“We left too soon,” lamented JoMarie Payton, voice of Suga Mama on Disney’s The Proud Family during a San Diego Comic-Con press junket for Season 2 of The Proud Family: Louder & Prouder. The hit Disney Channel animated series returned last year on Disney+ and the next season was recently teased at Annecy Festival. “We still have a lot of stories to tell,” JoMarie continued, whose natural speaking voice contains enough of Suga Mama’s essence to make you feel like you’re chatting with the character.
(Disney)
Although the new series is set just 2 years after the original, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder is set in the present. “With the introduction of social media, it kind of expanded the palette of storytelling,” explained series creator and executive producer Bruce W. Smith. “Most teens live and die based on their social media status. So that really opened up the concept of the stories that we tell. And then you also are dealing with a new generation of kids that are self-recognizing themselves, bringing new versions of their individuality to the table. The LGBTQIA mission simply landed within our radar as well, which makes sense because we have Michael in our show, who was a character that we kind of had to camouflage in the first version of our show. This time around, we wanted to lean into the truth of all the characters. Our show is more character-based.”
Part of the secret to the success of The Proud Family is that its creators were making the show for a wider audience than your typical Disney Channel viewer in 2001, partly because the series originally started as a primetime animated series like The Simpsons or Family Guy. “We weren’t really interested in doing a kiddie show,” executive producer Ralph Farguhar said. “It was like, okay, how do we do the show we want to do on Disney Channel? So we did it. We used a lot of subtrufuge, slight of hand, whatever, to tell these stories that really spoke on a level far beyond what was expected on Disney Channel. That was the game we played the first time. As a result, we developed this audience that extended far beyond the 6-to-11 demographic… Now second time around, we’re on Disney+ and they love the fact that we have that broad audience, that we speak to that adult audience. 60% of our audience is adults without kids.”
Getting the chance to return to these characters 20 years later has been a thrill for the voice cast. “Penny is a part of me,” exclaimed Kyla Pratt, who was Penny’s age when she originated the role, but can now look back on how playing this part helped shape who she is. “Penny has always been Kyla, but then Penny also helped Kyla grow into the woman that she is.” Voicing Penny’s mother Trudy is Paula Jai Parker, who was delightfully surprised to reprise her role. “ You pray and you go on a million auditions as an actor, and you wait for that audition. And this just came from God. This was unexpected.”
(Disney)
Season 2 is going to dive into new themes, including a Juneteenth holiday episode. “What’s great about this season is we’re hitting topics such as activism, LGBTQ, community, everything that’s happening in modern times,” Alisa Reyes shared, who voices LaCienega Boulevardez. “I feel like we’re just awoke now. Our show has always been that magical frequency of diversity and cultural love and light, but now it’s just a little more magnified. I think the people out there, the masses are awoke and ready for it. It’s been a delight to be part of the tribe again and it’s like we never missed a step.”
Having big themes in a family-friendly show is huge for parents, with Soleil Moon Frye now the mother of four kids ranging from 6 to 16. “The way in which we talk at home is very much about so many of the topics that we’re talking about in the show,” the voice of Zoey Howzer explained. “My daughters and I went to DC for voting rights and were arrested all together in DC and it was with the King family. It was one of the most looming moments of my life because my father had been at the March on Washington and now the kids were carrying on that tradition of what’s been so important to our family’s history and the work that, certainly my father, was most proud to be a part of. So for us as a family, that’s always been a part of our lives, being involved in activism and fighting for what we believe in, which is love over hate and trying to come together. I think that in a time, especially in which history continues to repeat itself and where kids are exposed to so much more at their fingertips through social media and the times in which everything has just so much access, it’s so important to have this dialogue that spans generations. That to me is something that I think is really important because I see it in my own family.”
While Season 2 promises a lot of fun, fans of the show can also expect it to deal with some complicated situations, including a teen pregnancy (Bruce confirmed that it’s not Penny). “We talk about things that may have been taboo years ago, and now we’re handling it because we know how,” said Suga Mama herself, JoMarie Payton. “It has to be handled. You can’t stop washing over stuff and knocking stuff under the rug. We’ve got to deal with it, that’s how we’re going to solve some of the world’s problems. We have to look them straight in the face, we have to pound it into the ears, and we have to talk about it.”
Disney hasn’t yet announced a release date for Season 2 of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, but San Diego Comic-Con attendees got to see some new footage from the upcoming season. Stay tuned to Laughing Place for more news on this hit animated series. Click here for more San Diego Comic-Con coverage.