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"The Proud Family" More at IMDbPro »

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38 reviews in total

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15 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
Some OK, Some EH!, 18 July 2003
Author: computerfreak652 from USA

The Proud Family is a TV show that ranges a viewers liking for it. One episode may be made extraordinarily while others.. just make you want to turn off your television. Many have had this experience before, and may not know what to do. It's a good show to watch when you have nothing else to do.

The actors and actresses on this show goes just as up and down as a viewers liking for it. Kyla Pratt who plays the main character, Penny Proud, is an okay actress, however, in many of the episodes of The Proud Family, her acting can be very poor. One instance: In an episode she has to cry, it is very fake. Yes, it is hard to fake crying in a cartoon, but at least she could make it a little more convincing. The cry should make a viewer know it's fake, but make it hard to believe.

Another thing.. Dijonay. She is usually the main reason why viewers turn off the television while this show's on. What is up with her? She is not a good friend and doesn't deserve any. She backstabs Penny as well as her other friends, and doesn't lose a day of sleep over it. Her character makes the show worse. If any character had to be dropped from the show, it would be Dijonay.

Rating: 5/10 - Half and half because a viewers interest in this show ranges!

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28 out of 47 people found the following review useful:
Teach your children stereotypes and call it multiculturalism, 23 May 2006

Author: misswoo from United States

Such a shame so many talented people see fit to contribute to racial stereotypes. Brainy Asians, spoiled Hispanics, and Ghetto-talking, rap-loving African Americans and white kids who wanna-be.

Penny Proud would say "check it out, yo!" And if you allow your kids to watch this show in no time they will be imitating the urban jive as well.

Is there anything wrong with this? Yes, when it masks as multiculturalism. Unfortunately, Disney is only interested in stereotypes.

Wouldn't it be nice to see an African American family who are NOT Ghettoized? Anyone remember The Cosby Show? Apparently Disney does not.

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12 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Far too trendy and behind-the-times for its own good., 27 May 2003
Author: Craig Carrington from San Francisco, CA

The New Disney continues to get more and more calculated with its material by the minute.

Honestly, the only new animated television show they've managed to produce during the past several years that is genuinely good is "House of Mouse". Other than that, the "marketeers" and ridiculous focus groups are getting more and more out of hand. Now to be fair, this is pretty much the case with all of Hollywood and not just the current Disney studio: the current contempt for audiences is producing more pap here in the United States than ever before. I keep hoping that maybe things will eventually turn back around, but the marketers in this country have simply too firm a vice-grip on creators.

But unfortunately, Disney's new animated stuff is also showing just how calculated and out-of-touch the studio really is, as "The Proud Family" is a show which looks, feels and is written like something out of the eighties instead of something current.

Despite its good intentions, there is precious little to be said for this show, which comprises of a ton of wildly cubist limited/abstract designs that were all the rage back during the eighties and were already greviously worn out way back when "Hammerman" and "A Pup Named Scooby Doo" had ripped them off from Bakshi's "Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures", and major major references to trend-following and clothing styles also out of said long-past era, each and every single one of them audience-appeal-programmed to the max. Adding to the problem is the fact that all of the voice acting is wildly overplayed in the "Just The Ten Of Us" mode; only "Sugar Mama" provides any respite. Now and again, the plots will actually begin to write something remarkably tender for a show so determined to be cool, but unfortunately Disney smothers everything with too much political correctness (and by that, I mean a strong "Let's not show TOO MUCH emotion between friends here, otherwise it will be uncool and nerdy!" bias) before you can savour the show's sentiments for very long.

I actually found the TV station's advertising for the show far more entertaining that the show itself. One ad which featured a brief interview with the voice for "Sugar Mama", for example, is a delight and fun to watch all on its own.

All in all, though, "The Proud Family" is about nothing more than the current Disney quest for trend-following, audience-hopes and lots of money money money. Virtually every laugh, every gag, every loud shriek of "Party over HERE!" and jagged design line and abstract character creation and rap music guest seems calculated to induce tweens everywhere to stare in rapture and go, "HOOOO, YEAH!" ...and to spend more money on Proud Family merchandising and videotapes. In other words, "The Proud Family" is "Rainbow Brite" with funky illusions to style and a hip-hop soundtrack.

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10 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
One of the Most Awful Kids' Shows I've Ever Seen, 2 September 2008

Author: kevin-jauregui07 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

If there's anything that "The Proud Family" should be proud of, it's the fact that it's one of the most disgusting and racist children's shows in existence. How this show even got the green light is beyond me. Even for it's target audience, which is supposed to be pre-teens and teenagers, the stereotyping in this show is unbelievable.

Many, if not all, of the African American characters in this show are portrayed as rap lovers who always talk in slang. Some of them, including Penny's father and Dijonay, her best friend, are also incredibly selfish and don't care about others unless their lives depended on it. The whites are portrayed as wannabe gangsters but are generally shut down because of this. Other stereotypes are clear and noticeable (Asian Americans being hard-working, Latin Americans being rich and some only speaking Spanish) to the point where you can't tell if this is a Disney Channel show or not.

Oscar is one of the worst characters ever conceived for a television show. How Trudy can stay married to him is unbelievable when he keeps looking at other women and making his own family look miserable. Like the other men on this show, he is self-centered and weak-willed in front of women. Even his own mother, Suga Mama as everyone calls her, beats him up on a regular basis.

I clearly remember an episode where the children at Penny's school were sent to live in other people's houses, allegedly to learn about other cultures. Penny was sent to live with a devout Muslim family during Ramadan, which let loose some of the worst religious stereotypes I've ever seen on television. Even the title of the episode "Culture Shock" was, ahem, appropriate as it displayed Penny's ignorance about the religion.

To say that "The Proud Family" is a wholesome show for children is a disgrace. The Disney Channel should be ashamed that such a racist and stereotypical show made it on the air.

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15 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
Worst Television Show that I have ever seen, 29 May 2007
Author: Sittingonfence Butitdontwork from Toronto, Canada

I am sure there are worse television shows out there, but of the limited amount of television shows that I have seen, this one is the worst. The first reason is obvious, and can be seen by any person who is not tickled by boring, predictable, slapstick humour, or by any person who does not laugh at psychotic ducks. The show has made laugh out loud once. I forget the circumstances, but it did. I hate to admit it, but it must be said. The second reason is because of its racism and negative stereotypes. African-Americans are portrayed as being, cool, slang spewing, hip-hop lovers. White people are portrayed as being nerdy, ugly people who are "wannabes". They try to be cool, or should I say "off the hizzy" (or however you say it), but ultimately are treated like crap by others. Asian-Americans are portrayed as being people who are obsessed with working hard, and learning karate. Latin-Americans are portrayed as being rich and full of themselves. I live in Toronto, which I think is a fairly multi-cultural city, and I do not know ANYONE who talks using slang terms like "off the heezy" or "in the hiz-ouse", black or white. Also portrayed by negative stereotypes are males, and fathers in particular. The fathers are portrayed as being incompetent, self- centred idiots who watch football all the time they can, and have zero respect from there children. Other males in the show are portrayed as being sex-maniacs, wimps, or arrogant losers who think they can beat anyone at anything (but always end up losing to females). The one homosexual character is portrayed as a loser who has been excluded by everyone, except the girls who use him as a fashion designer, and treat him like crap anyway. I probably would not be so annoyed/angry if this show was not a kids show. i once watched the show with my sister, and she said "I never knew that I was supposed to be wearing glasses". I also would not be as annoyed/angry if they put in some new characters who actually WEREN'T obsessed with hip-hop, or had some Asian-American who hung was "cool". This is the worst show I have ever seen.

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9 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
"Fat Albert" it's not, but neither is it "Bebe's Kids.", 31 March 2002
Author: Victor Field from London, England

An original production from the Disney Channel, "The Proud Family" isn't far removed from live-action sitcoms like "Moesha" - in fact, with all the stock characters present and correct (stable mum, slightly silly dad, energetic grandma, bratty youngsters, stuck-up rich girl, clique of friends, etc) and de rigeur plotlines about finding out who your real friends are, staying true to yourself etc., etc., once you take away the cartoon element you're left with a watchable but unsurprising family show.

But Penny, the teenage girl around whom most of the action revolves, is quite appealing (unlike Brandy Norwood); and though it does come with the message baggage it's less oppressive than some - mainly because it's funny enough to make the morals bearable. (And Destiny's Child fans note the terrific trio doing backup on the title song - sung by Beyonce's sister Solange.) It won't change your life, but this is more proof that the Mouse has moved beyond repackaging their old characters.

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10 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
The NAACP should be made aware of this show., 7 December 2003
Author: nolanjwerner (nolanjwerner@yahoo.com) from Chicago, Ill.

This show is like every African-American stereotype rolled in to one offensive digestible quantity. The dialogue is more laden with slang then Trainspotting (the book not the movie) and this is...

Well, it reminds me of a minstrel show, I am just waiting for the episode where they reveal it to be exactly that. I love Recess and Fillmore and a lot of Disney cartoons but this one is just terrible.

Yeah, and a couple years later and I still feel the same way. And my African-American roommate says the exact same thing so I feel somewhat vindicated. He even actually tried to contact the NAACP about the show.

And to be honest, on top of all the stereotypes, the show itself is really pretty bad.

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13 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
Could they have found any more obnoxious stereotypes?, 17 February 2007
Author: Chuck Jones from United States

There are only a few Disney channel shows that I do not allow my kids to watch, and this heads the list of them. Chief among my complaints is that the only member of a household that it's still politically correct to lampoon is the fathers, and BOY does the proud family capitalize on this. The show portrays the husband and father of the house and a imbecilic moron who provides no purpose whatsoever aside from producing a paycheck. The mother, on the other hand, is seen as the driving force behind the household, she's competent and her character's entire shtick is proving how irrelevant her husband is to the household. Aide from this fact, the show is blatantly racist to the point that I can't watch it without being disgusted. Every single obnoxious black stereotype is covered here in perfection. The entertainment industry still seems to not get that the success of the Cosby Show was partly due to that fact that nobody WANTS to see every single television black family as slang-slinging, hip-hop listening, ghettofied bags of what the entertainment industry perceives as 'blackness'.

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Chill!, 13 August 2012

Author: J-Fields2594 from United States

Alright, some of these reviews are irritating me.

Seriously, how is the show racist or stereotypical? Its a regular freaking Disney Show. There is nothing stereotypical about it. Its not like any of you actually know to the tee on how every single race act. What part of Penny's character is ghetto? The use of slang? I am eighteen, and trust me, everyone from every race uses slang. Most of the reviewers would not know that, since most are most likely pass the age of thirty and think of themselves to be "Critics".

Suga Mama and Oscar's characters are made to be "Funny", this is a animated Disney Show. This is not The Cosby's, its not suppose to be realistic, what Disney show(real or fake) is realistic? Even Stevens? No, Lizzie Maguire, No. Thats So Raven, No. And the list goes on, a lot of you all sound ignorant, to be honest. The show is very funny, in my opinion. It even has some morals every once and a while. Though the show is no longer on air, i still believe it is a great show to buy for DVD and show your children. At least give it a try, listening to people who feel the need to judge the show as if it was a Oscar movie or something, won't get you anywhere.

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6 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
don't like this, 6 August 2003
Author: colinwhitefan

I like the stories and the cartoon, except for the characters. The Proud Family I never could warm up to, I get annoyed by the characters. I don't think The Proud Family is for everyone, not a bad cartoon, but annoying characters, view at own risk.

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