The heartwarming theme song, performed by Solange Knowles and Destiny’s Child, also got a makeover - the 2022 version is sung by the newcomer Joyce Wrice. “Louder and Prouder” is similarly star-studded, with cameos by the likes of Lil Nas X, Chance the Rapper and Lizzo. The original featured guest appearances by popular early ’00s performers like Lil’ Romeo, Mos Def and Mariah Carey. Dated phrases like “off the heezy fo’ sheezy” are out “woke” and “Black girl magic” are now in. Instead of pagers, the kids use smartphones. The revival, which is also overseen by Smith and Farquhar, retains much of the original’s flavor, but it has been updated for the 2020s. “And we’re doing the same thing this time around.” “That’s what I loved about the original: We talked about things that other people shied away from,” said Pratt, who took on the role of Penny at age 14. These included a poignant Kwanzaa celebration and a Black History Month tribute to oft-overlooked luminaries like the pioneering aviator Bessie Coleman and Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress. In addition to commonplace domestic scenes - kitchen table spats, curfew breaches, babysitting snafus - there was a smattering of more educational story lines. For us, that was exciting because then we could set the bar.” Smith added: “The great thing about it was there was nothing before us. His first step was teaming up with Ralph Farquhar, a creator of “Moesha,” as well as its spinoff, “The Parkers,” and the short-lived Black family dramedy “South Central.” Together, they oversaw “The Proud Family” and its subsequent 2005 TV movie, with Smith also directing several episodes. Smith set out to create a cartoon sitcom in the vein of “Moesha” - one that centered a Black girl’s life and experiences. We’re not involved somehow, and we should be.”Īt the time, live-action sitcoms like “Moesha” and “Sister, Sister” had proven that Black teenage girls could both carry a series and draw a dedicated audience. “I was just looking at them like: OK, we’re not in this. “‘The Simpsons,’ ‘Family Guy,’ ‘King of the Hill,’ all these animated sitcoms became the rage,” he said. Smith is a veteran animator who spent much of the ’90s working on feature films like “Space Jam” and Disney’s “Tarzan” and “The Emperor’s New Groove.” By the end of that decade, he set his sights on serialized television, aiming to fill a void in the small screen’s animated offerings.
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