Steven Universe: The Movie

“

There’s no such thing as ‘happily ever after’. I’ll always have more work to do.

”

—Steven

Steven Universe: The Movie

Broadcast Information

Airdate

September 2, 2019

Production Code

1076-000

Viewers

[1]

1.572

Credits

Written and Storyboarded by

Lamar Abrams
Miki Brewster
Danny Cragg
Hilary Florido
Joe Johnston
Amish Kumar
Jeff Liu
Katie Mitroff
Kat Morris
Christopher Pianka
Madeline Queripel
Rebecca Sugar
Paul Villeco
Takafumi Hori

Directed by

[2]

Rebecca Sugar

Episode Guide
Previous
Next

“Change Your Mind”
“Little Homeschool”

Steven Universe: The Movie is an American animated musical television film based on the Cartoon Network animated television series Steven Universe.[3]

It was released on Cartoon Network on September 2, 2019.[4]

The film was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2018 during the Steven Universe panel. A DVD set was released on November 12, 2019, alongside the soundtrack.[5] The film runs at approximately 82 minutes long.[6]

Story

The movie is set two years after the events of “Change Your Mind” and features a visibly older Steven in his sixteenth year against a world filled with new developments. The official synopsis follows:

Steven, now 16 years old, thinks his time defending the Earth is over. But when a new threat comes to Beach City, Steven faces his biggest challenge yet!

Plot

After an introduction from the Diamonds telling the story of Steven, and how he established an era of peace for all Gems, White Diamond announces to all Gems in the entire universe that Steven Universe (now 16 years old) is finally ready to fulfill his mother’s role as a new leader: a hybrid Gem monarch of the Great Diamond Authority to take his rightful place on his mother’s throne. So Steven greets the citizens of the Gem Homeworld and other colonies through a broadcast, announcing that he already has a rightful place: Earth where he lives with his friends. As he’s done dismantling the empire and saving all of the planets, he can’t wait to go back home and spend time with his friends. However, after the broadcast, the Diamonds try to persuade him to stay to fulfill Pink Diamond’s role as a leader, but he kindly turns down the offer. Back on Earth, Connie welcomes Steven back and asked what took him so long. Steven felt so tired and embarrassed that the Diamonds wanted him to rule the universe 24/7 and since Connie kissed him on his cheek as he had a crush on her and sees her off to space camp. Steven embraces the peaceful life he’s living, as well as Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst, all celebrating their newfound “Happily ever after”.

Almost immediately afterward, a giant drill lands on the hillside of Beach City, and Spinel, a deranged, cartoonish Gem, appears, announcing her intent to kill Steven and the rest of the life on Earth. Using a scythe-like weapon, she poofs Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst. She intends to do the same to Steven, but his body remains unharmed. Realizing that he doesn’t poof as easily as other gems do, Spinel mocks Steven saying that his human half will not withstand her injector, right before Steven snatches her scythe and poofs her. Exhausted, Steven tries to bubble Spinel but fails in the process. He notices that his gem is not functioning properly.

Back at the beach house, Steven calls his father, Greg, for help; he is just as shocked and confused as Steven is. Greg is certain, however, that in a matter of seconds, the Gems will soon regenerate. His prediction was right, as the Gems did regenerate their bodies (including Ruby and Sapphire separately), but obtained their primary clothing from their first formations. In addition, their memories have been erased; with Pearl assuming that she is Greg’s servant. Even Spinel regenerates but remains a goofy and happy-go-lucky Gem whose sole purpose is to entertain her “best friend” (Steven). Steven and Spinel take Ruby and Sapphire to seek advice from Peridot, Lapis Lazuli, and Bismuth.

Bismuth identifies Spinel’s scythe as a “Rejuvenator”, a device that can reset the mind of a Gem back to when they were first created. Steven because of his nature as a human gem hybrid doesn’t poof, but he is discouraged from the loss of his powers from his gem half taking the hit, making him feel like he went right back to the start of struggling with his powers. The three of them encourage Steven not to give up. Spinel compares the situation to a puzzle, suggesting that they find the Gems’ “missing pieces” to restore their memories, inspiring Steven to try to reenact Ruby and Sapphire’s first fusion. Steven thinks of a dangerous situation that would cause Ruby to save Sapphire from getting hurt, but even while trying to reenact that sort of situation, he cannot bring himself to hurt them. Spinel’s antics cause scaffolding to collapse, almost crushing Ruby, who has no regrets of getting shattered within a day; until Sapphire shoves her to safety, the pair fuse into Garnet, but questions everything, indicating she still has no memory of her life.

After finding Amethyst, Steven attempts to reenact the same experiences the two had together. Successfully, Steven recovers Amethyst’s memory. Peridot discovers that the drill is injecting a toxic chemical that will kill all organic life on Earth. They then come to the conclusion that Spinel would be the only one who knows how to remove the Injector, so they need to bring her memories back. Steven remembers back when Spinel attacked them, Pearl seemed to know who she was. In order to revive Pearl’s memory, the group takes her to a Sadie Killer and the Suspects concert, in the hope their music will bring back her memories of rebellion, but Pearl says that as long as Greg exists she will obey him. Steven uses what little energy he has left to fuse with Greg, which enables Pearl to recover her memory. Though it was a success, Steven is shown to be weaker than before and sees Spinel, who is overcome with sadness flees. Pearl rushes to his aid and informs Steven that Spinel was once Pink Diamond’s playmate in her garden and that she hasn’t seen her for 6,000 years. Steven tries to catch up to Spinel while riding Lion.

After sending Lion to retrieve Connie from space camp, Steven finds Spinel crying at his conservatory in his house. She explained that she started experiencing familiar emotions, which Steven is aiming for. He asks her if she remembers Pink’s Garden. She smiles briefly but then activates the Warp Pad in frustration. Spinel takes Steven to a desolate garden in space and reveals her backstory: she was Pink Diamond’s playmate until the other Diamonds gave Pink her own colony. She was eager to go to Earth with her, but Pink told Spinel to wait for her in the garden as if it were a game they were playing. Standing still in the garden for 6,000 years, Spinel learned that Era 3 has begun and Pink Diamond’s fate via Steven’s broadcast (from the beginning of the movie.) Remembering Pink’s betrayal, Spinel regains her memories, and reforms back to the deranged version she was seen earlier. Steven understands everything now and then tells her that she isn’t the only one Pink hurt. He tells Spinel that she should, and will eventually, find a better friend who won’t hurt her. At that moment, she believes she found the friend she was looking for.

Back in Beach City, Spinel turns off the drill, but when Steven begins shifting his attention back to everyone else and focuses on how to remove the toxic chemical from Earth, she accuses him of just using her and then abandoning her (like Pink did) or planning to wipe her memory again after discovering that he kept the Rejuvenator with him (but in reality, had nowhere else to put it). Paranoid, she turns the drill back on and attacks Steven. As he tries to explain the truth to her and breaks the Rejuvenator, Garnet recovers her memory. Steven sends the others out to rescue the humans of Beach City while he confronts Spinel alone. Refusing to listen, Spinel punches Steven (receiving a bloody nose in the process) and expresses her rage by nearly dropping Steven off of her injector. Not understanding why his powers aren’t working, Spinel mocks Steven as to how he used to save the entire universe. However, Steven finally realizes why his Gem powers have not yet returned: his desire for an unchanging “happily ever after” has left him resistant to the very notion of growth and change, which he needs to re-experience. Embracing this fact, he regains his powers and battles Spinel. Still being stubborn, and fed up with his singing, Spinel punches Steven right towards the top of the injector. Spinel vents out her rage on him even further, but then realizes that compared to Pink, Steven liked her better than she ever did, and comes to the conclusion that hurting Steven will not make her feel better, and relents.

The injector starts to explode, but Steven and Spinel are unharmed (thanks to his bubble). Steven is given the idea to use his healing powers to restore the planet’s ecosystem, only by a small portion. After Spinel apologizes for the mess, the Diamonds suddenly arrive and state their intention to live on Earth with Steven, before they notice the planet’s condition. Suddenly, he introduces Spinel to them and they take an immediate liking to her and her goofy personality. The Diamonds accept her in place of Steven and she happily goes with them, now with people who will love her unconditionally. Steven and his friends gather to rebuild Beach City, thanks in part to Steven’s healing powers undoing the damage of the poison (and the ocean starts to dissolve the poison), and after the town has been rebuilt they’re having a dinner party. Steven, Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, Connie, and Greg perform the Broadway-style song, “Finale​​​”.

Features

Characters

Protagonists

Antagonists

Supporting

Locations

Objects

Musical contributors

The movie included collaborations with several outside musical artists in different kinds of genres, as well as regular contributors to the franchise:

Vocal

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Instrumental

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Production

Artbook

An artbook by Ryan Sands and Rebecca Sugar, The Art of Steven Universe: The Movie, was published by Dark Horse and released on March 3, 2020.

Trivia

• The movie seems to take place over May 21–22, as seen on Sadie Killer and the Suspects’ poster.
  • Given Steven’s birthday is August 15, this would mean that Steven is 16 years, 9 months, and 6 days old in the movie.
  • However, according to Maya Petersen, the poster was not meant to confirm the date of the movie. It was just the date that she drew the poster.[14]
  • May 21st was also when the pilot of Steven Universe was released on Cartoon Network’s video platform.
• The mysterious treasure chest in Lion’s mane has been opened during the two-year time-skip, although its contents are still unknown.
• At the end of the first airing of “Change Your Mind”, the teaser trailer played revealing a part of the planned release date.
  • The brief glimpses of the Gems in the teaser shows them in their pre-regeneration outfits. This was most obvious with Garnet’s visor being their original shape instead of the top of a star. This was likely done to avoid spoiling the Diamond Days arc’s mass regeneration, though their appearances were not updated for the trailer shown after “Change Your Mind” first aired on television.
• A video by Cartoon Network (featuring sketches by Rebecca Sugar and interviews with Sugar and Zach Callison) confirmed that the movie would take place approximately two years after Season 5.[15]
• Various Gems — Peridots, Topazes, a blue Zircon, and a yellow Zircon, and other Gems — are seen in the crowd that receives Steven’s message.
• Ted Leo (the voice of Steg) sings with Aimee Mann (the voice of Opal) in “Independent Together”. In real life, they make up the musical duo The Both.
• The film currently holds a 100% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator.
• The film has a general theme of “stories”, interspersed throughout the songs, dialogue, and plot:
  • The opening number of “The Tale of Steven” features a storybook of the show’s history and plot (also a reference to the old openings of classic Disney movies; see below).
  • The arc words “once upon a time” and “happily ever after” are featured— phrases often respectively used at the beginning and end of fairy tales.
  • During “Other Friends”, Spinel says that she’s “heard the story over and over again” and “[doesn’t] like how it ends”.
    • In “Drift Away”, she mentions discovering Pink Diamond’s fate— learning “about how the story ends”.
• This is the first time a Gem that initially has intentions on killing Steven recognizes him as his own person rather than Rose or Pink.
• In Spinel’s original/reset form, her three eyelashes are above her eyes. In her current form, these lines (now thicker) are below her eyes. In addition to referencing her upside-down gemstone, they also now resemble running mascara from crying.
  • While in her reset form, when Spinel angrily exclaims “No!”, her eyelashes briefly switch to being below her eyes (as they are in her current form).
• When Steven and Spinel are searching for Amethyst, Onion appears in every shot of the four different places shown.
• Pearl’s “customization feature” that appears before she reforms is in the shape of an oyster. Pearls in real life are made from oysters.
• This is the first time Opal is shown voluntarily un-fusing rather than falling apart or poofing.
• As Spinel waits for Pink Diamond in the flashback, forget-me-not flowers can be seen in the background, symbolizing the hope she had for her to eventually return.
  • Additionally, before Pink leaves her in the garden, red spider lilies can be seen in the background. Some legends say that when you see someone that you may never meet again, these flowers bloom along the path.
• When Garnet reforms, you can see that in between the reformations, Ruby and Sapphire are dancing together.
• The outfits worn by Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Connie in “Finale” resemble the outfits worn by them in a 2016 San Diego Comic-Con poster.
• A cut scene from the film, as revealed by Amish Kumar’s storyboards included Vidalia and Steven in her art studio, finding Amethyst shapeshifted into a bucket, due to her being distraught.
  • Additionally, there is a cut tap dance sequence while Steven and Amethyst are on the train during “No Matter What”.
• The poster for the movie was drawn by Joe Johnston, inked by Danny Hynes, and colored by Charles Hilton. [16]
• Each line Garnet said in her rejuvenated form was a question, with the exception of when she was about to regain her memories.
• The movie was set to be shown in select theaters as a Fathom Event on March 23rd, 2020, but was eventually canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
• A sing-along version of the film premiered on March 6, 2020.
• “Other Friends” and “Drift Away” end in similar ways:
  • Other Friends ends with three ‘other’s and then the word ‘friends’. Drift Away ends with three ‘drift’s and then the word ‘away’, meaning both songs end with the same word three times and then another word to follow it.
• This is Pink Diamond’s last physical appearance in the franchise.

Continuity

Cultural References

Errors

• Yellow Diamond’s gem disappears after being uncovered by her hand during “Let Us Adore You”.
• When Spinel activates the Gem Injector, the star on Pearl’s jacket is missing.
• When Spinel kicks Steven in the face, when he lands next to the gems, a tear can be seen on his shirt, despite him not getting such tear until later in the film.
• When Spinel is walking on the roof of the lighthouse during “Other Friends”, an in-between frame is missing the moment she starts walking.
• In “Other Friends”, after Spinel poofs Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, Spinel’s arms are the same color of white as her pants.
• During the scene when Steven said, “No idea”, to Greg, the star on his shirt is missing.
• The tools Peridot throws out from her garbage bin disappear in the next scene.
• When Spinel “tags” Amethyst, in one frame her gem is missing its facet.
• The crowd at the rock show switches places between scenes.
• Steg’s second right arm disappeared for second several times.
• When Pearl and Amethyst are dancing with each other in the air during “Independent Together”, the star on the back of Pearl’s jacket is missing for several seconds until the two of them fall downwards and fuse.
• Right before Steg and Opal rise into the air after she fuses, part of Pearl’s gem on Opal is incorrectly colored black.
• When Garnet looks to her right with crossed arms in “True Kinda Love”, the rings switch colors.
• During the live broadcast, Spinel is seen facing the communicator with the vines clinging onto her legs. But during the scene where Spinel explains her backstory, she is seen facing sideways from where Steven’s message was being broadcasted, which then makes her turn to her left to watch the live announcement.
• Although Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were running towards Spinel before she was about to attack them with the Gem rejuvenator, they appeared to be facing the opposite direction when being sliced. However, this was probably done on purpose for a dramatic effect.
• In “Found”, when Spinel picks up her hand to hold Steven’s, everything from her elbow up is missing for a brief second.
• During the song “Change”, Spinel enlarges her right hand and punches Steven with it, but after landing her punch, her enlarged hand was changed into her left hand.
• Amethyst’s gem facet changes direction for a few minutes after she reformed.
• When Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl run towards Spinel, Spinel’s legs (which should be wrapped around the injector) are missing.
• Right when Steven poofs Spinel with the Rejuvenator, as Spinel’s gemstone falls, it is a right side up heart, opposite to her new form during “Other Friends” where it is upside down.
• When Spinel says, “Just can it, won’t ya?!” her gem wasn’t upside down.
• During the last chorus of No Matter What, the last time they say “be right by your side,” in one shot there is a small black dot in Amethyst’s hair that disappears when she turns her head.
• When Steven says “You’re sure you can handle them? They’re not exactly easy to get along with,” there is a small gap in the outline between his mouth and nose.
• The amp meter outside the van while Greg is preparing for the concert turns into a guitar while Pearl is absorbing it.
• Steven’s left nostril is bleeding after Spinel punches him but in the next scene, he is bleeding from his right nostril only.
• In the credits during ‘The Tale of Steven’ Patti LuPone’s name is in a different text style to the rest of the cast names.

Country

Airdate

Channel

USA

September 2, 2019

Cartoon Network

Canada

September 7, 2019

Cartoon Network Canada

Philippines

September 28, 2019

Cartoon Network Asia

Hong Kong

2019

Cartoon Network

UK

October 1, 2019

Cartoon Network UK

Latin America

October 7, 2019

Cartoon Network Latin America

Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay

October 24, 2019

Cinemark and Hoyts theaters

France

October 27, 2019

Cartoon Network France

Southeast Asia

December 21, 2019

Cartoon Network Southeast Asia

Italy

March 20, 2020

Cartoon Network Italy

Central and Eastern Europe

May 9, 2020

Cartoon Network CEE

Poland

May 17, 2020

Cartoon Network Poland

Germany

May 4, 2020

May 30, 2020

Video-on-Demand purchase

Cartoon Network Germany

Netherlands

May 31, 2020

Cartoon Network Netherlands

Portugal

July 3, 2020
August 29,2020

VoD (Cartoon Network Premium)
Cartoon Network Portugal

Spain

September 18, 2020

HBO Spain

Denmark

October 3, 2020

Cinemark

Japan

December 24, 2020

Boomerang Japan

Scandinavian

January 15, 2021

HBO Nordic

Turkey

September 19, 2021

SinemaTV Aile

Bulgaria

May 30, 2022

HBO Max

Transcript

View the episode’s transcript here.

Gallery

Click to view the gallery for Steven Universe: The Movie.

Videos

Steven Universe Steven Universe The Movie Official Teaser Cartoon Network

Steven Universe The Movie It’s a Musical! Cartoon Network

Steven Universe The Movie Official Trailer Cartoon Network

Toonami’s Steven Universe the Movie Trailer Steven Universe Cartoon Network

First Look Steven Universe Cartoon Network

Happily Ever After Song Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

How Spinel Relates to Marceline’s ‘Everything Stays’ Song Steven Universe Cartoon Network

Other Friends Song Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Everything Stays Spinel Music Video Steven Universe The Movie Cartoon Network

Change Song Steven Universe The Movie Cartoon Network

Drift Away Song Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Independent Together Song Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Behind the Curtain Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Animatic vs Final Animation Other Friends Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Let Us Adore You Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Every Sadie Song Ever Steven Universe Cartoon Network

Animatic vs Final Animation True Kinda Love Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Steven Universe The Movie in Theaters Fathom Event Cartoon Network

Farewell to Steven Universe Cartoon Network

Other Friends Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Drift Away Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

True Kinda Love Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Change Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Let Us Adore You Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Let Us Adore You Reprise Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Happily Ever After Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Finale Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

System BOOT.PearlFinal(3).Info Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Who We Are Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Isn’t it Love? Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

No Matter What Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Disobedient Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Independent Together Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

Found Karaoke Version Steven Universe the Movie Cartoon Network

All of Steven’s Life Stages Steven Universe Cartoon Network

Evolution of Steven and Rose Quartz Steven Universe Cartoon Network

Evolution of Steven and the Crystal Gems Steven Universe Cartoon Network

References