user2265: What are entertaining/fictional movies, cartoons or books about Buddhadharma or Buddha himself?

user7233: Adding the classic Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.

user-1: No one mentioned what I take to be the single best movie of Buddhism ever made - Enlightenment Guaranteed!
Hilarious, to the point, and honest.

user10048: Books:
-Hesse's Siddhartha is interesting, but it is not an account of the Buddha himself.  It touches on elements of Buddha dharma, but can be somewhat confusing in its intermingling of dharma and Hindu Advaita
-I highly recommend Deathbed Sutra of the Buddha, but then again, I am the author, so I have a bit of a bias!
Film:
-Kundun, for Tibetan Buddhism
-The Buddha (PBS production)...with some annoying cartoon segments
-Little Buddha
-The Tibetan Book of the Dead - the version narrated by Leonard Cohen.  Available on Netflix, and quite good in the sense of a not being too "Hollywoodish"
-The Fountain:  philosophically, it's a bit of a mess, but it's an entetaining story that explores key Buddhist themes such as impermanence, self, and suffering. Great acting (Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz), directiong by Aronofsky, very "trippy" special effects, 

user2265: Osamu Tezuka's Buddha is really fun manga and fictional account of Buddha's life.
Also check out Ikkyu... awesome manga about Zen and sudden realization! Gave me chills when I really put myself into his journey...
A good movie that fictionally demonstrates some Buddhist concepts is Cloud Atlas.
Samsara is another good one.
There are plenty of lists (I've only seen the top three) online.

user199: Some of these may be too tenuous a link but ymmv:
Movies (some are also books)

Kundun
Little Buddha
Seven Years in Tibet
The Dhamma Brothers
Buddha Wild: Monk in a Hut
The Devotion of Matthieu Ricard
Cloud Atlas (well, it's supposed to be; I never got it -- I hear the book is better)
When the Iron Bird Flies
Journey to the West
Groundhog Day (see, tenuous!)
The Matrix (ditto)

Books

Breakfast with Buddha
Not Quite Nirvana
The Accidental Buddhist
The Big Bang, the Bddha, and the Baby Book
There is No God and He is Always With You (the author, Brad Warner, has a few others)

There's a ton of other stuff here, and even more pops up by Googling "buddhist movies".

user701: Here's a list of films carrying the Buddhist philosophy, most of them are arthouse. 

Rashomon (1950)- Akira Kurosawa 
Ikiru (1952) - Akira Kurosawa 
Ugetsu (1953)- Kenji Mizoguchi 
Sansho the Bailiff (1954)- Kenji Mizoguchi
The Burmese Harp (1956) - Kon Ichikawa 
Onibaba (1964)- Kaneto Shindo
Kwaidan (1965) - Masaki Kobayashi
A Touch of Zen (1971) - King Hu 
Baraka (1992) - Ron Fricke
Passage to Buddha (1993) - Hwa-Om-Kyung
The Cup (1999) - Khyentse Norbu
Samsara (2001) - Pan Nalin 
Uncle Boonmee who can recall his past lives (2010) - Apichatpong Weerasethakul 
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013) - Isao Takahata


user4836: My favorite Buddhist films:

Zen (2009)
Un Buda (2005)
Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? (1989)
10 Questions for the Dalai Lama (2006)
Peace is Every Step (1998)

If you want to find more one way is to click on the links above and look under "People who liked this also liked..."
Also there are these organizations:

Buddhist Film Foundation
Thus Have I Seen

The Buddhist Film Foundation is working on an archive of Buddhist films but at the time of writing i couldn't find anything public
Hope this answer helps you and others

user471: Book: The Dalai Lama's Cat by David Mitchie. A fictional story told by a cat, who is the Dalai Lama's pet at Dharamsala. The Dalai Lama rescued this cat when it was very young. The entertaining story told by the cat is imbued with dhamma teachings. The teachings are of course expounded in a simple way, since a cat is a not a very intelligent animal.

user3551: Some movies with Buddhist concepts:

Cloud Atlas.
Little Buddha.
Kundun 
The Dharma Brothers (Documentary)
The Buddha (Documentary)
Spring,Summer,Fall,Winter..and Spring.
Why has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East.
Wheel of Time
Doin Time Doing Vippassanna (Documentary)
Angulimala
OK Baytong
Amongst WHite Clouds (Documentary)
Amrapali
My Reincarnation (Documentary)
The Holy Man (Comedy)
WHen the Iron Bird Flies (Documentary)
Milarepa
Nang Nak (Horror)It's a thai story about a hungry ghost whose still attached to her husband.


user295: Some more of such referees can be found in: Depictions of Gautama Buddha in film

2265: <p>What are entertaining/fictional movies, cartoons or books about Buddhadharma or Buddha himself?</p>
 7233: <p>Adding the classic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddhartha_(novel)" rel="nofollow">Siddhartha</a> by Herman Hesse.</p>
 -1: <p>No one mentioned what I take to be the single best movie of Buddhism ever made - <a href="https://youtu.be/6fXi4lOJe1I" rel="nofollow">Enlightenment Guaranteed</a>!</p>

<p>Hilarious, to the point, and honest.</p>
 10048: <p>Books:</p>

<p>-Hesse's <em>Siddhartha</em> is interesting, but it is not an account of the Buddha himself.  It touches on elements of Buddha dharma, but can be somewhat confusing in its intermingling of dharma and Hindu Advaita</p>

<p>-I highly recommend <em>Deathbed Sutra of the Buddha</em>, but then again, I am the author, so I have a bit of a bias!</p>

<p>Film:</p>

<p>-<em>Kundun</em>, for Tibetan Buddhism</p>

<p>-<em>The Buddha</em> (PBS production)...with some annoying cartoon segments</p>

<p>-<em>Little Buddha</em></p>

<p>-<em>The Tibetan Book of the Dead</em> - the version narrated by Leonard Cohen.  Available on Netflix, and quite good in the sense of a not being too "Hollywoodish"</p>

<p>-<em>The Fountain:</em>  philosophically, it's a bit of a mess, but it's an entetaining story that explores key Buddhist themes such as impermanence, self, and suffering. Great acting (Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz), directiong by Aronofsky, very "trippy" special effects, </p>
 2265: <p>Osamu Tezuka's Buddha is really fun manga and fictional account of Buddha's life.
Also check out Ikkyu... awesome manga about Zen and sudden realization! Gave me chills when I really put myself into his journey...</p>

<p>A good movie that fictionally demonstrates some Buddhist concepts is Cloud Atlas.
Samsara is another good one.
There are plenty of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/list/ls000024431/" rel="nofollow">lists</a> (I've only seen the top three) <a href="http://www.elephantjournal.com/2009/03/five-great-films-about-buddhism/" rel="nofollow">online</a>.</p>
 199: <p>Some of these may be too tenuous a link but ymmv:</p>

<p><strong>Movies (some are also books)</strong></p>

<ul>
<li>Kundun</li>
<li>Little Buddha</li>
<li>Seven Years in Tibet</li>
<li>The Dhamma Brothers</li>
<li>Buddha Wild: Monk in a Hut</li>
<li>The Devotion of Matthieu Ricard</li>
<li>Cloud Atlas (well, it's supposed to be; I never got it -- I hear the book is better)</li>
<li>When the Iron Bird Flies</li>
<li>Journey to the West</li>
<li>Groundhog Day (see, tenuous!)</li>
<li>The Matrix (ditto)</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Books</strong></p>

<ul>
<li>Breakfast with Buddha</li>
<li>Not Quite Nirvana</li>
<li>The Accidental Buddhist</li>
<li>The Big Bang, the Bddha, and the Baby Book</li>
<li>There is No God and He is Always With You (the author, Brad Warner, has a few others)</li>
</ul>

<p>There's a ton of other stuff <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_about_Buddhism" rel="nofollow">here</a>, and even more pops up by Googling "buddhist movies".</p>
 701: <p>Here's a list of films carrying the Buddhist philosophy, most of them are arthouse. </p>

<ul>
<li>Rashomon (1950)- Akira Kurosawa </li>
<li>Ikiru (1952) - Akira Kurosawa </li>
<li>Ugetsu (1953)- Kenji Mizoguchi </li>
<li>Sansho the Bailiff (1954)- Kenji Mizoguchi</li>
<li>The Burmese Harp (1956) - Kon Ichikawa </li>
<li>Onibaba (1964)- Kaneto Shindo</li>
<li>Kwaidan (1965) - Masaki Kobayashi</li>
<li>A Touch of Zen (1971) - King Hu </li>
<li>Baraka (1992) - Ron Fricke</li>
<li>Passage to Buddha (1993) - Hwa-Om-Kyung</li>
<li>The Cup (1999) - Khyentse Norbu</li>
<li>Samsara (2001) - Pan Nalin </li>
<li>Uncle Boonmee who can recall his past lives (2010) - Apichatpong Weerasethakul </li>
<li>The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013) - Isao Takahata</li>
</ul>
 4836: <p>My favorite Buddhist films:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1156470/" rel="nofollow">Zen (2009)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428283/" rel="nofollow">Un Buda (2005)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097195/" rel="nofollow">Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? (1989)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0819354/" rel="nofollow">10 Questions for the Dalai Lama (2006)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0223898/" rel="nofollow">Peace is Every Step (1998)</a></li>
</ul>

<p>If you want to find more one way is to click on the links above and look under "People who liked this also liked..."</p>

<p>Also there are these organizations:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.buddhistfilmfoundation.org/" rel="nofollow">Buddhist Film Foundation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://thisfilmfest.com/" rel="nofollow">Thus Have I Seen</a></li>
</ul>

<p>The Buddhist Film Foundation is <a href="http://www.buddhistfilmfoundation.org/buddhist-film-archive/" rel="nofollow">working on an archive of Buddhist films</a> but at the time of writing i couldn't find anything public</p>

<p>Hope this answer helps you and others</p>
 471: <p>Book: <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1401940587" rel="nofollow">The Dalai Lama's Cat</a> by David Mitchie. A fictional story told by a cat, who is the Dalai Lama's pet at Dharamsala. The Dalai Lama rescued this cat when it was very young. The entertaining story told by the cat is imbued with dhamma teachings. The teachings are of course expounded in a simple way, since a cat is a not a very intelligent animal.</p>
 3551: <p>Some movies with Buddhist concepts:</p>

<ol>
<li>Cloud Atlas.</li>
<li>Little Buddha.</li>
<li>Kundun </li>
<li>The Dharma Brothers (Documentary)</li>
<li>The Buddha (Documentary)</li>
<li>Spring,Summer,Fall,Winter..and Spring.</li>
<li>Why has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East.</li>
<li>Wheel of Time</li>
<li>Doin Time Doing Vippassanna (Documentary)</li>
<li>Angulimala</li>
<li>OK Baytong</li>
<li>Amongst WHite Clouds (Documentary)</li>
<li>Amrapali</li>
<li>My Reincarnation (Documentary)</li>
<li>The Holy Man (Comedy)</li>
<li>WHen the Iron Bird Flies (Documentary)</li>
<li>Milarepa</li>
<li>Nang Nak (Horror)It's a thai story about a hungry ghost whose still attached to her husband.</li>
</ol>
 295: <p>Some more of such referees can be found in: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depictions_of_Gautama_Buddha_in_film" rel="nofollow">Depictions of Gautama Buddha in film</a></p>
