BHM: Day 23.
Louder and Prouder is out today. The Proud Family is near and dear to my heart for a multitude of reasons, so today
Meet Bruce Wayne Smith. Sadly, he's not Batman and The Fresh Prince if Bel-Air, but he is an animator that worked on countless projects. He graduated from California Institute of the Arts, and would land his first gig by being an animator for Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He would then be handpicked to direct Paramount's Bebe's Kids. He would then go to Warner Bros and codirect Space Jam, yes, THAT Space Jam. He would return back to Disney for his roots of an animator, helping to animate movies like Tarzan and Emperors New Groove. He would later land a major hit by being the creator and director of the 2001 show, the Proud Family. But the hits kept rolling, he would help animate the Princess and the Frog, Wreck It Ralph, he dorecter and was lead animator of the Tangled Ever After short. He also directed this Award winning short
He will return for Louder and Prouder.
“Proud that we got a chance to be the first, disappointing that we remain the only [show]. That’s why it’s important to do this show. We want there to be more Proud Families on. There’s not just one view of Blackness or a Black family. We would like to see a lot of different families portrayed.”
“I’ve never seen a Black animated horror show or film. I’ve never seen a Black animated Western. I’ve never seen us Black people in outer space from an animation standpoint. There’s so many places to go in this medium.”