Disney has announced it will introduce interracial homosexual dads and their adopted activist daughter to its reboot of children’s animated show The Proud Family.
The new series, entitled The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, will feature gay actors Zachary Quinto and Billy Porter as voices of the new gay characters Barry Leibowitz-Jenkins and Randall Leibowitz-Jenkins.
New crew coming through to #TheProudFamily: #LouderAndProuder! Meet Maya’s parents, Barry & Randall Leibowitz-Jenkins, voiced by @ZacharyQuinto & @TheeBillyPorter. Plus, Penny’s best guy friend Michael Collins, voiced by EJ Johnson. Original Series coming soon to #DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/6EUKuwR9Rt
— Disney+ (@disneyplus) May 12, 2021
According to Entertainment Weekly, Barry and Randall are the adoptive parents of Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins, a 14-year-old activist who is “extremely mature for her age” and “relentlessly marches to the beat of her own drum.”
There’s a new girl coming to town! Prepare to fall in love with 14-year-old activist Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins, voiced by @KekePalmer, from the upcoming Original Series, #TheProudFamily: #LouderAndProuder, coming soon to #DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/JkdVevFuQI
— Disney+ (@disneyplus) August 6, 2020
The series is currently in production at Disney Television Animation and is expected to be released on Disney+ in 2022.
Disney made headlines last year after announcing plans to introduce its first bisexual child as a lead character in the children’s television series The Owl House.
The series’ creator, Dana Terrace, said on Twitter that during development, she was very open about her intention to put “queer kids in the main cast.”
“I’m a horrible liar so sneaking it in would’ve been hard,” Terrace said. “When we were greenlit I was told by certain Disney leadership that I could NOT represent any form of bi or gay relationship on the Channel.
“I’m bi! I want to write a bi character, dammit! Luckily my stubbornness paid off and now I am VERY supported by current Disney leadership…”
According to Newsweek, Alex Hirsch, a writer and animator who previously worked with Terrace on the show, Gravity Falls, said: “[Terrace] wanted to pick my brain in the early days of the series, when the original pitch was ‘girl hangs out with witch in hell.’”
Artist Ricky Cometa said, “When Dana first approached me, she said that ‘we’re trying to make this demon realm part of Disney,’ which is something I didn’t think would happen.
“We really wanted to make this demon realm feel like home, and just had to figure out how to do it,” Cometa went on to say.
It was also said the writers’ room for the show was full of books on witchcraft, witches and spells to take inspiration from.
