rely on each other.

Dean Spanley

Set in Edwardian England where upper lips are always stiff and men from the Colonies are not entirely to be trusted, Fisk Senior has little time or affection for his son, but when the pair visit an eccentric Indian, they start a strange journey that eventually allows the old man to find his heart.

Simon Birch

Simon Birch and Joe Wenteworth are boys who have a reputation for being oddballs. Joe never knew his father, and his mother, Rebecca, is keeping her lips sealed no matter how much he protests. Simon, meanwhile, is an 11-year-old dwarf whose outsize personality belies his small stature. Indeed, he often assails the local reverend with thorny theological questions and joins Joe on his quest to find his biological father.

Housekeeping

In the Pacific Northwest during the 1950s, two young sisters whose mother has abandoned them wind up living with their Aunt Sylvie, whose views of the world and its conventions don't quite live up to most people's expectations.

Digging to China

Precocious young Harriet and her older sister Gwen live at their mother's motel in small-town New Hampshire. Harriet dreams of a life beyond her inattentive family and the stultifying town. A mentally disabled man named Ricky comes to stay at the motel, and Harriet finds him kinder and more interesting than anyone she has ever met. After tragedy strikes, Harriet and Ricky cling to each other ever more tightly.

The Grass Harp

Based on the novel by Truman Capote, this often-witty coming-of-age drama looks at a young man growing up with an unusual family in the Deep South in the 1940s. Becoming an orphan in 1935, Collin moves to his dad's cousins Verena and Dolly. Verena is a rich, bossy businesswoman. Dolly, Collin and the maid revolt, moving to a tree house.

Summer of the Monkeys

One summer, Jay finds four chimps on the prairie who have fallen off a circus cart.

Fast Girl

Racing is in Alex Johnstone's blood. It was her father s life and it ultimately caused his death so her uncle Bill, who runs the local speedway, is determined not to lose his niece the way he lost his brother. But Alex is determined to prove to Bill, to the world, and especially to herself that she has what it takes to be the best in a traditionally male-dominated sport. And when she meets up with handsome professional racecar driver Darryl Sands, the emotional stakes are raised even higher. Will Alex crash and burn or can she carry on her dad s legacy and make her dreams come true?

Heidi

Heidi is an orphaned girl initially raised by her aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland. In order to get a job in Frankfurt, Dete brings 5-year-old Heidi to her grandfather, who has been at odds with the villagers for years and lives in seclusion on the alm. He at first resents Heidi's arrival, but the girl manages to penetrate his harsh exterior and subsequently has a delightful stay with him and her best friend, young Peter the goat-herd.

5.5 / 10 2005 Animation Family
suggested by: user209twlks7xg

Heidi

Based on the ever-popular children's' novel by Johanna Spyri, "Heidi" follows the adventures of an indomitable young girl, forced to move to her grandfather's hovel high up in the Swiss Alps, where she she surprises all by settling in to a firm friendship, not only with her somewhat grouchy relative, but also with a new friend Peter, the goat-herder.

Pollyanna

When Pollyanna is orphaned, she's sent to live with her crotchety Aunt Polly. Pollyanna discovers that many of the people in her aunt's New England hometown are as ill-tempered as her aunt. But Pollyanna's incurable optimism - exemplified by her "glad game", in which she looks for the bright side of every situation - brings a change to the staid old community.

Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn

Tom Sawyer and his pal Huckleberry Finn have great adventures on the Mississippi River, pretending to be pirates, attending their own funeral and witnessing a murder.

Cold Comfort Farm

In this adaptation of the satirical British novel, Flora Poste, a plucky London society girl orphaned at age 19, finds a new home with some rough relatives, the Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm. With a take-charge attitude and some encouragement from her mischievous friend, Mary, Flora changes the Starkadders' lives forever when she settles into their rustic estate, bringing the backward clan up to date and finding inspiration for her novel in the process.

All the Way Home

In the early 1900's Tennessee, a loving family undergoes the shock of the father's sudden, accidental death. The widow and her young son must endure the heartache of life following the tragedy, but slowly rise up from the ashes to face the hope of renewed life.

Bitter/Sweet

American businessman Brian Chandler has a perfect life with a great job and beautiful fiancée. When his boss, renegade coffee mogul Calvert Jenkins sends him to Thailand to inspect a crop for purchase, Brian meets Ticha, a beautiful Bangkok executive who has long-since given up on the prospects of finding love.

A Shine of Rainbows

An orphaned boy named Tomás is adopted by Maire O’Donnell to live on a whimsical Irish isle filled with new friends, secret caves and a lost baby pup seal stranded on the coast. But when Maire's reluctant husband Alec refuses to accept Tomás as his own son, the boy drifts down a fateful path of adventure and self-discovery, illuminating how rainbows can shine around - and within - us all.

Candles on Bay Street

DeeDee returns to her hometown with her 11 year old son, Trooper, 13 years after she ran off with her boyfriend. Her childhood best friend, Sam, is now married and he and his wife, Lydia, are the town's veterinarians. Lydia is a little wary about DeeDee after Sam tells her that they were best friends growing up and DeeDee was his first crush. But DeeDee and Trooper find their way into many hearts of the townspeople with their sweet helpfulness and friendships. DeeDee sets up a candle making business in town square and invites many of the ladies of the town to weekly candle making parties, and through these parties she and Lydia become good friends. One evening after dinner with Lydia and Sam, DeeDee tells Sam she's very sick and she doesn't have much longer to live and she needs his help to find a good family in town to adopt Trooper. Sam later tells Lydia everything and they decide to adopt Trooper themselves if/when something happens to DeeDee.

5.6 / 10 1996 Drama Family
suggested by: mindfulness

Shiloh

An abused beagle runs away from his owner. On the road, he meets young Marty Preston and follows him home. The boy immediately forms a bond with the dog and names him Shiloh. His stern father won't let him keep the dog because it belongs to Judd Travers, a local hunter. After Shiloh is mistreated again, he runs away and returns to Marty. Knowing his father will once again make him bring Shiloh back to Judd, he makes a home for the dog in an old shed up the hill from the Prestons' house and hides him from his family. His secret is soon discovered when a stray attacks the dog one night and he must turn to his father for help.

Little Ghost

While on location in a spooky Italian villa with his Hollywood big-shot mom and her dorky boyfriend, twelve-year-old Kevin befriends a Renaissance-era girl ghost who helps him cause unrest on the set.

The Trial of Old Drum

Inspired by a true story set in Missouri, "The Trial of Old Drum" tells the story of a valiant golden retriever, Old Drum, an orphan dog that becomes a boy's best friend and is then forced to stand trial for killing a neighbor's sheep.

Saving Shiloh

In this third movie about Shiloh, Judd Travers is accused of killing a man he once fought in a bar. Everyone in the town consider Judd to be guilty except Marty Preston, but even him has some doubts. Trying to clear Judd's name Marty and his friend searches the woods to find the criminal.

The Wedding Chapel

Uninspired and newly single painter Sara is down on her luck and wants nothing more than to get away from her problems. When she decides to take a trip to visit her mom, she becomes involved in the efforts to save a local church which is in danger of closing down.

How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer

Three generations of women in a Mexican American family experience sexual awakenings over the course of a summer.

Cider with Rosie

A semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story set in the Cotswolds during and immediately after the First World War.

Love's Unending Legacy

Missie three years later: being a single mother after her husband Willie was shot during a poker scuffle. She and Maddy move back in with her parents Clark and Marty. She finds a new home, and finds a new teaching position that she settles right into, but Missie has lost all faith in herself, until a chance encounter at her father's church where she adopts homeless orphan Belinda Marshall.

Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season

When Shiloh's abusive previous owner, Judd Travers, tries to retake Shiloh again, Ray tries to find a way to end the rivalry and open up the hidden kindness within the town drunk.

K-9 Adventures: A Christmas Tale

Luke Perry stars in this heartwarming "tail." Kassie, her friends and her dog, Scoot, organize a holiday fundraiser, but must protect the cash from some crooks in order to save Christmas.

Huck and the King of Hearts

Taking place in the 1990's, Huck and his card shark friend, Jim, travel from California to Nevada searching for Huck's long-lost grandpa. Along the way, a deceived card player chases the two across the states with his two, less intelligent, sidekicks.

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town

Zachary Beaver, a sideshow attraction also known as the world's fattest boy, arrives in the sleepy town of Granger, Texas.

Daniel's Daughter

When a woman learns that her father has passed away, she must confront the past (and the town) she left behind.

The Maldonado Miracle

A story about a small, dying town in need of hope until one day a young boy gives them something to believe in.

Just a Dream

Film crew arrives in a small town in Nevada desert. Ends up changing the life of a 12-year-old kid and a friend of his, a movie lover.

A Stranger's Heart

Man and woman (Peter Dobson and Samantha Mathis) fall in love in a heart transplant facility. They are both attracted to a little girl (Mary Matilyn Mouser) who turns out to be the orphan of their heart donors...

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