The upcoming reboot of Disney’s animated series “The Proud Family,” will not only continue the show’s focus on a Black family, but will introduce a multi-racial, two-dad, adoptive family and continue its gender nonconforming character (with a new, gender nonconforming voice actor).
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, which will premiere on Disney+ February 23, is a reboot of the Disney Channel’s The Proud Family, which ran from 2001 to 2005. The new show, like the original, follows the adventures and misadventures of newly 14-year-old Penny Proud and her Proud Family as they navigate life with hilarity and heart.
The original cast is returning for the show, but things are changing for the Proud family. We will see new career highs for mom Trudy (Kyla Pratt), wilder dreams for dad Oscar (Tommy Davidson) and new challenges for Penny (Kyla Pratt), including a socially woke neighbor who thinks she has a lot to teach her, bullying social media influencers who want to cancel her, and her own teenage hormones, not to mention twin siblings BeBe and CeCe. Penny’s grandmother Suga Mama (JoMarie Payton) also returns, ready as ever to dispense tough love or a gentle hand whenever Penny needs it.
Penny’s old friends are still there, but there will also be new faces in the town of Smithville, including Maya (Keke Palmer) and KG, children of Randall and Barry Leibowitz-Jenkins, voiced by Billy Porter (Pose) and Zachary Quinto (Star Trek), respectively. Maya is described as a “activist,” and press materials indicate she and KG “not only have to deal with the struggles of being the new kids but also having two dads, a first for Smithville.” (What they should have said, of course, was that they “not only have to deal with the struggles of being the new kids but also of how people react to their having two dads, a first for Smithville.” Having two dads in and of itself is not the struggle.)
Also back on the show is Penny’s friend Michael Collins, now voiced by EJ Johnson (Rich Kids of Beverly Hills) instead of Phil LaMarr. Michael is described as “a non-conforming trendsetter, serving up fierce looks at school and on the basketball court.” What they mean, of course, is “gender non-conforming,” but I guess they’re being coy about that. I won’t grumble too much if they treat the character with respect and authenticity. I’m hopeful; Johnson is also gender nonconforming, and told ET, “I think that this character really is very much connected with me. I definitely made it my own and they do give me the space to do so.”
Creator and executive producer Bruce W. Smith shared in an interview at The Grio that “We come up with our topics based on everything that we sort of see our own kids live through. Same-sex parents was something that not even as early as 10 years ago was an eyebrow-raiser, but now you see it every place.”
Let’s hope the show does the queer characters proud (!) and continues on to even more LGBTQ representation—and of course an awesome Pride parade. (I’d personally love to see a queer mom on the show played by Wanda Sykes, an Actual Queer Mom® with great comic timing, though this is at the moment purely wishful thinking on my part).
Here’s a trailer. Catch Michael dancing with someone who seems like a boy at 0:52, and see the dads starting at about 1:08.
