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Richard Pursel

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Richard Pursel
Born
Richard Dale Pursel

(1964-09-17) September 17, 1964 (age 60)
Milford, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, storyboard artist
Years active1989 – present

Richard Dale Pursel (born September 17, 1964)[1] is an American television writer, screenwriter and storyboard artist. He is known for his work on Nickelodeon's television series The Ren & Stimpy Show and SpongeBob SquarePants.

Career

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Pursel was born in Milford, Michigan and was childhood best friends with Matt Wayne.[2][3] After graduating from Milford High School in 1982, both intended to pursue a career in art. Pursel did odd jobs in his twenties, such as being a production assistant in music videos, fetching items for Prince, supervising staff at a school for the blind and farming in Israel.[2]

Pursel first entered the animation industry by being recommended by future co-worker Eddie Fitzgerald to work on Tiny Toon Adventures at Warner Bros. Animation. He was hired in 1992 as John Kricfalusi's assistant at Spümcø and worked on The Ren & Stimpy Show. He was quickly promoted to writer during the second season due to Kricfalusi's appreciation of his sense of humor, prominently writing episodes through the season's heavily delayed production until Kricfalusi's firing by Nickelodeon. He refused to join Games Animation in support of Kricfalusi (and his job not being impacted by the harsh working conditions in the studio), where Bob Camp and a group of alumni had migrated to continue production of the series. He had multiple unused outlines and even loose plots for the series in the hands of Games, who used most of them for new episodes in an attempt to achieve the quality of the first two seasons; Pursel noted that the episodes produced out of the unused material were ruined due to direction from individuals such as Bill Wray. Pursel returned to Spümcø to write episodes for The Ripping Friends and Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" for Spike TV in 2003, calling the latter experience to be the worst work experience in his career due to his deteriorating relations with Kricfalusi; Kricfalusi would not talk to him and constantly added unnecessary shock value into his outlines, ruining the stories as Games had done. He swore off ever working with Kricfalusi again.[4][3][5]

Pursel would be hired by Nickelodeon Animation Studio in 2005, the very studio he refused to join, to work on SpongeBob SquarePants, where former co-worker Vincent Waller served as technical director and later showrunner, amongst miscellaneous work he would do for other students.[6] He introduced Matt Wayne to animation during this period, with both working at Warner Bros. Animation at some point. Pursel had also contributed to SpongeBob comic books.[7][3]

Filmography

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Writer

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Screenwriter

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Story

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Storyboard artist

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Bibliography

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Month Title Issue Story Publisher Notes
November 2014 SpongeBob Comics #38 "Guard Worm" United Plankton Pictures Story
January 2015 #40 "Kick the Can"
August 2015 #47 "Plankton and the Amoeba Gang"
September 2015 #48 "Snail Foot"

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Pursel, Richard [@dickp2000] (September 17, 2023). "#birthdaycard #lovemyboys" – via Instagram.
  2. ^ a b Mike (February 26, 2013). "Richard Pursel". Animation Insider. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Janney, Kristen (October 5, 2006). "Two childhood pals build careers in L.A.". The Milford Times.
  4. ^ Komorowski, Thad (2017). Sick Little Monkeys: The Unauthorized Ren and Stimpy Story. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1629331836.
  5. ^ "Ricard Pursel Interview". www.thesbcommunity.com. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
  6. ^ "Ricard Pursel Interview". www.thesbcommunity.com. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
  7. ^ Stu, Stu (February 13, 2007). "Matt Wayne Casts a "Storm" With Hellboy". Toon Zone. Archived from the original on February 13, 2007. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
  8. ^ Selección Canina - Cinepolis
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