Steven Universecreator Rebecca Sugar says its been extremely difficult to get LGBTQ representation on the air.
Youcantnot tell them that, Sugar tells EW.
Its just so unfair.
Credit: Cartoon Network; Nickelodeon; DreamWorks/Netflix
According to GLAAD, theres been a significant increase in new family programming which included LGBTQ characters.
The initial response after Comic-Con has been overwhelmingly positive, Montgomery says.
Adds Dos Santos: Our social has been nonstop with nothing but love and appreciations.
DreamWorks/Netflix
That includes thank you notes from executives, either involved or not involved with the show.
Hirsch enlisted many voices about how to get it right.
I immediately shot back with a one-word email: Why?
Disney XD
Which broke their brains because there isnt a good answer to that.
Speaking frankly, he says, The truth is theyre scared of getting emails from bigots and theyre cowards.
So theyre letting the bigots control the conversation.
There is a long-established approval routing at each stage of production.
However, there seems to be more to it beyond a rogue storyboard artist.
Additionally, he emphasizes that everything changes at every stage.
Its only when the animatics for the episode are locked in that it becomes difficult to change anything.
Daron Nefcy, the showrunner behindStar, didnt want to get into too many particulars about the internal process.
But I feel like everybody has the same goals.
Well, maybe not everybody, she adds with a laugh.
We have an S&P department and at first they were like, Could you change that?
And I was like, Well, why is that?
So that was great.
It was also a moment that stems from Nefcys childhood.
Nefcy maintains that Disney has been really awesome in bringing diversity on screen.
I dont want to confirm or deny too much, but its been in the works.
The main issue now comes from overseas reception.
Steven Universewas once the No.
1 kids show in South Africa, but it was pulled from the air.
And it was all very difficult to navigate.
The wedding episode, were told, was a game changer.
Are there still boundaries?
Is there still a TON of room to grow?
When we first got in, getting social on any level was this no-fly zone, he says.
Michael Rubiner from NickelodeonsThe Loud Houseis also confident in the progress made.
We meant the greatest-sleepover-ever history…
It was this inside joke where we knew we were making kids animation history, Rubiner says.
And that is always something to celebrate.
