Steve Purcell

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Steve Purcell
Pixar Animation Studios (2000–2023)[1]
Notable workSam & Max
Spouse
Collette Michaud
(m. 1993)
Children2
WebsitePersonal Blog

Steven Ross Purcell

Eisner Award
in 2007. The series has grown to incorporate an animated television series and several video games.

A graduate of the

LucasArts as an artist and animator in 1988 and worked on several LucasArts adventure games, including the first three Monkey Island games, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Sam & Max Hit the Road
.

Purcell collaborated with Nelvana to create a Sam & Max television series in 1997, and briefly worked as an animator for Industrial Light & Magic after leaving LucasArts.

Career

Early career

Purcell entered into a career with comic books while an undergraduate at the

firework and thought was appropriate; and "Night of the Gilded Heron-Shark". Purcell published a further story in a 1987 issue of Critters titled "Night of the Cringing Wildebeest". These three stories established the basics for Purcell's future work with the characters.[5]

LucasArts

Purcell was hired by

Monkey Island games and researched into whips for the adventure game version of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He worked with animation in several LucasArts adventure games, published three more Sam & Max comic books during this time, and began creating brief comic strips for LucasArts' quarterly newsletter, The Adventurer.[9] The characters eventually became involved as training material for LucasArts programmers working with SCUMM, the core game engine used by LucasArts adventure games; Purcell created versions of Sam and Max in their office for new programmers under Ron Gilbert to practice on.[7] References to the characters were occasionally made in unrelated LucasArts adventure games as a clandestine appearance in backgrounds. Purcell wrote the six-issue comic book series Defenders of Dynatron City for Marvel Comics in 1992.[10]

A anthropomorphic dog in a suit and fedora drives a police DeSoto through a cityscape, while an anthropomorphic rabbit climbs out the window. An array of dead insects and a rat have been collected on the car's grille. The title "Sam & Max" is displayed prominently, with "Freelance Police Special" below.
A 1988 issue of Sam & Max, published by Comico; Purcell has been surprised at the cult status that the characters have acquired.[9] Note the rat on the car's grille, a common theme in Purcell's work.

After a positive reaction to the Sam & Max strips in The Adventurer and wanting to expand into other franchises following Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island, LucasArts offered to create a graphic adventure game on the characters in 1992.[11] Sam & Max Hit the Road was conceived and developed by a small team headed by Purcell, Sean Clark, Michael Stemmle and Collette Michaud.[12] Purcell decided to base the game on one of his earlier Sam & Max stories, the 1988 story "On The Road".[7] In 1995, Purcell combined all published Sam & Max printed media into a 154-page paperback compilation titled Sam & Max: Surfin' the Highway.[13] After producing the cover art for Herc's Adventures and concept art for The Curse of Monkey Island, Purcell left LucasArts.[14][15]

Later work

Purcell joined with story editor Dan Smith from Canadian studio

YTV in Canada and Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. Purcell wrote the jokes for each installment of the 24-episode series, and wrote the scripts for four episodes. Despite the violence and profanity common in the Sam & Max franchise having been toned down due to the target audience of children, Purcell was content that the characters maintained their moral ambiguity. Some parent groups in the United States attempted to have the series pulled from networks due to content issues; Purcell was pleased that they "had managed to ruffle some feathers along the way".[13] Two Sam & Max comic strips appeared in Fox's Totally Fox Kids Magazine in 1998 to accompany the series; other Sam & Max strips appeared in Wizard and Oni Double Feature. During the development of the television series in 1997, Purcell co-authored and illustrated the Hellboy Christmas Special with Mike Mignola and Gary Gianni.[16] After the conclusion of the Sam & Max animated series, Purcell was briefly employed by Industrial Light & Magic to work on digital effects for a film version of Frankenstein. Despite his work, the project was canceled; Purcell believes that some of the development work morphed into ILM's contributions to Van Helsing.[8] While at ILM, Purcell was involved in a project to create an animated film based on Monkey Island;[17] while the project did not reach fruition, Purcell began posting concept art he had produced for the film on his personal blog several years after.[18][19]

Pixar and Telltale Games

After the brief stint at ILM, Purcell moved to Pixar.[9] Despite being employed by Pixar, Purcell acted as an advisor in the development of Sam & Max: Freelance Police, a sequel to Sam & Max Hit the Road that began development in 2002 under LucasArts. Purcell provided Michael Stemmle's development team with concept art and assisted in the creation of the game's plot.[20] Despite its smoothly proceeding development, LucasArts abruptly canceled the project in March 2004. Purcell was unable to understand why development halted; he described himself as "frustrated and disappointed" at the decision.[21]

In 2005, LucasArt's license with Purcell that gave them the right to produce games based on the Sam & Max franchise expired; this allowed Purcell to take the franchise to

Eisner Award for "Best Digital Comic" when the comic finished its run in 2007.[24] Purcell assisted with design and writing when Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space began development in 2007. Through Telltale Games, he released two sketchbooks of his Sam & Max work and a 20th anniversary edition of Sam & Max: Surfin' the Highway in 2008.[25] Purcell later painted the cover art for Telltale's Tales of Monkey Island.[26]

An anthropomorphic monster truck with a large exractor bucket and bulldozer blade glares maliciously at a quivering, rusty tow truck.
Purcell's work at Pixar has included character design, such as the "Screamin' Banshee" from the short Mater and the Ghostlight.

At Pixar's story development department, Purcell contributed screenplay material and voice work for the 2006 film

George & A.J.—a 2009 short based on the film Up.[33] Purcell was key for Pixar's 2012 film Brave, co-directing the film alongside Brenda Chapman and Mark Andrews in addition to providing work for the screenplay; Brave constituted Purcell's biggest role in a Pixar project to date.[34]

In 2014, Purcell wrote and directed the Pixar Christmas special Toy Story That Time Forgot which aired on ABC on December 2, 2014.[35] Purcell is not considering the possibility of Pixar adapting Sam & Max into a film, as the characters' moral ambiguity is inconsistent with traditional Pixar stories.[36] Purcell was among 75 Pixar employees laid off by The Walt Disney Company as part of an ongoing company-wide restructuring.[1]

Personal life

Purcell grew up in California, where he still resides. In a 2000 interview, Purcell said that he had been drawing all his life, and that he still possesses drawings from when he was three years old.

Art Adams while at the college.[5] Citing the Marx Brothers, Peter Sellers and Monty Python as among his interests, he says that he is inspired by "creative people who have made their seemingly most self-indulgent artistic whims into a career".[37] During the development of Sam & Max Hit the Road in 1993, Purcell married fellow lead designer Collette Michaud; the wedding cake was topped with figurines of Sam and Max as a bride and groom.[7] Purcell has two sons.[6]

The characters of Sam and Max were created in Purcell's youth; Purcell's younger brother Dave originally came up with several comics around the idea of a dog and rabbit detective duo. Dave would often leave unfinished comics around the house. Deliberately making the characters mix up each other's names, shoot at each other and mock the way in which they had been drawn, Steve, in a case of sibling rivalry, would sometimes finish the stories in parodies of their original form. This developed from Steve mocking his brother's to the creation of his own stories with the characters. In the late 1970s, Dave Purcell gave Steve the rights to the characters; he signed them over in a contract on Steve's birthday and allowed him to develop the characters in his own way.[38][39][40] Purcell believes that his younger brother has recovered and forgiven him from their earlier years.[41] Having kept one as a pet in his youth, Purcell has an interest in rats, which are commonly featured in his artistic work.[5]

Credited works

Films

Year Title Director Writer Story Artist Other Voice Notes
2006 Cars No No Yes Yes Additional Voices Additional Screenplay Material
2007 Ratatouille No No No Yes Pixar Productions
2012 Brave Co-Director Screenplay No Yes The Crow Song Lyricist: "Song of Mor'du"
2017 Coco No No No Yes Pixar Senior Creative Team
2018 Incredibles 2 No No No Yes
2019 Toy Story 4 No No No Yes The Dummies
2022 Turning Red No No No Yes
Lightyear No No No Yes
2023 Elemental No No No Yes

Shorts

Year Title Director Writer Story Artist Other Voice Notes
2006 Mater and the Ghostlight No No No Yes Screamin' Banshee[42] Additional Character Designer
2009 George and A.J. No No No Yes Carl
2009-10 Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales No No No Yes Additional Voices Episodes 5-9
2012 The Legend of Mor'du No Yes No Yes The Crow
2013-14 Cars Toons: Tales from Radiator Springs No No No Yes Additional Voices/Sandy Dunes Episodes 3-4
2015 Borrowed Time No No No Yes Additional Voices
2022 Cars on the Road Yes Yes Yes Yes Randy/Wraith Rod Disney+ Original short films; Pixar Senior Creative Team

Television

Year Title Director Writer Other Voice Notes
1988 The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley No No Yes Production crew
1997-98 The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police No Yes Yes Writing and design
2014 Toy Story That Time Forgot Yes Yes Yes The Cleric TV special

Bibliography

Video games

Year Title Role Developer
1987 Maniac Mansion Artwork Lucasfilm Games
1988 Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
1989
Their Finest Hour
Testing
Pipe Dream
Artwork The Assembly Line
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure Animation, artwork and whip research Lucasfilm Games
1990 Loom Animation, graphics and artwork
The Secret of Monkey Island Graphics and artwork
1991 Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge Animation, graphics and artwork LucasArts
ToeJam & Earl Original concept art character Designs
Johnson Voorsanger Productions
1993 Zombies Ate My Neighbors Artwork LucasArts
ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron Original concept art Character Designs Johnson Voorsanger Productions
Sam & Max Hit the Road Design, graphics and artwork LucasArts
1994 The Horde Artwork
Toys For Bob
1996 Mortimer and the Riddles of the Medallion LucasArts
1997 Herc's Adventures LucasArts
Big Ape Productions
The Curse of Monkey Island LucasArts
2006 Cars Writing and additional voices Various
Cars: Radiator Springs Adventures AWE Games
2007 Cars Mater-National Championship Various
2006–2007 Sam & Max Save the World Writing and design Telltale Games
2007–2008 Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space
2009 Tales of Monkey Island Artwork
2010 Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse
2020
Sam & Max: This Time It's Virtual
Writing, design and the voice of Duncan Dills HappyGiant

References

  1. ^ a b Taylor, Drew (July 5, 2023). "Inside Pixar's Existential Crisis and How It Can Bounce Back After Disney+ Stole Its Mojo". TheWrap. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  2. ^ Staff (2010-04-29). "Interview with Steve Purcell". Sam & Max.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
  3. ^ Intelius report on Steven R Purcell in California.[dead link]
  4. ^ "100+ Alumni of Note". California College of the Arts. Archived from the original on 2011-08-14. Retrieved 2011-05-31. Steve Purcell ('82): cartoonist and creator of Sam & Max.
  5. ^ a b c d "The Early Years (part 2)". The History of Sam & Max. Telltale Games. 2007-06-12. Archived from the original on 2008-01-05. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  6. ^ a b Mamen, Erik-André Vik; Jong, Philip (2008-01-01). "Steve Purcell – Interview". Adventure Classic Gaming. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  7. ^ a b c d "The Golden Era". The History of Sam & Max. Telltale Games. 2007-06-26. Archived from the original on 2009-02-21. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  8. ^ a b "Interviews: Steve Purcell". The World of Monkey Island. LF Network, LLC. 2006-04-11. Archived from the original on 2015-05-06. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
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  15. ^ "Game Credits for The Curse of Monkey Island". MobyGames. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
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  17. ^ "Monkey Island movie art?". SCUMM Bar. LF Network, LLC. 2005-01-09. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  18. ^ Day, Ashley (2009). "Tales from Monkey Island". Retro Gamer. No. 70. Imagine Publishing. p. 35.
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  24. Comic-Con International. 2007. Archived from the original
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  32. ^ "Ratatouille (2007) – Cast and Credits". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
  33. ^ Mariotti, Greg (2009-11-11). "iTunes Version of Up Includes Exclusive Short: George and A.J.!". Pixar Talk. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  34. ^ Rizvi, Samad (2012-05-04). "Sam & Max Creator Steve Purcell Credited As Co-Director Of Brave". Pixaar Times. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  35. ^ Hill, Jim (2014-12-02). "Galyn Susman Talks About Pixar's First Ever Christmas Special, "Toy Story That Time Forgot"". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2014-12-04.
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  37. ^ a b c Rodkin, Jake; Grubaugh, Sebastian (2000). "Interview!". Sam & Max: The Unofficial Website. Archived from the original on 2004-08-22. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
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  39. Shout! Factory
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  42. ^ Raffe, Jon. "Hitting the road with Steve Purcell". Thunder Chunky. Retrieved 26 December 2020.

External links