3EyedRaven: fantasy, myth and magic on screen, and where to watch it

The 3EyedRaven design

The name 3EyedRaven has appeared on a couple of web addresses, but the archive holds only a holding page, an unrelated spam page and an unrelated company page under it. So the design of 3EyedRaven is original, built from the name itself. The page is raven black, the colour of feathers at midnight, with panels in a slightly warmer charcoal and fine grey rules. The text is the colour of old parchment. The accent is a deep weirwood crimson, the red of the leaves and eyes of the sacred trees in the sagas that gave the raven its fame, and the links glow a soft amber, like candlelight in a library.

Headings and navigation are set in Cinzel, a typeface of classical Roman capitals that feels carved in stone, and the text is set in Lora, a warm book serif that reads comfortably at length. The logo is a white raven in flight with three small crimson eyes, followed by the name in Cinzel capitals with EYED in crimson.

The header

The header stays at the top of every page. The raven emblem sits in the centre, as a crest would on an old book, and it always leads home. On the right sits the search box, marked Search the realms, ready for a title, a character, an actor or a director. Beneath the emblem runs a row of navigation links in small capitals: Home, What was, What is, What will be, Films, Series, A-Z and My List. The page you are on is underlined in crimson. On a phone the links fold into a menu button on the left, which opens the search box and every section.

The three sights

The home page opens with a centred title and a short introduction, and then with the heart of the design: three panels side by side, numbered I, II and III in large faint Roman numerals, each topped with a crimson line. The first panel, What was, gathers the enchanted classics from before the year 2000. The second, What is, gathers the great fantasy of 2000 to 2019, the years of Middle-earth, Hogwarts and the Pirates of the Caribbean. The third, What will be, gathers the newest fantasy from 2020 onward, from Wicked and Ne Zha 2 to the latest series and seasons. Each panel shows three posters and a link to the full collection, so the whole history of screen fantasy is only a click away.

The realms

Below the three sights come the realms, a grid of eight tiles, each with a darkened backdrop from its most popular title and its name in Cinzel capitals: Middle-earth, the Wizarding World, Other worlds, Dragons, Fairy tales, Myths of Asia, European fantasy and Animated. The backdrops brighten gently under the pointer. Each realm is a collection of its own, and together they make a map of the catalogue.

Rows of posters

After the realms come rows of posters: Top rated, Series, Middle-earth, the Wizarding World, Dragons and Myths of Asia. Each poster sits in a thin frame like a picture in an old gallery, and the frame turns crimson under the pointer. Below each poster comes the title and a small line with the year and whether it is a film or a series. On a laptop the rows show six posters, on a tablet four and on a phone two.

The title page

Every film and series on 3EyedRaven has its own page, with the poster, the title, the year, the running time or the number of seasons, the genres and the rating, followed by the story, the cast and the director or creators. Series pages add every season and episode with air dates. Next to the poster sits the country selector and the Watch now button, which opens the title on JustWatch for the country you choose. The how to watch guide walks through each step.

Middle-earth

Middle-earth casts the longest shadow of any realm in screen fantasy. Peter Jackson's trilogy, filmed in New Zealand, set a new standard for the genre. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring follows the hobbit Frodo Baggins as he leaves the Shire with a ring of terrible power, joined by a fellowship of men, elves, a dwarf, hobbits and the wizard Gandalf. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers splits the fellowship across Rohan and the road to Mordor, with the great battle of Helm's Deep, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King brings the story to Mount Doom and the fields of the Pelennor. The final film won all eleven Oscars it was nominated for, including best picture.

Jackson returned to Middle-earth with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, which follow Bilbo Baggins and thirteen dwarves on their quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power travels thousands of years further back, to the Second Age, when the rings were forged and a young Galadriel hunted the shadow of Sauron. The Middle-earth guide suggests an order for watching.

The Wizarding World

For a whole generation, fantasy means Hogwarts. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone begins the story of an orphan boy who learns on his eleventh birthday that he is a wizard, and the seven books became eight films that follow Harry, Ron and Hermione from their first year to the final battle. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by Alfonso Cuarón, is often named the most beautiful of the series, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 brings the long story to its thrilling end.

The Fantastic Beasts films travel back to the 1920s and follow the gentle magizoologist Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them sets him loose in New York with a suitcase full of magical creatures, while Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore follow the young Albus Dumbledore's struggle against the dark wizard Grindelwald. The Wizarding World guide has the full order.

Other worlds

Some of the most beloved fantasy begins with a door. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe sends four children through a wardrobe into a frozen land ruled by the White Witch, where the great lion Aslan waits. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader continue their adventures. The Wizard of Oz sends Dorothy down the yellow brick road, and Oz the Great and Powerful tells how the wizard arrived. Alice in Wonderland sends Alice back down the rabbit hole in Tim Burton's colourful version, and Labyrinth sends a teenage girl into a maze ruled by the Goblin King, played by David Bowie.

Bridge to Terabithia follows two friends who invent a magical kingdom in the woods, The Spiderwick Chronicles follows children who find a field guide to the hidden world of fairies, The Golden Compass follows a girl in a world where every person has an animal companion, and Coraline follows a girl who finds a small door to a strange mirror of her own home. Jumanji brings a jungle into a quiet town through a magical board game.

Dragons

Dragons are the great creatures of fantasy, and 3EyedRaven gathers them in a realm of their own. How to Train Your Dragon follows Hiccup, a clumsy young Viking of the island of Berk, who befriends the injured dragon he names Toothless and changes his people's world. How to Train Your Dragon 2 and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World complete one of the finest animated trilogies, and the live-action How to Train Your Dragon retells the first story with the same director, Dean DeBlois.

Raya and the Last Dragon follows a young warrior searching for the last dragon in the land of Kumandra, and Pete's Dragon follows an orphan boy and his great green friend in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Eragon follows a farm boy who finds a dragon's egg, The Dragon Prince follows two princes and an elf on a journey to return a dragon egg to its mother, and in Mulan the small, talkative dragon Mushu steals every scene. The dragons guide has the full flight.

Fairy tales

Fairy tales are the oldest kind of fantasy, and Disney made many of them famous around the world. Sleeping Beauty and The Sword in the Stone are hand-drawn classics from the golden age of the studio. The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin began the studio's great revival at the turn of the 1990s, and Beauty and the Beast became the first animated film nominated for the Oscar for best picture. Hercules and Mulan followed with Greek myth and a Chinese legend.

The new century brought fresh twists. Tangled retells Rapunzel with a runaway princess and a charming thief, Frozen and Frozen II follow two royal sisters, one with icy powers, Enchanted sends a cartoon princess into real New York, and Maleficent retells Sleeping Beauty from the point of view of the fairy, with Angelina Jolie. Cinderella and Into the Woods give the old stories new life, Mirror Mirror retells Snow White with humour, and Ella Enchanted follows a girl cursed with obedience. Once Upon a Time brings fairy-tale characters into a small town in Maine over seven seasons. The fairy tales guide gathers them all.

Storybook adventures

Some fantasies feel like a favourite book read aloud. The Princess Bride is a grandfather's story of true love, pirates, giants and a swordsman seeking revenge, full of lines that fans quote to this day. Stardust follows a young man who crosses a wall into a magical kingdom to find a fallen star, who turns out to be a young woman played by Claire Danes. Shrek turns fairy tales upside down with a grumpy ogre and a talkative donkey, and Shrek the Third, Shrek Forever After and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish continue the fun, the last with some of the most striking animation of recent years.

Willow follows a young farmer who must protect a baby from an evil queen, and the series Willow returns to his world decades later. The Dark Crystal is Jim Henson's wondrous puppet epic, and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance returns to its world of Thra. The Last Unicorn follows a unicorn searching for the rest of her kind, and Big Fish follows a son piecing together his father's tall tales.

The enchanted classics

The What was collection gathers fantasy made before the year 2000, and it is a treasure chest. The Wizard of Oz from 1939 remains one of the most watched films ever made, and Mary Poppins brought a magical nanny, dancing penguins and unforgettable songs to London in 1964. The 1980s were a golden decade: The Dark Crystal, The Last Unicorn, Labyrinth, The Princess Bride and Willow are still loved by families today.

The 1990s brought Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton's gentle story of a man with scissors for hands, Hook, Steven Spielberg's grown-up Peter Pan with Robin Williams, Jumanji, Matilda, the story of a brilliant girl with the power to move things with her mind, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, the stop-motion tale of Jack Skellington discovering Christmas Town. The Mummy brought adventure and humour to ancient Egypt, and The City of Lost Children brought a dreamlike French vision to the screen.

The great sagas

The What is collection gathers the fantasy of 2000 to 2019, two decades that turned fantasy into the biggest genre in cinema. Middle-earth and Hogwarts led the way, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl launched a swashbuckling series with Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, followed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The Mummy Returns continued the Egyptian adventure, and Nanny McPhee brought a magical nanny of a very different kind to a Victorian family.

Animation flourished in those years too, with Brave, Tangled, Frozen, Moana and the dragons of Berk, and with the handmade magic of Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings. The BFG brought Roald Dahl's big friendly giant to life, and Big Fish and Stardust showed how moving and funny fantasy could be.

What will be

The What will be collection gathers the newest fantasy, from 2020 onward. Wicked tells the story of the witches of Oz before Dorothy arrived, with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Wonka tells the early adventures of the chocolatier, with Timothée Chalamet. Ne Zha 2 became the highest-grossing animated film ever made, and Moana 2 took the voyager on a new journey across the ocean. Encanto follows a Colombian family whose magical house gives every member a gift while one quiet girl waits for hers, Onward follows two elf brothers on a quest to spend one more day with their father, and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a witty heist adventure in a world of magic. New series such as Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Wednesday and Lockwood & Co. keep the collection growing.

The four nations

Some of the finest fantasy ever made for television is animated. Avatar: The Last Airbender follows Aang, a young monk who awakens after a century frozen in ice to find that he is the Avatar, the one person who can master all four elements and bring balance to a world at war. Over three seasons it grows from a playful adventure into a deeply moving epic about friendship, forgiveness and courage, and it is regularly named among the greatest animated series of all time. The Legend of Korra follows the next Avatar, a fiery young woman from the Southern Water Tribe, in a city of airships and radio seventy years later.

Animated worlds

Animated series have given fantasy some of its most imaginative worlds. Adventure Time follows Finn and his magical dog Jake through the Land of Ooo, and Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake explores its parallel worlds. Gravity Falls follows twins spending a summer in an Oregon town full of mysteries, Over the Garden Wall follows two half-brothers lost in a strange autumn forest in ten short episodes, and The Owl House follows a human girl who stumbles into a world of witches and demons. Amphibia follows a girl transported to a world of talking frogs, Hilda follows a fearless blue-haired girl among trolls and giants, and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and Steven Universe are colourful stories of magical heroes. Star vs. the Forces of Evil follows a magical princess sent to live on Earth, and Jackie Chan Adventures follows the famous action star hunting magical talismans.

Live-action series

Live-action fantasy series bring whole worlds to the small screen. Merlin follows the young wizard and the young Arthur at Camelot over five seasons, and Shadow and Bone follows a young soldier who discovers she can summon light in a land divided by a wall of darkness. Percy Jackson and the Olympians follows a boy who learns he is the son of Poseidon, Wednesday follows Wednesday Addams at Nevermore Academy with Jenna Ortega, and Lockwood & Co. follows three teenage ghost hunters in a London haunted by spirits. Sweet Tooth follows a gentle boy who is half deer, A Series of Unfortunate Events follows three orphans fleeing the villainous Count Olaf, The Worst Witch follows a clumsy girl at a school for witches, and Wizards of Waverly Place follows a family of wizards in New York.

Stranger Things mixes fantasy and science fiction in a small Indiana town in the 1980s, where a group of friends face the creatures of the Upside Down. Doctor Who follows a time-travelling alien through all of time and space, a fitting companion for a site named after a seer of past, present and future.

Myths of China

China's myths and legends have inspired a wave of spectacular fantasy films. Ne Zha retells the story of the rebellious boy god Nezha, born a demon but determined to choose his own fate, and Ne Zha 2 continues his story on a vast scale. New Gods: Nezha Reborn reimagines him as a courier in a steampunk city, and Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms adapts the classic novel Investiture of the Gods as a grand live-action epic. The legend of the White Snake, a snake spirit who falls in love with a human, is told in the animated White Snake and Green Snake and in the live-action The Sorcerer and the White Snake with Jet Li.

The Legend of Hei follows a small cat spirit in a world where spirits live hidden among people, Monster Hunt is a family comedy about an adorable baby monster, and The Mermaid is Stephen Chow's comic fairy tale with a message about the sea. The Myth and A Legend pair Jackie Chan with visions of past lives, The Monkey King brings the hero of Journey to the West to the screen, and A Writer's Odyssey follows a man who discovers that a novel is shaping the real world.

Korean fantasy

Korea has become one of the world's great homes of fantasy drama. Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, known to fans as Goblin, follows an immortal warrior cursed to live for centuries, a grim reaper and the young woman who can end the curse, with Gong Yoo and Kim Go-eun. Alchemy of Souls follows young mages in an invented kingdom where souls can be swapped between bodies, and Hotel Del Luna follows the owner of a hotel for ghosts, played by the singer IU. Tale of the Nine Tailed follows a fox spirit in modern Seoul, and Mr. Queen sends a modern chef's soul into the body of a Joseon queen.

Lovely Runner follows a fan who travels back in time to save her favourite singer, Twinkling Watermelon sends a teenager back to the 1990s, where he meets his parents as students, and Bon Appétit, Your Majesty sends a modern chef into the kitchen of a Joseon king. Scarlet Heart: Ryeo sends a young woman back to the Goryeo dynasty, Secret Garden is a classic body-swap romance, and Genie, Make a Wish follows a genie who grants three wishes. On the big screen, Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds and Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days follow the guardians of the afterlife as they guide a soul through seven trials. The myths of Asia guide has more.

The Irish folklore films

From Kilkenny in Ireland, the studio Cartoon Saloon has made three hand-drawn films steeped in Irish myth, known together as the Irish folklore trilogy. The Secret of Kells follows a young monk helping to finish a legendary illuminated book, Song of the Sea follows a boy and his little sister, a selkie who can turn into a seal, and Wolfwalkers follows a girl in seventeenth-century Kilkenny who befriends a wolfwalker, a girl who becomes a wolf in her sleep. All three were nominated for the Oscar for best animated feature, and each looks like a picture book come to life.

European fantasy

French fantasy has its own charm. Asterix and Obelix Take On Caesar, Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra and Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom follow the famous Gauls and their magic potion. Arthur and the Invisibles and Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard follow a boy shrunk into a tiny kingdom in his grandmother's garden, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec follows an adventurous writer in Belle Époque Paris, and A Monster in Paris follows a giant singing flea in the same era. Mune: Guardian of the Moon is a gentle animated fable, The Red Turtle is a wordless story of a castaway made with Studio Ghibli, and Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie follows two Parisian teenagers with secret magical powers.

The books behind the magic

Much of screen fantasy began on the page. J. R. R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, J. K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books, and C. S. Lewis, a friend of Tolkien at Oxford, wrote The Chronicles of Narnia. Neil Gaiman wrote the novel behind Stardust and the novella behind Coraline, William Goldman wrote the novel behind The Princess Bride, and Roald Dahl wrote the books behind Matilda and The BFG as well as the chocolate factory that Wonka imagines before it opened. Rick Riordan wrote the Percy Jackson books, Leigh Bardugo wrote the Grishaverse novels behind Shadow and Bone, and Cornelia Funke, Philip Pullman and Christopher Paolini are behind other favourites. Reading the books after the films is one of the great pleasures of being a fantasy fan.

The music of fantasy

Fantasy lives in its music as much as in its pictures. Howard Shore's scores for the Middle-earth films won three Oscars and gave every people of Middle-earth its own theme, from the gentle tune of the Shire to the brass of Gondor. John Williams wrote the music for the first three Harry Potter films, including the famous Hedwig's Theme. Alan Menken wrote the songs of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Hercules and Tangled, and the songs of Frozen and Encanto have been sung in homes all over the world. Wicked brings the famous stage musical to the screen with its soaring songs.

Family fantasy nights

Fantasy makes perfect family viewing. For small children, try Hilda, Song of the Sea, The Sword in the Stone or Mary Poppins. For the whole family, How to Train Your Dragon, Moana, Encanto and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone are sure winners. For older children, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Gravity Falls and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe offer bigger adventures. Each title page shows the genres and the rating, so you can choose the right tale for your household.

A fantasy marathon

For a true fantasy marathon, few journeys beat Middle-earth. The three Lord of the Rings films run to about nine hours in their cinema versions and longer in their extended editions, so many fans spread them over a weekend: The Fellowship of the Ring on Friday night, The Two Towers on Saturday and The Return of the King on Sunday. The eight Harry Potter films make a longer journey, perfect for a school holiday, one year of Hogwarts at a time. My List keeps track of where you are.

Top rated

The Top rated collection lists the highest-scoring fantasy in the catalogue, each with a strong score from a thousand viewers or more. Avatar: The Last Airbender and Stranger Things sit near the top, alongside The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, Gravity Falls and Adventure Time. It is the quickest way to find a tale that almost everyone loves.

Subtitles, dubs and invented languages

Fantasy from around the world is easy to enjoy with subtitles or dubbing. The major services offer subtitles in dozens of languages, and Chinese, Korean and French fantasy often comes with English and other dubs. Fantasy also has invented languages of its own: the elvish tongues that Tolkien created are spoken in the Middle-earth films, with subtitles on screen, so every word of the story reaches you. The subtitles guide shows how to switch subtitles and audio tracks in the popular apps.

How Watch now works

Every title page carries a country selector and a Watch now button. Choose your country and press the button, and the title's page on JustWatch opens, listing the services that stream it where you live, from subscriptions and free services with adverts to stores where you can buy or rent it. Pick one and the title opens in that service's own player. Fantasy films move between services often, which is why 3EyedRaven checks JustWatch each time rather than keeping a fixed list.

The services behind the guide

Disney+ is home to many of the fairy tales, the Pixar films and the Narnia and Percy Jackson stories in many countries, Max carries the Wizarding World in several regions, Prime Video carries The Rings of Power, and Netflix carries many animated series and Korean dramas, depending on your country. Apple TV, Google TV and Prime Video rent and sell most films, often including extended editions. The services guide gives a short tour.

Free fantasy

There are legal ways to watch some fantasy at zero cost. Free services with adverts such as Tubi, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel and Freevee carry a selection of fantasy films in many countries, and library services such as Kanopy and Hoopla offer some titles free with a library card. When you press Watch now and choose your country, JustWatch shows any free options beside the paid ones. The free fantasy guide has the details.

Apps and devices

Epic fantasy deserves the biggest screen in the house. 3EyedRaven works in every modern browser, so you can browse on a phone or a laptop, and the films themselves play in each service's official app on your television. Fire TV, Google TV, Apple TV, Roku, PlayStation, Xbox and smart TVs all run the main apps, and a phone can cast its picture to the TV in a couple of taps. The apps and devices guide covers each one.

My List

My List is your personal book of tales. Press Add to My List on any title page to save it, and on the season pages of a series mark the episode you reached. That is especially handy for long series such as Once Upon a Time, Merlin or Adventure Time, and for long film journeys through Middle-earth and Hogwarts.

The list is kept in the browser where you made it, private to you and ready from the first click, with zero accounts to create. To bring it to another device, export it as a small file and import that file on the other side. The My List guide explains each step, and the My List link in the navigation opens your list from any page.

Finding a title

The search box accepts titles, original titles, characters, actors and directors, so Hobbit, Gandalf, Ian McKellen or Peter Jackson will all lead to Middle-earth. Press Enter for the full results page, where you can filter by type, genre and year. The three sights sort the catalogue by age, the realm tiles by world, and the A-Z index lists every title in alphabetical order. The finding a title guide has more tips.

The official 3EyedRaven site

The official 3EyedRaven site is easy to recognise: a raven-black page, a centred emblem of a white raven with three crimson eyes, navigation in small Roman capitals, three panels numbered I, II and III, realm tiles over darkened backdrops and posters in thin frames that turn crimson under the pointer. Every Watch now button leads to JustWatch and from there to the official services. Bookmark the home page to keep the right address close. The official site guide describes it in detail.

Streaming safely

A few good habits keep streaming safe. Install service apps from Google Play, the App Store or your television's own store. Give every service its own strong password and switch on two-step sign-in. Before paying for anything, check that the address bar shows the real name of the service. 3EyedRaven links to JustWatch, and JustWatch links to each official service, so every step stays on trusted ground. The safety guide has a short checklist.

Is 3EyedRaven working?

If a page feels slow, a quick test settles it: open the home page, then any title page. If both appear, 3EyedRaven is up and running. A refresh, a cleared cache, another browser or another network fixes most slow pages. The films and series play on the streaming services, so their help centres answer playback questions. The site status guide lists the fixes in order.

Privacy

3EyedRaven keeps very little. My List, your episode marks and your chosen country stay in your own browser. Posters, backdrops and production details come from TMDB, the community-built film and television database, and every Watch now link goes to JustWatch. The privacy page sets it all out in plain words.

Pirates and curses

The Pirates of the Caribbean films turned a theme-park ride into one of the great fantasy adventures. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl introduces Captain Jack Sparrow, the blacksmith Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, and a crew of pirates cursed to live as skeletons under the moonlight. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest brings in Davy Jones and his ghostly ship the Flying Dutchman, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End sails to the edge of the map, and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides sends Jack in search of the Fountain of Youth. The Mummy, The Mummy Returns and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor offer the same mix of curses, treasure and humour in Egypt and China.

Schools of magic

Few settings are as loved as the school of magic. Hogwarts is the most famous, but it has plenty of company. The Worst Witch follows Mildred Hubble at Cackle's Academy, The Owl House follows a human girl training as a witch on the Boiling Isles, Wizards of Waverly Place follows three siblings learning magic above their family's sandwich shop in New York, and Merlin follows the young sorcerer hiding his gifts at the court of Camelot. Wednesday takes place at Nevermore Academy, a school for outcasts with gifts of their own, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians at Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for the children of the Greek gods.

Tim Burton's worlds

Tim Burton has given fantasy some of its most distinctive worlds, gothic and playful at once. Edward Scissorhands follows a gentle man with scissors for hands in a pastel suburb, Big Fish follows a son discovering the truth behind his father's wonderful tall tales, and Alice in Wonderland sends a grown-up Alice back to Underland. The Nightmare Before Christmas, produced by Burton and directed by Henry Selick, is the stop-motion classic of Halloween Town, and Selick later made Coraline, one of the most admired stop-motion films ever made.

Voyages and quests

Some fantasies are journeys across oceans and lands. Moana follows a young navigator who sails beyond her island's reef to restore the heart of the goddess Te Fiti, with the demigod Maui, and Moana 2 takes her further still. Kubo and the Two Strings follows a boy with a magical instrument on a quest across ancient Japan, Onward sends two brothers on a road trip through a suburban land of elves and unicorns, and Raya and the Last Dragon crosses the five lands of Kumandra. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves turns the famous game into a funny, warm adventure with a band of misfit heroes.

Unlikely heroes

Fantasy loves an unlikely hero. A hobbit from a quiet village carries the fate of Middle-earth, an orphan boy living under the stairs becomes the most famous wizard of his age, and a clumsy Viking who would rather draw than fight befriends a dragon. Matilda is a small girl who stands up to a bullying headmistress, Hilda is a child who treats trolls as neighbours, and the farmer in Willow is a hopeful conjuror who becomes the protector of a baby destined to save the world. Warwick Davis, who played him in 1988, returned to the role thirty-four years later in the series. These heroes remind every viewer that courage comes in every size.

Creatures great and small

Beyond the dragons, fantasy is full of wonderful creatures. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them fills a suitcase with them, from the treasure-loving Niffler to the great Thunderbird, Monster Hunt features a round baby monster named Wuba, and The Last Unicorn follows one of the most graceful creatures of all. The Luckdragon of an old German fantasy classic, the goblins of Labyrinth, the Gelflings of The Dark Crystal and the gentle giant of The BFG are among the most memorable creatures ever put on film. Many of them were made by hand, with puppets, costumes and animatronics built by master craftspeople such as the Jim Henson Creature Shop, and they still look wonderful today beside the digital creatures of recent years.

How the catalogue is chosen

The 3EyedRaven catalogue is chosen by hand. It gathers fantasy films and series for a broad audience, from the enchanted classics of the twentieth century to the newest sagas, from Hollywood, Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Korea and China. It favours stories of wonder, courage and friendship: quests, magic schools, dragons, fairy tales, myths and other worlds. Adult fantasy with explicit content, vampire romance sagas, gore-led horror and superhero franchises are left to other guides, so every title on 3EyedRaven is one you can share with friends and family.

The story of 3EyedRaven

The name 3EyedRaven has changed hands on the web more than once, and the archive keeps only a holding page and unrelated pages under it. This 3EyedRaven gives the name a home that suits it: a guide for everyone who loves fantasy, built around the seer's three sights of what was, what is and what will be, with every title linked to the services that carry it officially.

Your first visit

On your first visit, choose a sight. If you want comfort and nostalgia, open What was and pick a classic such as The Princess Bride or Labyrinth. If you want a great saga, open What is and begin with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring or Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. If you want something new, open What will be and try Wicked or Ne Zha 2. Then explore the realms, save what catches your eye to My List, and let one tale lead to the next.

Fantasy through the year

Fantasy suits every season. Autumn is the time for Over the Garden Wall, Coraline and Wednesday, with their falling leaves and gentle chills. Winter belongs to The Nightmare Before Christmas, Frozen and the snowy woods of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Spring suits the green hills of the Shire and the forests of Wolfwalkers, and summer suits the sea voyages of Moana, Song of the Sea and the Pirates of the Caribbean.

What fantasy teaches

Beneath the dragons and spells, fantasy tells some of the most human stories on screen. In Middle-earth, the smallest person changes the course of the world. At Hogwarts, friendship and loyalty prove stronger than dark magic. In Avatar: The Last Airbender, a boy learns that balance and forgiveness can end a war, and in How to Train Your Dragon, a boy learns that understanding an enemy can turn him into a friend. That is why fantasy is loved by children and grown-ups alike, and why so many families return to the same tales year after year.

Building worlds

Great fantasy builds whole worlds, with maps, histories, languages and creatures of their own. The Middle-earth films were shot across the mountains, rivers and forests of New Zealand, which have drawn travellers ever since. The Harry Potter films built Hogwarts at studios near London, and Avatar: The Last Airbender borrowed from the cultures of Asia and the Arctic to create its four nations. Watching with an eye for these details, from the carved doors of the Shire to the lanterns of Tangled, makes every rewatch richer.

A growing library

3EyedRaven grows with every new tale. New films and new seasons join the What will be collection as they arrive, the realms fill up as new worlds are opened, and the three sights shift with time, just as the raven's would. Come back whenever a new adventure begins, and let 3EyedRaven show you where to watch it.

Questions