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The Proud Family Movie (G, 2005)

common sense media says

Weird plot propelled by wacky Proud TV family.

parents & educators say
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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this movie features a teen girl at the height of her parental rebellion, and her parents (who engage in non-stop insults to each other on the side) are unwilling to just go along with her whims. Penny's biggest dream is rather small: to become a backup dancer for a rapper, along with her three friends. The rapper's lifestyle is meant to be enviable, with his Hummer and yacht, but humor defuses the image to some extent. Cloning is a major theme, but any discussion of ethical or moral implications is absent.

Positive messages: A father and his 16-year-old daughter struggle to find the right balance between protection and independence, as he forbids her to try out for a rapper's dance troupe with her friends. Penny's father and mother engage in non-stop insults. Penny is sarcastic and rude to her parents, at one point wishing she had a different family, but through the movie learns to love them as they are. She is also extremely loyal to her diverse group of friends. Conversely, the characters in this movie with the darkest complexions are the most nefarious.
Violence & scariness: Scenes of mayhem for Penny's turn at the wheel during driver's ed. One character is tortured by being tickled, spanked, and submerged into a pool full of electric eels, then forced to watch bad kids TV. The cloned Proud family beats up benevolent peanut clones, a hot dog vendor, and one another. Three sisters are thugs for hire.
Sexy stuff: When Fifteen Cent politely declines to put the moves on Penny, she rewards him with a big kiss. Suga Mama performs a campy strip tease for Dr. Carver, mercifully taking off her bathing suit only when she's underwater in the hot tub.
Language: Not applicable.
Consumerism: Hummer
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: One character accuses another of drinking too much island punch when he starts telling a story she doesn't believe.
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More on The Proud Family Movie

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about Penny's frustration with her parents over the dance tryouts. Why does she want to go, and what are her parents worried about? Consider the cloning that goes on there -- would the Proud family's clones emerge as babies or adults? What does Penny learn about her family over the course of the movie?

What's the story?

What's the story?
Penny Proud (voiced by Kyla Pratt) is just about to turn 16 when she learns that rapper Fifteen Cent (Omarian Grandberry) is holding open auditions for backup dancers. Penny is determined to try out, but her father Oscar (Tommy Davidson) plans to stop her. Mother Trudy (Paula Jai Parker) tries to maintain the peace between her outspoken daughter and slightly hysterical husband. Oscar's mother Suga Mama (Jo Marie Payton) hunts for men when she's not hurling very funny insults at her son. The family gets pulled into the scheme of crazy inventor Dr. Carver (Arsenio Hall) -- descended from George Washington Carver -- who, like his forbearer, has big plans for peanuts. When Penny finally discovers his evil cloning scheme, she shows the same loyalty to her family as she does with her posse of friends.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 
Based on the TV series of the same name, THE PROUD FAMILY MOVIE wins points for its depiction of a close-knit African-American family comprised of original and very funny characters. However, the plot of this movie, which includes cloned talking peanuts and a secret Kicking Donkey Stabilizing sauce, is so strange, and parts of the film are so slow moving, that the viewer may prefer to watch the shorter and pithier TV episodes.

One of the funniest bits is the evolving character traits of the cloned Proud family, as the alterna-Trudy turns into a bad ghetto stereotype, Suga Mama speaks only in Spanish, and faux Oscar develops an obsession with hot dogs. The dialogue is undeniably fast-paced and funny, and the rap music is an authentic soundtrack to a world that revolves around a 16-year-old girl. Still, the movie is light on substance.

Movie themes & details

Themes
adventures
Movie Details
Studio: Buena Vista
Director: Bruce W. W Smith
Cast: JoMarie Payton, Kyla Pratt, Tommy Davidson
Genre: Family and Kids
Run time: 91 minutes
Theatrical release: August 1, 2005
DVD release: December 6, 2005
MPAA Rating: G
This review was written by Nancy Davis Kho
 
 

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Most useful reviews by all members

jennifercool
teen, 15 years old
13
 
good for teens and tweens
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helped me decide (2) | had useful details (2) | read my mind (2)
hio
teen, 14 years old
6
 
not so great
some parts were SLIGHTLY GOOD AND SLIGHTLY ENTERTAINING but for the most part it wasnt that great.
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helped me decide (2) | had useful details (2) | read my mind (2)
doesn'tmatter
kid, 11 years old
6
 
hilarious
love this movie and the series its so funny whyndid disney have to close the show
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openmind36
parent
7
 
Morals
this movie does hold moral content that parents may want to discuss about sexual coming of age and teen girls finding their place in the world while still learning to maintain respect of self and family.
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