'The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder' Full Cast List Was Just Revealed, And It's More Star-Studded Than Ever: Lizzo, Jaden Smith, Brenda Song, And More To Appear
It's almost time, Proud Family babies: The new reboot of the show, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, is coming to Disney+ next week, "follows the adventures and misadventures of newly 14-year-old Penny Proud and her Proud Family as they navigate modern life with hilarity and heart," accodring to the official Disney summary.
That summary may only be giving us a taste of what's to come, but we can get a lot more out of it when we break it down - especially now that the full cast has been announced. The synopsis also says:
"The 2020s brings new career highs for mom Trudy, wilder dreams for dad Oscar and new challenges for Penny, 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."
Trudy is a veteranarian, and it sounds like she may become the house's sole breadwinner over the course of the show - likely a sensitive topic for Oscar, whose big and sometimes crazy daydreams will certainly be as fun to watch as always.
It also sounds like, though they didn't actually age Penny up, she is going to have tp deal with more mature problems than she used to - kinda part and parcel with growing up in the 2020s, as the average age of tweens on the internet creeps younger and younger. (That "socially woke neighbor" they're talking about is likely LaCieniga, with whom Penny has frequently clashed in the past.)
Additionally, the whole "influencers who want to cancel her thing" implies that Penny will have a social media presence, which is new, but honestly very in character for the big dreamer.
Speaking of tweens, while the show made the choice not to age any of the characters too much, new images released by Disney - and new voice castings, like Jaden Smith as the college version of Myron Lewinski - hint at a college episode, or perhaps a college arc, where we will get to see what Penny and all her friends are like when they're all grown up.
But wait, there's more!
"Penny's friends return, including Dijonay, LaCienega, Zoey and Michael."
The name we want to focus on here is Michael, because while Penny hasn't changed, Michael has changed a LOT. Penny's best guy friend from childhood has grown into a gender non-conforming, fashion-forward teen with pink hair and a new voice - Magic Johnson's grown up kid, EJ Johnson, who has been flouting gender roles for ages, just like his new character now gets to do.
"Among the new faces are Maya and KG, new kids who not only have to deal with the struggles of being the new kid but also having two dads, a first for Smithville."
That says it all right there - Maya, who was clearly designed with Gen Z's signature new-grunge style in mind, looks like she will likely be joining Penny's group of friends. She's voiced by none other than True Jackson's Keke Palmer - yet another throwback bonus - and her dads are voiced by Zachary Quinto and Billy Porter.
The cast list also boasts some pretty big guest stars in addition to the running cast: Al Roker will appear as himself, as will Lizzo, and Brenda Song will appear as newscaster Vanessa Vue, who seems bound and determine all of Oscar's fantastic failures (including a theme park that he hires Lizzo to perform at.)
There are a lot of changes coming to The Proud Family, as we can see, but at least a few things are going to stay the same:
"Penny's Suga Mama also returns, ready as ever to dispense tough love or a gentle hand whenever Penny needs it."
As long as Suga Mama is there with her patent Suga Mama wisdom, we think everything's gonna go smoothly - or, well, as smoothly as it can.
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder will make its debut on Disney+ next Wednesday, February 23 - ready or not, here they come.
