Born with Autism (formerly classified as Asperger syndrome), Tyler B. Searle has been obsessed with storytelling since he was old enough to speak. He gravitated towards fairy tales, mythology, the fantasy genre, and animated movies and shows aimed at family audiences.
If you ask someone what the best fantasy movie is, chances are they'll answer with one or all three of the Lord of the Rings movies by Sir Peter Jackson. It's a fair answer: the movies were groundbreaking on release with their amazing special effects and acting, swept the Oscars with 17 wins ouf ot 30 nominations — 11 of which came from The Return of the King alone, including Best Picture — and kicked off a new wave of fantasy media in the 2000s.
It also helps that they stick pretty true to the spirit of the books by J. R. R. Tolkien, even with the various changes they had to make, especially when compared to the disastrous Hobbit trilogy. While The Lord of the Rings is more than deserving of its acclaim, many fantastic fantasy movies came out long before Jackson redefined modern fantasy with his trilogy. These 20th-century movies remain fantastic watches and offer a look at how fantasy films were made in the past, with a greater emphasis on practical effects and on-site locations compared to the more CGI-heavy fare of today's fantasy movies.Race Do You Belong To? Hobbit · Elf · Dwarf · Man · Orc Middle-earth is home to many peoples — the courageous, the ancient, the stubborn, the ambitious, and the wretched. Ten questions will determine which race truly claims your soul. The answer may surprise you. Or it may confirm what you already suspected. 🌿Hobbit 🌟Elf ⚒️Dwarf ⚔️Man 💀Orc FIND YOUR RACE → QUESTION 1 / 10COMFORT 01 What does your ideal day look like? How we rest reveals as much as how we fight. AA long meal with good company, a pipe, and absolutely no unexpected adventures. BWalking through ancient forests, composing verse, watching the stars emerge. CDeep underground, the clang of hammer on anvil, crafting something that will outlast me. DTraining, planning, preparing — there's always something that needs defending. ETaking what I want and making sure nobody tries to take it back. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 2 / 10TIME 02 How do you feel about the passing of time? Our relationship with mortality shapes everything we value. AI have watched ages come and go. Time is a river I observe, not chase. BThe days blur pleasantly. I don't think about it much — there's always second breakfast. CLife is short. I want to leave something behind — a name, a legacy, a deed worth singing. DTime means little underground. What matters is the work, and the work is never done. ETime is something stronger things take from weaker ones. I intend to be the stronger one. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 3 / 10INSTINCT 03 Danger is approaching. Your first instinct is to: Fight, flight, or something in between — it's more revealing than you'd think. AHide, and hope it passes. I'm no hero — and I'm fine with that. BStand your ground. Someone has to, and it might as well be me. CFade into the background and observe. Knowledge before action. DCharge straight at it. Hesitation is just fear wearing a sensible hat. EDig in, fortify, and wait. Ground is everything — never cede ground. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 4 / 10TREASURE 04 You stumble upon a great treasure. What do you feel? What we desire — and what we do about it — is the true test. AMy heart swells — this is the work of my kin, and it belongs in my hands. BExcited, but nervous. I'd rather it not cause trouble. Can I just leave it? CMine. Obviously mine. Why is this even a question? DBeautiful. Something this ancient deserves to be preserved and admired, not hoarded. EA resource — and resources should serve those with the vision to use them. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 5 / 10COMMUNITY 05 How important is community and belonging to you? No race of Middle-earth is truly alone — but some prefer it that way. AEverything. My neighbours, my village, my people — they are the point of it all. BI cherish my kin deeply, but I feel connected to all living things, not just my own kind. CI'll protect my people with everything I have — but I don't need anyone else's approval. DI prefer a tight-knit clan bound by loyalty and shared toil over any grand fellowship. ECommunity is a pack. You're either dominant or you're used. I know which I prefer. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 6 / 10AMBITION 06 How ambitious are you, honestly? Ambition is neither virtue nor vice — it depends entirely on what you want. ADeeply. I want to build something great, reclaim something lost, or leave a mark on history. BI seek mastery and perfection — not power over others, but excellence in all I do. CHonestly? I mostly just want a quiet life and for things to not go wrong. DCompletely. I want to dominate, and I don't see any point in pretending otherwise. EAmbitious within my craft. I want to make the finest thing ever made by my people's hands. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 7 / 10NATURE 07 Where do you feel most at home in the natural world? Middle-earth is vast — and every race has its place within it. AAncient forests, still pools, places where the world feels oldest and wisest. BRolling green hills, good soil, somewhere you can grow things and watch them thrive. CUnderground — caves, mines, tunnels. The dark doesn't bother me. It's where things are made. DOpen plains, mountains, the kind of landscape that makes you feel the weight of history. EBlasted wastelands, smoke, ash. Somewhere harsh enough to keep soft things away. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 8 / 10STRENGTH 08 What kind of strength do you most respect? Every race defines strength differently — and they're all at least a little right. AThe strength to carry on when everything is telling you to stop. BThe strength of stone — immovable, reliable, tested by pressure and time. CThe strength to lead others and bear the cost of that responsibility. DGrace under pressure — calm, precise, and lethal when it needs to be. EBrute force. Everything else is just philosophy for those who lost. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 9 / 10LEGACY 09 What do you want to leave behind when you're gone? Legacy is the story we tell ourselves about why any of this matters. ASongs, poetry, beauty — something that outlasts the memory of who made it. BThe knowledge that my corner of the world was a little safer and kinder because of me. CFear. A reputation that means nobody ever dares come for mine. DA name remembered. A deed that made a difference at a moment that mattered. EA masterwork — something crafted so perfectly it becomes the standard all others are judged by. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 10 / 10TRUTH 10 Be honest — what do you actually want most out of life? The truest question always comes last. APeace. Safety. Good food, good friends, and no one asking me to save anything. BTo matter. To be part of something larger than myself, even at great cost. CEternity — to witness all ages, to remember everything, and never be forgotten. DDominance. To never again be at the mercy of anyone or anything. EMastery of my craft and the respect of those who know the difference between good work and great work. REVEAL MY RACE → Middle-earth Has Spoken You Belong To… The race that claimed the most of your answers is your true kin. If two tied, both are shown — you walk between worlds. ◆ A TIE — YOU WALK BETWEEN TWO RACES ◆ 🌿 Your Race The Hobbits You are, at your core, a creature of comfort, community, and quiet joy — and there is nothing small about that. Hobbits are proof that heroism does not require ambition, that the bravest heart can beat inside the most unassuming chest. You value good food, warm hearths, close friends, and a world that stays largely untroubled by dark lords and quests. When adventure does find you — and it will — you rise to it not because you sought it, but because the people you love needed you to. That is not ordinary. That is the rarest kind of courage in all of Middle-earth. 🌟 Your Race The Elves Ancient, graceful, and carrying a weight of memory most mortals cannot fathom, you are one of the Elves. You see the world in its fullness — its beauty, its impermanence, the unbearable ache of watching everything you love eventually fade. You pursue perfection not from pride, but because excellence is how you honour the time you have been given. Others may see you as remote or melancholy. They are not wrong, exactly. But they mistake depth for distance. You feel everything — which is precisely why you have learned to carry it so quietly. ⚒️ Your Race The Dwarves Stubborn, proud, fiercely loyal, and possessed of a work ethic that would exhaust most other races before breakfast — you are Dwarf-kind through and through. You do not ask for approval and you do not offer it cheaply. Your loyalty, once given, is given for life. Your grudges last longer. You love deeply and defend ferociously, and the things you build — with your hands, with your sweat, with generations of accumulated craft — are made to last. Not for glory. Because anything worth doing is worth doing properly, and you have never once done anything by half measures. ⚔️ Your Race The Race of Men Mortal, ambitious, flawed, and magnificent — you belong to the most complicated race in Middle-earth, and that complexity is your greatest strength. Men are capable of cowardice and extraordinary bravery, of cruelty and breathtaking sacrifice, sometimes within the same breath. You feel the urgency of your finite years, and it drives you. You want to matter. You want to leave something behind. You fall, and you rise, and the rising is what defines you. Tolkien called mortality the Gift of Men — not a curse, but a fire that burns bright precisely because it does not burn forever. That fire is you. 💀 Your Race The Orcs Brutal, survivalist, and contemptuous of anything that can't defend itself — you answered with the instincts of an Orc, and there is a certain savage honesty in that. You do not dress up your desires in polite language or pretend you want things you don't. You want power, survival, and to never be at the bottom of any hierarchy ever again. Orcs are not evil by nature — they were made from something that was once good, and broken into this shape by forces they did not choose. What remains is fierce, territorial, and deeply aware that the world is not kind. You've made your peace with that. The question is what you do with it. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 'The Secret of NIMH' Mrs. Brisby is a field mouse with a horrible string of bad luck: she recently lost her husband, Jonathan, and as the farmer is preparing to plow his field, her youngest son, Timmy , catches pneumonia, meaning that he can't leave bed. She goes to the Great Owl for advice, and when he learns she is Jonathan's widow, he tells her to seek out the rats who live in the farmer's rosebush. As she seeks out their leader, Nicodemus , she discovers that the rats are far from ordinary, and they share a history with Jonathan. The Secret of NIMH is the first movie in the long career of Don Bluth and is widely regarded as his masterpiece. The movie brings classic fantasy to a modern, animal setting, using things like an old owl to represent an ancient dragon, and the descent into the rosebush is akin to a hero traveling from our world to the land of fairy or deep into the depths of the underworld, which is accentuated by the beautiful animation. Mrs. Brisby is also one of the best female characters in animation, thanks to Hartman's sincere performance, and for how she represents the power of motherhood. 'The Dark Crystal' On the planet Thra live two ancient races. The bird-like Skeksis use an artifact called the Dark Crystal to rejuvenate themselves with Thra's life force, while the turtle-like urRu, called Mystics for their practice of ancient mysticism, connect with Thra on a spiritual level. Living among the urRu is Jen , one of the last Gelflings, who were wiped out by the Skeksis to prevent the fulfillment of a prophecy that would lead to their downfall. As the Emperor Skeksis and Elder urRu die simultaneously, Ged sets off to find the missing shard of the Dark Crystal, which he can use to restore the crystal and save Thra from the Skeksis' tyranny. The Dark Crystal is perhaps the most ambitious project from Jim Henson, as it features a cast entirely made up of puppet characters, and is set in a world that's uniquely its own. Thra feels like a world where everything is alive and interconnected, with wildlife that is truly alien in appearance, while still sticking true to classic fantasy tropes. The Skeksis are the standout characters of the film, thanks to their groundbreaking puppetry, creative designs, and for how perfectly they encapsulate the themes of avarice, decadence, and tyranny. 'Conan the Barbarian' After his tribe is attacked by raiders under Thulsa Doom , Conan is sold into slavery and raised to be a prized gladiator. He eventually earns his freedom and teams up with a thief named Subotai and a warrior named Valeria to seek their fortune. They are soon recruited by King Osric to rescue his daughter, who has been indoctrinated into Doom's snake cult, granting Conan a shot at revenge. Conan the Barbarian is the movie that propelled Shwartzeneggar to a major movie star, and it helped to kick off the wave of dark fantasy movies of the 1980s. While many of its effects are showing their age, the film still holds up thanks to how grounded it feels—every blow has weight behind it, magic is otherworldly and comes with a price, and the characters' actions are all influenced by believable motivation. Basil Poledouris' music enhances all of this with how raw and powerful it is, as best seen through the heavy drums and horns in the opening music,"The Anvil of Crom," and the intense choir in"The Riders of Doom." 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad' On his way to Baghdad to marry Princess Parisa of Chandra, Sinbad the Sailor stops on the island of Colossa, where he rescues a magician named Sokurah from a cyclops. Sinbad refuses to go back for Sokurah's magic lamp, so he uses magic to shrink down Parisa, threatening war between Baghdad and Chandra. The only way to reverse the spell is a potion made from the shell of a Roc's egg, and they happen to nest only on Colossa, so Sinbad reluctantly agrees to return to the island of monsters. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is a pioneering film that raised the bar in terms of what fantasy films could accomplish. This triumph is best seen through the creature effects, brought to life by the legendary Ray Harryhausen using his signature Dynamation style, making them look and feel like truly otherworldly entities. Some of the best examples include a dragon that guards Sokurah's laboratory, and a skeleton warrior who engages Sinbad in an impressively choreographed duel. 'The Seventh Seal' Antonius Block is a knight returning from the Crusades with his faithful squire, Jöns , only to find their home succumbing to the plague. Block is then approached by Death , whom he challenges to a game of chess in the hopes of keeping his life if he wins. Block delays the game as long as he can so he can return home, during which he and Jöns encounter numerous other people struggling to survive. The Seventh Seal is one of the heaviest fantasy movies due to its hard-hitting themes regarding death, purpose, and the human spirit surviving through the darkest of moments. It gets very dark, for sure, but avoids becoming truly nihilistic by emphasizing the little moments that bright light to darkness, such as when Block enjoys a meal of strawberries with a family. Ekerot's Death is also perhaps the most iconic in cinema, thanks to his simple but effective costume and how perfectly he plays the character as a neutral arbiter over the inevitable end coming for us all. 'Beauty and the Beast' Belle is a young bookworm living in a provincial French town with her inventor father, Maurice , who spends her days reading, longing for adventure, and avoiding the advances of local hunter, Gaston . One day, her father gets lost on his way to the fair, and Belle finds him in the dungeons of an enchanted castle ruled over by a Beast . Belle offers her life in exchange for her father's, and though she and the Beast start on understandably rocky terms, in time they come to know one another and a romance slowly blooms. Beauty and the Beast made history by becoming the first animated movie to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and it remains the only 2D entry and the only one nominated when the Oscars had 5 nominees. This praise is well earned: the animators put their all into the movie, resulting in vibrant colors, fluid movement, and some of the best facial animations of any Disney film, which allows for more emotion to shine through. As for its other aspects, the characters are lovable and iconic, the story is perfectly paced to make the romance feel earned, and the music won the Oscar for Best Original Score and Best Original Song,"Beauty and the Beast," sung in the film by Dame Angela Lansbury. 'The Thief of Bagdad' While traveling among his people incognito, Ahmad , King of Baghdad, is arrested by his treacherous Grand Vizier, Jaffar , so he can claim the throne. Before Ahmad can be executed, he is sprung from prison by Abu , a young and resourceful thief. The two flee the neighboring city of Bazra, where Ahmad falls in love with its Princess , but his attempts to woo her send him and Abu on a journey full of magic and monsters. The Thief of Bagdad is a remake of the 1924 silent film of the same name, and takes full use of its technological advancements to create one of the seminal fantasy movies of all time. It's got some fantastic on-site locations and impressive sets and puppets, but its biggest accomplishment is the first major use of blue screen technology, allowing the magical moments to come to life in an otherworldly way. Aside from its technological feats, the movie is also very well acted, with the standouts being Sabu, thanks to how happy and lively he is, and Veidt, whose eyes convey more emotion than words ever could. 'The Princess Bride' A grandfather reads a fairy tale to his sick grandson about a peasant girl named Buttercup , who is chosen as the bride to Prince Humperdinck after the loss of her love, Westley . She is kidnapped by a trio of bandits who hope to kill her at the border of Humperdinck's kingdom to start a war. However, their plans are thwarted by a mysterious man in black who proves to be a skilled sailor, duelist, and strategist. The Princess Bride wasn't a major hit on release, but thanks to word of mouth and re-evaluation, it's now seen as a classic and one of the most quoted movies in history. This newfound success is thanks to its tongue-in-cheek approach to its story: it knows exactly how cheesy it is and revels in it, thus inviting the audience to come along for the ride, laugh at the silly moments, and get wrapped up in the beautiful romance. The characters are all perfect in their respective roles, but the most iconic by far is the Spanish fencer, Inigo Montoya , who combines class and charisma with a satisfying revenge story. 'The Adventures of Prince Achmed' An African Sorcerer impresses the local Caliph with a magical flying horse, but will only accept the hand of the Caliph's daughter as payment. The Caliph's son, Prince Achmed, objects, so the Sorcerer suggests he test out the horse, which flies off into the sky. By the time Achmed is able to gain control over it, he is lost in the far east and must find his way home. The Adventures of Prince Achmed is the oldest surviving animated movie, and it remains a one-of-a-kind viewing experience. The film uses a unique shadow-puppet style made by manipulating cardboard cutouts, a process that took 3 years to complete, but gives the movie the look and feel of an ageless tale passed down around campfires. As a result, the characters move with precise movements that convey a wide range of emotions and lend themselves perfectly to bringing to life the magical tales of adventure and excitement from the One Thousand and One Nights. 'The Wizard of Oz' When a tornado sweeps up her uncle and aunt's farmhouse, Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto find themselves in the magical land of Oz, where a good witch named Glinda gifts her with the ruby slippers of the Wicked Witch of the East, who was crushed under her house. Unfortunately, her sister, the Wicked Witch of the West , wants the shoes for herself, so Dorothy heads down the Yellow Brick Road to seek out the Wizard of Oz for help getting home. Along the way, she befriends a Scarecrow with no brains , a Tin Man with no heart , and a Cowardly Lion . Inspired by the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Wizard of Oz overcame a legendarily disastrous and hostile production to become perhaps the greatest fantasy movie ever made. It's the best movie at capturing the magic that comes from the genre: with its archetypal characters, catchy music, and classic themes about the importance of home, it cements itself in the same position as a fable that has remained beloved nearly a century after its creation, and will be remembered for another century after. And we're not even getting into its technical achievements, such as its groundbreaking use of Technicolor to make the land of Oz feel appropriately otherworldly and magical compared to the mundane world. Cast Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Frank Morgan, Margaret Hamilton, Billie Burke, Charley Grapewin, Pat Walshe, Clara Blandick, Terry, Adriana Caselotti, Harry Earles, Jerry Maren, Buddy Ebsen, Parnell St. Aubin, Billy Bletcher, Pinto Colvig, Charles Becker, Mitchell Lewis, Buster Brodie, Ethelreda Leopold, Billy Curtis, Eleanor Keaton, Angelo Rossitto Runtime 102 minutes Director Victor Fleming Writers Edgar Allan Woolf, Florence Ryerson, Noel Langley, L. Frank Baum Powered by Expand Collapse
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