Steven Universe

Alright! It’s been two weeks since I wrote, but I'm back and

here’s the next installment! Today let’s talk about "Steven Universe".

Who might like the show? Children of the 80s/90s who played video games and watched anime, but it doesn’t require a lot of exposure to those things to be enjoyable. Fans of shows like "Adventure Time" and "Bee and Puppycat".

Why should you watch it? The show is charming and fun. Great for kids of all ages and features a cast of great characters. It has a little bit of everything mixed in, from over the top action and fart jokes.

OK, here's an informational intro to the show for those who want to read.

"Steven Universe"is an on-going show on the Cartoon Network. "Steven Universe" was first shown to a public audience in July 27, 2013 at San Diego Comic-Con and debuted November 5, 2013. The creator of the show is Rebecca Sugar, who has done storyboard work on “Adventure Time” and “Hotel Transylvania”, also writes some of the music, along with storyboard artist Jeff Liu, heard on it. You can find her tumblr here with really great posts about the on-going development of the show.

The music is great. Just give it a listen. A link to the music from the show can be found at the relevant links section. Here's a taste:

Screen cap of the Pilot (From left to right - Garnet, Pearl, Steven, Amethyst)

"Steven Universe" simply put, is bit of slice of life show with some action mixed together. The story follows the Crystal Gems, a group of magical beings from another planet sworn to protect. Steven (Zach Callison), a fun loving, ukelele playing 12 year-old, is a Crystal Gem in training living with three other Gems; Garnet (Estelle), Amethyst (Michaela Dietz), and Pearl (Deedee Magno).  They reside on a cliff side house in Beach City, a small city run by a quirky mayor and inhabited by equally quirky shop owners and citizens. Steven’s family consists of his father Greg (Tom Scharpling), a man with a carefree attitude, who runs a car wash in town and lives in his van. Steven’s mother, Rose Quartz, is presumed deceased having “given up her life to bring him into the world”; however she is still quite important to the show’s story.

Beach City

The art style of the show is bright and cheerful through the use of bright pastel colors (mostly shades of blue and red) and simple and bold characters. A lot of times, you will see the use of colors to express the emotion of a scene. The characters are unique and simple, drawn with well-defined curves and straight lines.

Garnet

Crystal Gem Residence

Background

 

If you grew up a kid of the 80s/90s, then you will be able to spot a lot of references from video game and Asian pop culture but they aren’t over used, just little treats for those who can spot them. I highly recommend "Garnet's Universe".

If you are new to the show, I would recommend starting the show from the beginning to get to know the characters and get used to their idiosyncrasies. There's only 35 episodes as of this writing and they're all approximately 13 minutes.You can watch it on Cartoon Networks website or on TV or other means.

Thanks for reading another installment of Let’s Watch Cartoons.

Relevant links:
Steven Universe on Cartoon Network

Steven Crewniverse Tumblr

Rebecca Sugar's Tumblr

Jeff Liu's Tumblr 
Music from Steven Universe

Over the Garden Wall

Welcome to “Let's Watch Cartoons”! Here, I’m just going to talk about cartoons or animations that I enjoy and hopefully can get others interested in watching them as well! I just want to let people out there know that cartoons are great!

The first cartoon that I’m going to talk about is the mini-series “Over the Garden Wall”.

“Over the Garden Wall” is a ten part (about 12minutes each) mini-series by Patrick McHale, mostly known for his work as the former creative director for the first five seasons of “Adventure Time”. He also worked on 10 episodes for “The Marvelous Adventures of Flapjack”.

“Over the Garden Wall” follows two brothers, Wirt (Elijah Wood) and Greg (Collin Dean), who are lost in the Unknown, a strange forest filled with unique and eccentric characters. While trying to find their way back home they run into the denizens of the Unknown, one being an elderly Wood Chopper (Christopher Lloyd) who warns the children of “The Beast”, an ominous presence that inhabits the Unknown. The series draws inspiration from myths and fairy tales.

Concept art

I don’t know enough about art style to really speak on the matter, but I really enjoyed the look and feel of the series. The characters are simple and clean and the background environment (done by Nick Cross) is vivid and enchanting. Wirt and Greg also remind me of the Animal Crossing villagers. Some art can be seen here: http://jasonfunderburker.tumblr.com/.

Wonderful background paintings from the show by Nick Cross

The music in the series is done in such a way that it brings the world alive with characters breaking into jaunty tunes or eerie operatic verse. The show features talents such as Samuel Ramey, Jack Jones, Chris Isaak, and Deborah Voigt. The series even opens with a song, titled "Into the Unknown", that essentially sets the tone. You can hear it here: http://youtu.be/5llaSW0Bxy4. 

Gregory and Wirt

Wirt and Greg are the main protagonists and they can’t be more polar opposites. Elijah Wood does a great job playing a diffident, timid teen while Collin Dean really brings the fun.

I would say more about the show, but I really hope some of you who read this will watch it. It’s available CartoonNetwork.com (if you have a cable subscription), Amazon Video, or other means. 

Links: Patrick McHale's Twitter

           Over The Garden Wall Music Youtube playlist

           Over the Garden Wall related Tumblr

          

I hope you enjoyed this first installment of “Let's Watch Cartoons” Please let me know what improvements I may need to make this better.