This September, the world of television and animation will celebrate the 21st anniversary of The Proud Family. The successful animated series not only helped provide a platform of Kyla Pratt and several others, but it also introduced a number of iconic characters like Penny Proud, Oscar Proud and The Gross Sisters. Among the many iconic characters that the show has featured, one recurring character always seems to come up in conversation. Standing at a height unknown with an endless bank account, Wizard Kelly is one of the show’s most beloved characters. However, viewers never see his face. During a panel at the 2022 Essence Festival in New Orleans, The Proud Family Co-Creators Ralph Farquhar and Bruce W. Smith revealed why viewers never saw Kelly’s face.
“From the very beginning Bruce and I [have written] this show like a sitcom…Bruce would come into the room we were breaking a new character, I remember Wizard Kelly, and Bruce just sat on the side and started drawing. This guy was so tall we never saw his face completely,” Farquhar said, according to Shadow & Act.
“This guy is so tall, I ran out of paper, [which is] basically why he doesn’t have a head because I ran out of paper,” Smith added.
Instead of trashing the drawing, Smith and Farquhar leaned into the unique character and ran with it.
“The minute he did that, we knew where to take this character and this is an exchange we have,” Farquhar explained, according to Shadow and Act.
“We give him the character, he gives us the visual.”
More than two decades later, Wizard Kelly has been a fan favorite on both the original series and a fan-favorite. It’s safe to say that the talented duo knew what they were doing.
