Fantasy Films and Television

Fairy tales, sword-and-sorcery, legendary quests, strange kingdoms and worlds where the impossible is part of the landscape.

This archive follows fantasy on screen from early cinematic illusion and fairy-tale films through mythic adventure, sword-and-sorcery, epic adaptations and modern television. The full historical collection remains below, with older and less famous entries kept alongside the landmark films that shaped the genre.

Start Here

• Cinderella (1899) — early screen illusion turning a familiar fairy tale into cinema.
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz — early fantasy cinema and the journey into another world.
• The 7th Voyage of Sinbad — monsters, myth and stop-motion adventure.
• Excalibur — Arthurian legend rendered as dark, mythic spectacle.
• The Fellowship of the Ring — modern epic fantasy on a vast cinematic scale.
• Pan’s Labyrinth — fairy-tale imagery entwined with historical brutality.
• Spirited Away — an otherworld of spirits, bargains and transformation.

Browse the Chronological Archive

Films and television remain organised by decade so the collection can be explored as a history of changing fantasy traditions.

1920s Fantasy Films

• 1920 – The Mark of Zorro
• 1922 – Robin Hood
• 1924 – The Thief of Baghdad
• 1925 – The Lost World
• 1926 – Faust 

2010s Fantasy Films

• 2010 – Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)
• 2010 – Clash of the Titans (2010)
• 2010 – The Twilight Saga –Eclipse
• 2010 – Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
• 2010 – The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec
• 2010 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
• 2010 – Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
• 2010 – Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 
• 2010 – The Last Airbender
• 2010 – The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• 2011 – Conan the Barbarian – Conan the Barbarian (2011)
• 2011 – The Twilight Saga-Breaking Dawn – Part 1 
• 2011 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
• 2011 – Immortals 
• 2011 – Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
• 2012 – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 
• 2012 – Dungeons & Dragons 3: The Book of Vile Darkness
• 2012 – Trollhunter
• 2012 – Blancanieves  (Spanish) 
• 2012 – Snow White and the Huntsman
• 2012 – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
• 2012 – Wrath of the Titans
• 2013  – Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters  
• 2013 – Jack the Giant Slayer
• 2013 – Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
• 2013 – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• 2013 – Oz the Great and Powerful
• 2014 – Into the Woods
• 2014 – Hercules
• 2014 – Maleficent
• 2014 – Seventh Son 
• 2014 – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• 2014 – Viy
• 2015 – Cinderella 
• 2015 – Krampus (film)
• 2015 – Tale of Tales (Italian: Il racconto dei racconti)
• 2016 – Gods of Egypt
• 2016 – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• 2016 – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
• 2016 – The BFG 
• 2016 – Pete’s Dragon
• 2016 – The Great Wall (film)
• 2016 – The Jungle Book 
• 2016 – Warcraft 
• 2017 – Beauty and the Beast
• 2017 – Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil
• 2017 – Last Knight (Russian)
• 2017 – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
• 2018 – Robin Hood
• 2019 – Aladdin (2019 film)
• 2019 – Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

2010s Fantasy Television

• 2008 – 10 – Legend of the Seeker
• 2011–18 Once Upon a Time 
• 2011 – 19 Game of Thrones
• 2013– 14 Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
• 2013 – 15 Atlantis
• 2014 – Outlander
• 2015 – 16 Galavant
• 2016 – 17 The Shannara Chronicles
• 2019 – Carnival Row 
• 2019 – His Dark Materials
• 2019 – The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
• 2019 – The Witcher 

2020s Fantasy Films

• 2020 – Gretel & Hansel
• 2020 – Mulan (2020 film)
• 2021 – The Green Knight 
• 2022 – Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
• 2023 – Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

2020s Fantasy Television

2021 – Hellbound (TV series)

Franchises and Fantasy Traditions

• The Lord of the Rings — epic quests, fellowship and the modern benchmark for large-scale fantasy adaptation.
• Middle-earth on Screen — follow the wider Tolkien film trail through its individual entries.
• Pirates of the Caribbean — supernatural seafaring adventure, curses and monsters.
• Highlander — immortals, duels and fantasy carried into the modern world.

Related Screen Collections

• Film & Television — return to the main screen archive.
• Anime & Animated Films — animated fantasy, folklore and speculative worlds.
• Monster Films — creatures, kaiju and legendary beasts on screen.
• Horror Films — dark fantasy, supernatural fear and uncanny worlds.
• Action & Adventure Films — swashbucklers, quests and physical adventure.

Using Fantasy on Screen as Inspiration

Fantasy film is most useful as a source of atmosphere, visual language and adventure structure: strange thresholds, dangerous bargains, enchanted objects, impossible journeys and characters forced to choose what kind of legend they will become. Carry those ideas into Player Resources or Games Master Resources without turning the archive into a rules page.