The Proud Family was created by Bruce W. Smith and was produced by Jambalaya Studios. Originally piloted for 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. Many of the later episodes of The Proud Family were produced using Adobe Flash.
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 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 Television Animation arm.
Voice cast and their characters
Kyla Pratt: Penny Proud, the main protagonist of the series, a 14-year-old girl living in fictional Wizville, CA 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 listens to and always respects her parents, but often caves in to peer pressure. She can be very bratty when she doesn't get her way 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 she is in a difficult situation.
Karen Malina White: Dijonay Jones, Penny's selfish, funny, caring, 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.
Tara Strong: BeBe & CeCe Proud, Penny's troublemaking two-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 named after the gospel music brother and sister duo, BeBe & CeCe Winans. Though, BeBe's face is 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 wouldn't have to babysit them anymore, but reverted back to their infancy by the end of the episode for continuity's sake.
Jo Marie Payton: Suga Mama Proud, Penny, Bebe, and Cece's hip, wrestling-loving grandma, 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 regard 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 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. Like Puff, Suga Mama also displays a really warm relationship with Penny and sometimes even agrees with her ideas.
Paula Jai Parker: Trudy Proud (née Parker), the veterinarian mother of Penny, BeBe and CeCe. 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.
Tommy Davidson: Oscar Proud, the over-protective father of Penny, Bebe, and Cece, and son of Suga Mama. Oscar is characterized as hyperactive, immature, childish, but still a well-meaning and intelligent man. Oscar owns and operates his own snack food business called Proud Snacks whose flavors are unpopular.
Carlos Alazraqui: 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 and in one episode he even posed as a black poodle on a fancy famous French magazine.
Semi-regular cast
Soleil Moon Frye: Zoey Howzer, Penny's friend. Zoey is nerdy, timid, and very white. 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.
Alisa Reyes: LaCienega Boulevardez, Penny's frenemy 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 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 really likes 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.
Orlando Brown: 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.
Cedric the Entertainer: Bobby Proud, 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 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 (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.
Phil LaMarr: Michael Collins, Penny's flamboyant friend. 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.
The Gross Sisters, Nubia, Olay, and Gina, the Gross sisters are the bullies of Penny's school, extorting money from students, faculty, and parents. They live in a rough housing estate in the city. Nubia is the middle child and the leader of the sisters and is known for being the only one to speak on-screen. The other sisters are the youngest but physically largest Olay, and Gina, the oldest but smallest. Gina has a habit of her hands out and Olay physically assaults others sometimes. Their names are a play on skin care products Neutrogena, Nivea, and Olay. Nubia is voiced by Raquel Lee.
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. He calls Penny "Itty Bitty" and Sugar Mama "Sugar Bear".
Cree Summer: Peabo, the Prouds' 9-year-old Neighbour. 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.
Aries Spears: Wizard Kelly, whose face is never seen (except a very brief shot in the film). Kelly is an incredibly wealthy, very smart and famous businessman who made his fortune playing professional basketball. He is a parody of NBA Legend, Magic Johnson.
Smart Baby/Red-Nosed Baby (voiced by Ron Glass): An infant with a droll expression, who enjoys harassing Oscar. Whenever Oscar tries to expose him he responds as if he's just a regular baby, with a "Goo Goo". Despite him being a baby he's shown to be able to speak as if he were an adult.
Co-starring
Carlos Mencia: Felix Boulevardez, 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 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.
Maria Canals: Sunset Boulevardez, Felix's wife and Trudy's best friend. She is the mother of LaCienega, 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. 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 Sugar 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).
Mega (Ray J): A boy who runs a website where kids download songs for free.
Ray Ray Proud, Sr. (Anthony Anderson): Oscar's crazy cousin.
Ray Ray Proud, Jr. (Jamal Mixon): the son of Ray Ray Proud, Sr.
Reuben Parker (David Alan Grier): Trudy's rich brother.
Sista Spice (Jenifer Lewis): Suga Mama's sister.
Sunny Stevens/Iesha (Gabrielle Union): The teen star of Penny and her friends' favorite show, Iesha.
Teen Bebe and Cece (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 (Robert Guillaume): Trudy's father.
Juicy's Spoken Word Contest Host (Mos Def)
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.
Spin-off
The Proud Family Shorties is an Online Cartoon spin-off of The Proud Family created by Bruce W. Smith. It follows the adventures of BeBe & CeCe Proud 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
Reruns
The Proud Family reran on ABC as part of Disney's One Saturday Morning from May 4 until September 7, 2002. In 2011, reruns of the series were shown on Centric. 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.
Syndication
In 2002, ABC launched the series as a part of its Saturday morning block, ABC Kids. 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. In Jamaica, it airs on TVJ.
Film
In 2005, The Proud Family Movie premiered as a DCOM on Disney Channel. The film served as the series finale.
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 Fo 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)
