Chris Van Allsburg (born June 18, 1949) is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He has won two Caldecott Medals for U.S. picture book illustration, for Jumanji (1981) and The Polar Express (1985), both of which he also wrote and were later adapted as successful motion pictures. He was also a Caldecott runner-up in 1980 for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. For his contribution as a children's illustrator, he was a 1986 U.S. nominee for the biennial International Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition for creators of children's books. He received the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Michigan in April 2012. Description above from the Wikipedia article Chris Van Allsburg, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- June 18, 1949 (77)
- East Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
- Writer and producer
- 7 on MovieCove · 10 credits in all
What are Chris Van Allsburg's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 5
Light 5 · Serious 1 · Dark 0
Grounded 1 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 2
Gentle 1 · Charged 4 · Intense 1
Steady 1 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 0 · Some laughs 4 · Funny 2
A split, not a type: Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 3
Casual 4 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 6 · Affecting 0 · Heavy 0
Resolved 6 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy4
- Bittersweet2
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 Chris Van Allsburg's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 6 of their 7 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Netflix (2).
Subscription and free streaming for Chris Van Allsburg'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
10 credits, 7 with a MovieCove page.
Jumanji: Open World (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
Jumanji: The Next Level(2019)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films
The Polar Express(2004)
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films
How to Deal(2003)
Midcredits score: 33rd percentile of all films
Jumanji (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
Jumanji(1995)
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
The Little Mermaid(1989)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
The Polar Express 2 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 10 titles, 8 of them dated from 1989 to 2019.
Biggest box office
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
Highest rated
Jumanji (1995)
Most popular right now
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
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 Chris Van Allsburg's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 69th percentile, the median of all 7; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 68th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th1
Shape of the crowd
5 of their 7 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser5
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the dialogue 52/100 and the plot and story 39/100 in their films, across 6 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 Chris Van Allsburg's work okay for kids?
Across up to 5 MovieCove titles with content scores, sex & nudity and alcohol & drugs run lighter than most films.
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 Chris Van Allsburg work with?
People who share at least 2 of Chris Van Allsburg's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Ted Field shares the most, 5.
Directors
- Jake KasdanShared titles: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Jake Kasdan
Writers
- Jeff PinknerShared titles: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Jeff Pinkner
- Scott RosenbergShared titles: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Scott Rosenberg
- Greg TaylorShared titles: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Jumanji (1995)See all 2 shared titles with Greg Taylor
- Jim StrainShared titles: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Jumanji (1995)See all 2 shared titles with Jim Strain
Actors
- Alex WolffShared titles: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Alex Wolff
- Dwayne JohnsonShared titles: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Dwayne Johnson
- Jack BlackShared titles: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Jack Black
- Karen GillanShared titles: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Karen Gillan
Producers
- Ted FieldShared titles: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), How to Deal (2003), Jumanji (1995)See all 5 shared titles with Ted Field
- William TeitlerShared titles: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), The Polar Express (2004), How to Deal (2003), Jumanji (1995)See all 5 shared titles with William Teitler
- Scott KroopfShared titles: Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), How to Deal (2003), Jumanji (1995)See all 3 shared titles with Scott Kroopf
- Dany GarciaShared titles: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Dany Garcia
