The Proud Family

The Proud Family was an American animated television series about an African American family; it is geared towards pre-teens and teenagers. Originally piloted for Nickelodeon [1], it was eventually picked up by the Disney Channel in 2000. The show was created by Bruce W. Smith, and is produced by his studio, Jambalaya Studios. It was one of the popular animated shows to feature African-American slang.

While basically a sitcom, The Proud Family presents young audiences with different daily situations that many teenagers might have to face during their teenage and adult years. The Proud Family has ended with the final episode, a made-for-TV Proud Family movie was released in August 19, 2005.

Characters

*Penny Proud - The main character. She is 14 years old (though in the movie she is 16). Penny is usually embarrassed by the way her parents are. She enjoys hanging out with her friends, even though they have gotten her into trouble many times. She listens to and respects her parents, but often caves into peer pressure.
*Oscar Proud aka Mr Proud - Penny's father, a born loser and an aspiring snack food salesman who overprotects his daughter. He hates Wizard Kelly. Oscar's snack food called "Proud Snacks" tastes terrible to everyone and can even make them sick.
*Trudy Parker Proud aka Mrs Proud - Penny's ambitious, loving and moral-teaching mother who is respectful of others, fun-loving and fashion-conscious. She is a veterinarian.
*Suga Mama Proud aka Grandmother Proud - Penny's grandmother, a crotchety (yet oddly youthful) old woman who dotes on her granddaughter and poodle. She and her son Oscar generally don't get along, and she is always quick with a witty put-down. She knows Tae-bo and loves watching wrestling. She has a major crush on Papi (see below), even though she does not know what he is saying, since he only speaks Spanish.
*Puff is Suga Mama's pet poodle dog, Bebe and Cece like playing with (really torturing) him.
*Bebe Proud - Penny's mischievous 3-year old baby brother, one of a pair of twins, though he can't speak. He has a huge afro that covers his eyes, and is never seen without a bottle dangling from his mouth.
*Cece Proud - Bebe's twin. Like her brother, she is also very mischievous but doesn't speak, and occasionally laughs or coos.
*Bobby Proud - Penny's deadbeat uncle and Oscar's older brother, who usually speaks in singsong and dresses in outfits from the 1970s (apparently patterned after funk musician Rick James). Bobby has his own song called So Dysfunkshunal. Bobby, unlike Oscar, is very successful and even has his own band.
*Dijonay Jones - Penny's plump and somewhat eccentric best friend. She has many, many siblings and a huge crush on Sticky (see below).
*Zoey Howzer - Penny's geeky white friend. Her mother is a limousine driver. (She was 18 years old in the first season; later, she was converted back to 14 years old). Zoey has an aunt who is a lawyer.
*Sticky Webb - Penny's (and all the girls') guy friend who likes acting cool. He always wears a doo rag. Dijonay has a major crush on him and he constantly rejects her.
*LaCienega Boulevardez - Penny's fair-weathered friend who is popular, trendy and wealthy. Her name is taken from the famous La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles. "La Cienaga" means "The Swamp" in Spanish. She is a multi-talented beauty, in dancing, swimming (she has big feet) and self-defense, her mother being a cop. LaCienega is often rude to people, especially Penny and is often very hypocritical.
*Sunset Boulevardez - LaCienega's mother, who is also a police officer. She is a strong-willed, opinionated woman (possibly a feminist). Like her daughter, her name is reminiscent of a street, Los Angeles's Sunset Boulevard. She is Trudy's best friend.
*Felix Boulevardez - The primary father figure in the Boulevardez household. He often is portrayed as Oscar's good friend. Even though they have disagreements, their camaraderie generally prevails. Oscar and Felix have very similar familial situations (Married couple, teenage daughter, older grandparent.) but the Boulevardez family is shown to have more money (for example, Felix's giant, private home theater).
*Papi Boulevardez - LaCienega's grandfather. He looks like an aged Cesar Romero, speaks only Spanish, and often utters a high, deranged laugh patterned after Romero's Joker. He also has green hair, a pointed nose, and a purple tuxedo, which are also characteristics of the Joker. Suga Mama constantly tries to hit on Papi, but since she does not understand Spanish, she never realizes that Papi constantly insults her, instead thinking that he is complimenting her.
*The Gross Sisters - Three purple-colored (to reflect an ashy skintone) girls who bully everyone, usually extorting money. Nubia is the leader and the only one that really talks, Olay is the muscle, and Gina always has her hand out waiting to collect money. The Gross sisters love to sing since they have beautiful voices, although Gina sings in a man's deep voice. The Gross Sisters have strong connections to gangs with the color blue.
*Wizard Kelly - "It all started with an orange basketball." Based upon both Magic Johnson (wealthy, entrepreneurial, and eclectic) and Dennis Rodman (arrogant), he is a millionaire pro basketball player who has a talented finger in every pie. Every building, business, and company in the Prouds' world bears The Wizard's name. His face has never been shown to viewers except for in the Proud Family Movie. If you pause it at the right time when he gets splashed with peanut butter, you can see his face.
*Lil' Wiz - Wizard Kelly's son, who attends the same school as Penny and her friends. He is not very smart or handsome, but gets by on his family name.
*Ginger Snaps Kelly - Mother of Lil' Wiz, and Oscar Proud's ex-girlfriend.
*Dr. Payne - A doctor who is usually mean to Oscar when he makes rude comments to his mother, telling Oscar to respect his "Sweet little Suga Mama." Dr. Pain is also a boxer. He's loosely based on Mr. T.

Guests

*Debra Williams - Plays the character Thingy. Voiced by Vanessa L. Williams.
*Dance Instructor - Lisa Raye is a dance instructor for 15 Cent's video in the Proud Family movie. Voiced by LisaRaye McCoy.
*Mega - Ray J is the voice of Mega in an episode "E-Z Jackster".
*Fifteen "15" Cent - a rapper with a crush on Penny. Voiced by Omarion.
*Sista Spice - Sister of Suga Mama, appearing in one episode ("Penny Potter") in which she scammed Oscar out of money. She has psychic powers. Voiced by Jenifer Lewis.
*Thingy - a television show younger children love to watch. The main character is a parody of Barney.
*Michael - a feminine boy who kids constantly pick on most probaly since of his sexual orientation although is never mentioned. 3w2w2q. He is not one of Penny's main friends but is still a friend, nonetheless. His idol is Luther Vandross.
*Peabo - the kid who has a huge crush on Penny, then on Zoey. Peabo points out Oscar's stupidity. Voiced by Cree Summer
*Al Roker - a genie-like creature who grants wishes at a horrible price. Voiced by Al Roker
*Boonnetta Proud - Oscar's crazy cousin-in-law. Voiced by Mo'Nique
*Ray Ray Proud Sr. - Oscar's crazy cousin. Voiced by Anthony Anderson
*Dr. Vincent Parker - Trudy's father, who hates Oscar and dislikes his side of the family; appeared in ("Between Family Lines"). Voiced by Robert Guillaume
*Mrs. Maureen Parker - Trudy's mother, who hates Suga Mama; appeared in ("Between Family Lines"). Voiced by Cicely Tyson
*Reuben Parker - Trudy's brother, a very rich man. appeared in ("Between Family Lines"). Voiced by David Alan Grier
*Leslie Parker - Trudy's very snobby sister-in-law; appeared in ("Between Family Lines"). Voiced by Wendy Raquel Robinson
*Diana Parker - Trudy's sister, who is a famous Broadway actress; appeared in ("Between Family Lines" and "Romeo must wed"). Voiced by Sheryl Lee Ralph
*Chanel Parker- Trudy's niece; appeared in ("Between Family Lines"). Voiced by Solange Knowles
*Ray Ray Proud Jr- Oscar's baby cousin; appeared in ("Between Family Lines"). Voiced by Jamal Mixon

Voice Cast

*Kyla Pratt as Penny Proud
*Tommy Davidson as Oscar Proud
*Paula Jai Parker as Trudy Proud
*Jo Marie Payton as Suga Mama Proud
*Tara Strong as BeBe and CeCe Proud, and Puff the Dog
*Karen Malina White as Dijonay Jones
*Orlando Brown as Sticky Webb
*Soleil Moon Frye as Zoey
*Phil LaMarr as Michael
*Carlos Mencia as Felix Boulevardez
*Maria Canals as Sunset Boulevardez
*Alvaro Guttierez as Papi
*Alisa Reyes as LaCienega Boulevardez
*Cedric the Entertainer as Bobby Proud
*Raquel Lee as Nubia Gross
*Aries Spears as Wizard Kelly and Lil' Wiz ,
*Mo'Nique as Boonnetta Proud
*Anthony Anderson as Ray Ray Proud Sr.
*Robert Guillaume as Dr. Vincent Parker
*Cicely Tyson as Mrs. Maureen Parker
*David Alan Grier as Reuben Parker
*Wendy Raquel Robinson as Leslie Parker
*Sheryl Lee Ralph as Diana Parker
*Solange Knowles as Chanel Parker
*Jamal Mixon as Ray Ray Proud Jr
*Mariah Carey as Herself
*Alicia Keys as Herself
*Pablo Santos as Johnny Lovely
*Erica Rivera as Agatha Ordinario

Music

*Series Soundtrack

Trivia

* Creator Bruce W. Smith, a former Disney animator and one of the few African-American animators in the industry, was also the director of the 1992 film Bébé's Kids.
* The Proud Family cartoon is based in Los Angeles because of the various palm trees, the episode when Suga Mama was about to get married, her soon to be husband was the owner of Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, which is located in Los Angeles, and the roof of LaCienega's house is mostly found in California. LaCienega and Sunset Boulavardez are puns for LaCienega Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard, actual streets in Los Angeles.
* Wizard Kelly character is based on Magic Johnson; Magic Johnson's wife's name is "Cookie" and Wizard Kelly's wife's name is "Ginger Snaps," which is a type of cookie.
* Executive producer Ralph Farquhar also served the in the same capacity on the UPN sitcoms Moesha and The Parkers (which he co-created).
**These shows have also been parodied in The Proud Family:
**My Momma and Me is a parody of "The Parkers".
**Iesha parodies "Moesha".
* BeBe and CeCe Proud were named after gospel music performers BeBe Winans and CeCe Winans. It may also derive from the character Bébé in Bébé's Kids, a movie made by the same animator. Also, "Bébé" means "Baby" in French and Spanish, although not pronounced the same in the show.
* Nearly every episode of The Proud Family features a celebrity guest voice. Celebrities who have voiced characters on the show include Samuel L. Jackson, Vivica A. Fox, Mariah Carey, and Ashanti, among many others.
*Kobe Bryant, Kurt 'Big Boy' Alexander, Lil' Romeo, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, and Al Roker, Lou Rawls, and Smokey Robinson have appeared on the show as themselves.
* Many of the later episodes of The Proud Family were produced using Macromedia Flash.
* The school that Penny and her friends go to is named for auto racing driver Willy T. Ribbs, who was the first African American to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.
* In The Proud Family Show, Penny and her friends went to Willy T. Ribbs MIDDLE SCHOOL, but in the movie when Penny was taking her driver's test, she drove by Pickett HIGH SCHOOL, which is obvious that Penny and her friends go to Pickett High School now.
* Trudy's maiden name is "Parker." This is also the last name of her voice actor, Paula Jai Parker.
*The theme song is performed by Solange Knowles (younger sister of Beyonce) featuring Destiny's Child.
*Wizard Kelly's face has been revealed once in the movie when running away from the peanut goop.
* All of Dijonay's siblings, including herself, are named after spices, for example Dijonay (Dijon mustard), Paprika, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Tabasco and Basil.
* Dijonay and LaCienega were best friends before Dijonay and Penny were.
* The Prouds and Wizard Kelly appear in one episode of Lilo & Stitch: The Series.
*In the episode "The Good, the Bad, the Ugly", Sticky mentioned that Alicia Keys was his future wife. Before, Sticky mentioned that Mariah Carey was his future wife.
*The show "Hip-Hop Helicopter" is kind of like "Soul Train."
*On one of the episodes Oscar gets a job as a wrestler who gets help from his mother. A similar storyline was used in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for Shelton Benjamin.
* On one episode, Sticky mentions Penny not being a Dr. Dolittle. But Kyla Pratt, the voice of Penny starred in Dr. Dolittle 3 several years later.
* In an episode in which Penny learns Karate her friends join a club run by a former martial arts actor named Kelly Robinson who bears a striking resemblance to '70s martial artist and actor Jim Kelly.
* There is a recurring character, usually associated with Wizard Kelly, acting as either a bodyguard, gate security guard, or bouncer. He is loosely based on Arnold Schwarzenegger since he always has an Austrian accent and frequently uses the catch phrase, "I'll be back!"

The Proud Family: Encyclopedia BETA

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