The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (2024)

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder is a Disney+ revival of the 2001-2005 series, The Proud Family. Bruce W. Smith returns as creator and executive producer, this time with Ralph Farquhar.

Louder and Prouder is set in the 2020s and features the titular family's hilarious attempts to navigate modern life. Penny Proud is growing up and grappling with teenage hormones, something Oscar strongly objects to. Luckily, she has her good friends Dijonay, Zoey, LaCienega, and Michael to accompany her. But there are new faces in Smithville, a 14-year-old activist named Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins (Keke Palmer), her brother KG, and their interracial gay dads; a first for the town.

Unlike the original series, Louder and Prouder is produced at Disney Television Animation, while the animation is outsourced to Snipple Animation and WildBrain. Almost all of the original cast reprise their roles. There will be plenty of guest stars such as Chance The Rapper, Lil Nas X, Lizzo, and many more. The series was released on February 23, 2022, with the first two episodes added to Disney+. Watch the trailer here. On April 18, two days ahead of the first season finale, a second season was confirmed to be in production. The second season premiered on February 1, 2023. A third season has been picked up as of June 2023.

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder provides examples of:

• Abusive Parents:
  • LaBrea's mother. She flaunts an air of wealth to hide the fact that her family is broke and forces her daughter to keep up with the illusion against her will. She also tried to get her to lose weight and had her wear four girdles to allow her to attend LaCieniga's quincinera. This eventually drove LaBrea to hatch a plan to kill and replace LaCienega so she could move in with Sunset and Felix to escape her mother.
  • It's revealed that Suga Mama was estranged from her family due to her father being sexist and not letting her compete in the town's bull riding contest just because she was a girl.
• Actor Allusion: Papi's Signature Laugh is now provided by Kevin Michael Richardson, who previously voiced The Joker in The Batman, making his being an Expy of the Clown Prince of Crime all that more official.
• Animation Bump: Some of the animation in "Curved" is a lot smoother with moments of frame-by-frame animation.
• Art Evolution: Unlike the original series' minimalist backgrounds, the revival's backgrounds are quite detailed, and the character animation is much more fluid despite the switch by Toon Boom Harmony, much like in the style of Carmen Sandiego (another series WildBrain provided animation for). For a bit of nostalgia appeal, flashbacks to events in the original series retain their original art form.
• Artistic License – History: "Juneteenth" is full of these. For one thing, the writers either forgot that the show took place in California, that phone lines/internet didn't exist in 1800's, or both, as they act like the Emancipation Proclamation's passing and Juneteenth are one in the same. Juneteenth is actually when the order to free the slaves finally arrived in Texas, the last slave state at the time. While slave owners did exist in California, they obviously wouldn't get the memo until much later.
• Ascended Extra: Both Bobby and Michael were side characters in the original series have been promoted to main characters in this series (with Bobby even appearing in the intro now and Michael replaces Sticky who moved away).
• Before My Time: "Bad Influence(r)" shows that Penny doesn't know who Prince is. Cue Oscar singing "When Doves Cry". In the same epiosde LaCieniga refers to Snoop Dog as "some old grandaddy rapper named Snoopy", although she knows who Martha Stuart is as she refers to her hanging out with the former.
  • It's also shown in "Snackland" she doesn’t know who Tone Loc is, after her new singing voice is said to sound just like his by Trudy and Lizzo (and is actually provided by him).
  • In "Home School", when Uncle Bobby first introduces Bobby Brown’s My Prerogative to her, Zoey, much to Bobby's chagrin, initially thinks it's a Britney Spears song, as she did a cover of it in 2004.
• Big Fancy House: The Boulevardez house in this series has been modified to be even bigger than the one from the original series, to the point of being a mansion.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: LaCienega's family. On her mother's side of the family Sunset and Melrose have a toxic rivalry influenced by the pressure their mother put on them, and it's led to Sunset desiring to outdo her sister in every way she can, with the latter holding her in contempt for her seeming lack of taste. This behavior ended up negatively impacting LaCienega and LaBrea, instilling insecurities that erupted into a bitter rivalry that the latter pulled really harmful pranks, culminating in her plotting to off her.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: LaBrea, who has played an innocent victim of LaCienega's bullying for years but is revealed to be an even bigger bully herself. She turns out to be willing to do far worse than LaCienega has ever done by hatching a plan to kill and replace her so she could move in with LaCienega's mother and father to escape her own abusive mother. She almost goes through with it, getting up to the point of activating the rockets meant to make LaCienega "go away", but decides to save her in the end when things don't go as planned.
• Calling Parents by Their Name:
  • Penny has a tendency to say "Mama, make Oscar stop!" whenever Oscar becomes too strict.
  • Maya also calls her father Barry by his name and sometimes "Bare-Bare", and since she and KG have two fathers, this helps them know which father she's talking to.
• The Cameo: "Grandma's Hands" features Heihei as the rooster who crows at Suga Mama's home.
• Casting Gag: EJ Johnson, who now voices Michael, is the child of Earvin "Magic" Johnson who was the inspiration for the character Wizard Kelly, and who also has a background in basketball.
• Celebrity Star: Continuing the tradition from the original series, Among the guest stars 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 (Beyoncé's mom!), Eva Longoria, Holly Robinson Peete, Al Roker (returning), Bretman Rock, and Olympic gymnasts Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, and Dominique Dawes! (Phew!)
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome:
  • So far there hasn’t been any signs of Duke Anoi or other secondary characters from the original show.
  • Despite being Michael’s father, Coach Collins still hasn’t appeared yet.
• Comic-Book Time: The show is set in The New '20s but the characters haven't aged, save for the twins, who have aged about a year, and Michael, who had a growth spurt. Notably, even though she and her friends were actually given slight redesigns to look a bit older and are treated as such, with the first episode implying the kids "seeing the light" and their appearances changing overnight means they hit puberty, the show acts as if Penny had just turned 14, even though she was already 14 in the original series and it ended when she turned 16. This is lampshaded in "When You Wish Upon a Roker", where Al Roker points out Penny has been in middle school for 20 years now. LaCieniga does celebrate her quincinera however.
• Continuity Creep: Downplayed. While the plots are as episodic as the original series, subplots like "Snackland" continue on in coming episodes.
• Company Cross References:
  • In "Home School", KG is playing a version of Kingdom Hearts on his PC, with Sora's backside design clearly in view.
  • Suga Mama's reaction to seeing Penny in knight armor: "Why is Penny dressed like Darth Vader?"
  • A Princess Ball in a second season episode has Lacienega as Elena of Avalor, Dijonay as Cinderella (Brandy's Cinderella in her own words), Penny as Tiana, Zoey as Merida, Michael as Pocahontas, Trudy as Belle, BeBe and CeCe as Simba and Nala, and Oscar as the drunk minstrel from Sleeping Beauty.
• Costume Evolution: Most of the teen characters get slight modern upgrades to their outfits, mostly retaining the same or similar color scheme but having one or two pieces of clothing in a different fit/style, maybe adding a new accessory (Penny’s skirt is now denim and her sweater is maroon, her and LaCieniga's shirts are now cropped, the latter now wears jeans and high heeled ankle boots, Zoey now wears green and has a jean jacket with platform sandals etc). Michael easily has the most notable upgrade, he even has more than one main outfit.
• Couch Gag: Once again, the Title Sequence has Oscar opening and closing the door on Penny's friends (minus Sticky), then other people relevant to the episode, and then Suga Mama, who then slams the door open on Oscar and walks in. As an upgrade, the former two are given animations as opposed to merely being pop-up characters.
• Disco Dan: Uncle Bobby still is this, but now he wears MC Hammer pants and has a flat-top.
• Easily Forgiven: LaCienega's forgiveness of LaBrea is rather quick despite the years LaBrea spent sabotaging her which eventually culminated to a failed attempt on her life so that she could take her place in the Bouldevardez household. LaCienega even covers for LaBrea's attempt on her life when Dijonay tries to tattle, even though this would have been one of the only times where Dijonay's tattling would be justified.
• El Spanish "-o": Continuing the trend with LaCienega's family, her relatives from her mom's side of the family are surnamed "Avanúñez" for "Avenue". The correct translation would be "Avenida".
• Flanderization:
  • There's hardly a heartwarming moment between Penny and Oscar like in the original series and his comical and negative traits are even more exaggerated. When he and Penny do have a heartwarming moment, it’s always treated as a serious moment.
  • A case where it’s done to a recurring object: Not only do Proud Snacks taste horrible and get people sick with diarrhea as in the original series, they are now toxic to plants and even insects, cause mutations, burn holes in the ground, and can sometimes come to life.
• Gay Aesop: "Father Figures" is notable for being the first Disney cartoon that directly deals with hom*ophobia, more specifically kids of same-sex parents being bullied for that. Of note is hypocrisy in regards to their treatment versus that of Michael (who gets by due to his aggressive father) as well as the fact that even otherwise tolerant people can go with the crowd and ignore bigotry (Penny's friends, who genuinely aren't hom*ophobic but go with the crowd anyways and admit their parents raised them on the idea that it's not normal to have two dads).
• Gender Flip: The character of Freddy Frito was male in the original show, but appears as female in Snackland.
• Given Name Reveal: Several characters' first names are revealed:
  • Ms. Hightower's first name is Rhonda.
  • BeBe and CeCe's full names are Benjamin and Cecelia.
  • Suga Mama's first name is Charlette.
• Graying Morality: Another major change in this series is to show that ultimately, people aren’t black and white. Characters who were traditionally seen as good or nice such as Penny and Oscar have sides to them that are morally questionable. Even Bobby himself has an occasional jerkish moment. And characters who were considered jerks, like LaCienega and Dijonay, are given more nuances. Even Wizard Kelly shows that even though he’s still a pompous jerk, he can still give respect where it’s due. Then you have Maya, who is understandably not trusting of others, but she has flaws, one of them being that she has trouble recognizing shades of gray.
• Gross-Up Close-Up: In the first episode, we get disgusting closeups of LaCienega's acne and facial hair.
• Growing with the Audience: Since this show came out 17 years after the original series ended it's run, the audience are now of adult age, so it's only natural that the revival deals with more mature topics and contains somewhat more mature humor, not to mention it's gotten a bit Darker and Edgier in featuring someone attempting murder on one of the characters in a far less amusing way than the Gross Sisters did in the pilot episode of the original series.
• Hartman Hips: Penny, LaCieniga, and Dijonay has wider hips than their original designs, indicating that they’re supposed to be a bit older.
• More Diverse Sequel: While there was certainly racial and ethnic diversity in the original cartoon that made it way ahead of its time^note, the same couldn't be said for LGBT+ representation, with queer-coded Michael being the closest thing they had to such representation. The revival rectifies that by making Michael explicitly queer (more specifically, gender non-conforming), as well as introducing new characters who happen to be members of the LGBT+ community^note.
  • The Chang triplets were also redesigned.
• Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: In this series, Penny has apparently never heard of Prince, Tone Lōc, or Barry White.
• Prodigal Family: In "Old Towne Road: Part 1", Suga Mama is forced to confront her misogynistic father when her daughter-in-law discovers their existence and gets the Prouds invited to a family reunion. She ends the episode reminiscing about why she left her family behind.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Bobby is now part of the show’s revamped opening in one of the scenes in the Proud household, and is most notably added to the final family shot.
• Put on a Bus: Sticky is nowhere to be seen in the pre-release trailers or promos. It's later established in the very first episode that it's because his father got a new job in Japan. He had a chance to stay with his cousins but he prefers to just get away from Dijonay. The character was retired likely due to to his voice actor Orlando Brown's conviction for domestic battery (this is likewise why Brown didn't return to his role in Raven's Home either).
• Retcon: Of Suga Mama's name and family history. While never outright stated in the previous series, her sister's name was "Spice", implying that "Suga" was her actual name, and she and Spice had a sibling rivalry due to Spice being the favorite of her parents. "Old Towne Road" revealed that Suga Mama's real name is Charlette Towne and she comes from a family of ranchers in Towne, Oklahoma, with Spice not even being mentioned. It's also shown from Part 2 she got the nickname "Suga" from her Native American ex-lover.
• Retraux Flashback: All flashbacks to events in the original series are typically in the form of archival clips from those episodes.
• Ruder and Cruder: While not too vulgar, the show is allowed to get away with slightly cruder content that they could never have on Disney Channel, such as Penny feeling her chest after she hit puberty, heavily implied sex between Oscar and Trudy, and Oscar even saying "damn". Hell, the rating had been bumped up to TV-PG^note compared to the original's TV-G rating.
• Running Gag: Most of the episodes end with Oscar falling victim to a pratfall, something the original series rarely did.
• Soapbox Sadie: Maya is a teenage activist who thinks she has a lot to teach Penny.
• Shout-Out:
  • In one clip, Oscar accidentally calls Penny Chloe, then Halle.
  • In this clip, Michael roasts Penny's shoes, referencing the "What are those?" meme.
  • Half of what comes out of Michael's mouth is a celebrity reference of some sort.
  • In a flashback, teen Oscar is wearing Will Smith's trademark striped t-shirt, shorts and cap from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Also he's thrown out by Trudy's father in the same manner as Jazz usually is.
  • On Maya's Sell-Out List, she named Uncle Ruckus as her number one pick, before giving that position to Penny.
  • When Penny is playing basketball against an alien octopus, her arm stretches far enough to let her score the winning basket when her opponent tries to hold her down.
  • In “Get In”, Suga Mama turns into Pennywise to scare Oscar.
  • KG is usually shown playing real video games on his game console such as Animal Crossing and Kingdom Hearts.
  • “Us Again” is a parody of Us, with aggressive clones of the characters trying to take over their lives. There is also a scene where Penny and Zoey run from Clone Zoey in a house of mirrors.
• Time Skip: The characters are a bit older and there's a lot of modern technology, as the show now takes place in the 2020s. Plus, the theme song is updated to have a trap beat.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Back in the original series, Dijonay tended to be the epitome of With Friends Like These...—but in this show, Dijonay's a comparably better friend to the others (particularly Penny).
  • In "It All Started with an Orange Basketball," she immediately called out Lacienega for trying to steal Kareem (Penny's new boyfriend) from Penny.
  • Dijonay voted against Bobby kicking Penny (his own niece) out of LPDZ and defended Penny's performance against LaCieniga when the latter was still critical after Penny wowed the crowd with her new voice.
  • In "When You Wish Upon a Roker", even though she and the others failed to convince Penny to come with them when they ended their trial of college life with Al Roker and return to their normal lives, she refused to just leave her friend at Roker’s mercy and gave Oscar the contract so he could rescue Penny and bring her back home.
• Vocal Evolution: Given the long gap between the original series and Louder and Prouder, most of the cast's voices have changed with age. Penny, Oscar, Trudy, Zoey, LaCieniga, Wizard Kelly, and even Suga Mama (who somehow manages to sound older) are the most noticeable.