Review: The Proud Family: Louder And Prouder “New Kids On The Block” ; “Bad Influence(r)”

Reboots can go either way. Sometimes, a reboot happens and we don’t know why it happened, but it did, and we’re all worse for it. The Proud Family isn’t a reboot, if anything, it’s a continuation of an already superb animated sitcom that never should have been canceled in the first place. The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder is a true testament that if you largely leave a franchise alone, the end results are powerful.

Despite being more than years since the original series had come to past, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder takes place not too long after the previous franchise’s ending. Everyone is growing up into adults, so some expected changes are here for the newer take on the franchise. Michael and the twins have been recast with Michael’s character now firmly non-binary, EJ Johnson takes over for Phil LaMarr and Tara Strong hands over twin-voicing duties to Bresha Webb as CeCe and Aiden Dodson as BeBe. Gone is Sticky Webb (Orlando Brown) and in his place is new character Maya (voiced by Keke Palmer) who is an adoptive child to a married bi-racial gay couple, so yea, all of the boxes are checked in modern Disney animated series fashion. Penny Proud (voiced by Kyla Platt) is back and better than ever with her friends DiJonay (“Karen Malina White”), Zoey Howzer (“Soleil Moon Frye”), and yes, the Gross Sisters (“Raquel Lee”).

The aesthetic of the series gets a modern refresh, however, almost to an annoying degree. The lighting/shadow effects on the characters takes some getting used to, which some characters looking like they got the shit kicked out of them with Sharpie highlighters, fortunately, the show is funny enough that I’m able to get by those elements and focus on the much more Looney Tunes-inspired action that is constantly on display. Whether it’s Suga Mama coming in looking like Brock Lesnar, talking pandas that play the guitar, or LaCienega’s face being pulled off onto a wax pad, the show has no shortage of hilarious sight gags.

All of the new and returning voices are just as hilarious as before. Tommy Davidson’s “Oscar” is just as out-of-control as he’s ever been and I am a card carrying member of the Jo Marie Payton (as Suga Mama) fan club. The school kids are obviously the stars, but the ol’ timers clash with them so well with both cultural and societal differences that really help lend themselves for a rock solid series. Yes, some of the premises have been done before, but I feel like The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder adds some different spice that really nobody else is even mentioning. For the most part, the morals of these stories are for kids to be themselves and don’t worry about external factors changing who you are internally, but other episodes get into the minutia of modern-day tropes like being a social influencer with a conscious and that maybe canceling people left and right isn’t the best way to go about things and, instead, people should be allowed to learn from their mistakes and unplug. When they do, they become better people and focus on the things that matter. This is some heavy shit that even the big boy franchises aren’t even touching yet.

Finally, if you’re looking for societal representation, this show has got it for you. The entire LGBTQ+ rainbow is well-represented here on a franchise that largely focuses on black culture. From an ethnic point of view, everybody may NOT be represented here, however, for my money, I think that’s fine because that should give Disney the go-ahead to kind of go the Marvel route and stir up new franchises with different ethnicities and backgrounds at the forefront. The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder is much louder than before, and the producers should be proud of how well this one looks to be coming to fruition.