I've never been more proud to be part

of this next family gathering.

My abuela's house this Sunday?

No.

Although, yes, tell your abuela I will be there this Sunday.

I'm looking forward to it.

But I'm talking about "The Proud Family."

JENNY: "The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder"

follows the adventures and misadventures

of newly 14-year-old Penny Proud and her Proud

family as they navigate modern life with hilarity and heart.

Now, we're so excited to welcome "The Proud Family:

Louder and Prouder" executive producers, Bruce

W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar.

Thank you both so much for being here.

Thanks for having us.

It's a pleasure.

Yep, glad to be here.

This is very surreal for us right now.

Yeah, we both are fans of "The Proud Family."

It was actually-- not only did I watch it when it first came

out, but when we got Disney+, it was actually one of the first

series I binge-watched, so--

Oh, we're just as excited to bring it back.

Ralph and I both knew that our show had unfinished business.

We've been trying to get back for the past 15 years.

Well, now is the right time, honestly.

So what can both returning and new viewers expect.

It will definitely be louder.

I think the main thing to expect is a continuation

of what we did before.

"The Proud Family" is an unapologetically Black TV show.

You know, that's what it is.

You're going to see real brothers and real sisters

on this show.

We got some new characters coming, you know.

We got a slightly new look.

We've got a slightly new theme song,

so I think it's going to be refreshing and exciting

for our old audience and a revelation

to the new generation.

We always wanted to make sure that we displayed a spectrum

of the Black experience, which is something that you just

didn't get in the early 2000s, you

know, especially in animation.

And so that's when I just sort of, you know,

collaborated with Ralph and said, listen,

this is what I want to do.

I mean, this is an African American

animated sitcom.

And bringing those characters in,

they're people that we all grew up with

and stories that we all know.

And it was so authentic and specific,

and that's why so many people were

able to relate to it because you don't see

that type of authenticity in storytelling, especially

in animation.

Where do we find Penny and the family

at the start of the new series?

We played her as a tween.

You know, I see there's a lot of discussion.

How old is Penny?

Well, we played her like 12, 13-ish back then.

So now she's 14 for sure.

At this point, they're still in junior high,

but they're, like, ninth grade.

So they're like the seniors of Willy T. Ribbs Middle School

now, right?

So they got it going on.

And there's going to be some new kids

move into the neighborhood, and that's when

the drama and comedy begins.

And also, you know, it's a lot of your returning characters.

It's, I mean, you know, Oscar at his most Oscarly.

Oh, my God.

I am here for this.

You have no idea.

BRUCE W. SMITH Trudy has expanded her business.

Brother Bobby is still there, and obviously Suga Mama.

Oh, my gosh.

Yes.

The real kind of matriarch of the fold.

She gets to do and say whatever she wants.

Why is my grandbaby dressed like Darth Vader?

We send her on some really wonderful adventures

where we discover a whole lot about why she is, how she is.

Who she is.

How did she become Suga Mama?

How did she become Suga Mama?

Well, I was actually going to ask about this later,

but since you're already bringing up characters,

can you tell us a little bit of insight about some

of the new characters that we would see on "The Proud Family:

Louder and Prouder"?

There's a couple of new characters and characters

that we've kind of upgraded and really

got into, starting with Michael who's

being voiced by EJ Johnson.

Then we brought in Billy Porter and Zachary Quinto

as two new parents that move into the neighborhood

with their family, which will consist of Maya and KG.

A Boogie plays KG, and Keke Palmer

plays Maya Lebowitz-Jenkins.

We've introduced multiple LGBTQ+ characters, if you will.

And so that's, like, a big thing we're going

into in a more honest way.

We've brought in these new characters as, you know,

two dads raising their kids.

And so it's bringing that reality, which, I would say,

20 years ago we weren't encouraged to talk about.

Now we have that freedom.

Did you realize even back then that you were bringing

about such a groundbreaking show and now you're doing it again?

We felt that each time we put stuff on the page,

each time we put stuff on screen,

we both would look at each other and say, well,

I've never seen this before.

You know, we've never seen characters

have these discussions before.

I've never seen this type of design to these characters,

so we knew along the way as we were

in the journey and the process of making

this that we knew that it was something

fun, and unique, and special.

Now, what's interesting is that, you know,

we were producing for television.

So you kind of, you know, you're producing it in a silo.

It's not like a movie, where you can go to any theater and sneak

and sort of see how people are reacting, right?

Our reactions would be on the street.

You know, Ralph-- - That's true.

Back then especially.

You know what I mean?

It's like, yeah, "Proud Family," like, if you're wearing

a "Proud Family" t-shirt.

You wear a crew t-shirt or whatever.

It's like, what is it?

Where did you get that from?

You know, and then that would you start the conversation

and such, right?

But I think one of producers this has kind of laid it out,

where he said he got pulled over by policemen

and pulled out driver's license.

And he asked him what he did.

He said, "I work on 'The Proud Family'."

And he let him go.

[GASPS]

"'Proud Family,' that's my Favorite show."

So if "Proud Family" can get a Black man out of a traffic

ticket, then you know you're doing something special,

I guess, right?

[LAUGHING]

That's how you knew back then when a show was doing well.

You working on something that's reaching out.

So what do you hope audiences take away from "The Proud

Family: Louder and Prouder"?

I think it's amazing when kids can see themselves represented,

right?

The biggest takeaway from a show like this is that, you know,

we see you.

We see you.

We want to tell your stories, so we

hope that you find your story in this,

you find your characters in this.

And that's one takeaway that we think

is essential and key to why we make the show.

We're really leaning into those stories

that aren't typically told in the animation form, you know?

And it's not about an issue each week,

but we don't run away from the fact of whether it's sexism,

racism, issues of gender identity,

along with the everyday things of growing up, coming of age,

because that's what we all had to deal with growing up.

We didn't grow up in that world where everything was perfect.

We all grew up in a world where we had challenges,

and so we're just dealing with those challenges

in a fun, entertaining way.

Thank you both so much.

This is-- this is an honor talking to both of you

about the series, about "The Proud Family," about "The Proud

Family: Louder and Prouder," and just everything

that you're doing. Thank you so much.

- Thank you for paving the way. - Thanks for having us, again.

Hey, thanks. Yes.

Love it.