If there was ever an animated equivalent to a Tyler Perry film, The Proud Family was it. The title is even a play on words! The show centers on Penny Proud and her family and friends. It’s weird because Penny isn’t normally proud of her family. If anything, she’s embarrassed of them. Plus, isn’t pride a sin? Nice one Disney.
Penny Proud’s parents, Oscar and Trudy, are somewhat normal. If those were the only people that made up the Proud family, then I would be okay with it. I never really liked Trudy Proud because she was always humorless and strict. Not super strict, but strict enough where I could sense that she and I wouldn’t get along. She reminded me of the mom on The Cosby Show who was also not funny and kind of mean. I think Trudy is a veterinarian so at least she likes animals.
Oscar Proud on the other hand, was funny and a pretty likeable guy. He was a good dad, and often had most of the slapstick jokes in the show. I guess he would be the Bill Cosby of the Proud Family. Oscar has his own snack company called Proud Snacks. He often thinks up different flavors for his weird snacks and can be seen eating his own creations.
Things start to get strange in the Proud family once you realize that Penny has twin baby siblings, BeBe and CeCe. BeBe is a boy with a crazy afro that covers his eyes and CeCe is a little girl with a sprout of hair growing out of her head. They look nothing alike. It’s scary because BeBe and CeCe are no older than one year old and Penny is like fifteen. I would NOT be proud of that.
Suga Mama is Oscar’s mom and Penny’s favorite grandma. I’m assuming she’s the favorite because Suga Mama lives in the Proud household so Penny knows her well. Suga Mama loves watching wrestling and she’s one tough cookie herself. She’s sharp-witted and basically a Tyler Perry character. The Proud Family would be an extremely racist show if it was made by white people.
The best part of the show is Penny’s colorful gang of friends. They’re actually not that colorful since they’re all black. Well, actually there’s one white girl, Zoey Howzer (voiced by Soleil Moon Frye randomly) and one Latina girl named LaCienega Boulevardez. I love her name. I hope that deep down the creators were taking a dig at Topanga. Zoey is nerdy and shy. She’s sweet, but she honestly doesn’t belong in Penny’s gang. Penny always says things like, “It’s gonna be off da heezy!” and in the real world, Zoey wouldn’t be accepted into her crew.
Sticky, LaCienega, Zoey, Penny, and Dijonay. Please notice Dijonay’s attitude face.
LaCienega is extremely rich and pretty and she’s kind of mean to Penny. She sucks up to grownups and can be very arrogant and insensitive. The thing that I don’t get is that Penny’s family probably has the same amount of income as LaCienega’s but Penny doesn’t get the sense that her parents have money. Maybe because her parents don’t give her any cash. Also, LaCienega’s mom is named Sunset. I just have to mention that little tidbit.
Penny’s best friend is Dijonay Jones. I love a show with good names and Dijonay is one of my favorites. Dijonay is a sassy black girl who likes to gossip and joke around. She has nine other siblings named after spices and condiments. Her hair happens to be mustard colored which is cool, but not natural. Dijonay has a crush on Penny’s other friend, Sticky Webb. Sticky loves technology and DJing. There was an amazing online game called Sticky’s MixMaster or something like that and I loved playing it. I obviously have no shame whatsoever.
Lastly, no show would be complete without a gang of bullies. The Gross sisters are three, blue colored sisters that pick on kids and steal their money. People often wonder why they’re blue and I distinctly remember in one episode where Penny explained that they were “ashy”. This show was too black for it’s own good. It really gave me a good education though.
If you don’t have nightmares from this picture, something’s wrong.
And if you don’t believe me that this show was super black, here’s a list of the guest stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Cedric the Entertainer, Al Roker, Vivica A. Fox, Raven-Symone, Mo’Nique, Kel Mitchel, Solange Knowles, Vanessa Williams, Lou Rawls, Mariah Carey, Ray J, Gabrielle Union, and Mos Def. So basically every black actor, actress, and musician has made an appearance on The Proud Family.
Kidz Showz 
omg I LOVED this show in high school. it really kind of hilar. ESP Uncle Bobby…how could you forget him? lol. My friends and I on the swim team made up “black names” for ourselves based off of the show. I am pleased to say I was “Dijonay Shaniqua.”
Hahah I kind of remember uncle Bobby, but not super clearly. I should probably youtube it to refresh my memory. Hahah black names! Dijonay Shaniqua rolls off the tongue like butta!
I never watched this show. Surprise.
I’m afraid to say almost anything. Ashy jokes? That is so black. Maybe one day when I feel like getting my ass kicked I’ll tell you a story about ashy black people. Suga Mama frightened me in the ads I would see for this show. Still does.
Clearly you were missing out. Look at how much I learned about black skin tones! Suga Mama was very disturbing, I will admit. She didn’t look anything like Oscar so he was probably adopted.
I was actually really scared writing this because I felt like I would offend tons of people, but then I stopped caring.
look theres nothing worng with this show its just a show its nothing wrong wioth the showm ok we are in a real world so its just a show its not that serous
Yeah?
I have no recollection of this show. seriously, none.
That doesn’t surprise me. I watched it when I was like 14-16 or somewhere in there. So I probably watched it alone in my room where it was less embarrassing. I literally watched so many shows. It’s sick.
Oh. The blue people up there are girls??? Yep, I’m scared now.
Aren’t they terrifying? Even their clothes scare me. Nothing about that picture is okay.
Okay, you have to look up comedian Bill Burr and his schtick on ashy skin. It’s hilarious and I thought of it.
I could never get into this show. I remember it came on after school at the same time as another kids show on some other channel. And I almost always picked the other show. I think it was that bilingual show with the two Hispanic twins that lived in a cramped apartment and played soccer? Miguel was the boy’s name I think.
Hopefully that doesn’t make me racist.
Haha I will look that up for sure.
Are you thinking of Maya and Miguel? I’m so frightened that I know that. Ugh I hate myself sometimes. But yeah I could see a lot of people not liking The Proud Family because it was almost like watching a different culture. Haha No you don’t sound racist. We are super racist on this blog. Not to be mean, but just because we think it’s funny.
Yessss, that’s the show! Haha, that is frightening. But I shan’t judge 😉
Yay, I’ll let my racism hang all out then!
*Suga Mama didn’t live with them, she had her own apartment*
*Penny has a maternal grandma as well, but she’s really wealthy and she doesn’t like Oscar, so Penny only sees her on ocassion*
*Trudy is actually very wealthy, but she chose to marry Oscar because she loves him for who he is, not what he has & he makes her laugh. (Like Jessica & Roger Rabbit) *
*Oscar didn’t look like his mother but not many men look like 80 year old women, Actually he and his brother Bobby are exact carbon copies of their father, who’s deceased*
*Penny is in middle school, so she can’t be 15, at the most she’s 13*
*BeBe & CeCe are 1 year old fraternal twins & are of the opposite sexes, which means that they wouldn’t look exactly alike & they were a tribute to BeBe & CeCe Winans- A black, brother & sister, gospel duo*
* The reason Penny & her crew say stuff like “heezy” & “fah sho’ “” is because that’s how urban (NOT NECCESSARILY BLACK) teenagers talked in the early 2000’s when the show was airing.*
*Not all black people or even black families are the same color. that was kinda one of the points of the show*
I don’t think you understand what jokes are. And there is an episode where Penny is driving so she’s definitely older than 13. I know a lot of fraternal twins that actually look a lot alike. It’s rare when twins of any type don’t have at least some similarities. I pointed out that Trudy was a veterinarian so it’s pretty obvious that she would have money.
Also, I don’t have to point out every detail from the show because that’s what Wikipedia is for. Thanks for your knowledge, but it wasn’t really necessary.
You used asterisks instead of numbers or bullet points which means everything you say isn’t true anyway. Don’t you understand what asterisks mean?
How come I never piss anyone off with my posts?
ok to me theres nothing wrong with the show this is my favorite show anmd i dont have a problem with it the show gives you lessons for kids and adults and teens on every episode
What adult has ever learned a lesson from The Proud Family? They must have really screwed up in life.
When is the Proud Family coming back on Disney Channel?
I don’t know! Is it coming back? It would be awesome if it did!
Lol , this was my show , & who ever dislike this show fuck yall …crackerss 😁
Bring this show backkkk !!!
A truly trash article. A white person discussing how black a show it, what is black and what is too black…so unnecessary and unwarranted. Yikes.