A series of online animated shorts featuring characters from Steven Universe. This is the first official material from the franchise since Steven Universe: Future ended.
In these shorts, the Crystal Gems address topics relating to anti-racism.
The project in general provide examples of:
- Animated Actors: The shorts portray the animated characters as shooting scenes on-set, with the script in the in-universe PSA saying that Garnet is from Steven Universe.
- Art Shift: The shorts have a very different art style from the main series that's flatter, lacks outlines, and contains lots of shading and lighting effects, the house style of Chromosphere, the studio involved with the animation.
- Captain Obvious Aesop: Invoked and subverted. Each short opens with a very simple and facile "Racism is Bad" Aesop, which the characters quickly dismiss in favour of a more nuanced and detailed exploration of the subject.
- Public Service Announcement: Unlike Dove Self-Esteem Project x Steven Universe, these are presented solely as announcements from Cartoon Network, and the shorts' website
contains links to non-profit activist organizations concerned with anti-racism matters.
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"Don't Deny It - Defy It"
Release date: October 27th, 2020.
Tropes:
- Discriminate and Switch: The bully discourages a white boy and black boy from marrying each other... because they're racist, not homophobic.
- Self-Parody: The short begins with an in-universe PSA that plays on the kind that was attached to cartoons from the 80s and 90s.
- Ship Tease: After giving out the short's moral lesson, Garnet tells the kids they need to get their act together before "the wedding." The boys, confused, say that they were only claiming to get married as their characters in the short. Garnet simply winks at the camera, suggesting she sees the boys getting married for real one day via her Future Vision.
"Tell the Whole Story"
Release date: December 3rd, 2020.
Tropes:
- Creator Cameo: Series creator Rebecca Sugar is part of the camera crew shooting Pearl's short.
- Written by the Winners: Pearl points out that much of what the average American school child knows of history was carefully edited to primarily emphasize the accomplishment of white historical figures while practically unpersoning important people of color throughout history. In addition to mentioning the rather obscure Lewis Latimer, she points out there were plenty of Black Classical Musicians, Black Roman Warriors and Black Medieval Knights.
"See Color"
Release date: February 16, 2021
Tropes:
- Change the Uncomfortable Subject: The special states that the common phrase "I don't see color" is little more than and underhanded way of getting out of discussing systemic racism, as it downplays the very real effects someone's skin color has on their lived experiences.
- Fantastic Racism: Deconstructed; one of the kids points out how adding "purple" people downplays real issues of racism.
- Protagonist and Friends: The In-Universe PSA is called Amethyst and Friends.
- Take That!: The PSA is a parody of Barney & Friends. It also counts as Self-Deprecation because Michaela Dietz, voice of Amethyst, also played Riff on Barney.
- Who Writes This Crap?!: Amethyst interrupts the PSA to complain about the cutesy song about "color-blindness", saying "Who wrote this?!"
"Be An Ally"
Release date: April 4, 2021
Tropes:
- Self-Deprecation: The Gems ask themselves if these shorts would really do anything in solving the problem of racism.
