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Rebecca Sugar, Animation Powerhouse, enjoying a cup of coffee

At only thirty years old, Rebecca Sugar, is changing the animation game.  Rebecca Sugar is leading the way for women in this male-dominated field.  Women make up only 23% of the animation industry.

Sugar made television history with her show Steven Universe. It became the first show in Cartoon Network’s history to be created solely by a woman. The three-time Emmy nominated show is amazing, but the woman behind the creation is even more incredible. Sugar has made a name for herself as an advocate for various social causes, including anti-bullying and pro-LGBTQ+ rights.

Her Universe Before Steven

Rebecca Sugar holding the album cover for her vinyl

Photo via Instagram/ @rebeccasugar

Rebecca spent her childhood in Maryland, where she attended both Montgomery Blair High School and the Visual Arts Center at Einstein High School. Her younger brother, Steven Sugar is the namesake of her main character. Sugar was very close to her brother growing up, and she has said he always inspired her. Interested in the arts since a young age, Sugar frequently attended animation conventions to meet artists and soak in all the knowledge she could.

By the time she was 21 she got the chance to display her own work at North Bethesda’s Small Press Expo. She got her Bachelor’s Degree in Animation in 2009 at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Sugar found work on the hit cartoon Adventure Time right out of college. She worked on Adventure Time until she left in 2013 to create Steven Universe.

Renaissance Woman

Rebecca Sugar and boyfriend Ian J.Q.

Photo via Instagram/ @rebeccasugar

Sugar has had quite a few successful projects outside of animation, including a comic series called Pug Davis.  She is a talented lyricist, singer and ukulele player. She often writes the music and lyrics for Steven Universe and also used to write songs for Adventure Time. Sugar also created storyboards for the hit 2012 movie HotelTransylvania.. Her talents are endless. She truly is a renaissance woman

Animation as Activism

Rebecca Sugar

Photo via Instagram/ @rebeccasugar

What really sets Sugar apart is her activism and strong stance on anti-bullying.  She is relentless when it comes to speaking out about bullying and the importance of self-esteem. Sugar uses her voice to empower anyone who feels like they are an outcast. She participated in Cartoon Network’s annual anti-bullying program “See Something, Say Something” by creating a video series called Fearless-Self Expression with Rebecca Sugar. In the series she discusses how creating can help outcasts strengthen their self-esteem through self-expression.

More recently, she allowed Dove to use the characters from Steven Universe for its Self Esteem Project. This collaboration features six shorts, one original song and an e-book on both physical and mental health. It only takes watching one episode of Steven Universe to tell that Sugar is pouring her heart into empowering and supporting people everywhere.

Dedicated to Diversity

In 2016 Sugar announced that she is bisexual during her panel at San Diego Comic-Con. With that, she became not only the first woman to head a show on Cartoon Network but the first openly LGBTQ+ show creator on the network. She explores heavy LGBTQ+ themes in Steven Universe because she wants to represent issues she wished she had seen in her childhood.

Very few children’s show touch on LGBTQ+ topics. Sugar is changing that and empowering an entire generation of LGBTQ+ children and youth.

She also strives to show all types of diversity in Steven Universe. Sugar portrays many different types of family structures, cultures and races in the show.  Additionally, the crew behind the scenes, referred to by fans, as “the Crewniverse,” is also incredibly diverse. The majority of the voice actors and actresses are people of color.

Even if animation isn’t your thing, Rebecca Sugar should be a name on your radar. With her big heart and creative mind, the sky is the limit for this young artist. She is a pioneer and will continue to blaze the trail for women in animation and the arts.  We may not know what Sugar’s next project will be, but we do know that she will pour her whole heart into it!

Edited by Chloe Lew
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