The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder
Genre	Coming-of-age Comedy Animated sitcom
Created by	Bruce W. Smith Ralph Farquhar
Voices of	Kyla Pratt Tommy Davidson Paula Jai Parker Jo Marie Payton Cedric the Entertainer
Opening theme	"Proud Family" by Joyce Wrice
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Bruce W. Smith Ralph Farquhar Calvin Brown, Jr.
Producer	Jan Hirota
Production company	Disney Television Animation
Original release
Network	Disney+

The Proud Family is upcoming an American animated television series created by Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar that will premiere on Disney+ on February 23, 2022. It is a revival of The Proud Family which originally ran on Disney Channel from September 15, 2001, to August 19, 2005.

Premise

The series follows the story of Penny Proud, a 14-year-old girl and her family, as they navigate their lives in the 2020s. Trudy, Penny's mom, has new career highs, Oscar, Penny's dad, has wild dreams, and Penny faces a myriad of challenges while her Suga Mama returns, as does Michael, Dijonay, Zoey, and LaCienega. New kids Maya and KG, who are raised by two days, try to adapt to life in Smithville.

Characters

Main

• Penny Proud (voiced by Kyla Pratt): The main protagonist of the series, a 14-year-old African-American girl who is usually embarrassed by her father, Oscar. She enjoys hanging out with her friends, even though they have gotten her into trouble, and left her to face danger by herself many times. She always listens to and respects her parents, but often caves in to peer pressure. She is a talented singer as shown when she becomes a solo singer for Wizard Kelly productions but quits after missing her old life. Penny is a straight 'A' student, and is part of the school newspaper staff. At one point, she tried out for cheerleading, but due to having an accident with the stage being converted into a giant CD, LaCienega got the last spot on the squad. Penny is also good at writing and reciting poetry, and becomes jealous when her friend Dijonay becomes just as good as her.
• Dijonay Jones (voiced by Karen Malina White): Penny's selfish, untrustworthy, and enthusiastic best friend. She has an obsessive crush on Sticky. She also loves to gossip and has gotten Penny in trouble many times. Eventually, Penny gets fed up with Dijonay mistreating her, and completely loses her trust in her, though they still remain friends. Dijonay's name is a pun on the name of Best Foods'/Hellmann's Djionnaise, and she has nine younger siblings all named after spices, seasonings and condiments.
• BeBe & CeCe Proud (Bresha Webb as CeCe and Aiden Dodson as BeBe): Penny's trouble-making baby fraternal twin siblings. BeBe is a boy with an afro and always has a bottle in his mouth, while CeCe is a girl with brown hair and pink dress. BeBe and CeCe are named after the gospel music brother and sister duo, BeBe & CeCe Winans. BeBe's eyes are never seen, due to his afro hairstyle. They love Penny very much, but at times they play too roughly with her. They are often seen playing with Puff, and most of the time, Puff ends up getting injured.
• Puff the Dog: Suga Mama's beloved pet poodle. Puff is often tormented by the baby twins, BeBe & CeCe, who play roughly with him. He does however, show a soft side for Penny. It is also shown that Puff likes to watch drama shows.
• Suga Mama Proud (voiced by Jo Marie Payton): Penny, BeBe, and CeCe's hip, wrestling-loving paternal grandmother, Oscar and Bobby's mother and Trudy's mother-in-law who does Tae Bo. She is very nice but sassy, and always gets straight to the point when she talks. She can even tease and beat up Oscar, but loves him deep down. She has the highest respect for Trudy. Her age is unknown, and is often made fun of by Oscar. An event from 20 years ago shows her looking exactly the same as before. Suga Mama is in love with her neighbor Papi, who often makes rude remarks about her in Spanish which she thinks are compliments. She shows extra amounts of love for her poodle, Puff. She is really into pink dresses and afro puffs, hence the name of her dog, Puff. Like Puff, Suga Mama also displays a really warm relationship with Penny and sometimes even agrees with her ideas.
• Trudy Proud (née Parker) (voiced by Paula Jai Parker): The veterinarian mother of Penny, BeBe and CeCe, wife of Oscar, daughter-in-law of Suga Mama and sister-in-law of Bobby Proud. She comes from a relatively wealthy family, including her father who is a doctor and her sister Diana who is a famous actress. She often gives Penny advice when Penny is in trouble. Trudy is married to Oscar, and in turn often forces him to see the logical side of an argument. She is the level-headed one in the family along with Suga Mama, though she can be bossy and jealous sometimes.
• Oscar Proud (voiced by Tommy Davidson): The overprotective father of Penny, BeBe and CeCe, husband of Trudy, younger brother of Bobby Proud and son of Suga Mama. Oscar is characterized as hyperactive, immature, childish, but still a well-meaning man. Oscar owns and operates his own snack food business called "Proud Snacks" whose products are severely disgusting, yet he manages to stay in business.
• Zoey Howzer (voiced by Soleil Moon Frye): Zoey is geeky, timid, shy, kind, and smart. She is very insecure about her looks and wants to be accepted. Zoey is known for being a follower and Penny often has to talk sense into her. Her mother is a limousine driver while her aunt is a lawyer. Zoey enjoys dancing but has little faith in her skills. When she competes in a dance battle, however, she proves herself to be just as good as, if not better than, her friends.
• LaCienega Boulevardez (voiced by Alisa Reyes): Penny's Latina frenemy and the daughter of Felix and Sunset Boulevardez. She is the most popular and beautiful girl in Penny's school, as well as an excellent student. Penny and LaCienega despise each other and Penny is usually stuck hanging out with her, since LaCienega is friends with Dijonay, and their parents and grandparents are best friends. In the show, LaCienega is able to convince her parents and the Proud's that she is a very sweet and moral young lady, but in reality, she is very vain, arrogant, obnoxious, selfish, snotty, rude, conceited and snobbish. Despite her rebellious attitude, she is secretly envious of Penny deep down and likes her a little bit, but would never show it. LaCienega and her mother Sunset are named after La Cienega Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard, two Los Angeles area arterial roads that meet in West Hollywood, California.
• Sticky Webb: Penny's other best friend. He is shown as a cool tech nerd who is able to build or hack any type of device. He seems to have a crush on Penny and is constantly trying to avoid Dijonay's affection. He does have some affection towards Dijonay, such as when she ignores him, he gets jealous.
• The Gross Sisters (voiced by Raquel Lee): The neighborhood bullies who are almost always seen together, who go around stealing money from students, faculty, and even parents (including their own). They live with their family in a rough housing estate in the city, so they have to do chores to support it. Nubia is the leader and the only Gross sister who can talk while her sisters (whom she often treats poorly), the heavily built Olei (who serves as Nubia's bodyguard), and the short-statured Gina (who collects the money), are silent. Nubia's catchphrase is "Hands up, cash out!". Despite the constant mistreatment and abuse, Nubia is protective over her sisters and threatens anyone who might endanger or harm them. Their names are a play on skincare products Neutrogena, Nivea, and Olay, which is ironic because their skin is noted to be dry, ashy, and blue.

Supporting

• Barry and Randall Leibowitz-Jenkins (voiced by Zachary Quinto and Billy Porter): They are the dads of their adopted child, Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins, and are an interracial gay couple. Quinto and Porter are both gay actors.
• Michael Collins (voiced by EJ Johnson): Penny's flamboyant friend and the son of the school coach. Due to his effeminate interests, he is often bullied. However, he does stand-up for himself and sometimes gets over excited. In addition to this, his father is ashamed of him and often tells him to call him coach in public. Michael is also gender non-conforming in the series. The original series teased a relationship between him and LaCienega.
• Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins (voiced by Keke Palmer): A 14-year-old activist and new resident in Smithville, who is the adopted child of Barry and Randall Leibowitz-Jenkins.
• Kareem (voiced by Asante Blackk): Penny's boyfriend.
• Francis “KG” Leibowitz-Jenkins (voiced by "A Boogie” Dubose): Brother of Maya.
• Bobby Proud (voiced by Cedric the Entertainer): Oscar's older brother, Suga Mama's eldest son, Trudy's brother-in-law and Penny, Bebe and CeCe's uncle. He is a fan of groups like Kool & The Gang among others. He sings and talks like the lead singers of the 1970s funk bands Cameo (Larry Blackmon), The Ohio Players (Sugarfoot) and The Commodores (Lionel Richie). He has a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado that only plays one song and has hydraulics and also a parachute for some safety reasons. Suga Mama favors him over Oscar. He often has Oscar do things that annoy him very often, but ironically lead to Oscar meeting beautiful women. For example, he gets Oscar to be an ice cream man at a basketball game, which leads to one of the cheerleaders asking Oscar out on a date. Bobby and his band, DisFunkshunal Junction, are a clear parody of band leader George Clinton (also known as Dr. Funkenstein) and his band Parliament-Funkadelic, also known as P-Funk.
• Wizard Kelly (voiced by Aries Spears): An incredibly wealthy and famous businessman who made his fortune playing professional basketball. He owns various businesses that are named after him. A running gag is how he is too tall to fit in the picture, so every image and video of him shows only up to his neck.
• Smart Baby/Red-Nosed Baby: An infant with a droll expression, who enjoys harassing Oscar. Despite him being a baby, he is shown to be able to speak as if he were an adult. Whenever Oscar tries to expose him he responds as if he is just a regular baby, with a "Goo goo". His parents are never seen or mentioned.
• Felix Boulevardez (voiced by Carlos Mencia): Oscar's neighbor and best friend. (Oscar and Felix were also the names of the lead characters from the TV sitcom The Odd Couple). He is the father of LaCienega and the husband of Sunset. He and Oscar often get into trouble together. He and Oscar both have dominating wives, both have parents living in their home (Oscar has Suga Mama and Felix has Papi) and both have teenage daughters. The differences between them is that Oscar is tall and skinny and Felix is short and overweight, and Felix is also richer (due to his construction site named after him) and more successful than Oscar at everything, but that does not affect their friendship. They are also very strict with their daughters hanging out with boys. x
• Sunset Boulevardez (voiced by Maria Canals): Felix's wife and Trudy's best friend. She is the mother of LaCienega, and is a police officer.
• Papi Boulevardez (voiced by Alvaro Gutierrez): Felix's father, Sunset's father-in-law and Suga Mama's love interest. He is the grandfather of LaCienega. He speaks only Spanish and as a result he can get away with insulting Suga Mama. However, Suga Mama believes that he is sweet-talking her which only increases her affection towards Papi. Nevertheless, the two are often seen spending time together and genuinely enjoying each other's company. He is also known for his trademark cackling when after he insults Suga Mama or on some occasions. Ironically in The Proud Family Movie, Papi becomes enamored with the Spanish speaking clone of Suga Mama, who promptly beat him up when he insulted her. Papi is a parody of Cesar Romero's character The Joker on the 1966 TV series Batman (as Romero was of Spanish-Cuban descent and his laugh is reminiscent of the Joker's).
• Dr. Payne (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson): The Prouds' doctor, whose build and mannerisms are based on those of Mr. T. Oscar usually suffers painful treatment at his hands. He calls Oscar "Fool", Penny "Itty Bitty" and Suga Mama "Sugar Bear".
• Peabo (voiced by Cree Summer): The Prouds' 9-year-old neighbor. He is very smart for his age and often tries to warn Oscar whenever Oscar does something dangerous, though Oscar never listens and suffers for it. He is the only one who is known to like Proud Snacks. He at first has a crush on Penny, then Zoey, and ends up dating one of Dijonay's sisters.
• Lil' Wiz: Wizard Kelly's son.

Production

On February 27, 2020, the show was announced to be receiving a revival for a third season on Disney+ as The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. The original cast will reprise their roles, and Keke Palmer will voice a new character introduced to the series named Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins, who is a 14-year-old activist. Zachary Quinto and Billy Porter will also voice her adoptive parents, Barry and Randall Leibowitz-Jenkins, and EJ Johnson will replace Phil LaMarr as Michael Collins. Wild Brain said in July 2021 that they will be engaging in animation services for the series, while it will be animated by Disney Television Animation. The executive producers of the series, Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar, said that the "show never really went away" and called it the "perfect time to bring back this show." ScreenRant argued that the revival will break down barriers through inclusion of multicultural families and characters belonging to the LGBTQ+ community while BuzzFeed said the show will have a "much queerer cast of characters."

On September 15, 2021, more cast members were announced, including Asante Blackk as Penny's new boyfriend, Kareem, Artist "A Boogie" Dubose as Maya's gamer brother Francis "KG" Leibowitz-Jenkins, alongside returning cast members Raquel Lee Bolleau as Nubia Gross and Marcus T. Paulk as Myron. Additionally, some celebrity guest voices announced include Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Chance the Rapper, Normani, Leslie Odom Jr., Tiffany Haddish, Lena Waithe, Anthony Anderson, Gabrielle Union, Debbie Allen, James Pickens Jr., Courtney B. Vance, Jane Lynch, Marsai Martin, Jaden Smith, Glynn Turman, Lamorne Morris, Brenda Song, Tina Knowles, Eva Longoria, Holly Robinson Peete, Al Roker, Bretman Rock, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, and Dominique Dawes. The show also has Aldis Hodge returning as Frankie and Patricia Belcher as Principal Hightower.

On November 12, 2021, it was announced the series is scheduled to be released in February 2022. On January 14, 2022, it was announced the series is scheduled to be released February 23, 2022. Eastwood Wong is the art director for the series, while Calvin Brown, Jr. is story editor.

Before the show's premiere, Farquhar said that a lot has changed since original show premiered, and said the show will take on more topical topics rather than using "coded language" like in the original show. He also said that introduction of LGBTQ+ characters is the "biggest change," people can expect to the show.

Music

R&B singer Joyce Wrice will sing the theme song for the series. In the original series, the soundtrack album for the show is a combination of both original songs by the characters in the show, songs by popular R&B music artists such as Alicia Keys, India.Arie, and Solange & Destiny's Child (who perform the theme song), and classic soul music from artists such as Aretha Franklin and the O'Jays.

External links

• The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder at IMDb