Ian Jones-Quartey

Ian Jones-Quartey
Jones-Quartey in 2013
Born	(1984-06-18) June 18, 1984 (age 40)[1][2] Hatfield, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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	Rebecca Sugar ​ (m. 2019)​
Relatives	Theodosia Okoh (maternal 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.

Early life

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]

Career

Jones-Quartey created the webcomic RPG World,^[8] which won Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards in 2001 and 2002.^[9][10] In 2007, he collaborated with audio specialist and YouTuber Jim Gisriel to co-create the web animation series and comedy hip-hop duo nockFORCE, rapping under the stage name "effnocka" as well as voicing his character in Adobe Flash animations.^[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]

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.^[21]

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.^[22][23]

Personal life

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][2] 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]

Influences

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]

Filmography

Animation

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006–2010	The Venture Bros.	Art director, animation director, inker
2007	Supernormal	Animation director
2010–2013	Adventure Time	Storyboard artist
2011–2012	Secret Mountain Fort Awesome	Writer, storyboard artist
2013–2016, 2019	Steven Universe	Executive producer, supervising director, writer, storyboard artist
2017–2019	OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes	Creator, executive producer, writer, storyboard artist
2019	Steven Universe: The Movie	Executive producer, writer	Television film
2023	One Piece	Additional animator	Episode 1066

Voice work

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012–2018	Bravest Warriors	Wallow, additional voices	Main cast[27]
2013	Lakewood Plaza Turbo	Radicles X, Darrell, A Real Magic Skeleton	OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes pilot[28]
2013–2015	Steven Universe	Mr. Queasy, Cat Fingers, Actor	3 episodes
2015	Welcome to My Life	Bully	Short
2017–2019	OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes	Radicles X, Darrell, Crinkly Wrinkly, Pird, additional voices	Main cast[28]
2018	Mighty Magiswords	Radicles X	Episode: "Let's Team Up Because We Aren't Bad Friends"[28]
2019	Steven Universe Future	Snowflake Obsidian	Episode: "Guidance"[28]
2020	The Fungies!	Insane Jolt	Episode: "Pam Runs Forever"
2024–present	NOXP	Ezekiel	2 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	OK K.O.! Let's Play Heroes	Radicles X, Darrell, Crinkly Wrinkly, Mr. Logic, Gerald Nametag, Ancient Scroll	[28]
2022	Neon White	Neon Yellow	[28]

Comics

• RPG World^[29]

References

1. @ianjq (18 June 2021). "Finally I can post it! 🎉🎂" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
2. Cavna, Michael (2017-08-01). "A new Cartoon Network show finds inspiration in Columbia, Md., the animator's home town". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved 2017-08-01. ...Jones-Quartey — a 33-year-old writer-artist...
3. Michaels, Andrew (6 September 2017). "Hometown inspires Columbia native's Cartoon Network show". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
4. Barnhardt, Laura (August 6, 1995). "Young students find television acting gives them a new look at themselves". The Baltimore Sun. Maryland. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
5. Michaels, Andrew (September 6, 2017). "Hometown inspires Columbia native's Cartoon Network show". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
6. "You're invited to help address school tragedies". Howard County Times (Howard County, Maryland). May 3, 2001.
7. Cavna, Michael (August 1, 2017). "A new Cartoon Network show finds inspiration in Columbia, Md., the animator's home town". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
8. Zahed, Ramin (August 1, 2017). "Playing to Win: 'OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes'". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
9. "The 2001 Cartoonists' Choice Awards". Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards. Archived from the original on December 31, 2009.
10. "The 2002 Cartoonists' Choice Awards". Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards. Archived from the original on 2009-12-08.
11. "nockFORCE biography". Last.fm. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
12. Lloyd, Robert (June 9, 2021). "Emmy Watch 2021: A Good Year to Watch Toons" (Interview). Interviewed by Mercedes Milligan. Calabasas, California: Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on June 15, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
13. Milligan, Mercedes (March 9, 2017). "Cartoon Network Gets Connected with 'OK K.O.!' & Integrated Game". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
14. Milligan, Mercedes (April 3, 2017). "Nelvana Brings First 'Bravest Warriors' Broadcast Season on MIP Quest". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on June 13, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
15. Milligan, Mercedes (October 1, 2013). "Rebecca Sugar Welcomes You to 'Steven Universe'". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
16. Milligan, Mercedes (June 30, 2016). "Cartoon Network Studios Presents First-Ever Animation Jam". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
17. Milligan, Mercedes (April 24, 2018). "Cartoon Network, HowStuffWorks Partner on 'Drawn' Animation Podcast". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
18. Milligan, Mercedes (July 27, 2018). "Stuff We Love: A Summer Bounty of Books, Discs & More". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
19. Milligan, Mercedes (June 6, 2019). "Cartoon Network Plans Panels, Picnic & Scholarship Announcement for Annecy". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on August 12, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
20. Milligan, Mercedes (April 5, 2019). "RTX Animation Fest Announces First Round of Guests". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
21. Zahed, Ramin (June 13, 2019). "'Steven Universe The Movie' Announces Full List of Musical Performers". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
22. Milligan, Mercedes (February 16, 2021). "Third Crystal Gems Anti-Racism Short Calls on Kids to 'See Color'". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021.
23. Milligan, Mercedes (April 12, 2021). "CN Launches Final Crystal Gems Anti-Racism PSA: 'Be An Ally'". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021.
24. Jones-Quartey, Ian (2015-04-17). "IAN JQ dot com". Tumblr.
25. Jones-Quartey, Ian [@ianjq] (December 5, 2019). "Hey so @rebeccasugar and I have been a couple for 12 years... and yesterday we got married!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on December 13, 2019 – via Twitter.
26. Ohanesian, Liz (November 17, 2014). "Manga Series Dragon Ball Celebrates 30th Anniversary". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017.
27. Cartoon Hangover (September 12, 2012). "Meet Ian Jones-Quartey as Wallow from 'Bravest Warriors'!". Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved February 9, 2018 – via YouTube.
28. "Ian Jones-Quartey (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 8, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
29. Jones-Quartey, Ian. (2004) RPG World – The Comic That's in a Video Game, Volume 1: Unlikely Hero Out for Adventure. Publisher: Keenspot Entertainment. ISBN 0-9722350-4-3

External links

• Ian Jones-Quartey on Tumblr
• Ian Jones-Quartey at IMDb
• RPG World