Period Dramas for Children
by summerday96 | created - 28 Apr 2014 | updated - 11 Jan 2022 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Avonlea (1990–1996)
TV-G | 60 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A young girl is sent to live with her late mother's relatives in Prince Edward Island. Set in the early 1900's, the series follows her adventures, as well as that of her family and the town's people as she grows up in Avonlea.
Stars: Zachary Bennett, Lally Cadeau, Mag Ruffman, Cedric Smith
Votes: 4,844
2. The Secret Garden (1993)
G | 101 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
A young, recently-orphaned girl is sent to England after living in India all of her life. Once there, she begins to explore her new, seemingly-isolated surroundings, and its secrets.
Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: Kate Maberly, Maggie Smith, Heydon Prowse, Andrew Knott
Votes: 44,427 | Gross: $31.18M
3.
Masterpiece (1971– )
Episode:
The Railway Children
(2000)
108 min | Drama, History, Mystery
Dramatization of E. Nesbit's classic novel about three children whose lives change dramatically after they move to a Yorkshire cottage near a railway line.
Director: Catherine Morshead | Stars: Jack Blumenau, Clare Thomas, Jemima Rooper, Jenny Agutter
Votes: 1,003
4. Five Children and It (1991)
291 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A group of children discovers a mysterious creature in the local sand pit who agrees to grant them one wish each day.
Stars: Simon Godwin, Nicole Mowat, Charles Richards, Tamzen Audas
Votes: 362
5. Anne of Avonlea (1975)
350 min | Drama, Family
The continuing adventures of Anne Shirley in the town of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island and at Kingsport in Nova Scotia.
Stars: Kim Braden, Barbara Hamilton, Madge Ryan, Christopher Blake
Votes: 261
6. Felicity: An American Girl Adventure (2005 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama, Family
In Colonial America, shortly before the American Revolution, a young girl tries to rescue a horse from an abusive owner.
Director: Nadia Tass | Stars: Shailene Woodley, Kevin Zegers, David Gardner, John Schneider
Votes: 1,358
7. Ballet Shoes (2007 TV Movie)
PG | 85 min | Drama, Family, Musical
In 1930s London, three orphan girls are adopted by their great uncle, who is an eccentric paleontologist, and his niece.
Director: Sandra Goldbacher | Stars: Emma Watson, Yasmin Paige, Lucy Boynton, Emilia Fox
Votes: 9,170
8. Samantha: An American Girl Holiday (2004 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 86 min | Drama, Family
Set in 1904, "American Girls" revolves around Samantha as she moves in with her grandmother and learns how to become a proper Victorian young lady.
Director: Nadia Tass | Stars: AnnaSophia Robb, Jordan Bridges, Rebecca Mader, Kelsey Lewis
Votes: 2,202
9.
Little House on the Prairie (2005)
Episode:
Little House in the Big Woods: Part 1
(2005)
TV-PG | 50 min | Drama, Family
Charles Ingalls decides to uproot his wife and daughters from their Wisconsin home to claim a new parcel of land in the Kansas Prairie.
Director: David L. Cunningham | Stars: Cameron Bancroft, Erin Cottrell, Kyle Chavarria, Danielle C. Ryan
Votes: 17
10. Heidi (1937)
Passed | 88 min | Drama, Family, Musical
A plucky little orphan girl gets dumped abruptly into her gruff, hermit grandfather's care, then later gets retaken and delivered as a companion for an injured girl.
Director: Allan Dwan | Stars: Shirley Temple, Jean Hersholt, Arthur Treacher, Helen Westley
Votes: 4,936
11. Heidi (1993)
G | 193 min | Drama, Family
After charming her reclusive grandfather and falling in love with the beautiful mountain he calls home, Heidi is uprooted and sent to Frankfurt where she befriends Klara, a young girl confined to a wheelchair.
Stars: Jason Robards, Jane Seymour, Patricia Neal, Siân Phillips
Votes: 1,961
12. A Little Princess (1995)
G | 97 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Sara is sent to a strict boarding school after her father enlists in WWI. When he is presumed dead, the headmistress, knowing she will not receive any more money, forces the girl to become a servant.
Director: Alfonso Cuarón | Stars: Liesel Matthews, Eleanor Bron, Liam Cunningham, Rusty Schwimmer
Votes: 36,670 | Gross: $10.02M
13. The Children of Noisy Village (1986)
87 min | Family
The story of the children who live in Bullerbyn, Sweden, through the spring and summer months.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Linda Bergström, Crispin Dickson Wendenius, Henrik Larsson, Ellen Demérus
Votes: 2,425
14. The Little Colonel (1935)
Approved | 81 min | Comedy, Family, Musical
In the post-Civil war south, a darling little girl attempts to restore the peace between her parents and her plantation owner grandfather.
Director: David Butler | Stars: Shirley Temple, Lionel Barrymore, Evelyn Venable, John Lodge
Votes: 1,882
15. FairyTale: A True Story (1997)
PG | 99 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
In 1917, two children take a photograph, which is soon believed by some to be the first scientific evidence of the existence of fairies.
Director: Charles Sturridge | Stars: Paul McGann, Florence Hoath, Elizabeth Earl, Harvey Keitel
Votes: 6,344 | Gross: $14.04M
16. The Sound of Music (1965)
G | 172 min | Biography, Drama, Family
A young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn
Votes: 260,537 | Gross: $163.21M
17. Anne of Green Gables (1985)
TV-G | 100 min | Drama, Family
An orphan girl, sent to an elderly brother and sister by mistake, charms her new home and community with her fiery spirit and imagination.
Stars: Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Richard Farnsworth, Patricia Hamilton
Votes: 22,632
18. The Little Princess (1939)
Approved | 93 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A little girl is left by her father in an exclusive seminary for girls, when her father fights in the Second Boer War. Later, when he is presumed dead she is forced to become a servant.
Directors: Walter Lang, William A. Seiter | Stars: Shirley Temple, Richard Greene, Anita Louise, Ian Hunter
Votes: 6,731
19. Pollyanna (2003 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 99 min | Drama, Family
Wealthy, impossible to please lady Polly, whom only gardener Tom's irresistibly charming, indomitably cheerful son Tim, the chauffeur-handyman, can handle, grudgingly lets her late sister's... See full summary »
Director: Sarah Harding | Stars: Amanda Burton, Kenneth Cranham, Georgina Terry, Aden Gillett
Votes: 1,257
20. The Littlest Rebel (1935)
Approved | 73 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Shirley Temple's father, a rebel officer, sneaks back to his rundown plantation to see his family and is arrested. A Yankee takes pity and sets up an escape. Everyone is captured and the ... See full summary »
Director: David Butler | Stars: Shirley Temple, John Boles, Jack Holt, Karen Morley
Votes: 1,674
21. Emil of Lonneberga (1971)
95 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
An 8 y.o. Swedish boy always gets into trouble despite good intentions and afterwards ends locked up in a shed. He lives on a farm (before electricity and cars) with his mom, dad, sister, maid, best friend the farmhand and an old woman.
Director: Olle Hellbom | Stars: Jan Ohlsson, Lena Wisborg, Allan Edwall, Emy Storm
Votes: 4,501
22. The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends (1992–1998)
TV-G | 24 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
An animated series, telling the story of many beloved Beatrix Potter characters.
Stars: Niamh Cusack, Enn Reitel, Mary Jane Bowe, Jenny Moore
Votes: 1,088
23. Summer of the Monkeys (1998)
G | 101 min | Adventure, Drama
Summer Of The Monkeys (set in 1910 on the prairies of Canada) follows the story of a young boy, Jay, who dreams of getting enough money to buy his dream horse. One summer Jay finds four ... See full summary »
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: Michael Ontkean, Leslie Hope, Wilford Brimley, Corey Sevier
Votes: 618 | Gross: $0.02M
24. Emily of New Moon (1998–2003)
TV-G | 60 min | Drama
An orphan is sent to live with relatives in picturesque turn-of-the-century Prince Edward Island.
Stars: Martha MacIsaac, Sheila McCarthy, Stephen McHattie, Jessica Pellerin
Votes: 523
25. You're Out of Your Mind, Maggie (1979)
104 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Madicken is a Swedish girl from the upper level family, growing up during the time of first world war which did not include Sweden. She lives happily with her family, experiencing the world and making brave and crazy things.
Director: Göran Graffman | Stars: Jonna Liljendahl, Liv Alsterlund, Monica Nordquist, Björn Granath
Votes: 1,934
26. Meg of June Hill (1980)
82 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Madicken never means for anything to go wrong, but somehow it gets that way. Neither this time, when her little sister got a concussion, and it's not her fault that she puts a pea up her own nose.
Director: Göran Graffman | Stars: Jonna Liljendahl, Liv Alsterlund, Monica Nordquist, Björn Granath
Votes: 1,649
27. Rasmus and the Vagabond (1981)
105 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Rasmus lives at an orphanage. He's OK, but wants a mom and a dad, and from time to time some comes to find a child, but they always chose little girls curls. Rasmus realizes he has to run away and find parents himself.
Director: Olle Hellbom | Stars: Allan Edwall, Erik Lindgren, Jarl Kulle, Håkan Serner
Votes: 2,536
28. Tjorven och Mysak (1966)
95 min | Family
Tjorven and the other children at Saltkråkan have received a play day in a gift. Uncel Melker will find himself ending up in the lake several times. The kids also have found an old ship ... See full summary »
Director: Olle Hellbom | Stars: Maria Johansson, Stephen Lindholm, Kristina Jämtmark, Kajsa Dandenell
Votes: 621
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