Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar cast Zachary Quinto and Billy Porter in “The Proud Family” reboot because they thought their voices worked well together. They didn’t know both were Pittsburghers and Carnegie Mellon University graduates.
Quinto and Porter provide the voices for a gay couple, Barry and Randall Leibowitz-Jenkins, in "The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder." When Smith and Farquhar realized that Quinto and Porter had known each other for years, it seemed like a sign from the universe that this project was on the right track.
"Those are the things that let you know it's the right time for this show because things are falling into place in a very serendipitous way," Smith told the Post-Gazette.
"The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder" premieres on Disney+ Wednesday. The first "Proud Family" ran from 2001 to 2005 and was the rare animated show depicting the life of a suburban Black family. The reboot series brings back much of the original show's cast while adding a few new voices to the mix and updating everything from the characters' ages to the problems that modern middle-schoolers encounter every day.
"Any time would've been right for a 'Proud Family' reboot," Farquhar said. "Bruce and I had been begging Disney to bring us back ever since they let us go. Things happen when they need to happen, I really believe that."
Just like its previous iteration, the reboot revolves around Penny Proud (still voiced by Kyla Pratt) and her wacky family, including father Oscar (Tommy Davidson), mother Trudy (Paula Jai Parker) and Oscar's mother, whom everyone calls Suga Mama (Jo Marie Payton). Her friends Dijonay (Karen Malina White), Zoey (Soleil Moon Frye) and LaCienega (Alisa Reyes) are also all back for the reboot.
The kids have been aged up, though the crux of most "Proud Family" stories remains: Penny gets into trouble and learns a valuable lesson or Oscar goes to great lengths to stop his daughter from growing up before Penny has to set him straight. Smith said that the "visual aspect of the show and the writing always informed each other," which is why making the characters slightly older allowed for more mature animation and storylines.
One striking element of the first two episodes provided to critics was how this show upped the ante from its predecessor in terms of its energy. Those pacing decisions and the show's occasional bursts of cartoon inventiveness were deliberate choices, Smith said.
"We knew right away the energy of this show had to come out of the box blaring," he explained. "It's louder and prouder. We want that real dramatic energy you get from a 14-year-old finding her way."
While most characters have stayed recognizable, one of Penny's friends received a drastic makeover. That would be Michael Collins, who went from being a flamboyant young man known mostly for his oversized shirts to a glammed-up, nonbinary fashionista who seems much more comfortable in their own skin.
Michael, who was voiced by Phil LaMarr in the original "Proud Family," is now portrayed by EJ Johnson, whose father is former Los Angeles Lakers star Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Johnson loved that Smith and Farquhar gave "me room to make the character what I wanted" and that they were open to changing up Michael's style because "it's always a runway with me."
Johnson is excited to be voicing one of Disney's first openly nonbinary characters and hopes that Michael will open doors for others in the future.
"It's just time," Johnson said. "To be giving life to one of the first of those characters is amazing. ... For people to watch this and become more comfortable in their own skin, I'm ready for that, too."
Neither Smith nor Farquhar want "The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder" to come off as preachy, but rather to just "present an honest view of Blackness on the screen that everyone can acknowledge and buy into and have fun" with, Farquhar said.
That logic is part of what led the two to come up with the Leibowitz-Jenkins clan, which includes adopted children KG and Maya.
"We set the tone where everyone is welcome in our world," Smith said. "If you walk outside, these are the people that you run into. Casting Billy Porter and Zachary Quinto was a no-brainer to bring that couple into our world."
Farquhar guaranteed this much to anyone who tunes in: "It's truly louder and prouder, that's for sure."
