Encyclopedia SpongeBobia
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Encyclopedia SpongeBobia
This is the page about the writer. For other uses, see Richard (disambiguation).
Person

Richard Dale Pursel (born December 9, 1964; age 59) is an American television writer, screenwriter, and storyboard artist who was a writer for SpongeBob SquarePants. Pursel started writing episodes in season 5, and left after season 8, before briefly returning in season 10 as a freelance writer. He guest wrote one episode for season 13.

Biography[]

Pursel is the third writer besides Kyle McCulloch and Dani Michaeli to have written for adult-oriented shows.

He got his start in the industry as a production assistant on Tiny Toons Adventures and worked his way up to being a storyboard artist and writer on The Ren & Stimpy Show,[3] which he worked on alongside Bob Jaques, Kelly Armstrong, Bob Camp, Lynne Naylor, Chris Reccardi, and Vincent Waller.

Besides SpongeBob, he also worked on other animated series, just as a writer, in Poochini, The Goddamn George Liquor Program, The Ripping Friends, Robotboy, Tom and Jerry Tales, The Mighty B!, The Super Hero Squad Show, Ben 10: Omniverse, Mickey Mouse (2013 of short films), Wabbit, Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh, Victor and Valentino, and The New Woody Woodpecker Show; (that curiously, the latter was developed and created by Bob Jaques and Kelly Armstrong).

Trivia[]

General[]

  • The character he relates to or sympathizes with the most is Gary: "He's obviously smart, though he doesn't talk much ("Meow!") His single meow can be interpreted in a million different ways and I just love that!"[3]
  • He says the reason that why people of all ages love the show is that it "is a labor of love. It's well crafted and viewers know that and appreciate that. It can be smart as well as dumb, and we're all capable of being smart and dumb sometimes."[3]
  • He said the thing that makes SpongeBob different from other cartoons is that it is " cartoon with funny gags written and drawn by hand by real funny people. Other shows tend to be complicated and zap the fun out. The idea that a sponge, squid, sea star, and crab all live together underwater in the intertidal zone in a place called Bikini Bottom is naturally funny and easy to understand."[3]
  • At the time, Pursel said that "SpongeBob is perhaps the best run show I've ever worked on; it's a well-oiled machine and everybody gets along. I really feel that the SpongeBob crew is a mutual admiration society—we are all fans of the individuals that make each part great! The writers are nice, the artists are nice, the actors are nice, and even the bosses are nice! I think we're all inspired by such great characters and are proud of our work and the end results!"[3]
  • The hardest thing about working on the show for him is that "coming up with new cartoon ideas that haven’t been done before. Finding new situations to place SpongeBob and crew in is getting increasingly tough!"[3]
  • He says that the reason why SpongeBob is a beloved character is because of his eternal optimism. "Smile and the world smiles with you!"[3]
  • He said it takes about a week for a page-long premise for an episode to be written.[3]
  • His favorite episode is "Jellyfish Jam."[3]
  • His favorite episode to write for was SpongeHenge.[4]
  • He got his job on SpongeBob by writing 20 episode premises and having the one for Fungus Among Us selected.<ref name="sbc">
  • He worked on the Periwinkle Around the World cartoon pilot with Aaron Springer.<ref name="sbc">
  • He had written an episode that explained why SpongeBob was square as well as an origin story for Pearl but had them rejected by Stephen Hillenburg because he preferred to leave that information vague.<ref name="sbc">

References[]



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