Overview
Richard "Rich" Johnson[1] is a Canadian director working under WildBrain. He served as the series director of Ninjago from the twelfth season until the fifteenth season, and later returned to provide his direction in the sequel series Dragons Rising.
For his work on "The Son of Lilly" alongside Daniel Ife in 2021 and "The Turn of the Tide" with Shane Poettcker in 2022, Johnson was nominated twice for the Leo Award for Best Direction in an Animated Series.[2][3] He won the 2024 Leo Award in the same category alongside Shane Poettcker for the Dragons Rising episode "Land of Lost Things."[4] In 2025, he was again nominated for the award alongside Ife for the episode "The Sword Shatters".[5]
Credits
Credits[]
Ninjago[]
Series director[]
Prime Empire Original Shorts[]
- 1. "Let's Dance" (with Adam Wood)
- 2. "Upgrade" (with Adam Wood)
- 3. "The Meaning of Victory" (with Adam Wood)
- 4. "The Stowaway" (with Adam Wood)
- 5. "Manhunt" (with Adam Wood)
- 6. "Gayle Gossip: A Closer Look" (with Adam Wood)
Season 12: Prime Empire[]
- 129. "Would You Like to Enter Prime Empire?" (with Adam Wood)
- 130. "Dyer Island" (with Adam Wood)
- 131. "Level Thirteen" (with Adam Wood)
- 132. "Superstar Rockin' Jay" (with Adam Wood)
- 133. "I am Okino" (with Adam Wood)
- 134. "The Glitch" (with Adam Wood)
- 135. "The Cliffs of Hysteria" (with Adam Wood)
- 136. "The Maze of the Red Dragon" (with Adam Wood)
- 137. "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back" (with Adam Wood)
- 138. "Racer Seven" (with Adam Wood)
- 139. "The Speedway Five-Billion" (with Adam Wood)
- 140. "Stop, Drop and Side Scroll" (with Adam Wood)
- 141. "Ninjago Confidential" (with Adam Wood)
- 142. "The Prodigal Father" (with Adam Wood)
- 143. "The Temple of Madness" (with Adam Wood)
- 144. "Game Over" (with Adam Wood)
Season 13: Master of the Mountain[]
- 145. "Shintaro"
- 146. "Into the Dark"
- 147. "The Worst Rescue Ever"
- 148. "The Two Blades"
- 149. "Queen of the Munce"
- 150. "Trial By Mino"
- 151. "The Skull Sorcerer"
- 152. "The Real Fall"
- 153. "Dungeon Party!"
- 154. "Dungeon Crawl!"
- 155. "Grief-Bringer"
- 156. "Masters Never Quit"
- 157. "The Darkest Hour"
- 158. "The Ascent"
- 159. "The Upply Strike Back!"
- 160. "The Son of Lilly"
The Island[]
- 161. "Uncharted"
- 162. "The Keepers of the Amulet"
- 163. "The Gift of Jay"
- 164. "The Tooth of Wojira"
Season 14: Seabound[]
- 165. "A Big Splash"
- 166. "The Call of the Deep"
- 167. "Unsinkable"
- 168. "Five Thousand Fathoms Down"
- 169. "The Wrath of Kalmaar"
- 170. "Long Live the King"
- 171. "Escape from Merlopia"
- 172. "The Tale of Benthomaar"
- 173. "The Storm Amulet"
- 174. "Riddle of the Sphinx"
- 175. "Papergirl"
- 176. "Master of the Sea"
- 177. "The Calm Before the Storm"
- 178. "Assault on Ninjago City"
- 179. "Nyad"
- 180. "The Turn of the Tide"
The Virtues of Spinjitzu[]
Season 15: Crystalized[]
- 181. "Farewell the Sea"
- 182. "The Call of Home"
- 183. "The Shape of Nya"
- 184. "A Mayor Problem"
- 185. "Public Enemies 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5!"
- 186. "A Painful Promise"
- 187. "Ninjago City vs. Ninja"
- 188. "Kryptarium Prison Blues"
- 189. "Hounddog McBrag"
- 190. "The Benefit of Grief"
- 191. "The Fifth Villain"
- 192. "The Council of the Crystal King"
- 193. "A Sinister Shadow"
- 194. "The Spider's Design"
- 195. "The Fall of the Monastery"
- 196. "Darkness Within"
- 197. "The Coming of the King"
- 198. "Return to Primeval's Eye"
- 199. "Crystastrophe"
- 200. "Christofern"
- 201. "A Lesson in Anger"
- 202. "Brave But Foolish"
- 203. "Quittin' Time!"
- 204. "Return of the Ice Emperor"
- 205. "Safe Haven"
- 206. "Compatible"
- 207. "Distress Calls"
- 208. "An Issue of Trust"
- 209. "Dragon Form"
- 210. "Roots"
Ninjago: Reimagined[]
Directed by[]
Ninjago: Dragons Rising[]
Series director[]
Season 1[]
- 1. “The Merge: Part 1”
- 2. "The Merge: Part 2"
- 3. “Crossroads Carnival”
- 4. “Beyond Madness”
- 5. “Writers of Destiny”
- 6. “Return to Imperium”
- 7. “Mindless Beasts”
- 8. “I Will Be the Danger”
- 9. “The Calm Inside”
- 10. “The Battle of the Second Monastery”
- 11. “The Temple of the Dragon Cores”
- 12. “Gangs of the Sea”
- 13. “Wyldly Inappropriate”
- 14. “The Last Djinn”
- 15. “They Call It Doom”
- 16. “Land of Lost Things”
- 17. “The Administration”
- 18. “Absolute Power”
- 19. “We Are All Dragons”
- 20. “The Power Within”
The Elemental Mechs[]
- 1. "What the Mech?"
- 2. "The Mech Master"
- 3. "A Pain in the Mech!"
Season 2[]
- 21. "The Blood Moon"
- 22. "Shattered Dreams"
- 23. "Beyond the Phantasm Cave"
- 24. "Force From the East"
- 25. "The Spell at the Waterfall"
- 26. "To Mysterium"
- 27. "Fugitives From Madness"
- 28. "Secrets of the Wyldness"
- 29. "The Forest of Spirits"
- 30. "Rising Ninja"
- 31. "The Shape of Motion"
- 32. "Enter the City of Temples"
- 33. "They Gather for the Feast"
- 34. "Inside the Maze"
- 35. "United We Fall"
- 36. "Truth and Lies"
- 37. "The Sword Shatters"
- 38. "Clues and Suspects"
- 39. "The Final Game"
- 40. "Elements of Betrayal"
Season 3[]
- 41. "The Missing"
- 42. "The Ultimate Object of Admiration"
- 43. "The Spectral Lands"
- 44. "The Great Zane Robbery"
- 45. "I Alone Can Save Them"
- 46. "Fallen Wishes"
- 47. "Their Draconic Majesty's Request"
- 48. "Crashing Together"
- 49. "Chaos Unchained"
- 50. "The Shatter Dragon"
- 51. "The Hollow Ones"
- 52. "Human Resources"
- 53. "Between You and Lee"
- 54. "Casket of Bones"
- 55. "The Screaming Earth"
- 56. "Under the Light of a Mechanical Moon"
- 57. "The Vault of Focus"
- 58. "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
- 59. "When Doves Cry"
- 60. "Chaos Reigns"
Trivia
Trivia[]
- Johnson described Dragons Rising as having a "subtle, painterly feel," in part thanks to the series' use of Unreal Engine for animation.[1]
- He was nominated for Best Direction in an Animation Program or Series at the 2015 Leo Awards for his work on Kate & Mim-Mim, and later again at the 2016 Canadian Screen Awards for Endangered Species.[6]
References
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://variety.com/2024/tv/global/lego-ninjago-dragons-rising-season-2-1235959233/
- ↑ https://www.leoawards.com/2022/nominees_and_winners/nominees_and_winners_by_name_2021.php
- ↑ https://www.leoawards.com/2022/nominees_and_winners/nominees_and_winners_by_name_2022.php#Animation_Series-Direction
- ↑ https://www.leoawards.com/2024/nominees_and_winners/nominees_and_winners_by_name_2024.php
- ↑ https://www.leoawards.com/2025/nominees_and_winners/nominees_and_winners_by_name_2025.php#Animation_Series-Direction
- ↑ https://ca.linkedin.com/in/richjoohnson