10 Movies To Watch if You Loved Netflix's 'Swapped'

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Published May 12, 2026, 1:52 PM EDT

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. When not writing, Tyler enjoys watching more cartoons and reading fantasy books in his home in Ontario, Canada.

Swapped is the newest animated film on Netflix, and the third released by Skydance Animation. Set in a valley of animal-plant hybrids, it follows a small furry mammal named Ollie (Michael B. Jordan) whose kindness in feeding a plant-bird called a Javan led his people, the Pookoo, to nearly starve. His attempts to fix things see him transformed into a Javan by a magic pod, and he is forced to team up with a Javan named Ivy (Juno Temple)—who turns into a Pookoo herself—so they can find more pods and return to normal.

The film is a classic body swap tale that mixes things up by eliminating any trace of humans and focuses on themes of empathy, cooperation, and trust, along with the usual seeing the world from another perspective. Thus, if you're interested in seeing more films with similar themes, there's a large selection to choose from, each with its own unique interpretation and a fun list of characters.

'Epic' (2013)

Following the death of her mother, Mary Katherine (Amanda Seyfried) goes to life with her eccentric father, Professor Bomba (Jason Sudeikis), on the outskirts of a forest that he believes is inhabited by tiny woodland guardians called Leafmen. M.K. initially believes his theories are nonsense, but out in the woods, she meets the queen of the Leafmen, Tara (Beyoncé Knowles), who has been mortally wounded by Mandrake (Christoph Waltz), king of the Boggans, while she was choosing a pod that will crown the next queen. Before dying, Tara entrusts the pod to M.K. and uses her magic to shrink her to the size of a Leafman, so that she can take the pod to the Glowworm Nim Galuu (Steven Tyler).

While it can be debated how well Epic lives up to its title, the film is not without its powerful moments. The animators do a stellar job bringing the forest to life from such a tiny perspective, making even things as mundane as dewdrops of leaves take on a level of magic and mysticism. It also has a lot of creativity on display in how the Leafman and Boggans use the natural world, from animal mounts to the design of their weapons and armor.

'Raya and the Last Dragon' (2021)

Young Namaari and Raya in Raya and the Last Dragon

500 years ago, the land of Kumandra was divided between the nations of Fang, Heart, Spine, Talon, and Tail, following a power struggle for a magic gem forged by the last dragon, Sisu (Awkwafina), after her people were wiped out by invading demons called Druun. When Chief Benja of Heart (Daniel Dae Kim) tries to reunite Kumandra, his daughter, Raya (Kelly Marie Tran), is tricked into revealing the gem's location by Namaari (Gemma Chan), princess of Fang, resulting in a scuffle that shatters the gem into five pieces and unleashes the Druun once more. Six years later, Raya locates Sisu, and, after learning that she cannot create a new gem, teams up with her to restore the existing one, while evading Namaari's pursuit.

Raya and the Last Dragon is a story about trust and how it is required to build a stronger community for future generations. This message is demonstrated through Raya slowly acquiring allies from the other tribes to aid her in getting the dragon gem, and it comes to a head in the climax when Namaari, of all people, is the one that everyone must trust to finally stop the Druun. The animation lends itself well to a magical world based around the importance of dragons, with plenty of interestingly designed buildings, fast-paced action, and moments of mysticism that capture how Eastern Dragons are more divine than their Western counterparts.

'Rio' (2011)

Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) is a male Blue Macaw who has spent his whole life as the pet of a Minnesota woman named Linda Gunderson (Leslie Mann). One day, they are visited by ornithologist Túlio Monteiro (Rodrigo Santoro), who wishes for Blu to mate with Jewel (Anne Hathaway), the last known female Blue Macaw, kept at his aviary in Rio de Janeiro. Unfortunately, the birds are kidnapped by smugglers and chained together with leg cuffs, which makes escaping and reuniting with Linda quite tricky because Blue never learned to fly.

Rio might not have any body swapping, but it does have two protagonists who must overcome their differences and, in doing so, come to respect and love one another. Tracy Morgan even voices a comic relief character in both films, though Luiz the bulldog has less significance to the plot than Boogel the fish does in Swapped. Then there is the animation: Rio is an absolutely gorgeous film, with amazing detail put into bringing Rio de Janeiro to life and a fantastic use of colors and music, especially during the third act when the city celebrates Carnival.

'Ice Age' (2002)

Diego, Manny, and Sid walking in Ice Age

After being left behind by his family, Sid the ground sloth (John Leguizamo) meets a mammoth named Manfred (Ray Romano) who refuses to migrate with the rest of the animals. The two of them find a dying human woman and rescue her infant son (Tara Strong), before teaming up with a Smilodon named Diego (Denis Leary) to return him to his family. Unbeknownst to them, Diego and his pack attacked the humans in revenge for losing half their back in a previous encounter, and Diego intends to lead Manny, Sid, and the baby into the waiting jaws of his leader, Sotto (Goran Višnjić).

Ice Age is the first film from the late Blue Sky Studios, and spawned an ongoing franchise. The success comes from how straightforward it is with its story and characters: it keeps the focus on the main trio and their journey, allowing them to develop believable bonds of friendship that lead to satisfying character growth. It even gets dark in places, such as when we learn Manny's tragic backstory, or the brutal fight to survive against Sotto.

'Spies in Disguise' (2019)

A boy walking next to a man in a tux in Spies in Disguise

Lance Sterling (Will Smith) is a cocksure secret agent who loves to go guns-a-blazing to stop bad guys and save the world. However, he soon finds himself on the run from his agency when a cybernetically enhanced terrorist named Killian (Ben Mendelsohn) frames Lance for stealing an attack drone, and his only hope is to team up with a pacifistic inventor named Walter (Tom Holland). He ends up ingesting an experimental formula that's supposed to allow spies to go undercover, but it does so by transforming Lance into a pidgeon, and Walter isn't quite sure how to make a cure.

Spies in Disguise is the last film from Blue Sky before its closure, and it's a very solid film to go out on. The idea of turning a super spy into a pidgeon is brilliant, as it not only denies Lance his usual means of solving problems but also allows him to use his skills alongside his new body to find out-of-the-box solutions. Killian is also a pretty interesting villain with an intimidating design and understandable motivation.

'Brother Bear' (2003)

An angry Kenai walking beside Koda in 'Brother Bear'.

After antagonizing a bear that ate his tribe's fish, Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix) and his elder brothers Denahi (Harold Gould and Jason Raize) and Sitka (D.B. Sweeney) get into a battle with the animal that ends with Sitka sacrificing himself to save his brothers. Kenai tracks the bear down and kills it in the name of vengeance, but his actions anger the ancestral spirits, who turn him into a bear and cast him off the mountain, forcing him to team up with a bear cub named Koda (Jeremy Suarez) to get back and plead for his humanity. Meanwhile, Denahi believes that Kenai was killed by the bear as well and takes up the mantle of revenge.

Brother Bear was one of the last 2D animated films from Disney, and the animators did a great job bringing the animals and landscapes to life. Its story is also one of the more mature in Disney's canon, with revenge and the cycle of violence being center stage. Cleverly, the film avoids having a true villain through Denahi's quest being based on a misunderstanding, which allows audiences to see how much he cares for his family, and gives him a simultaneous coming-of-age journey alongside Kenai.

'Flow' (2024)

In a world that has recently been devoid of humans, a dark grey cat survives a sudden flood by jumping into a boat occupied by a chill capybara. They are soon joined by others: a Labrador Retriever separated from his pack; a kind secretarybird, and a cleptomaniac ring-tailed lemur. Their search for safety takes them far and wide across this new global ocean, full of countless dangers and moments of beauty.

Flow is a wonderful film that tells an Odyssey-like story with animals instead of humans and no dialogue, making it a modern-day equivalent of a silent movie. The animation is so detailed that you don't need dialogue to know what the characters are thinking, and the fact that they act with all the meticulous movements and details of real animals helps make them feel more alive. It all leads to a visual marvel that also tells a compelling story about heroism and the power of friendship.

'The Princess and the Frog' (2009)

Tiana and Naveen raft their way through the bayou

Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) is a hard-working woman from New Orleans who hopes to open a restaurant, but learns that the dream might be taken from her just when she's close to achieving it. She stumbles upon a talking frog who claims to be Prince Naveen of Maldonia (Bruno Campos), transformed by the magic of Dr. Facilier (Keith David), and offers Tiana anything she wants if she kisses him to break the spell. However, because Tiana isn't a princess, she turns into a frog as well, forcing the two to team up to find a cure, while Dr. Facilier plans to use Naveen's blood in a scheme to take over the city.

Having Tiana turn into a frog alongside Naveen gives The Princess and the Frog a strong identity that distinguishes it from The Frog Prince in a non-medieval setting. It puts the characters on an equal playing field, as they both have the same abilities, which helps emphasize their more unique personality traits and individual developments. Aside from Tiana and Naveen, the film succeeds with Dr. Facilier, who is one of Disney's most terrifically charismatic villains, and its fluid and expressive animation, which helps make the characters feel so lively.

'Hoppers' (2026)

Mabel Tanaka (Lila Liu and Piper Curda) is a young environmentalist fighting to save a glade she visited with her grandmother (Karen Huie) from Mayor Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm), who wants to build a freeway through it. One night, she discovers that her biology professor, Dr. Sam Fairfax (Kathy Najimy), has invented "Hopping Technology," which allows humans to upload their minds into a robot animal body to observe and understand the natural world. Mabel uploads herself into a robot beaver and eventually meets George (Bobby Moynihan), a beaver who serves as the Mammal King, and her attempts to recruit him to save the glade lead to more escalations than she could have imagined.

Hoppers is very similar to Swapped because of the body-changing plots that involve deep looks at the natural world. That's pretty much it, though, since Hoppers has more of an emphasis on environmentalism, man vs nature, and becoming too blinded by a cause you believe is righteous. It's also got a lot more jokes, courtesy of director Daniel Chong, who previously created the popular Cartoon Network show We Bare Bears.

'The Wild Robot' (2024)

Fink and Pinktail stand on Roz's shoulders

A storm causes six ROZZUM robots to crash onto an island, but only one unit, 7134 (Lupita Nyong'o), survives and gets activated by the wildlife. Even after learning to communicate with the animals, they only attack "Roz", which leads to her accidentally killing a mother goose and all but one of her eggs. Roz is convinced to hatch the egg and raise the gosling, whom she names Brightbill (Kit Connor), and forms an unlikely friendship with a fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal).

Though it lacks any body swapping, The Wild Robot feels much closer to Swapped because of how it treats the natural world and presents its themes of cooperation and trust. The animals on the island are slow to trust others outside their kind due to the deadly balance between predator and prey, yet Roz's kindness leads them to at least form a truce during times of peril. Roz herself is also a wonderful character who goes through an arc that sees her claim autonomy for herself, while also demonstrating that small acts of kindness can lead to major change.

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