Last Updated on 1 November 2024
The following list is the Official Definitive List of the 200 best fairy tale movies of all time. Some are retellings of classic fairy tales and some are original stories that fit the fairy tale genre.
I found 18 different ranked lists online of “best fairy tale movies of all time” and pulled them all into Excel and merged them all to get this definitive compilation. See my Methodology page for the research process that was used, including links to all 18 lists that were averaged. Below is a checklist you can print to track which ones you’ve seen, followed by the ranked list with links to IMDb.
- The Princess Bride (1987)
- Beauty and the Beast (1991)
- The Red Shoes (1948)
- Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998)
- Shrek (2001)
- The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- Edward Scissorhands (1990)
- Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
- Stardust (2007)
- Enchanted (2007)
- Hook (1991)
- The Little Mermaid (1989)
- Beauty and the Beast (1946)
- Black Swan (2010)
- Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
- A Cinderella Story (2004)
- Aladdin (1992)
- Labyrinth (1986)
- Maleficent (2014)
- The NeverEnding Story (1984)
- Ella Enchanted (2004)
- Spirited Away (2001)
- Penelope (2006)
- Beauty and the Beast (2017)
- Cinderella (2015)
- Willow (1988)
- The Company of Wolves (1984)
- Mirror Mirror (2012)
- Into the Woods (2014)
- The Dark Crystal (1982)
- Ondine (2009)
- The Last Unicorn (1982)
- Cinderella (1950)
- The Shape of Water (2017)
- Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997)
- Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
- Splash (1984)
- Tangled (2010)
- Cinderella (2000)
- Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
- Red Riding Hood (2011)
- Legend (1985)
- Alice in Wonderland (2010)
- Freeway (1996)
- Beastly (2011)
- Peter Pan (2003)
- Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)
- Princess Mononoke (1997)
- If the Show Fits (1990)
- The Brothers Grimm (2005)
- Peter Pan (1953)
- The Matrix (1999)
- Aladdin (2019)
- Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
- Sleeping Beauty (1959)
- Sydney White (2007)
- Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)
- Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
- Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses (2006)
- Coraline (2009)
- The Visit (2015)
- Alice in Wonderland (1951)
- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
- Ladyhawke (1985)
- Gretel & Hansel (2020)
- Big Fish (2003)
- Suspiria (1977)
- A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song (2011)
- The City of Lost Children (1995)
- Return to Oz (1985)
- Tin Man (2007)
- Bluebeard (2009)
- The Snow Queen (2002)
- Finding Neverland (2004)
- The Frog Prince (1971)
- The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
- Another Cinderella Story (2008)
- Dungeons & Dragons (2000)
- Snow White: The Fairest of Them All (2001)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
- Year of the Fish (2007)
- Shrek 2 (2004)
- Song of the Sea (2014)
- Cinderella (2021)
- The Swan Princess (1994)
- Thumbelina (1994)
- Anastasia (1997)
- Midnight Masquerade (2014)
- Rags (2012)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
- Tale of Tales (2015)
- Pete’s Dragon (2016)
- The Princess and the Frog (2009)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
- Wolfwalkers (2020)
- Cinderella (1965)
- Beauty and the Beast (2014)
- Ronia: The Robber’s Daughter (1984)
- The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013)
- Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
- Puss in Boots (2011)
- Bartok the Magnificent (1999)
- Belle (2021)
- My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
- Onward (2020)
- Godmothered (2020)
- The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016)
- Pan (2015)
- The Lure (2017)
- This Beautiful Fantastic (2016)
- Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
- Four Enchanted Sisters (2020)
- The Little Mermaid (2018)
- The Village (2004)
- Alice in Wonderland (1999)
- Snow White (1987)
- The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)
- O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2001)
- Dreams (1990)
- Time Bandits (1981)
- Pinocchio (2022)
- A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
- Alice (2009)
- Life of Pi (2012)
- Wizards (1977)
- Cinderella (1997)
- Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)
- The Wiz (1978)
- Hard Candy (2005)
- Pleasantville (1998)
- Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
- Hanna (2011)
- Pinocchio (1940)
- Blancanieves (2012)
- Snow White (2025)
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
- Frozen (2013)
- Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959)
- Luca (2021)
- Sleepy Hollow (1999)
- The King’s Daughter (2022)
- Descendants (2015)
- Le dernier chaperon rouge (1998)
- Sleeping Beauty (2011)
- The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018)
- Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
- Lost River (2014)
- The Wizard of Oz (1925)
- Aquamarine (2006)
- Fantasia (1940)
- Hercules (1997)
- City of Ember (2008)
- Descendants 3 (2019)
- I Am Dragon (2015)
- Malice in Wonderland (2009)
- Wonderwell (2023)
- Avatar (2009)
- Lady in the Water (2006)
- The Good Witch (2008)
- The Little Mermaid (2023)
- FairyTale: A True Story (1997)
- Once Upon a Time… Happily Never After (2022)
- Alice (1988)
- Brave (2012)
- The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996)
- The Ash Lad: In Search of the Golden Castle (2019)
- Belladonna of Sadness (1973)
- Cinderella (1957)
- Fantasia 2000 (1999)
- Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)
- Alice in Wonderland (1915)
- Bridge to Terabithia (2007)
- Secret of the Wings (2012)
- The Secret Garden (2020)
- Hocus Pocus (1993)
- Mirrormask (2005)
- The Snow Queen (1986)
- Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024)
- Pete’s Dragon (1977)
- Tideland (2006)
- Once Upon a Crime (2023)
- White As Snow (2019)
- Beetlejuice (1988)
- Hey, Cinderella! (1969)
- Little Otik (2000)
- The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella (1976)
- Nausicaa (1971)
- Chantal in Fairyland (2024)
- Anastasia (2020)
- Bridgadoon (1954)
- Frozen II (2019)
- The Snow Queen (1995)
- 7 Zwerge (2004)
- Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)
- A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
- Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
- Three Wishes for Cinderella (1973)
- Tinker Bell (2008)