From curses to shapeshifting, animated and live-action movies explored the limitless possibilities of what it's like when humans transform into animals.
Check out our 11 top picks for films where the main character turns into an animal, with rankings based on the impact of the transformation and the overall story.
Spies in Disguise (2019)
Super spy Lance Sterling (voiced by Will Smith) unexpectedly ends up working with a 15-year-old MIT genius, Walter Beckett (Tom Holland), who shockingly transformed Lance into the most impossible disguise: the brave, fierce, majestic... pigeon.
Spies in Disguise is meant for fans looking for a light, comic spy movie, considering how Will Smith and Tom Holland's characters worked together, despite their differences, from on-field experience to their... tails.
Streaming Platforms: Disney+
The Shaggy D.A. (1976)
While The Shaggy D.A. is a sequel to the 1959 film, The Shaggy Dog, the former became a cult classic due to the fact that it had some of the funniest and most unrealistic portrayals of what happens when the grown-up Wilby Daniels is once again confronted with the transformation.
One of the fans' favorite scenes happens to be when the shaggy dog tries to keep himself from getting caught by the dog pound while trying to expose the corruption of John Slade, the opposition running against him for District Attorney.
Streaming Platforms: Disney+
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
Wallace & Gromit grew from a series of short films long before their first feature film, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, came out. The Were-Rabbit may be the fifth, but it's widely considered the best from its roster as it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Apart from praises of the stop-motion animation and clever horror-comedy parody, the Were-Rabbit story managed to make its own commentary on the potential consequences of science while still being a homage to classic monster movies like Frankenstein.
Streaming Platforms: Netflix
The Cat Returns (2002)
A shy yet kind-hearted high school girl, Haru, rescues a cat who turns out to be the Prince from the Cat Kingdom. As a reward, she must marry the Prince after being arranged to, only to find out that her journey of being freed from the cats goes beyond escaping their world.
The Cat Returns is one of Studio Ghibli's best and most memorable classics, as Haru faces being stuck between wanting to return to human form on Earth versus being tricked into staying as a cat forever.
Streaming Platforms: Netflix, HBO Max
Fluke (1995)
Fluke follows the story of Thomas Johnson, a workaholic father who dies in a car crash, only to be reincarnated as a dog. As the new family dog, Fluke, he must try to reconnect with his family, the way he failed to as a husband and father when he was still human.
Streaming Platforms: Amazon Prime Video
Brother Bear (2003)
The 2003 film, Brother Bear, sheds light on the young Inuit hunter, Kenai, who is magically transformed into a bear by the spirits after he kills one in revenge for the death of his oldest brother, Sitka.
Brother Bear remains a vintage representation of the main characters who turn into animals trope, as it teaches Kenai how he could become human again, through empathy and brotherhood, as he befriends a cub named Koda.
Streaming Platforms: Disney+
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Tiana had only one dream, and that was to get her own restaurant through hard work and perseverance. What happens when one kiss that nearly granted her wish turns out to be the exact opposite?
The Princess and the Frog took a twisted turn to the classic tale as Tiana doesn't magically transform the Prince of Maldonia back into his human form.
Instead, the two must learn how to work together to break the spell, all while realizing what their true dreams really are, beyond their initial expectations.
Streaming Platforms: Disney+
Turning Red (2022)
From girlhood to womanhood, 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl, Meilin "Mei" Lee, who turns into a giant red panda whenever she gets too excited, navigates the messiness and emotional extremes after hitting puberty.
The Red Panda is more than a plot in Turning Red; it's a unique metaphor of how teenagehood (the emotional and physical changes) and generational trauma run rampant within their family.
Streaming Platforms: Disney+
Emperor's New Groove (2000)
Emperor's New Groove follows a selfish emperor named Kuzco, who wants nothing more than to never let anyone throw him off his groove before being turned into a llama by his power-hungry advisor, Yzma.
When Pacha, a kind peasant whom the emperor previously shunned from his palace, decides to help Kuzco, this duo learns the true value of what the emperor's summer home could destroy for his selfish birthday gift.
Streaming Platforms: Disney+
Brave (2012)
Merida and her mother see teenagehood and a princess's responsibilities quite differently. When fate and a broken tapestry witnessed their fight, Merida was led to an old witch's house, who brewed her a cake that could "change" her mother the way she wanted.
The cake, however, transforms Merida's mother into a bear. And according to fate, this was how the mother and daughter duo could finally empathize with one another, eventually reuniting the kingdoms from the family war that once destroyed and separated them all.
Streaming Platforms: Disney+
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Of course, who could beat Beauty and the Beast? Similar to how Kuzco's time spent being a llama changed him into a better person, the Beast, who was once a selfish and vain prince, must also learn to love himself.
The only harder part is having someone to actually love him for who he truly is, beneath the monster that lurks in the west wing of his palace.
Streaming Platforms: Disney+
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