Fantasy Films

The ABCs of 175 Fantasy Films:

(I have seen the 96 movies in bold; movies to see next are marked with a ^.)

My Top Sources of Fantasy Inspiration

A: Arabian Nights Adventurer

1. 1. One Arabian Night (Sumurun) (1920) (German)
   2. The Thief of Bagdad (United Artists)
      • The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
      • The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
   3. Universal’s Arabian Nights Films
      • Arabian Nights (1942)
      • Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1943)
      • The Golden Blade (1953)
   4. Sinbad, the Sailor (1947) (RKO Radio Pictures)
   5. Sinbad (Ray Harryhausen – Columbia Pictures)
      • The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
      • The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)
      • Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)
   6. Foreign Arabian Nights Films
      • Aladdin and His Magic Lamp (1967) (Soviet)
      • Arabian Nights (1974) (Italian)
      • Adventures of Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves (1980) (Indian-Soviet)
      • Les 1001 nuits (Sheherazade) (1990) (French-Italian)
   7. Sinbad of the Seven Seas (1989) (MGM)
   8. Aladdin (2019) (Disney)

• • The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
  • The Singing Princess (1949)
  • Arabian Nights: The Adventures of Sinbad (1962)
  • A Thousand & One Nights (1969)
  • Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1982)
  • Disney’s Aladdin (1992)
  • The Thief and the Cobbler (1993)
  • Disney’s The Return of Jafar (1994)
  • Disney’s Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996)
  • Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)

B: Barbarian

• • Robert E. Howard’s
    1. Conan the Barbarian (1982)
    2. Conan the Destroyer (1984)
    3. Red Sonja (1985)
    4. Kull the Conqueror (1997)
    5. Solomon Kane (2009)
    6. Conan the Barbarian (2011)

1. 1. The Beastmaster (1982)
   2. The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982)
   3. Deathstalker (1983)
   4. Barbarian Queen (1985)

C: Celtic Warrior

• 1. Boudica Warrior Queen (2003)
  2. The Gaelic King (2017)

1. • Asterix the Gaul (1967)
   • Disney Pixar’s Brave (2012)

D: Dragonslayer

1. 1. Fritz Lang’s Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924)
   2. Fritz Lang’s Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild’s Revenge (1924)
   3. The Magic Sword (St. George and the Dragon) (1962)
   4. Dragonslayer (1981)
   5. DragonHeart (1996)
   6. Reign of Fire (2002)
   7. George and the Dragon (2004)
   8. I Am Dragon (2015)
   9. Damsel (2024)
   10. How to Train Your Dragon (2025)

E: Enchantress/Sorcerer

• 1. Faust (1926)
  2. Sorceress (1982)
  3. Willow (1988)
  4. Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010)

1. • Disney’s Fantasia (1940) “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”
   • Belladonna of Sadness (1973)
   • Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1991)
   • Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998)

F: Fairyfolk

1. • William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
     1. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935)
     2. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999)
   • Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959)
   • Jim Henson’s
     1. The Dark Crystal (1982)
     2. Labyrinth (1986)
   • Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
     
   • The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)
   • Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
   • Disney’s
     1. Maleficent (2014)
     2. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)

• • Disney’s Fantasia (1940) – “The Nutcracker Suite”
  • FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)
  • Thumbelina (1994)
  • The Secret of Kells (2009)

G: Giantslayer

• 1. Edison Studios Jack and the Beanstalk (1902)
  2. Jack the Giant Killer (1962)
  3. Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)
  4. Disney’s Into the Woods (2014)

1. • Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free (1947) – “Mickey and the Beanstalk”

H: He-Men Legends

• 1. Flash Gordon (1980)
  2. Krull (1983)
  3. Masters of the Universe (1987)
  4. Gor (1987)
  5. Edgar Rice Burroughs’s The Barsoom Series Disney’s John Carter (2012)

I: Immortal

• 1. Highlander (1986)
  2. Highlander II: The Quickening “Renegade Version” (1991)
  3. Highlander III: The Sorcerer (1995)
  4. Highlander: Endgame (2000)

J: Jungle Explorer

1. • Edgar Rice Burroughs’
     1. Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan of the Apes (1918) and seven other silent films
     2. Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) and eleven other films in that series
     3. Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) and several other film series and individual films
     4. The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
   • Sheena (1984)
   • Jumanji
     1. Jumanji (1995)
     2. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
     3. Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
   • Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book
     1. Disney’s The Jungle Book (1994)
     2. Disney’s The Jungle Book (2016)
     3. Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018)
   • Disney’s Jungle Cruise (2021)

1. • Rudyard Kipling/Disney’s The Jungle Book (1967)

K: Knight

• 1. The Crusades (1935)
  2. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949)
  3. Ivanhoe (1952)
  4. Knights of the Round Table (1953)
  5. Prince Valiant (1954)
  6. Camelot (1967)
  7. Lancelot Of The Lake (1974)
  8. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
  9. Excalibur (1981)
  10. Sword of the Valiant (1984)
  11. First Knight (1995)
  12. Prince Valiant (1997)
  13. Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
  14. Arn: The Knight Templar (2007)
  15. The Green Knight (2021)

1. • Disney’s The Sword in the Stone (1963)

L: Lost Boy

• 1. Peter Pan (1924)
  2. Peter Pan (1955)
  3. Hook (1991)
  4. Peter Pan (2003)
  5. Pan (2015)
  6. Disney’s Peter Pan & Wendy (2023)

1. • Disney’s Peter Pan (1953)

M: Middle Earther

1. • Lord of the Rings
     1. The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
     2. The Two Towers (2002)
     3. The Return of the King (2003)
   • The Hobbit
     1. An Unexpected Journey (2012)
     2. The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
     3. The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

• • The Hobbit (1967)
  • The Hobbit (1977)
  • The Lord of the Rings (1978)
  • The Return of the King (1980)
  • The War of the Rohirrim (2024)

N: Narnian

• 1. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
  2. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)
  3. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

1. • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1979)

O: Ozian

• 1. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. Disney’s Return to Oz (1985)
  3. Disney’s Oz The Great and Powerful (2013)
  4. Wicked (2024)

P: Princess/Prince

• 1. The Princess Bride (1987)
  2. Cinderella (2015)

1. • Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
   • Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Q: Queen Challenger

• 1. Alice in Wonderland (1999)
  2. Disney’s Alice in Wonderland (2010)
  3. Disney’s Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

1. • Disney’s Alice in Wonderland (1951)

R: Raider/Pirate

1. 1. Cabiria (1914)
   2. Captain Blood (1935)
   3. The Sea Hawk (1940)
   4. The Spanish Main (1945)
   5. Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island (1950)
   6. The Crimson Pirate (1952)
   7. Against All Flags (1952)
   8. Blackbeard, the Pirate (1952)
   9. The Buccaneer (1958)
   10. Kidnapped (1960)
   11. Swashbuckler (1976)
   12. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
   13. Cutthroat Island (1995)
   14. The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
   15. The Pirates (2014)

1. • Pirates of the Caribbean:
     1. The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
     2. Dead Man’s Chest (2006)
     3. At World’s End (2007)
     4. On Stranger Tides (2011)
     5. Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

S: Seafolk/Selkie/Mermaid

1. 1. Miranda (1948)
   2. Night Tide (1961)
   3. Splash (1984)
   4. Aquamarine (2006)
   5. The Lure (2015)
   6. The Mermaid (2016)
   7. The Shape of Water (2017)
   8. Disney’s The Little Mermaid (2023)

• • Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid (1975)
  • Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989)
  • The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)
  • Song of the Sea (2014)

T: Thief

• 1. Robin Hood (1922)
  2. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
  3. The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952)
  4. Robin and Marian (1976)
  5. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

1. • Disney’s Robin Hood (1973)

U: Unicorn Whisperer

• 1. Legend (1985)
  2. Stardust (2007)
  3. The Secret of Moonacre (2008)

1. • The Last Unicorn (1982)

V: Viking

• 1. The Vikings (1958)
  2. Erik The Conqueror (1961)
  3. The Long Ships (1964)
  4. Hagbard and Signe (The Red Mantle) (1967)
  5. The Viking Saga (1995)
  6. The 13th Warrior (1999)
  7. Dark Kingdom (2004)
  8. Pathfinder (2007)
  9. Viking (2016)
  10. The Northman (2022)

1. • How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

W: Wizard

• • Harry Potter
    1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001)
    2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
    3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
    4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
    5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
    6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
    7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010)
    8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011)
  • Fantastic Beasts
    1. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
    2. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)
    3. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)

X: Xanadu Explorer

• 1. The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938)
  2. The Conqueror (1956)
  3. Doctor Who – “Marco Polo” (1964)
  4. Marco the Magnificent (1965)
  5. The Incredible Adventures of Marco Polo on His Journeys to the Ends of the Earth (1998)

Y: Yahoo Traveler

• 1. Georges Méliès’s Gulliver’s Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants (1902)
  2. Gulliver’s Travels (1939)
  3. Gulliver’s Travels (1996)
  4. Gulliver’s Travels (2010)

Z: Zelda

• • The Legend of Zelda (1989)
  • Captain N: The Game Master (1989-1991)