Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Proud Family Cartoon Flashback




The Proud Family was created by Bruce W. Smith and was produced by his studio, Jambalaya Studios. Originally piloted for Nickelodeon [1], it was eventually picked up by the Disney Channel in 2001. Many of the later episodes of The Proud Family were produced using Macromedia Flash. LaCienega and Sunset Boulavardez are puns for La Cienega Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard, actual streets in Los Angeles and the school that Penny Proud 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. (Coincidentally, the patriarch of the Boulevardez family is named Felix, who is Oscar Proud's neighbor and best friend. This is a pun to Felix and Oscar of The Odd Couple.) There was also a recurring character named Wizard Kelly, a former professional athlete (whose face was never seen). Because he owned every sports/entertainment venue in the city, his name appeared on everything (pun to Magic Johnson). It was first broadcast in the United States on The Disney Channel on September 15, 2001, and now also airs on Toon Disney. It has also been broadcast on The Family Channel in Canada.

6 comments:

gemini82 said...

did you work on this show?

Andre Moore said...

Nah I never got to work on this show. I wish I could have. Its one of my favorite black cartoons. I bought the first season on itunes. I wish they would have put the rest up but I guess it didn't sell well enough for them to. The movie is great also. This movie clip I added is from the movie.

Unknown said...

my kids still watch this!

gemini82 said...

I'm starting to become addicted to Little Bill, after watching with my niece. Proud Family was one of the rare cartoons, not aimed at adults, which made me laugh.

Jamal O said...

The proud family could of worked as a live action sitcom. Reminds me of the Bernie Mac show and alot of those other family shows. Anybody know what Bruce Smith has been up to these days?

The Animation Pioneer has been rather quiet.

Andre Moore said...

No telling what Bruce Smith is up to these days. More than likely he's on that new Disney movie that has the black princess as the lead. At least I hope they would have black animators on it.