The Proud Family Movie

(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from the Nostalgia Critic's review of the Disney Afternoon)

Doug (vo): You might think I've seen a lot of the show Proud Family based on what I said at the beginning of my Disney Afternoon review.

NC: Who's dissing The Proud Family? Nobody's dissing The Proud Family while I'm around!

Doug (vo): But the truth is, I've never really seen any of those shows. That was more just to make a joke work.

(We are next shown clips of The Proud Family show)

Doug (vo): I am somewhat aware of what Proud Family is, though. If I visited someone that had kids, that was always a show that was on in the background. So I know a little bit about it. There's a girl named Penny...that's it. Yeah, I don't really know too much else aside of that.

(Now we are shown clips of The Proud Family Movie)

Doug (vo): The reason I bring this up is because I'm not exactly an expert on whether or not The Proud Family Movie is faithful to The Proud Family show. I just kind of assumed the show was like Goof Troop or suburban antics mixed with cartoon zaniness. But let me tell you, if it's anything like the film I just saw, this must've been one of the craziest shows out there because this movie was weird. But luckily, though, in all the best ways.

Story
Doug (vo): It opens with probably the strangest mad scientist I've ever seen in anything. He has a nose that keeps falling off, and his master plan is to create a race of peanut people. Yeah, peanut people. He even has little peanut sidekicks. The problem is, when he makes these peanut people, they don't last very long. But he comes across the Proud Family, whose father, named Oscar, is working on a food preservative that...multiplies food...uh, yeah, this never comes back again. But it also makes the food taste awful, so the higher-ups don't listen to him. (Chuckles) You got something that can multiply food and you're getting rid of it just because it tastes bad? Come on! Take that! You can work with it somehow! But the mad scientist is happy, because that preservative he can use to preserve his peanut people. So he sets up a phony contest that he says the family won and flies them out to his island. That seems to be a thing in these Disney Channel movies, isn't it? (The posters for this movie, The Even Stevens Movie, and Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie are shown) But things, of course, go loony as Oscar discovers the mad scientist's scheme and he makes clones of the family. The clones end up going back to their town, accidentally taking the real Penny, and the real family is stuck on the island with clone Penny. Absolutely none of them are aware that they have the wrong Penny. But the real Penny actually seems to like the clone father, but is confused why her mother is suddenly talking like a gangster teen...

Clone Trudy Proud: (Speaking in a gangster voice) Come on, little sister. What's the full 1-1 on Oscar's sinking phone?

Doug (vo): ...and also puzzled why her dad suddenly has an obsession with hot dogs...and...so are we, for that matter.

Review
Doug (vo): Without giving anything away, the story goes so insane and so ridiculous that it actually starts to make sense. They actually do have a reason why the mad scientist is so obsessed with peanuts, and when it's revealed, it's so absurd, you can't help but kind of buy it. Maybe that's the best way to explain this movie: So crazy that you can't help but enjoy it.

(The characters are shown)

Doug (vo): All the characters are legitimately charming and likeable. I especially like hearing Tommy Davidson again. I don't think I've seen him since In Living Color. I remember he had such this great energy and this fast way of talking, and it's great to hear him in the father character.

Oscar Proud: If anyone's moving out of here doing whatever they want, it'll be me! (Trudy, standing next to him, glares at Oscar and walks away as Oscar speaks nervously) He-hey, of course I'll bring you with me, honey.

(The film's animation is shown)

Doug (vo): The animation ranges from cheap to impressive to cheaply impressive. It's not like it has a ton of motion, but the still shots that they choose to freeze on have a real Chuck Jones quality to them. They're just great poses and great expressions. Even if they're not moving, they feel alive. They have these great designs that really lend themselves to being bent and twisted and kind of like a good comic strip, where even though they're frozen, you can sense the movement that led them to that pose. It's actually very cleverly done.

(Scenes focusing on Penny and Oscar are shown)

Doug (vo): There's also kind of a nice connection between Penny and her father. They have a bit of a falling out early on, but I like that the story doesn't necessarily take it in all the places you think it's gonna take it. Oh, the clone dad is gonna be too mean, and she realizes what a good father she had, right? Actually, no. She really likes the clone dad. It takes a really long time and a long series of circumstances to make her realize how important her real dad is. Again, it's strange, but it somehow really works.

Final thought
Doug (vo): So, again, is this movie representative of what The Proud Family is about or is it too zany or not zany enough? I'm not really sure. All I can say is, I had a lot of fun watching this movie. I like the crazy story, I like the adorable characters, I even like how the animation cuts corners, but in such a creative way, a way that surprisingly looks great and leads to a lot of great line work. Bizarre? Definitely, but also definitely a lot of fun.

(The final scene, showing a photo taken of the Proud Family and their friends posing on a stage, is shown)