Steven Universe (TV series)

"Steven Universe" is a coming-of-age story told from the perspective of Steven, the youngest member of the Crystal Gems, a team of magical guardians who protect the Earth.

The Pilot was released on May 21, 2013 on Rebecca Sugar's father's YouTube channel, but it has been removed. The show aired on Cartoon Network on November 4, 2013 in the US, on January 6, 2014 in some parts of Asia, and April 7, 2014 in South America. On July 25, 2014, it was announced that Steven Universe has been renewed for Season 2,  and on July 7, 2015, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a third season. On March 30, 2016, the series was renewed for Season 4 and Season 5, each season after the first now being a total of 26 episodes instead of 52.

Plot
In Steven Universe, the world is protected from evil threats by the Crystal Gems, a movement of Gems sworn to protect the Earth from the Homeworld Gems. Their powers flow from their gemstones; magical gems embedded somewhere on the host's body. The four Crystal Gems are: Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Steven. Steven is a young boy who inherited a gemstone from his mother, a Crystal Gem named Rose Quartz. As Steven tries to figure out the secrets to using his gem, he spends his days in Beach City doing activities with the other Crystal Gems, whether it's helping them save the universe or just hanging out.

Main cast

 * Zach Callison as Steven Universe
 * Estelle as Garnet
 * Michaela Dietz as Amethyst
 * Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl
 * Shelby Rabara as Peridot

Supporting cast

 * Tom Scharpling as Greg Universe
 * Grace Rolek as Connie Maheswaran
 * Matthew Moy as Lars
 * Kate Micucci as Sadie Miller
 * Billy Merritt as Mr. Fryman
 * Atticus Shaffer as Peedee Fryman
 * Joel Hodgson as Bill Dewey
 * Eugene Cordero as Jamie
 * Susan Egan as Rose Quartz

Special guest cast
NOTE: This is the cast for the episode "Say Uncle".
 * Pete Browngardt as Uncle Grandpa
 * Eric Bauza as Belly Bag
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Mr. Gus
 * Adam Devine as Pizza Steve

Concept and creation
The titular character, Steven, is roughly based on Sugar's younger brother Steven Sugar, who is now a background artist for the online web series, Bravest Warriors, created by Pendleton Ward of Adventure Time fame (he is also a background artist for Steven Universe as well). Growing up, Sugar would create miscellaneous comics between herself and Steven, as well as with other friends. In an interview with The New York Times, she commented on the development of the titular character's background, expressing her desire to base the character from the viewpoint of her brother growing up "where you're so comfortable in your life because you get all the attention, but you also want to rise up and not be the little brother." The show is set in the fictional Beach City, which is loosely based on Rehoboth Beach, Bethany Beach, and Dewey Beach, Delaware, all places that Sugar visited as a child.

Production
According to Sugar, production began on the show concurrently while working on Adventure Time. Her last episode for the series was "Simon &amp; Marcy", in which working on both simultaneously "became impossible to do". Similarly, she would encounter difficulty around the production of the episode "Fionna and Cake".

Music
The series features songs and musical numbers produced by Sugar along with her story writers, who collaborate on the lyrics for each song. According to Sugar, not every episode will feature a song, instead opting to feature one every couple episodes "where it always feels right". The series premiere, "Gem Glow", features a rap song written by storyboard artist Jeff Liu, who programmed the beat into his Game Boy using Little Sound DJ. The soundtrack for all of the episodes is composed by Aivi & Surasshu with some demos by Jeff Liu.

Broadcast history
The pilot episode for Steven Universe, along with a few other pilots, were released on Cartoon Network's video platform on May 21, 2013. They were taken down and redirected to a 404 page shortly after.

On July 20, 2013, Cartoon Network uploaded an edited version of the pilot to both their official website and Facebook page. The pilots were also exhibited at the San Diego Comic-Con, and from July 27 to July 28, 2013, Cartoon Network aired a sneak peek of the pilot as part of Big Fan Weekend, along with the pilots for Clarence and Uncle Grandpa. A 30-minute panel dedicated to the series was hosted at the New York Comic Con on October 13, 2013, with Rebecca Sugar hosting.

The series premiered on November 4, 2013 on Cartoon Network, with two episodes. Season 1B ended on March 12, 2015, with Season 2 beginning on March 13, 2015. The show is also available online internationally on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon Instant Video, and in America on Hulu.

Reception
Initial announcements of the series have attained positive press for Sugar being the first female creator for any show produced by Cartoon Network Studios. When asked about her role as a solo female creator, she responded with gratitude towards the feedback, ultimately voicing her passion to be a role model "just in the sense that I get to make what the ultimate cartoon should be. I tried to be a role model [by showing that] anyone who wanted to could take really traditional ideas of animation and bring them into the present but keep all the trappings of what [was] used [to make cartoons great] in the past."

Steven Universe has received critical acclaim for its music and voice performances, storytelling, its characterization, and the "breathtaking beauty", "intriguing, immersive environments" and "loveably goofy aesthetic" of its art.

Trivia

 * According to Matt Burnett and Joe Johnston, each episode takes approximately 9 to 12 months to make and release.
 * After being pitched, approved and storyboarded, the phases of production are voice recording, animatics, design, overseas animation, editing, music and sound design.
 * As a "board-driven" show, Steven Universe does not rely on traditional scripts. Instead, the writers write up episode outlines which cover the story framework, and then the outlines are given to teams of storyboard artists who do the storyboarding and write the dialogue.
 * After the storyboards have been completed, a member of the production staff writes out the actual script for the recording session. Instead of scene headings or action descriptions like a traditional live action script, there are numbers corresponding to the numbered storyboard panels. During the recording sessions, showrunner Rebecca Sugar and voice director Kent Osborne pitch the scene to the actors using the storyboards as references.
 * Storyboards are made with ToonBoom's Storyboard Pro software.
 * According to various Crewniverse members, Steven Universe isn't supposed to be about heroes or villains.

Official links

 * Official Crewniverse tumblr
 * Offical Steven Universe YouTube channel
 * Official Crewniverse YouTube channel
 * Official SoundCloud
 * Keep Beach City Weird

Digital distribution

 * iTunes: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3
 * Google Play
 * Hulu (USA only)
 * Netflix (USA only)
 * Amazon Instant Video

Interviews

 * Newsarama - Rebecca Sugar brings STEVEN UNIVERSE to Life (November 4th, 2013)
 * Video - Hot Topic - Interview: Steven Universe Creator Rebecca Sugar (YouTube; July 6, 2014)
 * Newsarama - Cartoon Network's STEVEN UNIVERSE Goes kaboom! in New Comic (August 2014)
 * Newsarama - STEVEN UNIVERSE: The Interview (January 7th, 2015)
 * io9 - Steven Universe Guidebook Spills The Secrets Of The Crystal Gems (May 14th, 2015)
 * Newsarama - New STEVEN UNIVERSE Episodes Beginning Of New Era For Show Says REBECCA SUGAR (June 12th, 2015)

Other articles

 * LA Times - Exclusive cover reveal: 'Steven Universe' graphic novel continues to dream big

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