As production continues on The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, Disney+ has announced that Star Trek alum Zachary Quinto and Emmy winner Billy Porter along with EJ Johnson (Rich Kids of Beverly Hills) have officially joined the original cast of the upcoming animated family sitcom revival of The Proud Family. The series is slated to debut sometime in 2022, which would be 17 years after the original sitcom concluded its run on Disney Channel.
Quinto and Porter are set to portray the roles of Randall and Barry Leibowitz-Jenkins, the mixed-race adoptive parents to 14-year-old activist Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins, who will be voiced by Keke Palmer. Meanwhile, Johnson will be voicing Michael Collins, Penny’s best guy friend who is a non-conforming trendsetter, serving up fierce looks at school and on the basketball court.
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The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder will pick up the story of its central character Penny Proud and also include her madcap family: parents Oscar and Trudy, twin siblings BeBe and CeCe, and her grandmother Suga Mama (and Puff!). Of course, it would not be “The Proud Family” without Penny’s loyal crew Dijonay Jones, LaCienega Boulevardez and Zoey Howzer, among others.
The Disney+ series will feature the return of the original voice cast led by Kyla Pratt as Penny Proud, Tommy Davidson as Oscar Proud, Paula Jai Parker as Trudy Proud, JoMarie Payton as Suga Mama, and Cedric the Entertainer as Uncle Bobby. It will also include Carlos Mencia as Felix Boulevardez, Maria Canals-Barrera as Sunset Boulevardez, Alvaro Gutierrez as Papi, Karen Malina White as Dijonay Jones, Soleil Moon Frye as Zoey Howzer and Alisa Reyes as LaCienega Boulevardez.
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Produced by Disney Television Animation, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder is executive-produced by Bruce W. Smith (The Princess and the Frog) and Ralph Farquhar (Moesha), who were original EPs on the Disney Channel sitcom. Calvin Brown, Jr. is co-executive producer and story editor, Jan Hirota is producer, and Eastwood Wong is art director.
The original series aired from 2001-2005 and was praised for its messages about inclusion and cultural diversity. The award-winning series ended with a TV movie in 2005, and all previous seasons are currently available to stream on Disney+.
