Steven Ross Purcell (born July 30, 1961) is an American cartoonist, animator, game designer, and voice actor. He is the creator of the media franchise Sam & Max and received an Eisner Award in 2007 for working on the show. The series has expanded to an animated television series and several video games. A graduate of the California College of Arts and Craft in San Francisco, Purcell began his career creating comic strips for the college newsletter. He performed freelance work for Marvel Comics and Fishwrap Productions before publishing his first Sam & Max comic in 1987. He was hired by LucasArts as an artist and animator in 1988 and worked on several LucasArts adventure games, including the first two 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. At Pixar, he co-wrote and co-directed the 2012 film Brave and developed a miniseries for the Cars franchise, Cars on the Road. Description above from the Wikipedia article Steve Purcell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- October 1, 1961 (65)
- Northern California, USA
- Actor, writer and director
- 11 on MovieCove · 21 credits in all
What are Steve Purcell's films like?
Across their 7 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Power.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 5
Light 4 · Serious 0 · Dark 1
A split, not a type: Grounded 0 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 3
Gentle 3 · Charged 2 · Intense 0
Steady 4 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 1 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 3
Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0
Casual 5 · Engaged 0 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 4 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 0
Resolved 5 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0
Roles they play
- Tricksteras Carl in George and A.J. (2009)
Moods and endings
- Happy5
- Bittersweet1
- Tragic1
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 Steve Purcell's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 10 of their 11 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Disney+ (9).
- Inside Out 2 (2024) · actor
- Toy Story 4 (2019) · actor
- Cars (2006) · actor
- Hoppers (2026) · actor
- Brave (2012) · actor, director, writer
- Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014) · actor, director, writer
- Cars on the Road (2022) · actor, director, writer
- The Legend of Mor'du (2012) · actor, writer
- George and A.J. (2009) · actor
Subscription and free streaming for Steve Purcell'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
21 credits, 11 with a MovieCove page.
Hoppers(2026)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Inside Out 2(2024)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Cars on the Road(2022)
Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all shows
Toy Story 4(2019)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
Borrowed Time (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
The Radiator Springs 500½ (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
The Legend of Mor'du(2012)
Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all films
Brave(2012)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
Mater Private Eye (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Moon Mater (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Heavy Metal Mater (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Monster Truck Mater (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Tracy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Unidentified Flying Mater (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
George and A.J.(2009)
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films
Cars Toon Mater's Tall Tales (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Sam & Max Nearly Save Christmas (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Cars(2006)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films
Career shape
Star power in the 96th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 20 titles from 1997 to 2026; peak year 2009.
Film career
Peak 2009 · fewer prominent film roles lately. Top draw in 2 MovieCove titles. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 2008Screen debut· Cars Toon Mater's Tall Tales
- 2009First top-billed film· George and A.J.
- 2009Breakout· George and A.J.
Billing
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. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30; the columns are the share of top-billed roles in each era, 5-year spans from the year on the label, merged until each holds at least 5 roles.
How do Steve Purcell's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 85th percentile, the median of all 9; across their 5 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 50th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up6
- 50th to 74th1
- 25th to 49th4
Shape of the crowd
5 of their 11 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved2
- Crowd Pleaser5
- Broadly Agreed3
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the acting 73/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles; fans 76, detractors 58. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
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 Steve Purcell's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 3 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Steve Purcell work with?
People who share at least 2 of Steve Purcell's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; John Lasseter shares the most, 4.
Actors
- Kevin McKiddShared titles: Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014), Brave (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Kevin McKidd
- Julie WaltersShared titles: Brave (2012), The Legend of Mor'du (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Julie Walters
Composers and editors
- Michael GiacchinoShared titles: Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014), George and A.J. (2009)See all 2 shared titles with Michael Giacchino
- Patrick DoyleShared titles: Brave (2012), The Legend of Mor'du (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Patrick Doyle
- Tim FoxShared titles: The Legend of Mor'du (2012), George and A.J. (2009)See all 2 shared titles with Tim Fox
Producers
- John LasseterShared titles: Cars on the Road (2022), Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014), Brave (2012), The Legend of Mor'du (2012)See all 4 shared titles with John Lasseter
- Pete DocterShared titles: Cars on the Road (2022), Brave (2012), George and A.J. (2009)See all 3 shared titles with Pete Docter
- Galyn SusmanShared titles: Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014), The Legend of Mor'du (2012), George and A.J. (2009)See all 3 shared titles with Galyn Susman
- Katherine SarafianShared titles: Cars on the Road (2022), Brave (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Katherine Sarafian
Mixed roles
- Mark AndrewsShared titles: Brave (2012), The Legend of Mor'du (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Mark Andrews
