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This interview with theProud Familyshowrunners was originally published in February 2022. Who was first interested in revivingThe Proud Family you or Disney?
When we first started, social media wasnt what it is today.
It was in the barber shops, the hair salons, and the grocery stores.
We were hearing from people, Hey, man, I love thatProud Family.Whens theProud Familycoming back?
We knew we had something.
Finally, Bruce and I came up with a concept similar toProud Family, and we pitched it.
The pitch goes really well.
Then after the pitch, they say, Hey, we like that.
But how would you guys like to do theProud Familyagain?
And we go, Thats what weve been talking about the past 15 years.
How did you recreate the show from the ground up as far as art direction and animation goes?
It was just as funny as what the characters were saying.
In television, there was always an assumption that the visuals dont matter as much.
I was always of the mind-set that both can coexist.
They complement each other.
I mean, you are talking to Mr. Ralph Farquhar.
The writing and the staff he was gonna put together was gonna be on point.
So Im like,Lets elevate the look of the show.
I like what we were going for the first time I want the two to sit side by side.
The latest version of the technology allows us to do really outstanding 2.5-D animation.
Now, we really leaned into the cinematic value.
:Our aspirations always went far beyond our budget.
Bruce knew visually exactly where he wanted to go.
I knew in terms of the stories we wanted to tell.
You see the result of that.
The animation is so great right now it elevates the storytelling.
Animators are magicians anyway.
The beauty of it is, the script is a template.
Everybody expands from that point.
A lot of these jokes were not written.
Bruces team adds that whole second level; then in the voice acting, we allow them to ad-lib.
Tommy Davidson can do that off the cuff.
We have the best possible version ofProud Familythis time around.
Culture has changed significantly since the last time we saw the Prouds.
What topics were you eager to tackle in this run?
:A lot of topics come up and topics that have always been there: race, gender.
One of the biggest topics this first season is LGBTQ issues as they relate to the African American community.
We gotta bring an authentic voice.
The first and only person we thought about was E.J.
I was friends with him when he was a youngster.
I knew he was this kid growing up and could bring everything we needed in terms of voice performance.
helped us shape that character.
Id show him the initial sketches and design for Michael.
Each time you see him in the episodes in a very nontraditional animation habit Michaels wardrobe will be different.
You know how Penny always wears the same outfit?
Other things were gonna tackle this season is homelessness and where Suga Mama is from.
Was there any difficulty transitioning from a focus on millennial culture to Gen Z?
They knew the show better than we did.
Weve got the voices on board that have guided this show into the proper lane in terms of relevancy.
As a culture, thats what we do.
We stay connected to our past.
Thats the connective tissue that allows it to be family viewing.
:No matter what generation youre from, you recognize these family dynamics.
Because we come at this Black family dynamic in a very honest, authentic way.
:We wanted the approach to music to be multigenerational.
Her interest is piqued.
:That was exactly it, except for Jo Marie Payton.
And Jo Marie Payton called pitching us another show.
We were like, Okay.
Im like, Whered you get that information from?
She got the information from the fan art.
They thought we were coming back with the characters much older.
There was some key art running around where Suga Mama was missing.
Naturally, if Pennys much older, where is Sugar Mama in all this?
She thought thats the direction we were going.
We were like, Youre fine, Jo Marie.
Suga Mama is ageless.
Shes always gonna exist.
Since the first run, youve evolved as artists and storytellers.
Is there anything that you know now that you wish you learned back then?
:You grow because you go through stuff.
We had to go through what we had to go through the first time.
We had to experience what we did.
Not only in making the show, but quite frankly, we felt like we werent appreciated enough.
We knew we had a show people like.
It wasnt getting the shine we hoped it would get.
Because we went through that, now we get a chance to do it even better.
:The first time around, we didnt have the advent of social media.
Ralph and I were making the show in a silo.
We didnt get Nielsens ratings.
:We didnt know anybody with a Nielsen box.
:But social media told us people watch this show in masses and really miss it.
There was nothing made in the middle of that bridge.
That didnt really happen.
So youre talking about this 15-year gap.
Not a lot of really Black shows were around.
:Somebody once asked Mr. Bruce, what shows do you feel you inspired in your wake?
We were like,We didnt inspire anybody because nothing happened.
:Ill give a shout-out toBoondocks, but yeah, that was the problem.
We know the history of animation hasnt necessarily been kind to us people.
There are certain people who should be in control of the content who arent.
:Were in a very specific space.
Were in the family entertainment segment.
There just, aint nothing else.
Thats not something were proud of or responsible for but it is what it is.
Were glad to be back.
:I wanna stress the importance that its not just Ralph and I making the show.
We have two female Black directors.
Ralph has a writers room thats incredible, as he always has.
Thats rare in this business.
Thats what really makes changes in this business.
It shouldnt just be our show that represents all things Black.
Of course Ralph and I will continue to tell our stories about our folk.
This is the starting point.
But were glad Disney saw that and said,This is whats needed right now.
Were making sure they know theyve got the right folks to man that ship.
:Were gonna do more shows too.
Weve been getting into business with Black and brown creatives in lanes we didnt exist in before.
Thats our mission here.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
