Ian Jones-Quartey | |
---|---|
Born | [1] [2] Hatfield, Pennsylvania, U.S. | June 18, 1984
Alma mater | School of Visual Arts |
Occupation(s) | Animator, storyboard artist, writer, director, producer, voice actor |
Years active | 2004–present |
Known for | OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes |
Spouse | |
Relatives | Theodosia Okoh (grandmother) |
Ian Jones-Quartey (born June 18, 1984) is an American animator, storyboard artist, writer, director, producer, and voice actor. He is the creator of the animated series OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes , based on his Cartoon Network pilot Lakewood Plaza Turbo, which ran on the network from 2017 to 2019. [3] He is also known for his webcomic RPG World and his work on Steven Universe , Adventure Time , and Bravest Warriors .
Jones-Quartey was born in Hatfield, Pennsylvania on June 18, 1984, [1] [2] and was raised in Columbia, Maryland. [4] He and his family moved to Oakland Mills, Columbia, Maryland, around 1993. [5] His father was a pharmaceutical engineer, and his mother worked as a librarian for the chemical company W. R. Grace. [2] Jones-Quartey attended Long Reach High School in Columbia [6] and the School of Visual Arts in New York City. [7] [5]
Jones-Quartey created the webcomic RPG World, [8] which won Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards in 2001 and 2002. [9] [10] He co-created the web animation series and comedy hip-hop duo nockFORCE, rapping under the stage name "effnocka" along with audio specialist and YouTuber Jim Gisriel. [11]
His first job in television animation was on The Venture Bros. . [5] He went on to be a storyboard supervisor and revisionist for Adventure Time [5] [12] and a storyboard artist for Secret Mountain Fort Awesome . [13] He supplies the voice of Wallow in Bravest Warriors [14] and was the supervising director and co-developer of the Cartoon Network series Steven Universe . [8] [15]
In 2013, Jones-Quartey's short Lakewood Plaza Turbo aired on Cartoon Network as a television pilot. [5] [16] He had pitched the series two years prior when he had been a storyboard supervisor on Adventure Time. [8] The short was retooled as a mobile game entitled OK K.O.! Lakewood Plaza Turbo, which was released on Cartoon Network's Anything app in February 2016. Lakewood Plaza Turbo ran as a network series beginning March 2017, and OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes premiered on Cartoon Network on August 1. [5] [8]
In 2018, he appeared in the first season of a podcast entitled Drawn: The Story of Animation, from Cartoon Network and HowStuffWorks, which provided listeners with a behind-the-scenes perspective on animation from voice actors, historians, and creators of animated series. [17] [18]
In June 2019, he was a panelist at the Annecy Animation Festival, alongside Rebecca Sugar, at a panel entitled "The Making of Steven Universe". [19] In July 2019, he appeared as a panelist at the RTX Animation Festival at the Fairmont Austin. [20]
Between October 2020 and April 2021, the anti-racism PSAs "Don't Deny It, Defy It", "Tell the Whole Story", "See Color" and "Be an Ally", that he worked on with Rebecca Sugar, featuring characters from Steven Universe, were released on the Cartoon Network YouTube channel. [21] [22]
On September 2, 2019, the film Steven Universe: The Movie was released. Jones-Quartey was one of the co-executive producers of the film, which was executive produced by Rebecca Sugar. [23]
Jones-Quartey is a grandson of Theodosia Okoh, the designer of the flag of Ghana; he based the Steven Universe character Nanefua Pizza on her. [24] By 2017, he was living in Los Angeles. [5]
He married Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar on December 4, 2019, having been together for twelve years. [25]
Jones-Quartey cites Akira Toriyama's series Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump as inspiration for vehicle designs of his own. He stated, "We're all big Toriyama fans on [Steven Universe], which kind of shows a bit." [26]
Atomic Cartoons, Inc. is a Canadian animation studio founded in 1999 by Trevor Bentley, Mauro Casalese, Olaf Miller, and former Warner Bros. Animation employee Rob Davies. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, it produces service animation for a wide variety of clients, as well as creating its own properties. Since 2015, the company has been owned by Thunderbird Entertainment.
Steven Universe is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe, who lives with the Crystal Gems—magical, mineral-based aliens named Garnet (Estelle), Amethyst, and Pearl —in the fictional town of Beach City. Steven, who is half-Gem, has adventures with his friends and helps the Gems protect the world from their own kind. The pilot was first shown in May 2013, and the series ran for five seasons, from November 2013 to January 2019. The TV film Steven Universe: The Movie was released in September 2019, and an epilogue limited series, Steven Universe Future, ran from December 2019 to March 2020.
Rebecca Rea Sugar is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director and musician. She is best known for being the creator of the Cartoon Network series Steven Universe, making her the first non-binary person to independently create a series for the network; prior to coming out as non-binary, Sugar was described as the first woman to do so. Until 2013, Sugar was a writer and storyboard artist on the animated television series Adventure Time. Her work on the two series has earned her seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Sugar is bisexual, non-binary, and genderqueer, using both she/her and they/them pronouns. Sugar's queerness has served as the inspiration for her to stress the importance of LGBT representation in the arts, especially in children's entertainment.
Michaela Dietz is an American voice actress whose professional career started in 2005. She voiced the character of Riff on the PBS children's television series Barney & Friends, Amethyst on the Cartoon Network television series Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future, Dolly Dalmatian on Disney Channel's 101 Dalmatian Street, Pita in Fallout 76, Vee on Disney Channel's The Owl House, and Darryl McGee on Disney Channel's The Ghost and Molly McGee.
Steven Universe: Attack the Light is a role-playing video game developed by Grumpyface Studios and published by Cartoon Network Games. The game, based on the animated TV series Steven Universe and featuring a story written by series creator Rebecca Sugar, was released for iOS and Android mobile devices on April 2, 2015. An Apple TV/tvOS version was later developed, which added "Diamond Mode", a higher-difficulty version of the game with added bonuses.
"Say Uncle" is an episode of the American animated television series Steven Universe. The episode, written and storyboarded by Joe Johnston and Jeff Liu, is a non-canon crossover with Uncle Grandpa, another Cartoon Network series. While The A.V. Club described its announcement in February 2015 as "confusing", the episode aired on April 2 in that same year to high critical praise. The episode was watched by 1.926 million viewers. The events of the crossover specials take place during the first season of Steven Universe and during the second season of Uncle Grandpa.
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes is an American animated television series created by Ian Jones-Quartey for Cartoon Network. The show is based on Jones-Quartey's pilot Lakewood Plaza Turbo, which was released as part of Cartoon Network's 2013 Summer Shorts project. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios. The web series premiered on Cartoon Network's YouTube channel and on Cartoon Network Video on February 4, 2016.
Stevonnie is a fictional character in the animated series Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future, created by Rebecca Sugar. A "fusion" of the protagonist Steven Universe and his friend Connie Maheswaran, Stevonnie has the appearance of an androgynous young adult. First introduced in the episode "Alone Together", Stevonnie only appears occasionally in the series and once in the limited epilogue series, Steven Universe Future.
Garnet is a character from the animated series Steven Universe, created by Rebecca Sugar. Based on the real world mineral garnet, Garnet is a Gem, a fictional alien being that exists as a magical gemstone projecting a holographic body.
Kartoon Studios, Inc., formerly known as Genius Brands International (GBI), is an entertainment company headed by Andy Heyward. The company was formed from the merger of Genius Brands International and A Squared Entertainment.
Amethyst is a fictional character from the animated television series Steven Universe, created by Rebecca Sugar. She is voiced by Michaela Dietz.
OK K.O.! Let's Play Heroes is an action-adventure beat 'em up video game developed by Capybara Games and published by Cartoon Network Games. It is based on the show OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes and was released digitally on January 23, 2018 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, with a port to the Nintendo Switch launching physically in 2019. A physical release of the game bundled with Grumpyface Studios' Steven Universe: Save the Light for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch was released in May 2019.
Victor and Valentino is an American animated television series created by Diego Molano for Cartoon Network. It is produced by Cartoon Network Studios. The series follows the titular duo, two half-brothers staying with their grandmother in the Mexican town of Monte Macabre, where they interact with supernatural beings that plague the town, many of whom are derived from Aztec, Olmec, and Mayan mythologies.
Twelve Forever is an American animated streaming series created by Julia Vickerman, a former writer and storyboard artist known for her work on Clarence, Rick and Morty, Harvey Girls Forever!, Paradise PD and The Powerpuff Girls. Twelve Forever premiered in the United States on Netflix on July 29, 2019.
The depiction of LGBTQ characters in animated series in the 2010s changed significantly from the previous decade; especially in Western animation. This included Rebecca Sugar's Steven Universe which aired on Cartoon Network and praised for going "above and beyond when it comes to inclusive storytelling" The 2010s also brought with it shows such as Adventure Time, The Legend of Korra, BoJack Horseman, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Amphibia, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and The Bravest Knight, among others, all of which had strong LGBTQ characters. Representation of LGBTQ characters would only continue to grow in the 2020s.
...Jones-Quartey — a 33-year-old writer-artist...