Rebecca Sugar on finding that ‘Steven Universe feeling’ and the future of the verse

The snub-nosed, round face of an animated Steven Universe was framed on a monitor at the Cartoon Network’s Burbank recording studio. And I really wanted to do it through cartoons because the semiotics of gender in cartoons have been so powerful of a force.” In addition to defying categorizations about being a “boys’ show” or a “girls’ show,” “Steven Universe” uses its platform as a cartoon to convey expressly feminist messages regarding gender fluidity and same-sex relationships. Sugar and the “Steven Universe” crew are very much aware of how cartoons and messages in cartoons can affect fans and how cartoons themselves can affect a person’s understanding of the world. This is because from the show’s conception, “Steven Universe” was more that just a cartoon. And Sugar’s “Steven Universe” wish list is ever expanding.