The Proud Family (TV series)

The Proud Family is an American animated sitcom that ran on Disney Channelfrom September 15, 2001 to August 19, 2005.

Production
The Proud Family was created by Walt Disney Animation Studios animator Bruce W. Smith and was produced by Jambalaya Studios. Originally piloted for Disney's One Saturday Morning, then Nickelodeon, it was eventually picked up by Disney Channel and started airing in September 2001. An original pilot was made and produced by Nickelodeon in 1999 but was never shown to the public resulting in Nickelodeon passing the show on.[1] Many of the later episodes of The Proud Family were produced using Adobe Flash.[2]

The series is the first Disney children's cartoon which did not premiere on network/over-the-air television, which had been done since 1984 when the Television Animation unit was started. It marked the third animated Disney Channel Original Series, and, incidentally, the only original animated series from Disney Channel not associated with, and to be produced exclusively by Disney's Television Animation arm.

Main

 * Penny Proud (voiced by Kyla Pratt): The main protagonist of the series, a 14-year-old 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. In The Proud Family Movie, Penny turns 16, and she begins to want independence, but her father has issues letting her go. She saves the world and makes up with him, and he finally realizes she is her own person who can make her own decisions.
 * Oscar Proud (voiced by Tommy Davidson): The over-protective 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 flavors are unpopular.
 * Trudy Proud (née Parker) (voiced by Paula Jai Parker): The veterinarianmother 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 wealthyfamily, 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.
 * Suga Mama Proud (voiced by Jo Marie Payton): Penny, BeBe, and CeCe's hip, wrestling-loving 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 (during The Proud Family Movie, she finally gives him some respect and listens to him for once). She has the highest respect for Trudy. Her age is unknown (although in She Drives Me Crazy, it said she had a driver's license that expired in 1938), 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.
 * BeBe & CeCe Proud (voiced by Tara Strong): Penny's troublemaking one-year-old 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 a pink dress with pigtails. 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 hairdo. 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. In the episode "Twins to Tweens", Penny wishes that they were teenagers so she would not have to babysit them anymore; her wish is granted but later reverted because they were ruining Penny's life.
 * Puff the Dog (voiced by Tara Strong in the series, Carlos Alazraqui in the movie): 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.
 * 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 9 younger siblings all named after spices, seasonings and condiments.
 * Zoey Howzer (voiced by Soleil Moon Frye): Zoey is nerdy, timid, shy, kind, smart and one of the only white characters in the show. 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 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. LaCienega is able to convince her parents that she is a very sweet and moral young lady, but in reality, she is very vain, arrogant, obnoxious, selfish, and snobbish. Despite her stubborn attitude, she is secretly envious of Penny deep down, 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 (voiced by Orlando Brown): 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.
 * Nubia Gross (voiced by Raquel Lee): The neighborhood bully, who goes around stealing money from students, faculty, and even parents (including her own). Nubia lives with her family in a rough housing estate in the city, so they have to do chores to support it. Her catchphrase is "Hands up, cash out!" Nubia's silent sisters (whom she often treats poorly) are the heavily built Olei (who serves as Nubia's bodyguard), and the short statured Gina (who collects the money for Nubia). Despite the constant mistreatment and abuse, Nubia is protective over her sisters and threatens anyone who might endanger or hurt them. Their names are a play on skin care products Neutrogena, Nivea, and Olay, which is ironic as their skin is noted to be dry, ashy, and blue.

Supporting

 * Bobby Proud (voiced by Cedric the Entertainer, Arsenio Hall in the movie): 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 Gangamong others. He sings and talks like the lead singers of the 1970s funkbands 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 (as shown in the episode "Thelma and Luis" when Suga Mama and Papi accidentally drive it off the Grand Canyon and the parachute saves them). 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. Bobby reveals in the episode "She Drives Me Crazy" that the band is from East St. Louis, Illinois.
 * 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. His face is never seen.
 * Smart Baby/Red-Nosed Baby (voiced by Ron Glass): 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".
 * 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 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.
 * Sunset Boulevardez (voiced by Maria Canals): Felix's wife and Trudy's best friend. She is the mother of LaCienega, the wife of Felix 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 increases her affection towards Papi. 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 descent and his laugh is reminiscent of the Joker's).
 * Michael Collins (voiced by Phil LaMarr): 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.
 * Dr. Payne (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson): The doctor, whose build and mannerisms are based on those of Mr. T. Oscar usually suffers painful treatment at his hands. He calls Penny "Itty Bitty" and Suga Mama "Sugar Bear".
 * Peabo (voiced by Cree Summer): The Prouds' 9-year-old neighbor. He is very smart 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 likes Proud Snacks. He at first has a crush on Penny, then Zoey, and ends up dating one of Dijonay's sisters.
 * Lil' Wiz (voiced by Aries Spears): Wizard Kelly's son.

Notable guest stars
Main article: List of The Proud Family guest stars

The Proud Family featured various notable guest stars who portrayed themselves or other characters.

Television film
Main article: The Proud Family Movie

In 2005, The Proud Family Movie premiered as a Disney Channel Original Movieon Disney Channel. The film served as the series finale.

Crossover with Lilo & Stitch
The Proud Family visit Hawaii on an episode of Lilo & Stitch: The Series entitled "Spats" in which they stay at Jumba & Pleakley's Bed & Not Breakfast and Suga Mama inadvertently activates an experiment that causes spats.

Web series spinoff
The Proud Family Shorties is an online cartoon spinoff of The Proud Familycreated by Bruce W. Smith. It follows the adventures of BeBe & CeCe Proud, Suga Mama, and Puff the dog.

Cast

 * Tara Strong as BeBe & CeCe Proud/Puff the Dog
 * Jo Marie Payton as Suga Mama Proud
 * Kyla Pratt as Penny Proud
 * Tommy Davidson as Oscar Proud
 * Paula Jai Parker as Trudy Proud

Reruns
The Proud Family reran on ABC as part of Disney's One Saturday Morning from May to July 2002. The series was shown on Disney Channel as part of Disney Replay on October 1, 2015 and aired again on December 24, 2015 with the episode "Seven Days of Kwanzaa". In December 2018, the episode was part of a holiday live stream on Disney Channel's YouTube channel.

Syndication
In 2002, ABC relaunched the series as a part of its rebranded Saturday morning block, ABC Kids which replaced Disney's One Saturday Morning. The series aired in syndication on BET in 2008. It also aired on Toon Disney until February 6, 2009. The Proud Family was also aired on The Family Channel in Canada. In 2010, the series began airing on Centric. In Jamaica, it aired on TVJ. In the United Kingdom, the series aired on ITV in 2002 as part of the network's Saturday morning Diggin' It show.

Awards and nominations

 * Annie Awards
 * 2004 – Outstanding Character Design in an Animated Television Production – Shannon Tindle for episode "Culture Shock" (Nominated)
 * 2003 – Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Production Produced for Children (Nominated)
 * 2003 – Outstanding Character Design in an Animated Television Production – Shannon Tindle for episode "Forbidden Date" (Nominated)
 * 2003 – Outstanding Directing in an Animated Television Production – Bruce W. Smith for episode "A Hero For Halloween" (Nominated)
 * 2003 – Outstanding Writing in an Animated Television Production – James E. West II & T. Smith III for episode "I Had A Dream" (Nominated)


 * BET Comedy Awards
 * 2004 – Outstanding Animated Series (Won)


 * Casting Society of America
 * 2003 – Best Casting for Animated Voice Over, Television – Eileen Mack Knight (Won)
 * 2002 – Best Casting for Animated Voice Over, Television – Eileen Mack Knight (Won)


 * Image Awards
 * 2005 – Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series/Special – Tommy Davidson (Nominated)
 * 2005 – Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series/Special – JoMarie Payton (Nominated)
 * 2005 – Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series/Special – Kyla Pratt (Nominated)
 * 2004 – Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series/Special – Tommy Davidson (Nominated)
 * 2004 – Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series/Special – Kyla Pratt (Nominated)
 * 2003 – Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series – Cedric the Entertainer (Won)
 * 2003 – Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series/Special – Tommy Davidson (Nominated)
 * 2003 – Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series/Special – JoMarie Payton (Nominated)
 * 2003 – Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series/Special – Kyla Pratt (Nominated)
 * 2003 – Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series – Ving Rhames (Nominated)
 * 2002 – Outstanding Performance in a Youth or Children's Series/Special – Tommy Davidson (Nominated)
 * 2002 – Outstanding Youth or Children's Series/Special (Nominated)


 * Kids' Choice Awards
 * 2004 – Favorite Cartoon (Nominated)


 * NAMIC Vision Awards
 * 2005 – Children's (Won)
 * 2005 – Best Comedic Performance – JoMarie Payton (Nominated)
 * 2004 – Best Comedic Performance – JoMarie Payton (Nominated)
 * 2004 – Best Comedic Performance – Paula Jai Parker (Nominated)


 * Television Critics Association Awards
 * 2004 – Outstanding Children's Programming (Nominated)

Video game
The Proud Family, a video game based on the series, was developed by Gorilla Systems and published by Buena Vista Games for the Game Boy Advance.[4]The game was released in North America in November 2005, a few months after the show ended.[4] In the game, Penny works a variety of jobs to raise money so she can afford to buy her parents a T.H.A.N.G. (Total Home Automated Necessity Gizmo) for their upcoming wedding anniversary. Each job plays out as a minigame. Aside from Penny and her parents, other characters from the series also appear in the game, including Penny's friends and Suga Mama.[4][5]GameDaily and GameZone both rated the game 8 out of 10.[5][6]