Steven Universe: Art & Origins (previously known as The Art of Steven Universe) is a book by Chris McDonnell and Cartoon Network Enterprises, Inc. published by Abrams Books.[1] It was released on July 11, 2017.
Description[]
Steven Universe: Art & Origins is the first book to take fans behind the scenes of the groundbreaking and boundlessly creative Cartoon Network animated series Steven Universe. The eponymous Steven is a boy who—alongside his mentors, the Crystal Gems (Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl)—must learn to use his inherited powers to protect his home, Beach City, from the forces of evil. Bursting with concept art, production samples, early sketches, storyboards, and exclusive commentary, this lavishly illustrated companion book offers a meticulous written and visual history of the show, as well as an all-access tour of the creative team's process. Steven Universe: Art & Origins reveals how creator Rebecca Sugar, the writers, the animators, and the voice actors work in tandem to bring this adventure-packed television series to life.
Product details[]
- Imprint: Abrams Books
- Publication Date: July 11, 2017
- Price: $29.95
- Trim Size: 10 x 9
- ISBN-10: 1419724436
- ISBN-13: 978-1419724435
- EAN: 9781419724435
- Page Count: 240
- Illustrations: 400 color illustrations
- Format: Hardcover (Paper over Board)
- Rights: Other
- Additional formats: Ebook
Trivia[]
- The book revealed the alternate title of the Pilot to be "The Time Thing".[3]
- The book confirms the name of the formerly unknown member of the Great Diamond Authority to be White Diamond, in a small chord chart representing the chord representing each diamond. "White" is written next to one. This was long assumed to be the case, but doubt had existed among the fandom before this.
- The book includes several maps of Beach City and the area around it. One concept map shows the Earth in detail, with South America reclassified Pangea, a partially-submerged Africa, a sea in the center of Russia called the Tunguska Sea, and New Zealand called New Australia. Whether these various place names are canon remains to be seen, but the geography seems to be confirmed by "It Could've Been Great".
- The book contained the name of Obsidian, the fusion of all core Crystal Gems. This was confirmed in the 45-minute special episode "Change Your Mind".
Controversy[]
- Following the release of the book, the discovery of concept art (from a design brainstorming exercise) for a Gem named "Concrete" was met with much confusion and upset. Fans cited the character's apparent resemblance to minstrel caricatures of African-Americans, as well as an accompanying caption (indicating the Gem was illiterate) supposedly perpetuating racial stereotypes. On July 15, 2017, Lamar Abrams, the artist responsible for the drawing, apologized on his Tumblr, also stating that the writer of the notes, whose identity had been withheld at the time, conveyed the same regret.[4] The same day, series creator Rebecca Sugar published an apology on her Twitter account, acknowledging her error to notice the material during the approval process, and announced that future prints will no longer include the aforementioned material.[5] On July 17, 2017, in a post published on her Tumblr account, Hilary Florido claimed responsibility for the text written beside Concrete, expressing her regret and apologies.[6] The second printing, sans Concrete and with a completely reworked version of the offending page, was made available at the end of August 2017.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 McDonnell, Chris; Inc, Cartoon Network Enterprises; Tartakovsky, Genndy; Sugar, Rebecca (July 11, 2017). Steven Universe: Art & Origins. S.l.: Abrams. ISBN 9781419724435 – via Amazon.
- ↑ Steven Universe: Art & Origins – via ABRAMS Books
- ↑ Steven Universe: Art & Origins, p. 238, Chris McDonnell, 2017
- ↑ "concrete" – neo-rama on Tumblr
- ↑ "Regarding Steven Universe, Art & Origins:" – @rebeccasugar on Twitter
- ↑ "concrete" – hilaryflorido on Tumblr