The International House of Mojo : The Unabridged History of Sam & Max 2: A Mixnmojo Memoir

Appendix: Sources and Acknowledgements

It seemed appropriate to begin this appendix with a list of known Sam & Max: Freelance Police team members and what is ascertained to have been their credited titles. Though assuredly incomplete, it is the best approximation to date:

Project Lead
Michael Stemmle

Producer
Dan Connors

Assistant Producer
Nate Schaumberg

Lead Designer
Steven Chen

Programming Team
Kevin Bruner (Lead)
Nick Pavis
Randy Tudor
Karen Petersen
Richard Sun
Brendan Q. Ferguson

Art Team
Derek Sakai (Lead)
Jonathan Sgro (Art Technical Director)
Chris Voy (Lead Environment Artist)
Kim Lyons (Environment Artist)
Karen Purdy (Environment Artist)
Kathy Hsieh (Environment Concept Artist)
Eddie Del Rio (Environment Concept Artist)
Derek Becker (Character Modeler)
David Ryan Paul (Character Modeler)

Animation Team
Graham Annable (Lead)
Yojo Ballard
Mike Dacko
Joe White
Karin Nestor

Audio Team
Mark Griskey (composer)
Nick Peck (sound designer)

Testing
David Felton

Consultant
Steve Purcell

May Have Joined The Team After Full Throttle II
Sean Clark

I would like to express my gratitude to the Mixnmojo staff, past and present, as their memories and contributions over the years were the slab foundation that made this undertaking possible. At minimum, the same goes for all participating members of the online communities who followed that coverage and left a record of their reactions behind. This article is a valentine to the fan base first and foremost; theirs was a perspective I wanted prioritized and a collective voice I wanted captured, and in my view this account belongs to them.

It goes without saying that deepest thanks are owed to Steve Purcell, the creator and authority of Sam & Max, who offered supportive words when I invited him to review a draft of the feature and is quoted throughout from various interviews over the years in which he gave his thoughts on the development and demise of Freelance Police.

Conferring a level of class to this article that some might call incompatible is the glorious header artwork from the legendary William Eaken, whose most recognizable work to Mojo readers is likely his cover painting for Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, in which he brilliantly imagined what Drew Struzan might have done with the assignment. The themes of our article led him, with the lampooning aid of the Freelance Police, to produce something of a companion piece in the form of Star Wars poster art, with the enlisted feedback of Purcell to ensure that the personalities of the characters were not in danger of veering too close to sanity.

Naturally, once we decided that this article had grown obnoxious enough to merit the commissioning of original, Sam & Max themed artwork, we approached Purcell first, but when availability issues precluded his ability to take the project on, he blessed Eaken as our preferred choice. I think the end result makes a rather definitive case for why that agreement came easily. And having paid good money for it, we wanted it enjoyed: click here to download the art in Eaken’s intended “one-sheet” form, at full resolution. Like options? It's also available "clean", without text. Have it framed in your home in place of those moth-eaten family portraits -- are those memories that precious, after all?

As stated in the introduction, new interviews were conducted with as many members of the team as we could get a hold of. Participants included Mike Stemmle, Dan Connors, Kevin Bruner, Graham Annable, Derek Sakai, Steven Chen, Jon Sgro, Randy Tudor, Richard Sun, Mark Griskey and Ronda Scott. All new quotes featured in the article come from these correspondences, which were a primary source. They have also been collected into an interview round-up feature here, so that portions which went unused are not unavailable to fans who would be interested. Candid or cagey, clear or fragmented, all of their memories were invaluable, and I thank them for making the time for us. And hey, who’s to say we’re finished? We consider this to be something of a living document and intend to incorporate further developer memories should any more of them make their way to our historically giant ears.

The balance of the sources relied upon were legacy ones. This included former retrospectives, but principally they consisted of contemporary coverage of the game, both of its development and demise, by online and print media, as well as fan commentary from forums and comment sections. The sources were numerous but I wanted them all accounted for; below is my attempt to organize them as adequately as I could. They are arranged by medium, and ordered by date.

Online Articles

LucasArts taps Komisar – Variety reports on the appointment of the first LucasArts president, Randy Komisar, after a years-long restructuring of the Lucas organization into three companies. (November 1st, 1993)
Crystal Dynamics Snags Rival's CEO / LucasArts' Komisar joins gamemaker – SFGate reports on Randy Komisar’s next gig after his departure from LucasArts. (March 10th, 1995)
Cruddy Sketches and a Red Pen: Pre-Production on The Curse of Monkey Island at LucasArts – A five page feature on The Curse of Monkey Island by Animation World Magazine. (March 1st, 1998) (Archived September 6th, 2002)
LucasArts Resignations – Shacknews reports on a large number of LucasArts resignations. Topping the list is Steve Dauterman, the studio's Director of Development. (July 11th, 1999)
Sorenson Leaves Lucas – Gamasutra reports on Jack Sorenson’s departure as LucasArts president, with Simon Jeffery replacing him. (January 13th, 2000)
E3 2000: cry of the forsaken – Mixnmojo’s feature on E3 2000. (Spring 2000) (Archived May 6th, 2003)
New Lucas Execs – Gamasutra reports on the appointment of Randy Breen and Mike Nelson. (May 9th, 2000)
Star Wars Game Takes a New Role – Wired reports on the recruitment of BioWare by LucasArts to develop the first Star Wars RPG, the yet-to-be-titled Knights of the Old Republic. (July 26th, 2000)
PC Gaming Graveyard: Warcraft Adventures – Gamespot’s post-mortem feature about Blizzard’s cancelled Warcraft Adventures. (Unknown 2000) (Archived October 9th, 2000)
Escape from Monkey Island Preview – Gamespot’s preview of the fourth Monkey Island game includes notable quotes from LucasArts PR manager Tom Sarris, who alludes to Grim Fandango turning a respectable profit and frames the market for adventure games as healthy enough for the studio to continue to pursue. (September 8th, 2000) (Archived February 12th, 2001)
Sean Clark & Mike Stemmle – Adventure Gamers interviews Sean Clark and Mike Stemmle about Escape from Monkey Island. (November 6th, 2000)
E3 2001: Simon Jeffery Interview – Mixnmojo’s interview with LucasArts president Simon Jeffery as part of its E3 2001 coverage. (June 12th, 2001)
The Collective And Lucasarts Go Indy – Animation World Network reports on the development deal LucasArts reached with The Collective. (March 8th, 2002)
Hulabee Releases Two Games – Mixnmojo reports on Hulabee's early 2002 releases. (March 18th, 2002)
Gladius Preview (GC, PS2, XBox) – Mixnmojo’s dismissive preview of Gladius from E3 2002. (March 27th, 2002) (Archived March 23rd, 2003)
LucasArts Announces RTX Red Rock – Mixnmojo reports on the announcement of RTX: Red Rock. (May 7th, 2002)
Dare You Question the Simon? – Mixnmojo launches a poll to gauge faith in Simon’s 50/50 plan. (May 10th, 2002)
Full Throttle Trailer – Mixnmojo reports on the Full Throttle 2 trailer. (May 23rd, 2002) (Archived May 15th, 2005)
Hulabee Games: Fun for the Whole Family on Mac OS X – Online advertisement for Hulabee Entertainment. (June 2002)
LucasArts Announces Sam and Max 2! – Mixnmojo reports on the Sam & Max 2 announcement. The news post garnered the most comments of any Mojo had posted up to that time. (August 27th, 2002)
Sam & Max Are Back! – IGN reports on the announcement of Sam & Max 2. (August 27th, 2002)
Windows SCUMM Tips – Page from programmer Aaron Giles' web site, discussing the features of his Windows XP compatible versions of Sam & Max Hit the Road and Full Throttle. (Unknown 2002)
Star Wars starts to live online – A BBC article about LucasArts’ 20th anniversary, featuring quotes from Tom Sarris. (November 21st, 2002)
Full Throttle 2 Preview – Adventure Gamers’ preview of the game. (December 3rd, 2002)
RTX Red Rock Preview – Gamespot's preview of the game. (February 13th, 2003) (Archived April 15th, 2003)
RTX for Gamecube Cancelled? – Mixnmojo reports on the cancellation of the GameCube port of RTX: Red Rock. (February 23rd, 2003)
RTX Red Rock Designer Diary – Behind the scenes feature about RTX: Red Rock’s development by Gamespot. (February 27th, 2003)
Full Throttle 2: Hell On Wheels – Eurogamer’s preview of Full Throttle 2. (April 24th, 2003)
Full Throttle: Hell on Wheels Impressions – Gamespot’s preview of Full Throttle 2. (May 15th, 2003)
Sam & Max: Freelance Police Preview – A preview of the game by Marek Bronstring of Adventure Gamers circa E3 2003, featuring an interview with Mike Stemmle. (May 17th, 2003)
Throttle 2 Delayed? – Mixnmojo reports on the rumored delay of Full Throttle 2. (July 28th, 2003)
RTX Red Rock Review – Eurogamer’s review of RTX: Red Rock. (August 1st, 2003)
LucasArts has decided to stop production on Full Throttle: Hell on Wheels. – The official LucasArts press release announcing the cancellation of Full Throttle 2. (August 7th, 2003) (Archived August 8th, 2003)
Tim Schafer Comments on FT2 – Mixnmojo reports on Tim Schafer's reaction to the Full Throttle 2 cancellation. (August 7th, 2003)
Hal Barwood has left the building – Mixnmojo reports on Hal Barwood’s departure. (September 26th, 2003)
Sam & Max: Freelance Police Preview – Mixnmojo's original preview of Sam & Max 2 from E3 2003, though it was published months after the fact due to extended server downtime. (October 12th, 2003) (Archived April 5th, 2005)
Sam & Max 2 - The Recording Sessions – Mixnmojo reports on the account of a Freelance Police recording session posted on the Something Awful forums. (November 26th, 2003)
Sam & Max 2 tidbits revealed – Adventure Gamers reports on the account of a Freelance Police recording session posted on the Something Awful forums. (November 26th, 2003)
Sam and Max Survey Starts Speculation – Mixnmojo reports on LucasArts’ December 2003 survey. (December 18th, 2003)
LucasArts wants your opinion on adventure games – Adventure Gamers reports on LucasArts’ December 2003 survey. (December 18th, 2003)
An Interview with Ron Gilbert – Conducted by Gamespot. (Unknown 2004) (Archived August 28th, 2005)
Interview: Sam & Max: Freelance Police – CVG interviews Mike Stemmle about Sam & Max 2. (January 6th, 2004) (Archived December 20th, 2005)
Stemmle Speaks – Mixnmojo reports on CVG's interview with Mike Stemmle about Sam & Max 2. (January 6th, 2004)
Wrath Unleashed Review – Gamespot's review of the game. (February 10th, 2004)
LucasArts has decided to stop production on Sam & Max – The official LucasArts press release announcing the cancellation of Sam & Max 2. (March 3rd, 2004) (Archived April 1st, 2004)
LucasArts Cancels Sam & Max Freelance Police, Resigns Self to Mediocrity – Mixnmojo's highly circulated editorial reacting to the cancellation of Sam & Max 2. (March 3rd, 2004) (Archived December 10th, 2004)
Sam & Max R.I.P.: My Reaction – Evan Dickens of Adventure Gamers reacts the cancellation of Sam & Max 2. (March 3rd, 2004)
Sam & Max 2 Cancelled – Shacknews reports the cancellation. (March 3rd, 2004)
Sam & Max Sequel Canceled – Slashdot’s reports on the cancellation. (March 3rd, 2004)
Sam & Max sequel canceled – Gamespot reports on the cancellation. (March 3rd, 2004)
LucasArts Cancels 'Sam & Max Freelance Police' – Worthplaying reports on the cancellation. (March 3rd, 2004)
Purcell Comments on Sam & Max 2 – Mixnmojo reports. (March 5th, 2004)
Steve Purcell comments on Sam & Max 2’s cancellation – Adventure Gamers reports. (March 5th, 2004)
Steve Purcell On Sam & Max 2's Cancellation – Slashshot reports. (March 5th, 2004)
Sam & Max 2 Comments – Shacknews reports. (March 5th, 2004)
Sam & Max 2 petition reaches 13,000 signatures – Adventure Gamers reports. (March 10th, 2004)
Missing in Action: The Lost Games of the PC, Part 1 – IGN's feature about unreleased games, including a mention of Sam & Max 2. (March 26th, 2004)
LucasArts lays off 29 staff – Mojo reports on the first wave of bulk layoffs at the studio, mere weeks after “there are no plans to reduce staff.” (April 23rd, 2004)
LucasArts confirms layoffs of almost 30 staff – Gamasutra reports on the April 2004 layoffs at LucasArts. (April 26th, 2004)
Sam n Max 2: The Most Important Game of the 2004 E3 – Randy Sluganski's editorial for Just Adventure + describes the specter the cancelled sequel spawned in the halls of that year's expo. (May 2004) (Archived August 3rd, 2004)
Dave Grossman Talks Monkey Island – The Legend of Monkey Island interviews Dave Grossman. When LucasArts' recent cancellations of sequels to Full Throttle and Sam & Max Hit the Road are brought up, Grossman speculates that anticipated marketing budgets could have pushed such games out of commercial viability in the eyes of the studio. (June 28th, 2004)
LucasArts firing everyone? – Mojo reports on the second wave of bulk layoffs at the studio. In the comments, several high-profile names are cited among the casualties, which numbered as high as fifty. (August 12th, 2004) (Archived January 7th, 2005)
LucasArts mum on layoff reports – Gamespot reports on the August 2004 layoffs at LucasArts. (August 12th, 2004)
LucasArts Restructuring - KOTOR 3 Shakeup? – Blues News reports on the August 2004 layoffs at LucasArts. (August 13th, 2004)
LucasArts layoffs – IGN covers the August 2004 layoffs at LucasArts. (August 13th, 2004)
LucasArts undergoes Majors Restructuring – Mixnmojo covers LEC's acknowledgment of the August 2004 layoffs. (August 13th, 2004)
LucasArts President confirms layoffs – GameSpy reports on the August 2004 layoffs at LucasArts. (August 13th, 2004)
LucasArts Restructures – Xbox-Hq.com reports on the August 2004 layoffs at LucasArts. (August 13th, 2004)
LucasArts hands employees the pink slip – Engadget reports on the August 2004 layoffs at LucasArts. (August 16th, 2004)
Official LucasArts Message Boards! – Mixnmojo reports on the relaunch of the official LucasArts forums. In the comments, past futilities regarding spamming the forums about Sam & Max 2 are mentioned. (September 1st, 2004)
E3 2004 in Pictures – Adventure Gamers' photo-laden feature of their experience at the annual expo that followed Sam & Max 2’s cancellation. (September 6th, 2004)
Sam and Max 2: Reloaded – Slashdot reports on Telltale's formation, prematurely (though not incorrectly) speculating that the team would revive Sam & Max. (October 2nd, 2004)
A profile of Telltale Games – Adventure Gamers’ feature of the studio shortly after its founding. (October 4th, 2004)
LucasArts Sam & Max 2 to be revived? – Mixnmojo reports on the startling claims by the newly founded and seemingly sole operated Bad Brain Entertainment. (November 30th, 2004)
Wolfgang Kierdorf of Bad Brain – Adventure Gamers interviews the CEO of the newly founded Bad Brain Entertainment. The rumor that Bad Brain had approached LucasArts about acquiring Freelance Police - a rumor that the brand new company heavily traded on to raise interest amongst adventure gamers - is mentioned. This is likely the principle reason coverage fanned modestly beyond the usual circles. (December 5th, 2004)
Sam & Max Back from the Dead? – IGN reports on the Bad Brain rumors by way of Adventure Gamers. (December 5th, 2004)
'Sam & Max: Freelance Police' Making a Comeback? – Worthplaying reports on the Bad Brain rumors by way of Adventure Gamers. (December 6th, 2004)
Bad Brain launches site – Adventure Gamers reports. (December 7th, 2004)
Sam & Max: back from the dead? – Gamespot reports on the Bad Brain situation, stating that staffers of the company "laughed their ways through a brief phone conversation today." (January 28th, 2005) (Archived February 5th, 2005)
'Sam & Max 2' - Dead or Alive? – Worthplaying reports on the Bad Brain rumors by way of Gamespot. (January 28th, 2005)
Sam & Max 2 put to sleep for good – Adventure Gamers reports that talks between Bad Brain and LucasArts had ended. (January 28th, 2005)
Lucasfilm Games – A history of Lucasfilm Games penned by one of its earliest hires, Peter Langston. (Unknown 2005)
Psychonaut Tim Schafer on Taking Risks – A four-page interview with Tim Schafer conducted by GameSpy. (February 4th, 2005)
Bad Brain and Autum Moon part ways – Mixnmojo reports the somewhat predictable news. (April 9th, 2005)
Bad Brain Entertainment and Autumn Moon Entertainment split up on "A Vampyre Story" – GamesIndustry.biz reports. (April 18th, 2005)
Telltale Fan Interview! – An early-days Telltale blog post by designer Heather Logas which presents the answers to twenty questions collected from the fan base for the studio’s team. Dan Connors, asked for his memories working on Freelance Police: "My favorite part of the game was the third episode where Sam and Max confront the arch nemeses they never realized they had." (May 2nd, 2005) (Archived December 14th, 2005)
R.I.P. Humongous – Ron Gilbert’s blog post about the shuttering of Humongous Entertainment. (June 30th, 2005) (Archived February 8th, 2012)
Playing Catch-Up: Steve Purcell – Game Developer chats up the creator of Sam & Max on what might have been the very month the rights held by LucasArts reverted back to him due to the cancellation of Freelance Police. "Would I get back into games? Sure. The [Sam & Max] license is back in my hands now so we'll see what happens in the near future." (July 25th, 2005)
Ron Gilbert: The Lost Chapter – The final installment in Idle Thumbs' three-part interview with Ron Gilbert. The source of Jake's summary of the uproar over Mixnmojo's Gladius preview. (August 16th, 2005)
Sam & Max To Return – Shacknews reports on Purcell's licensing of Sam & Max to Telltale. (September 15th, 2005)
Sam And Max Interview – GameCloud interviews the creator of Sam & Max in the wake of the announcement that he'd licensed the characters to Telltale. On Freelance Police's cancellation, Purcell comments: "Of course it was disappointing. It came as a big surprise but I never had the chance to react because the fans did it for me. The outrage and solidarity that they showed was an amazing thing to behold. I'd never want to cross those folks." (November 28th, 2005) (Archived June 15th, 2006)
"I'm really excited creatively", says Purcell. – Mixnmojo reports on Steve Purcell's interview with GameCloud. (November 28th, 2005)
Sam and Max Online Comic – Slashdot reports on the Sam & Max web comic that debuted on Telltale's web site. (December 13th, 2005)
Sam & Max Q&A – An interview with Telltale CEO Dan Connors conducted by TotalVideoGames.com. This is the source of Connors describing Freelance Police as “the daisy that got hit by the weed whacker. (December 14th, 2005) (Archived March 6th, 2006)
Telltale Games Secures $825K – Next Generation reports. (February 28th, 2006) (Archived March 4th, 2006)
Sam And Max Developer Funded to Make 'Bone' – Slashdot reports, by way of Next Generation. (February 28th, 2006)
At LucasArts, No Playing Around in Quest to Be No. 1 – The New York Times reports on LucasArts planned revitalization under Jim Ward. (April 17th, 2006)
GameTap Taps Sam & Max – Shacknews reports on the collaboration between Telltale and Gametap for Sam & Max: Season 1. (May 9th, 2006)
Designer Threads feat. Ron Gilbert – A podcast interview with game designer Ron Gilbert. This is the source of Gilbert’s estimation of the impact of licensed games on the trajectory of Humongous Entertainment. Note that this page only contains a text excerpt from the larger interview. It seems that Gamespot regrettably has not kept the podcast itself available; we have it hosted here for now. (June 30th, 2006)
Telltale Tells All – An Interview with Dave Grossman – Future Video Game History Foundation director Frank Cifaldi interviews Dave Grossman about the in-development first season of Sam & Max and the aims of Telltale Games in general. On LucasArts allowing their Sam & Max license to lapse in the wake of Freelance Police’s cancellation, Dave speculates, “I think they may be at this point, I don’t know, jealous? [laughs].” Grossman also confirms that none of Freelance Police’s material would be used in the Telltale incarnation. (July 26th, 2006)
Brian Moriarty – Interview conducted by Adventure Classic Gaming. (September 15th, 2006)
Bad Brain Hemorrhages – Mixnmojo reports on the end of Bad Brain’s short story. (December 12th, 2006)
Dan Connors, Dave Grossman - Telltale Games – Interview published by Adventure Classic Gaming. Among its insights into the production of Telltale’s first Sam & Max season, studio CEO Dan Connors mentions “we are very happy with the sales.” (September 1st, 2007)
Ron Gilbert Interview – An interview with Ron Gilbert conducted by The World of Monkey Island. Gilbert notes that his decision to make adventure games for children in the early 90s evolved from an idea to do episodic adventure games. (November 4, 2007) (Archived September 24th, 2008)
The Summer of Sam & Max – Telltale’s Sam & Max web feature from the summer of 2007, including a four-part history. (2007) (Archived November 20th, 2007)
Interview: Sam & Max Creators On How Games Wag The Dog (And Rabbit) – Interview with Dan Connors and Steve Purcell published by Wired as Telltale's second Sam & Max season was rolling out. (November 21st, 2007)
Steve Purcell – Interview with the creator of Sam & Max published by Adventure Classic Gaming. Purcell describes Freelance Police as being “probably between two thirds and three quarters done” at the time of its cancellation. (January 1st 2008)
LucasArts President Ward Steps Down – Gamasutra covers Jim Ward’s departure from LucasArts. (February 1st, 2008)
LucasArts President Jim Ward Resigns – GamesIndustry.biz covers Jim Ward’s departure from LucasArts. (February 1st, 2008)
Presumed missing (II) – An article about the development of Full Throttle II in its various forms. (March 2nd, 2008) (Translated from Spanish)
GameSetInsight: Disgruntled Of Presidio Writes... – Game Set Watch reports on an “insider” rumor that Jim Ward stepped down as LucasArts president in part due to tension with Lucasfilm executives over delaying Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and an eventually cancelled Indiana Jones game for quality reasons. (March 6th, 2008)
‘Disturbances in the workforce’ at LucasArts? – MCV covers the by then routine “restructuring” at LucasArts in the summer of 2008, following the replacement of Jim Ward with Darrell Rodriguez. (June 6th, 2008)
The rise and fall of Full Throttle: a conversation with Bill Tiller – A retrospective about the cancelled Full Throttle sequels by Adventure Classic Gaming. (August 26th, 2008)
Stuckey’s Interviews Steve Purcell – A reprint of an interview Steve Purcell gave to the iconic roadside franchise which served as the inspiration for “Snuckey’s” in Hit the Road and the strip it was based upon. (August 2009)
Dave Grossman – Interview with Telltale’s Creative Director published by Adventure Classic Gaming. (September 1st, 2009)
AVC at GDC ’10: An interview with former LucasArts artist Steve Purcell – Published by the AV Club. (March 12th, 2010)
INTERVIEW – In Conversation With Steve Purcell (Creator Of Sam & Max) – Interview published by Alternative Magazine Online. Purcell mentions Ron Gilbert’s nascent vision for episodic gaming in the nineties, recalls brainstorming a Hit the Road episodic sequel with Dave Grossman, and describes the story of Freelance Police as being about “huge toucan-beaked penguins from a tropical polar island called Subarctica.” (April 14th, 2010)
Interview with Steve Purcell – SamAndMax.co.uk’s interview with the creator of Sam & Max. (April 28th, 2010)
The Kinda, Sorta, But Not Really Secret History of Sam & Max Freelance Police – Mojo’s antecedent to this article, an attempt to collect all known info about the game in one place. Before this new history, it was the closest thing we had to a definitive retrospective. (May 4th, 2011)
Hitting the road with Steve Purcell – Interview published by Thunder Chunky. (June 8th, 2012)
Team 3 – A page about the “Heritage” team at LucasArts written by its head, producer Craig Derrick. (April 5th, 2013)
Shadows of the Empire – Chuck Jordan reflects on the shuttering of LucasArts on his blog, Spectre Collie. (April 14th, 2013)
What lessons can be learned from LucasArts? – Gamasutra interviews veteran LucasArts designer Noah Falstein in the wake of the studio’s effective closure. (December 10th, 2013)
Lucasfilm Games vets look back on the earliest days of George Lucas' game company – A retrospective of the earliest days of Lucasfilm Games published by Polygon. (March 20th, 2014)
Fall Of The Empire: How Inner Turmoil Brought Down LucasArts – Game Informer’s LucasArts retrospective that unfortunately begins its history of the studio immediately after the cancellation of Freelance Police. However, it is an excellent exposé of the studio during Jim Ward and beyond. (April 4th, 2015)
Bill Tiller (LucasArts) – Interview – An interview with Bill Tiller conducted by Arcade Attack. (August 17th, 2018)
Telltale Co-Founder Opens Up About Studio's Troubling Closure – GameInformer interview with Kevin Bruner. (April 14th, 2019)
LucasArts' Secret History: Escape from Monkey Island Mike Stemmle, Co-project Lead – Our interview with Mike Stemmle as part of an Escape from Monkey Island retrospective. (February 23rd, 2010)
Interview with Bill Farmer – SamAndMax.co.uk’s interview with the original voice of Sam. (May 17th, 2014)
The secret history of LucasArts – PC Gamer's retrospective of the studio. (February 26th, 2015)
A New Force in Games, Part 1: Fractal Dreamers – The first installment of a series on Lucasfilm Games by The Digital Antiquarian. (July 10th, 2015)
A New Force in Games, Part 2: A Habitat in Cyberspace – The second installment of a series on Lucasfilm Games by The Digital Antiquarian. (July 17th, 2015)
A New Force in Games, Part 3: SCUMM – The third installment of a series on Lucasfilm Games by The Digital Antiquarian. (July 24th, 2015)
"I actually was hunting Ewoks." The Original Lucasfilm Games Team Talk About Life at Skywalker Ranch – An oral history of the first years of Lucasfilm Games. (December 26th, 2015)
You can't keep a Bad Brain down! – Mixnmojo reports, with some amusement, on the evidence that Bad Brain still has some life left in it. (October 9th, 2016)
Steve Purcell (Sam & Max creator/Pixar) – Interview – In this interview published by Arcade Attack, Steve Purcell mentions briefly brainstorming a Hit the Road sequel with Dave Grossman. (September 20th, 2019)

Print Articles

Sam & Max Freelance Police – Preview of the game published as the cover story by magazine PC Gamer. (February 2004)
Sam & Max Lives – Preview of the game published by Australian magazine Hyper. (February 2004)
Sam & Max 2 Freelance Police – Preview of the game published by German magazine Gamestar. (April 2004)
Sam & Max: Freelance Police – Preview of the game published by magazine PC GamePro. (May 2004)
Computer Gaming World Issue 239 – The write-in section of this issue gives the cancellation of Freelance Police some acknowledgment. (June 2004)
Game Developer – August 2005 – The cover feature is a post-mortem of Psychonauts. It references the laying off of nearly all of Double Fine’s level designers during a dramatic transition point, calling it “the bloodiest day in company history.” Steve Chen was among these designers; he consequently returned to LucasArts and was assigned to the Freelance Police team. (August 2005)
Who Killed Sam & Max? – A two-page post-mortem for Freelance Police, believed to be the first, published by PC Zone in Issue 159. (Page 1, Page 2) (October 2005)
Computer Gaming World issue 265 – The cover feature was the first preview of Telltale’s first season of Sam & Max games. A companion video can be watched here. Interesting sidenote: These early screenshots show a blue sky above Sam and Max’s neighborhood, while the shipped game would have a yellowish, polluted-looking sky, per Steve Purcell’s suggestion. (August 2006)
Game Developer – March 2007 – The cover feature is a post-mortem of Telltale’s first season of Sam & Max games. (March 2007)
The Empire Strikes Out – A six-page feature devoted to Full Throttle 2 and Sam & Max 2, published by GamesTM in Retro Volume 3 and archived on Issuu. (Unknown 2010)

Web Miscellany

LucasArts 20th Anniversary Site – A snapshot the LucasArts.com 20th anniversary section from 2002. (Archived October 12th, 2002)
Sam & Max: Freelance Police – In-Development – The official web presence of Sam & Max 2 at LucasArts.com. (Archived May 28th, 2003)
EBGames.com Armed & Dangerous Product Page – Snapshot showcasing the “preview disc” which was offered as a pre-order bonus by online retailers. The disc contained a (defective) copy of Sam & Max Hit the Road as well as a high-quality video file of the Sam & Max: Freelance Police trailer. (Archived October 3rd, 2003)
The International House of Mojo (Summer 2003 snapshot) – A snapshot of Mixnmojo during the summer 2003, during which a placeholder, news-only page was offered. (Archived October 28th, 2003)
SaveSamAndMax.com – A site covering the efforts to save the game, launched by Mixnmojo/Adventure Gamers reader “HieroHero”.
Sam & Max.NET – A snapshot of the fan site. (Archived February 2nd, 2004) Another snapshot.
The Wibble Wobble Hat Stand – A snapshot of the adventure game site turned premiere “LEC Hate Site.” (Archived August 28th, 2004)
Sam and Max 2 Freelance Police removal of cancellation – A snapshot of the PetitionOnline petition. (Archived October 16th, 2010)
VG Cats - 96 - And I Thought These Things Smelled Bad on the Outside! – A VG Cats web comic about the cancellation. (2004)
Tantrum Entertainment – A snapshot of the defunct web presence for Tantrum Entertainment, a company co-founded by Gary Winnick that briefly sold some Sam & Max prints and teased that it would be putting out a Steve Purcell art book. Those plans seem to have been scuttled around the time Freelance Police was, while the backstock of the art prints would reappear on the Telltale company store in its earliest days. (Archived May 11th, 2004)
Forum: Other LucasArts Games – Snapshot of the short-lived official LucasArts forums, circa June 2004. The "Hot Topic" is predictable. (Archived June 1st, 2004)
bad brain entertainment Ltd. – Snapshot of the official Bad Brain Entertainment web site. (Archived December 10th, 2004)
bad brain entertainment GmbH – Snapshot of an alternate official Bad Brain Entertainment web site. (Archived April 5th, 2005)
Spudvision – Steve Purcell’s abandoned Blogspot site and general web presence, taking the name of the abandoned art book he had intended to sell through Tantrum Entertainment circa 2004. Its precursor was Spudvision.com, a snapshot of which can be found here.
Sam & Max – Steve Purcell’s abandoned Sam & Max-centric Blogspot site.
Sam & Max Funhouse – Steve Purcell’s Facebook presence for Sam & Max which, as of this writing, he still updates.

Forums

"FTII Graphics Style" – Archived Lucasforums thread. (May 31st, 2002) (Archived November 6th, 2011)
"FT2 trailer (updated, sorta)" – Archived Lucasforums thread. (June 3rd, 2002) (Archived October 12th, 2011)
"Wouldn't it blow if FT2 was an action game?" – Archived Lucasforum thread. (June 25th, 2002) (Archived October 10th, 2015)
"What is the deal with FT2?" – Archived Lucasforums thread. (June 28th, 2002) (Archived November 6th, 2011)
"About the latest screenshot...." – Archived Lucasforums thread. (September 2nd, 2002) (Archived November 6th, 2011)
"SAM&MAX 2!!!!" – Hardware Heaven forum thread reacting to the sequel’s announcement. (August 28th, 2002)
“Action Full Throttle 2” – Archived Lucasforums thread. (April 22nd, 2003) (Archived November 6th, 2011)
“Full Throttle 2 cancelled” – Archived Lucasforums thread. (August 7th, 2003) (Archived January 17th, 2004)
"Full Throttle : Hell on Wheels - Cancelled!" – Home Theater Forum thread. (August 7th, 2003)
"Full Throttle 2 has been cancelled." – TFArchive forum thread. (August 8th, 2003)
"Full Throttle 2 CANCELLED" – Next Generation Emulation forum thread. (August 8th, 2003)
“Sam and Max news (kinda)” – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (November 26th, 2003)
“You crack me up little buddy.” – Quarter To Three forum thread. (December 2003)
"Whuts happening to full throttle 2?" – Archived Lucasforums thread. (December 3rd, 2003) (Archived October 1st, 2011)
"LucasArts survey about adventure games" – Archived Adventure Gamers form thread discussing the significance of the survey. (December 18th, 2003)
"that Sam & Max interview" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (January 6th, 2004)
"Sam & Max II" – Archived The Lurker Lounge forum thread. (January 17th, 2004)
"What happened to Full Throttle 2?" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (January 18th, 2004)
"some Sam & Max artwork" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (January 19th, 2004)
"Sam & max 2 release date" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (January 24th, 2004)
"Sam & Max 2: Freelance Police Unofficial FAQ" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (January 30th, 2004)
“Sam and Max 2 – cancelled” – Archived Lucasforums thread. (March 3rd, 2004) (Archived September 16th, 2015)
"I've Had Enough Of Lucasarts'!" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (March 3rd, 2004)
"LucasArts: 1984 – 2004" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (March 3rd, 2004) (Archived March 1st, 2007)
"Sam and Max 2 Cancelled!" - Adventure Game Studio forum thread. (March 3rd, 2004)
"Sam & Max Sequel Axed" – Blues News forum thread. (March 3rd, 2004) (Archived April 4th, 2004)
"Lucasarts cancells Sam and Max sequel" – Quarter to Three forum thread. (March 4th, 2004)
"Sam & Max Editorials/Petitions" – Blues News forum thread. (March 4th, 2004) (Archived August 13th, 2004)
“YES! No more Sam and Max!” – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (March 5th, 2004)
“Some dirt on Randy Breen, of LucasArts.” – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (March 6th, 2004)
"Lucasarts had spent 2 million on sam & max:freelance police" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (March 6th, 2004)
“A Rare Sam & Max Comic” – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread post. The source of Jake’s explanation of the behind-the-scenes context of the Sam & Max: Our Bewildering Universe flash cartoon. (March 7th, 2004)
"Bay Area Sam & Max Fans! Picket-Line Protest!" – Archived Lucasforum thread. (March 7th, 2004) (Archived May 30th, 2004)
“SaveSamAndMax.com” – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread post. (March 8th, 2004)
"Sam & Max 2: German magazine preview" – Archived Lucasforum thread in which the GameStar magazine preview of Sam & Max: Freelance Police is discussed. (March 8th, 2004) (Archived June 15th, 2004)
"Sam & Max 2: Freelance Police preview" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread in which the GameStar magazine preview of Sam & Max: Freelance Police is discussed. (March 8th, 2004)
"Sam & Max - What if..." – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (March 10th, 2004)
"Fate of work done on S&M: FP" - Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread discussing the murky destiny of the Freelance Police assets. (March 10th, 2004)
"10 Sam & Max - Freelance Police Screenshots" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (March 21st, 2004)
"Could this be why they cancelled SamnMax 2?" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (March 21st, 2004)
"Sam and Max 2 - cancelled - but here are some screens" – Arts Technica forum thread. (March 22nd, 2004)
Sam & Max Discussion > Mainstream – A snapshot of the Full Throttle Discussion sub-form of Lucasforums. (Archived April 1st, 2004) A second snapshot. A third snapshot.
"LucasArts moves onto its employees after screwing with fans" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (April 23th, 2004)
"Adventure Gamers at E3 2004" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (April 24th, 2004)
"LucasArts focuses on "key titles" (read: Starwars)" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (April 27th, 2004)
“LucasArts watch. Probably full of bad news.” – Archived TheForce.net forum thread. (August 12th, 2004)
"Petition To save Sam N Max 2" – Forum thread at NFOHump.com. (August 10th, 2004)
"All recent cancellations American or Canadian?" - Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (May 4th, 2004)
"Lucasart's stupid poll thingie" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (May 16th, 2004)
"Is this the reason we havent heard anything else?" – Obsidian forum thread discussing the August 2004 layoffs at LucasArts. (August 13th, 2004)
"Kotor 3 thwarted?" – Obsidian forum thread speculating on the impact of the August 2004 layoffs at LucasArts on Knight of the Old Republic III. (August 18th, 2004)
“Sam & Max 2 Museum: Please contribute!” – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (October 25th, 2004)
"Other games?" – Adventure game site The Inventory devoted an entire subforum to Bad Brain Entertainment when the studio appeared, and in which studio founder Wolfgang Kierdorf participated. In this thread, Kierdorf (under the handle “ZakParker”) began his infamous insinuations about negotiating with LucasArts to acquire and complete Sam & Max 2. (November 30th, 2004) (Archived December 8th, 2004)
“Sam & Max 2. Back from the grave?” – TheForce.Net forum thread discussing the Bad Brain provocations. (November 30th, 2004)
“The co-operation with Aventura y Cia is over” – The Inventory forum thread which preserves some vintage online drama in which Dimitri Manos of The Inventory dramatically severs ties with rival site Aventura y Cia over a perceived slight during the Bad Brain debacle. A telling snapshot of the corrosive effect the lunacy had in the genre community. (January 29th, 2005) (Archived February 27th, 2005)
"Unseen Freelance Police clips?" – Archived Lucasforums Sam & Max.Net forum thread, discussing the discovery of Sam & Max 2 animated clips from Joe White's online portfolio. (July 20th, 2005) (Archived February 16th, 2006)
”Bad Brains & Vampyre Story” – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread in which the split between Bad Brain Entertainment and Autumn Moon Entertainment is discussed. (April 9th, 2005)
"Sam & Max 2: Wtf Happened?" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (August 16th, 2005)
"new Sam & Max game(s) to be made" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (September 14th, 2005)
“Bad Brain company blog” – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (October 15th, 2005)
“Telltale's Sam & Max page is up!” – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (November 10th, 2005)
Full Throttle Discussion – A snapshot of the Full Throttle Discussion sub-form of Lucasforums. (Archived November 20th, 2005)
"Bad Brain Entertainment & Sticky Studios (Unnamed Project Joe) Part Company" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread discussing the latest game that Bad Brain backed out of publishing. (February 14th, 2006)
"the voices need to go" – Telltale forum thread. (May 2006)
"Sam and Max will show at E3" – Archived Adventure Gamers forum thread. (May 8th, 2006)
"PLEASE Lucasarts…" – Commenting anonymously on Reddit, a former member of the "Heritage" team at LucasArts during the period that Darrell Rodriguez was president describes an environment that subdued any remaining efforts toward original/legacy titles during the studio's final years. (February 3rd, 2012)

Multimedia

Lucasfilm's Habitat Promotional Video – Uploaded by F. Randall Farmer, one of the mad scientists behind the genuinely pioneering project. (Unknown 1986)
LGL games video – The employees of Lucasfilm Games run amok in this sketch-like internal video that features a number of high profile developers at a shockingly young age. (Unknown 1990)
LucasArts 1994 Promotional Video – Vintage advertisement showcasing the LucasArts’ line-up. (Unknown 1994)
LucasArts - behind the scenes of Full Throttle (1994) – Vintage behind-the-scenes segment on the making of Full Throttle. (Unknown 1994)
LucasArts 20th - logos (gen16.com) – A supercut of LucasArts logos that originates either from E3 2002 or the 20th anniversary revamp of LucasArts.com. (Unknown 2002)
LucasArts E3 2002 Trailer Mix – A promo from E3 2002 of LucasArts’ then-upcoming lineup. (May 2002)
Lucasarts E3 2002 (PSW Vol 21) – A promo, sourced from PSWorld Magazine, from E3 2002 of LucasArts’ then-upcoming lineup. (May 2002)
G4 Icons Episode #20: Music Makers – An episode from the G4 series “Icons” focused on video game composers. LucasArts titles gets a significant amount of attention. (Originally aired February 2nd, 2003)
Sam & Max Freelance Police Trailer – The one and only official trailer, from E3 2003. (May 2003)
G4 Icons Episode #28: LucasArts – An episode from the G4 series “Icons” focused on LucasArts around its 20th anniversary. (Originally aired June 5th, 2003)
Adventures in Character Design – At the 2004 Game Developers Conference, Tim Schafer gives a talk about his occasionally unorthodox methods of developing the cast of Psychonauts. The timing of this is noteworthy if coincidental: Microsoft dropped the game almost immediately afterward. (March 2004)
G4 Icons Episode #65: Tim Schafer – An episode from the G4 series “Icons” focused on Tim Schafer’s career and the final days of production on Psychonauts. (Originally aired April 28th, 2005)
Daily Game Addiction: PAX 2006 – On the floor of PAX in August of 2006, Telltale CTO Kevin Bruner is interviewed about the first season of Sam & Max, which was at the time in production for an October debut. (August 30th, 2006)
Episodic Gaming for Indies – At the 2007 Game Developers Conference, Kevin Bruner and Dave Grossman give a talk about Telltale’s approach to episodic gaming and lessons learned during the production of their first Sam & Max season, which was at the time still being finished. (March 2007)
SAM AND MAX - Episodic Content Creation – At the 2008 Game Developers Conference, Jared Emerson-Johnson and Julian Kwasneski of Bay Area Sound give a talk about the audio production of episodic games, specifically their experiences on Telltale’s first two Sam & Max seasons. (March 2008)
The History of Sam & Max: Episode 2 – The second of a four-part video history about Sam & Max conducted by GamePro and hosted on the Telltale Games Youtube channel, produced during the development of Telltale’s third and final Sam & Max season, Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse. This installment contains the Freelance Police related material. Includes video interview with Mike Stemmle, Dan Connors and Steve Purcell. (May 24th, 2010)
Lucasfilm Games with Mark Ferrari - Retro Tea Break – A terrific interview with Mark Ferrari about his storied career as an illustrator and pixel artist. (November 5th, 2020)
Mike Stemmle on Escape From Monkey Island's 20th Anniversary and Sam & Max: This Time It's Virtual – Designer Mike Stemmle discusses Escape from Monkey Island along with most of the other games he worked on during his careers at LucasArts and Telltale. (November 8th, 2020)
Arcade Attack Podcast 195 - Noah Falstein (LucasArts legend) - Video Interview – Designer Noah Falstein discusses his career at Lucasfilm Games and beyond. (November 12th, 2020)
A Conversation with Aaron Giles – Part of the "Tech Talk" interview series with LucasArts veterans. (January 1st, 2023)
A Conversation with Graham Annable – Part of the "Tech Talk" interview series with LucasArts veterans. (March 19th, 2023)
A Conversation with Larry Ahern – Part of the "Tech Talk" interview series with LucasArts veterans. (September 24th, 2023)
A Conversation with former Telltale CEO Dan Connors – Part of the "Tech Talk" interview series with LucasArts veterans. (November 5th, 2023)
A Conversation with Mike Stemmle – Part of the "Tech Talk" interview series with LucasArts veterans. (November 12th, 2023)
A Conversation with Steve Purcell – Part of the "Tech Talk" interview series with LucasArts veterans. (November 19th, 2023)

Image Credits

Header art by William Eaken.

Simon Jeffery photograph sourced from Crunchbase. Ronda Scott photograph sourced from PR Week. Mary Bihr photograph sourced from MobyGames. Randy Breen photograph sourced from Crunchbase. Michael A. Nelson photograph sourced from Legacy. Wolfgang Kierdorf photograph sourced from Twitter.

Sources of web site screenshots, magazine scans, and tweeted images can be found either in their respective captions and/or in the linked sources listed above. Company logos sourced from the official sites of those companies.

All unattributed images are sourced from pre-existing Mojo galleries that constitute circulated PR assets (game screenshots, concept art, promotional material, etc.) and legacy contributed material. All images belong to their respective owners.

Oh, and we don’t claim to own the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, probably.

Parting Reflections

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