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John Whittington

John Whittington

Writer and producer

John Whittington is an American screenwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Jared Stern, including The Lego Batman Movie (2017), The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017), and DC League of Super-Pets (2022). Whittington began his career by writing the screenplays for The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie. In July 2017, Whittington was hired to write the script for Boy21. In 2018, he wrote the screenplay for the Netflix film When We First Met. In 2019, he wrote two episodes of the animated series Green Eggs and Ham, based on the Dr. Seuss book of the same name. During reshoots, he rewrote the screenplay for the 2020 film Dolittle. He wrote the DC Comics film DC League of Super-Pets. He gained notability from co-writing the screenplay for the action-adventure comedy film Sonic the Hedgeog 2 and its sequel. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Whittington (screenwriter), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Biography from TMDB.

Works as
Writer and producer
Titles
11 on MovieCove · 12 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 157 days to Oct 28Up 48% in 30 days

What are John Whittington's films like?

Across their 9 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.

Genres

Animation3 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 75th percentile
: browse their Animation movies
Action2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 78th percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Action movies
Comedy2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 74th percentile
: browse their Comedy movies

Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.

Themes

share of theme weight
Bonds
47%
Self
27%
Morality
8%
Survival
8%
Society
6%
Ideas
3%
Friendship5 titles, browse their movies with this themeFamily bonds4 titles, browse their movies with this themeSelf-worth3 titles, browse their movies with this themeComing of age2 titles, browse their movies with this themeGrief2 titles, browse their movies with this themeRedemption2 titles, browse their movies with this themePurpose2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 7 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Light: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their light movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 7 · Serious 0 · Dark 0

Stylized: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their stylized movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

A split, not a type: Grounded 2 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 3

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 3 · Charged 3 · Intense 1

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 4 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 0

Funny: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their funny movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 0 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 5

Even-paced: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their even-paced movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 3

Casual: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their casual movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 6 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 0

Resolved: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their resolved movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 7 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Joyful
6
Thrilling
4
Hopeful
4
Absurd
3
Warm
2
Other
5

How their films linger

Feel-good8 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful5 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteFun3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end · 1 with a twist

  • Happy5
  • Bittersweet4

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch John Whittington's films?

As of October 24, 2026, all 11 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Netflix (5).

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for John Whittington's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

12 credits, 11 with a MovieCove page.

  • Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2027)

    Writer

  • Remarkably Bright Creatures(2026)

    Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films

  • Swapped(2026)

    Screenplay · Story

    Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films

  • Sonic the Hedgehog 3(2024)

    Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films

  • Knuckles(2024)

    Show 6 episodes · Creator · Executive Producer · Writer

    Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all shows

  • DC League of Super-Pets(2022)

    Writer

    Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films

  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2(2022)

    Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films

  • Green Eggs and Ham(2019)

    Show 5 episodes · Writer

    Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all shows

  • When We First Met(2018)

    Writer

    Midcredits score: 52nd percentile of all films

  • The Lego Ninjago Movie(2017)

    Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all films

  • The Lego Batman Movie(2017)

    Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films

  • Plaguers(2008)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all films

Career shape

A full career of 12 titles, 11 of them dated from 2010 to 2026.

Biggest box office

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)

$492M worldwide

Highest rated

Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026)

Midcredits 96th

Most popular right now

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)

By role

only this rolewith another role
Writing11 of 12: 10 only writing, 1 with another role · typical Midcredits score80thProducing2 of 12: 1 only producing, 1 with another roleOther crew1 of 12: 0 only other crew, 1 with another role

By decade

2010s5 · crew2020s6 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.

How do John Whittington's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 75th percentile, the median of all 9; across their 7 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 72nd percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

72ndpercentile
Typical film, the median of 7

Approval · how many liked their films

80thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 7

Reach · how many have seen their films

96thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 7

Midcredits score across 11 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up6
  • 50th to 74th2
  • 25th to 49th1
  • Below 25th2

Shape of the crowd

5 of their 11 titles are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Universally Loved3
  • Crowd Pleaser5
  • Broadly Agreed1
  • Mixed2

Most divisive · producer

Plaguers (2008)

67th percentile spread · 79% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · writer

Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026)

Midcredits 96th · 87% liked

Reviewers score the dialogue 55/100 and the plot and story 46/100 in their films, across 7 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Is John Whittington's work okay for kids?

Across up to 9 MovieCove titles with content scores, sex & nudity and alcohol & drugs run lighter than most films.

Their medianMedian of all filmsMiddle 80% of their titles
Violence & Gore9 titles26–44 · median 36 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 44
Sex & Nudity9 titles11–26 · median 20 · mildlighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 32
Profanity9 titles19–52 · median 34 · mildnear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 36
Alcohol & Drugs9 titles6–38 · median 12 · minimallighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 33
Frightening / Intense9 titles23–41 · median 30 · mildnear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 39

Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.

Who does John Whittington work with?

People who share at least 2 of John Whittington's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Jared Stern shares the most, 4.

Directors

Writers

Actors

Cinematographers and editors

Producers

Mixed roles