The Proud Family is an American animated television series that ran on Disney Channel from September 15, 2001 to August 19, 2005.

Production[link]

The Proud Family is created by Bruce W. Smith and is produced by his studio, Jambalaya Studios.^[1] Originally piloted for Nickelodeon, it was eventually picked up by the Disney Channel in September 2001. Many of the later episodes of The Proud Family were produced using Macromedia Flash.^{[citation needed]}

The series is the first Disney animated television series which did not premiere on network/over-the-air television, which had been done since 1985 when the Television Animation unit was started. It marked the first 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 TV Animation arm. Later, in January 2009, three episodes reran. As of 2011, The Proud Family is no longer listed on Disney Channel's official All Shows web page consisting of Disney Channel original series.

The Proud Family[link]

Penny Proud[link]

Voiced by Kyla Pratt; the main protagonist of the series, a 14-year-old girl who is usually embarrassed by the way her father, Oscar, acts. 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 listens to and always respects her parents, but often caves in to peer pressure. She is also a feminist at times, and is very logical. 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. She is on the Football team and the Newspaper Staff. Penny 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 cheerleading squad. Penny is also good at reciting poetry and becomes jealous when 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's her own person who can make her own decisions. Penny hangs out with Dijonay, Sticky, LaCienega and Zoey. However their friendship with Penny is questionable at times as they all have a habit of ditching Penny whenever Penny is in a difficult situation.

Oscar Proud[link]

Voiced by Tommy Davidson, Oscar is the overprotective father of Penny, Bebe, and Cece, and is the son of Suga Mama. Oscar is characterised as hyper-active, immature, childish, somewhat dimwitted but still a well-meaning and intelligent man. Oscar owns and operates his own snack food business called Proud Snacks whose flavours are not popular.

Trudy Proud[link]

Voiced by Paula Jai Parker, Trudy is the veterinarian mother of Penny, BeBe and CeCe. She comes from a relatively wealthy family, her father also being a doctor and her sister Diana, being a famous actress.

BeBe & CeCe Proud[link]

Voiced by Tara Strong; Penny's trouble-making one-year-old 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 namesakes of the gospel music brother and sister duo, BeBe & CeCe Winans. CeCe is the older twin. They love Penny very much, but at points play too roughly with her. They are often seen playing with Puff, and most of the time, Puff ends up getting injured.

Suga Mama Proud[link]

Voiced by Jo Marie Payton; Penny, Bebe, and Cece's hip, wrestling-loving grandma who does Tae-kwon-do. She is very nice, and always gets straight to the point when she talks. She can constantly tease, or even beat up Oscar, but she 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 regard for Trudy. Her age is unknown (although in one episode it said she had a driver's license that expired in 1938), and often made fun of by her son. An event from twenty years ago shows her looking exactly the same as before. Suga Mama falls in love with Papi. On the contrary Papi despises Suga Mama and 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.

Bobby Proud[link]

Voiced by Cedric The Entertainer (Arsenio Hall in The Proud Family Movie), Oscar's older brother and Suga Mama's eldest son. He is a fan of groups like Kool & The Gang among others. He sings and talks like the lead singers of the '70's bands 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.

Puff the Dog[link]

Voiced by Tara Strong; Puff is Suga Mama's beloved pet poodle. Like his owner, Puff hates Oscar and is often tormented by the baby twins, BeBe and CeCe, who play roughly with him. He does however, often show a soft side for Penny. It is also shown that Puff likes to watch drama shows and in one episode he even posed as a black poodle on a fancy famous French magazine.

Characters' voice cast[link]

Regular cast[link]

• Kyla Pratt - Penny Proud
• Tommy Davidson - Oscar Proud
• Paula Jai Parker - Trudy Proud
• Jo Marie Payton - Suga Mama Proud
• Tara Strong - BeBe Proud, CeCe Proud, and Puff the Dog

Semi-regular cast[link]

• Karen Malina White - Dijonay Jones, Penny's selfish, chubby 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 had to stop trusting Dijonay 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.
• Soleil Moon Frye - Zoey Howzer, Penny's nerdy, insecure and timid friend. 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. Zoey is the only Caucasian character in the main cast of the show.
• Alisa Reyes - LaCienega Boulevardez, Penny's frienemy and the daughter of Felix and Sunset Boulevardez. She is popular and beautiful in Penny's school, as well as an excellent student. Penny and LaCienega constantly antagonize each other and Penny is usually stuck hanging out with her, since LaCienega is friends with Dijonay. In the show, LaCienega is able to convince the adults that she is a very sweet and moral young lady while in fact she is very vain, arrogant and obnoxious. Note: 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.
• Orlando Brown - Sticky Webb, Penny's other best friend. He is a 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 Dijonay ignores him he gets jealous.
• Cedric the Entertainer - Bobby Proud
• Phil LaMarr - Michael Collins, Penny's flamboyant friend. Due to his effeminate interests, he is often bullied. In addition to this, his father is ashamed of him.
• Raquel Lee - Nubia Gross (Nubia is the only speaker of the three Gross Sisters). She and her sisters are the bullies of Penny's school, extorting money from students, faculty, and parents.
• Kevin Michael Richardson - Dr. Payne / Omar - A local doctor, whose build and mannerisms are based on those of Mr. T. Oscar usually suffers painful treatment at his hands.
• Cree Summer - Peabo, The Prouds' 9-year-old Neighbour.
• Aries Spears - Wizard Kelly, whose face is almost never seen. Kelly is an incredibly wealthy and famous businessman who made his fortune playing professional basketball. He is a parody of NBA Legend, Magic Johnson and R&B singer R.Kelly
• Smart Baby/Red-Nosed Baby (voiced by Ron Glass) — An infant with a droll expression, who enjoys harassing Oscar.

Co-starring[link]

• Carlos Mencia - Felix Boulevardez, Oscar's neighbor and best friend. He is the father of LaCienega and the husband of Sunset. He and Oscar often get into trouble together. He and Oscar have a lot in common: 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 yet that does not affect their friendship. They are also very strict with their daughters hanging out with boys.
• María Canals - Sunset Boulevardez, Felix's wife and Trudy's best friend. She is the mother of LaCienega and the wife of Felix and is a police officer.
• Alvaro Gutierrez - Papi Boulevardez, Felix's father 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.
• Aries Spears - Lil' Wiz, Wizard Kelly's son.

Notable guest stars[link]

• Al Roker (voiced by Al Roker) — A Faustian man who grants wishes at a horrible price.
• Angel Joseph (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) - A homeless man who was formally a construction worker.
• Angel Margaret (voiced by Vivica A. Fox) - Joseph's wife.
• Angel Stephanie (voiced by Raven-Symoné) - Joseph and Margaret's daughter.
• Boonnetta Proud (voiced by Mo'Nique) — Oscar's crazy cousin-in-law.
• Carlos (voiced by Kel Mitchell) - Asks Penny on a date.
• Chanel Parker (voiced by Solange Knowles) - Trudy's niece.
• Chester the Duck (voiced by Frank Welker) — A duck Penny found.
• The Credit Card (voiced by Steve Harvey) - Penny's credit card.
• Debra Williams (voiced by Vanessa L. Williams) — Friend of Oscar and Trudy (the latter's college roommate).
• Diana Parker (voiced by Sheryl Lee Ralph) — Trudy's sister who is a Broadway star.
• "Fifteen (15) Cent" (voiced by Omarion) — A young rapper with a crush on Penny. He is a loose parody of 50 Cent.
• Garrett Krebs (voiced by Ving Rhames) - The antagonist of the Halloween episode "A Hero for Halloween".
• Johnny McBride (voiced by Shia LaBeouf) - A classmate in Penny's algebra class.
• Leslie Parker (voiced by Wendy Raquel Robinson) — Trudy's sister-in-law.
• Lisa Raye (voiced by LisaRaye McCoy) — A dance instructor for 15 Cent's video.
• Lou Rawls (voiced by Lou Rawls) - Voices himself in Penny's dream sequence and singing "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine".
• Mrs. Maureen Parker (voiced by Cicely Tyson) — Trudy's mother.
• Mega (voiced by Ray J) — A boy who runs a website where kids download songs for free.
• Ray Ray Proud, Sr. (voiced by Anthony Anderson) — Oscar's crazy cousin.
• Ray Ray Proud, Jr. (voiced by Jamal Mixon) — the son of Ray Ray Proud, Sr.
• Reuben Parker (voiced by David Alan Grier) — Trudy's rich brother.
• Sista Spice (voiced by Jenifer Lewis) — Suga Mama's sister.
• Sunny Stevens/Iesha (voiced by Gabrielle Union) - The teen star of Penny and her friends' favorite show, Iesha.
• Teen Bebe and Cece (voiced by Lee Thompson Young and Sicily Sewell) - The teen forms of Bebe and Cece who appear when Penny wishes that they were older so she doesn't have to babysit them.
• Dr. Vincent Parker (voiced by Robert Guillaume) — Trudy's father.
• Juicy's Spoken Word Contest Host (voiced by Mos Def)

Episodes[link]

Crossover[link]

The Proud Family is featured in an episode of Lilo & Stitch: The Series entitled "Spats". Notable characters are listed below.

• Kyla Pratt as the voice of Penny Proud
• Daveigh Chase as the voice of Lilo Pelekai
• Chris Sanders as the voice of Stitch (626)
• David Ogden Stiers as the voice of Dr. Jumba
• Kevin McDonald as the voice of Pleakey
• Tommy Davidson as the voice of Oscar Proud
• Paula Jai Parker as the voice of Trudy Proud
• Tara Strong as the voice of BeBe and CeCe Proud
• Jo Marie Payton as the voice of Suga Mama Proud

Reruns[link]

The series was rerun on ABC as part of Disney's One Saturday Morning from May 4, 2002 until September 7, 2002.

Syndication[link]

The series aired in syndication on BET in 2008. It also aired on Toon Disney until February 2009. The Proud Family was also broadcast on The Family Channel in Canada. In 2010, the series began airing on Centric.

Media[link]

• The Proud Family (album)
• The Proud Family (video game)

Film adaptations[link]

In 2005, The Proud Family Movie premiered as a DCOM on Disney Channel. The film served as a series finale as well as a motion picture.

A second film tentatively titled The Proud Family Reunion has been rumored since 2010, but has yet to be confirmed by Disney.

Awards and nominations[link]

• 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)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• The Proud Family at the Internet Movie Database
• The Proud Family at TV.com