- "I cannot stand (her/them/y'all)!"
- ―Penny Proud's catchphrase
- "I'm Penny Proud. I'm cute, I'm loud and got it goin' on!"
- ―Penny Proud, Bring It On
- "Even though they’re not perfect, in fact I have an extended list of complaints, they’re my real family! And I love them just the way they are."
- ―Penny Proud, The Proud Family Movie
Penny Proud is the main protagonist of Disney's The Proud Family franchise. She's the main protagonist of Disney Channel's original animated television series, The Proud Family and in Disney+'s original animated revival The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. She is a 14-year-old girl who lives in Emilyville, California with her parents, Oscar and Trudy, and twin baby siblings BeBe and CeCe. Her grandmother, Suga Mama, visits every day and often spends the night with her pet poodle. She is a typical black teenager who tries to live the life she dreams of, but her father does not allow her to date boys. Penny loves her family dearly, but often finds herself embarrassed by the way her father, acts in public, how her mother coddles her and annoyed by the fact that she's often stuck having to babysit the twins, who often prevent her from being able to go out with her friends. Suga Mama is quick to stand up for her "grandbaby" and she is usually someone Penny goes to if ever she feels her parents are being unreasonable.
She is voiced by Kyla Pratt and her singing voice was provided by Na'Shay.
Appearance[]
Penny is a 14-year-old African-American girl of a light brown complexion. She has black eyes with a singular eyelash, a beauty mark beneath the outer corner of her left eye, and dark lips. She has black curly hair that is nearly always done in low pigtails, tied together by two fuchsia-colored hair ties, while a single hair strand sticks up at the top of her forehead. It has been mentioned several times by multiple characters that she has a large forehead.
In the original series she wears a white collared blouse, a burgundy cardigan, a magenta skirt, white ankle-length socks and magenta and white sneakers.
In the revival series, Penny looks mostly the same, except that she is now taller at 5'4[3] and has a slightly more angular face and wider hips as a result of puberty (although she is still the same age). Her cardigan sweater has become a cherry-red color and cropped with 3/4 length sleeves and she now wears a cream-colored midriff tank top underneath. Her skirt is now a high waisted maroon-colored pencil denim skirt and shown with visible stitches and pockets. She wears white and maroon sneakers similar to her original ones.
History[]
Penny as a baby playing basketball with her dad
Penny Proud was born to Trudy Proud and Oscar Proud in Emilyville, California. During this time, her mother; aged 22, was months from graduating college and would go on to earn a doctorate in veterinary medicine. Her father aged 23 had dropped out of college to pursue his dream of becoming an entrepreneur. Her parents married shortly after and then went on to successfully achieve their career goals.
By the age of 3, Penny would become best friends with Dijonay Jones[3]; she would later befriend Zoey Howzer, Sticky Webb and Michael Collins. She would later be blessed with a brother, Benjamin Proud and sister, Cecelia Proud; twins better known as BeBe and Cece. At age 4, her family moved to their current address at 1433 Kelly Rd (now 4134), buying the house for incredibly cheap.[4]
Upon beginning their last year at Willy T. Ribbs Middle School, Penny and friends would welcome LaCienega Boulevardez; a long time friend of Dijonay's that Penny and Zoey previously knew nothing about.[5] Penny and LaCienega would get off on the wrong foot as they were set up to compete for the last spot on the Willy T. Ribbs Racer Cheerleader squad which Dijonay was captain of. Due to unfortunate circumstances, Penny and LaCienega would also become neighbors due to the Boulevardez family moving in to their new home across from the Proud family, kickstarting a rivalry between the two.
Personality[]
Despite being blessed with great beauty, Penny is a grounded individual and is confident in who she is, while also being courteous to her parents and peers most of the time. She is an extrovert, having excellent communication skills and a knack for finding ways to relate to almost everyone she talks to. She enjoys shopping and hanging around with her friends, even though they haven't always been faithful to her. Despite this, Penny is especially forgiving and understanding and does her best to try and see good in people. She is mature and thinks very logically for a girl her age, usually seeing things for what they really are.
Penny respects her parents and usually listens to them, but she often caves in to peer pressure. She can be a bit obstinate, and it leads her into undesirable situations from time to time; a trait inherited from her father, who once told her to always stand up for what she believes in. Ironically, Penny is often distressed with her father who adopts an authoritarian parenting style which clashes with Penny's strong willed personality. He is especially strict whenever it comes to Penny associating with boys which opens up a lot of opportunities for a teenage girl like her to get into trouble. She happens to be closer to her mother who adopts a democratic parenting style and seems to respect Penny's feelings more by allowing her to have a voice.
She is also a natural born leader and tends to act as such in her friend group much of the time. She gives inspirational speeches that often get the people around her engaged and ready to help support her beliefs and causes. She proved herself to be a talented singer as a member of LPDZ and her talents eventually land her a brief career as a solo singer and actress for Wizard Kelly Studios under the name Penné until she quits after falling out of character and then missing her old lifestyle. Due to her father sheltering her too much, she tends to let fame go to her head, but can be snapped out of this phase with help from family and friends.
Penny is extremely productive at school as she gets straight A's, plays on the football team and writes for the school newspaper, 'The Checkerboard Times'. She has also held a school-office for four consecutive years. Penny tried out for cheer leading, but she gave up her chances by saving her rival, LaCienega Boulevardez from a cruel prank involving the stage being converted into a gigantic CD. Penny got caught in the prank herself while forcing LaCienega offstage causing herself to get seriously injured and by default, LaCienega was given the last spot on the cheerleading squad.
Penny is also prolific at writing and reciting poetry but became resentful when she discovered that Dijonay was even better than her at it. When Penny reached her sweet-sixteen[6] she began demanding independence, but had to deal with her father's issues in allowing her to grow up. She became a hero by saving the world from the evil clone of Dr. Carver with the help of her friends and makes up with her dad once he finally accepts the fact that Penny is her own person who can make her own choices afterwards.
Penny has grown to be a loyal, and protective friend. When it was revealed how much Michael gets bullied on a daily basis, she sticks to his side and tries to protect him in anyway she can, like telling off his bullies and telling him he should stand up for himself. However, she can go too far with trying to stand up for her friends. This is shown in “Who You Callin' a Sissy” when even though she is trying to defend Michael, she goes as far as to call Michael a chump for not defending himself, initially not realizing she was not helping the situation with insulting him. This is also shown in “Father Figures” when Penny try’s to cheer up Maya and KG with all the bullying, she makes an insensitive joke about how children are jealous that they have two fathers, when some children don’t even have fathers, or mothers. Nevertheless, she still cares deeply about her friends, and usually tries not to hurt them intentionally.
Relationships[]
Penny has made a myriad of friends on the show and even away from the show, but she spends most of her time hanging out with Dijonay Jones, LaCienega Boulevardez, Zoey Howzer, Sticky Webb, Michael Collins and Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins, each of whom she is very loyal to.
Dijonay Jones[]
Dijonay is considered to be Penny's best friend as the two have known each other since they were very young. However, her friendship is exceptionally questionable as she has proven time and time again that she is untrustworthy. She takes much pleasure in ditching Penny whenever she is in a difficult situation and encourages her other friends to do the same. She is also notorious for taking advantage of her and has even back-stabbed her numerous times. In "Adventures in BeBe Sitting" Penny decides she can no longer trust Dijonay after she leaves her behind with her nine wild brothers and sisters while she sneaks to the 3rd Storee Concert where she would go on to lie to Zoey and LaCienega and tell them that Penny said she could go on ahead, bringing them (and the Chang Triplets) bad karma. However, Dijonay has shown at times that she does indeed care about Penny. No one knows Penny better than Dijonay as she and Penny have known each other as toddlers and their bond is very strong. Dijonay often sticks up for Penny and will encourage her other friends to support her in key situations. In "Poetic Justice", she discovered that she was even more talented at reciting poetry than Penny which made her extremely jealous and almost ruined their friendship for good. She then recited a poem dedicated to Penny that she thought of on the spot, thus saving their friendship. She also keeps Penny's safety and well-being in mind as she comes to check on her whenever she spends considerable time away from the group and is quick to jump to her aid if she sees Penny is truly in danger.
Zoey Howzer[]
Zoey is perhaps Penny's most reliable friend as she is often the first to come to Penny's aid whenever she needs help. Zoey usually gives everything she's got to support Penny as seen in "Election". She'll even stick up for Penny whenever Dijonay or LaCienega are mean to her and often acts as a peacekeeper. However, since Zoey has a tendency to be a follower, she will ditch Penny at times just to fit in with the rest of the group. She'll also tell people whatever they want to hear which often annoys Penny because it doesn't always come off as genuine. However, Zoey also serves as a whistle-blower and points out whenever Penny is making a mistake which often helps Penny to make better decisions and be a better friend herself. With Zoey being insecure and desperate to fit in, she often makes irrational decisions herself and Penny often has to drag her along and talk some sense into her. This is on display in "Hip-Hop Helicopter", when Penny literally had to drag her out of Gary's house party when it started to become unsafe for them.
LaCienega Boulevardez[]
Penny and LaCienega have a love-hate relationship that gets rather complicated as the two get off to an abysmal start when they are set up to compete for the last spot on the cheer team and LaCienega's demeanor and actions leave a terrible first impression on Penny, setting the tone for everything that comes after. However, Penny discovers that she actually likes LaCienega a bit as she can be a lot of fun to be around and actually satisfies Penny's innate need for competition. She also learns that a big reason why they clash so much is that she and LaCienega are perhaps the most similar to one another in comparison to everyone else in the group and pretty much want the same things in life. They gradually bond as the series moves forward; becoming almost like sisters. Despite LaCienega's rudeness, she has perhaps been the most honest with Penny and the two reach the point where they can communicate telepathically through eye contact and body language which shows they understand each other quite well. When Penny's in her right mind, it hurts her to see LaCienega suffer and she is usually quick to help cheer her up as seen in "Love Thy Neighbor". Hence the episode title, it also helps that they are neighbors and their families are strongly associated with each other.
Sticky Webb[]
Sticky is Penny's best male friend who is usually open to helping Penny at times of need, using his genius mind and wacky technology. He once rescued Penny from The Gross Sisters after Dijonay accepted money from them to track her down. There are subtle clues that Sticky had a bit of a crush on Penny early on and she often bosses him around. It is later revealed that Sticky had strong feelings for Dijonay once she got into a relationship with Duke Anoi and Penny pretended to be Sticky's girlfriend for a day to try and make Dijonay jealous in order to help him win her back though it initially fails. Sticky seemed to enjoy flashing Penny off during this time while Penny didn't take it as seriously.
Michael Collins[]
Michael is Penny's flamboyant male friend who gradually got closer to the group following his contributions as choreographer for her girl group LPDZ and his close friendships with Sticky Webb and LaCienega Boulevardez. He is very loyal to Penny and often sticks around even when her other friends ditch her. Penny has stuck up for Michael as he was bullied for his social awkwardness before it was revealed he was gay. He is a talented fashion designer and has designed high quality wardrobes for both Penny and LaCienega and has taken each of them to a dance. He brings life to the party by telling jokes that make the whole group laugh.
Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins[]
In the beginning of the new series, Penny tried desperately hard to kindle a friendship with Maya, but Maya claimed not to like her because of her and the others being, in her biased views, lame, inconsequential, and superficial and claiming that they're "smarter" and "cuter" than anybody else. Penny later grew frustrated with Maya’s self-righteous and uptight attitude, telling the latter she was "pushy" "delusional" and "hard-headed" and even calling her a "liar" when she essentially tried to "kidnap" Shuggie the Panda from the zoo. Maya later got even by being the one to shut down Penny'd social media rampage, exposing Penny as a sell-out after she let her online influencer status get to her head. She later joined LaCienega in bullying Penny over being a basketball player while also assisting LaCienega in getting with Penny's boyfriend (though she was uninformed at the time). Penny got the last laugh however, by rubbing in the fact that Kareem preferred her over LaCienega.
In "Father Figures," Penny (with the help of Michael) was the only one of her group, sensitive enough to stand up for Maya and KG when they were being ostracized for being raised by two dads, and even stood angrily against her own father when he told her she wasn't allowed to hang out with them anymore. Later, Penny took the ultimate stand for them and dragged her friends along when she witnessed Maya and KG when they were being harassed by the Gross Sisters, and her swift thinking ended up diffusing the situation once Maya's father Barry and his partner at work Sunset Boulevardez (LaCienega's mother) rolled by the scene in a police cruiser. For this, Maya showed gratitude and decided to invite Penny and her crew over for dinner officially spawning their friendship.
In "Snackland," Maya was selected to replace Penny in LPDZ after the latter's voice changed, and genuinely apologized for it. However, Penny was visibly hurt. After some encouragement from Lizzo, Penny decided to perform, and Maya happily presented her with a new "P" sticker.
Episode Appearances[]
Starring as the protagonist of The Proud Family franchise, Penny Proud has made an appearance in every episode of both shows, including the 1999 pilot.
The Proud Family[]
Movies[]
Games[]
Comics[]
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder[]
Disney Channel Shorts[]
Chibi Tiny Tales[]
- Big Thunder Mountain
- Game of Phones
- Prune Wars
- Happy Birthday, Disney Channel!
- Happy Pride from Disney Channel
- Disney Chibis Play Baseball
Chibiverse[]
Broken Karaoke[]
- Born to be Strange (non-speaking cameo)
- Descendants: The Rise of Red Life is Sweeter Song Parody (non-speaking cameo)
Theme Song Takeover[]
Trivia[]
- The name Penny is derived from the name Penelope, and means "weaver, With A Web Over Her Face" in English.
- During her music career as Penné, she became a solo artist with her own smash hit titled "It's All About Me", but decided to give it up her lifestyle for her friends.
- In The Proud Family Movie, Penny apparently knows how to drive a boat.
- LaCienega and Nubia constantly make fun of Penny's large forehead, even though their foreheads are larger.
- In Season 2, Penny's skin color darkens.
- Penny's age is 14 years old throughout the original series (Episodes 1-52), and she turns 16 during the events of The Proud Family Movie.
- In The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, she is 14 years old again and is still in middle school, although she is treated as if she’s gotten older and her design is slightly altered to represent this.
- It was later revealed in "Us Again" that The Proud Family Movie was only a dream that Penny had and it's non-canon to the rest of the series.
- In American Dragon: Jake Long, Penny Proud was mentioned by Jake Long as one of his close childhood friends.[citation needed]
- Penny has kissed two boys: Fifteen Cent and Kwok Wong.
- In "Snackland", due to puberty her singing voice changes to be deep and raspy, courtesy of being provided by the legendary hip-hop rapper Tone Loc.
- In "When You Wish Upon a Roker", it is revealed that she has coulrophobia (a fear of clowns) and a birthmark on her left buttock.
- In "Seven Days of Kwanzaa", it is revealed by her father, Oscar, that Penny was almost named "Imani" which is Arabic and Swahili for "faith" or "belief'.
Gallery[]
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