Angie Willis (Queen of the Willis)

This article is about the Queen of the Willis character. For  , see [[ ]].

Angela Willis
Queen of the Willis character
Angie Willis as of "For the Love of Heather" (2020)
First appearance	"Pilot" (2006)
Last appearance	"Into That Final Good Night in Quillsville" (2026)
Created by	Ava Zinn
Voiced by	Normal Voice: Holly Everman (2006-2012) Karly Jameson
Information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Bottler Former accountant Former fisherman
Family	Parents: Bob Donaldson (biological father) Lisa Shanks (mother) Ned Shanks (adopted father) Siblings: Laura Donaldson (half-sister) Sarah Donaldson (half-sister) Andrew Donaldson (half-brother) Grandchildren: Kaylee Willis (granddaughter) Lina Willis (granddaughter) Tessanne Willis (granddaughter) Maggie Willis (granddaughter) Alexandra Souza (step granddaughter) Chereice Souza (step granddughter) Telissa Souza (step granddaughter)
Spouse(s)	Ava Willis (m. 1989; wid. 2026)
Children	With Todd Unger: Heidi With Ava Willis: Tom Deanna Stuart Luanne Hillary Emilie Ron Brian Brynn
Relatives	Grandparents: Carter Willis (grandfather-in-law) Other relatives: Harry Willis (father-in-law) Peggy Willis (mother-in-law) Finola Willis (stepmother-in-law m. Harry) Albert Willis (brother-in-law) Nicole Pence (sister-in-law) Vladamir (transgender half-brother-in-law) Ava Willis (AA or "Amanzing Ava") (half-sister-in-law) Electa Atkinson (step-sister-in-law) Wendy Atkinson (step-sister-in-law) Brandi Souza (daughter-in-law) Janice Parkington (aunt-in-law) Sharon Willis (aunt-in-law) Scott Willis (cousin-in-law) Marissa Willis (cousin-in-law) Clint Willis (cousin-in-law) Arianna Willis (cousin-in-law) Melanie Willis (cousin-in-law) Diane Willis (cousin-in-law) Bianca Willis (transgendered pet niece) Austen Willis (nephew) Tabby Willis (dog) Shushu Willis (cat) Heather Willis (lobster)
Nationality	American
Birthday	July 4, 1970

Angela Anne "Angie" Willis (née Donaldson and formerly Shanks) is the main character of the American animated sitcom Queen of the Willis. She is currently voiced by Karly Jameson and was voiced by the series' co-creator, Holly Everman, and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the Willis family, in the 15-minute pilot pitch of Queen of the Willis on December 20, 2003. Angie was created and designed by co-creator Ava Zinn. Zinn was asked to pitch a pilot to ATE Media based on Frank's Life, a comic strip made by Zinn which featured the characters Frank, Brittani, and an intellectual lobster, Amber. After the pilot was given the green light, the Willis family appeared in the pilot episode.

Angie is married to Ava Willis and is the mother of Tom, Deanna, Stuart, Ron, Brian, Hillary, Emilie, Luanne and Brynn. She also has a dog named Tabby, a cat named Shushu, and a lobster named Heather, with whom she is best friends. She has worked at an accounitng firm. Despite the suburban blue-collar routine of her life, she has had a number of remarkable experiences.

Angie's voice was inspired by the female teachers and classmates that Zinn and Everman respectively heard while Zinn was attending Mississinewa High School and Everman attending Muncie Central High School and Ball State University. Her appearance was a redesign of the protagonist Brittani from Zinn's comic strip and short Frank's Life and Frank & Brittani. She has appeared in and has made crossover appearances in other shows, including Vote for the Girls, Amanda & Elisa, Hoosier Anchorwoman!, and the Queen of the Willis spin-off The Souzas.

Role in Queen of the Willis

Angie Willis is a middle class Irish American, who is a bespectacled, blue collar worker with a prominent Hoosier accent. Angie is the matriarch of the Willis family and the wife of series protagonist Ava Willis, mother to Thomas "Tom" Willis, Deanna Annalisa Willis, Stuart Kevin Willis, Ronald Bartholomew "Ron" Willis, Brian Martin Willis, Emilie Loretta Lynn Willis, Hillary Crystal Gayle Willis, Luanne Gracie Lauren Willis, Brynn Addison Hannah Willis, pet mother to Tabitha Andrea "Tabby" Willis (formerly Timothy Rags), Sheryl Juanita "Shushu" Willis, Heather Alexandra Willis.

Angie and her transgendered wife Ava have eight children; transgendered son Tom, transgendered daughter Deanna, sextuplet sons Stuart, Ron, Brian, and setxuplet daughters Emillie, Hillary, and Luanne, and daughter Brynn. She is the illegitimate daughter of Lisa Shanks and Bob Donaldson, and was raised by Lisa and her stepfather Ned Shanks. Angie and her family live in the fictional town of Quillsville, Indiana, which is modeled after Indianapolis. Angie primarily worked as an accountat until her boss Jane Portsmouth choked to death on a red wine; she then became a fisherwoman on her own boat, known as the "S.S. Hank and Homer," with the help of two Japanese immigrants, Junichrio and Miko, until her boat was destroyed. She now works in the accounting department of the Mississinewa Cola Company. Angie is also shown in various jobs for single episodes. In one episode Angie played for the Indianapolis Colts until her behavior resulted in her being kicked off the team. In a running gag, storylines are randomly interrupted by extremely long, unexpected fights between Angie and Danielle (similar to Ava and Bart the Bully), whose husband serves as a rival to Ava. These battles parody the action film genre, with explosions, high-speed chases, and immense devastation to the town of Quillsville.

Angie was born in Utah to cattle ranchers on July 4, 1970, later moving to Marion, Indiana. Her immediate family includes Bob Donaldson (biological father), Ned Shanks (adopted father), Lisa Shanks (mother), Skye Donaldson (stepmother), Laura Donaldson (half-sister), Andrew (half-brother), Sarah (half-sister), Austen Willis (nephew), Bianca Willis (formerly Baxter) (pet niece). Other relatives, including her siblings and parents, are featured in the series at various times. She moved to Indiana in 1985 (presumably because of an episode where she and what was then Frank Willis were dating in middle school), where she met Frank Willis (now Ava Willis).

Character

Creation

Ava Zinn initially conceived Queen of the Willis in 1999 at Mississinewa High School. During high school, she created her thesis entitled Frank's Life, and a sequel to Frank's Life entitled Frank & Brittani, which featured a younger-aged character named Brittani and an intellectual goldfish, Amber that eventually evolved to Ava, Angie, and Heather; the short was broadcast in 2003.

Voice

The voice of Angie was provided by Holly Everman, who also provided the voice for various other recurring and one-time only characters, most prominently those of Brandi Willis (Deanna's wife) and Lisa Shanks (Angie's mother). Zinn and Everman have been part of the main voice cast from the beginning of the series including the pilot, as well Everman until her death in 2017, had been voicing Angie from the start (and has since been taken over by Karly Jameson. Zinn chose Everman to voice Angie and several other biological female characters as did Zinn deciding to voice Ava and several other male and transgender female characters herself, believing it would be easier to portray the voices she already envisioned than for someone else to attempt it. Everman's speaking voice (and later Jameson's) is not very close to Angie's; Everman used her normal voice as the voice of Quillsville 24 anchor Cynthia Wilson while Jameson uses her normal voice as the voice of Brandi Sousa (now Brandi Willis). Everman drew inspiration for the voice of Angie from the classmates she overheard talking while she was attending Ball State; according to her, "I knew a thousand Angie Willis growing up in Muncie. Girls who would not think before they spoke, like [switching to Angie's voice] there was no self-editing mechanism. [Pointing to herself] Everything in here, [pointing to her front] it's coming out here". Everman also voiced many of Angie's ancestors who share the same type of voice. She noted in an interview that she voices Angie and the rest of the characters partly because they initially had a small budget, but also that she and Ava prefers to have the freedom to do it themselves. In another interview, Everman mentioned that Angie's voice is one of the most difficult to do.

There have been occasions where Holly Everman, prior to her death and since season 7 Karly Jameson, did not voice Angie. In the episode "No Transphobias in Quillsville", Karly Jameson voiced Angie in a cutscene, but Everman voiced Angie for the rest of the episode and in "The Rape of Heather Willis", Kathy Finklemyre voiced Drunk Angie after after she was intoxicated as she struggles to help Heather deal with her rape and subsequent pregnancy, but Jameson voiced Angie for the rest of the episode.

Personality

Angie Willis (2006-2019)

In the first seven seasons, she wears contacts and is generally seen wearing blouses and either a pink skirt or black pants. She was slightly short for a woman at 4 ft. 11 in., she was attractive, and she had abnormally smaller breasts than Ava; she wore a 34C cup bra while Ava has 38D. Her breasts (and later her weight) are the traits she is deeply insecure about, despite the fact that it's been said that such breasts give her exceptional athletic ability. She is gifted at bowling, among other sports. She is also skilled at playing Scrabble, and once won the Indiana State Scrabble Championship. As of "Ten Years to Life", Angie's most prominent character traits are her laziness, minor obesity, as she gave birth to eight children. Angie's appearance after "For the Love of Heather", she begins to wear glasses and generally seen wearing a blue shirt and either a pink skirt or black pants and stands 5 ft. 6 in, obese and wears a 36D cup bra.

Angie, a stereotypical blue-collar worker, frequently gets drunk with her neighbors and friends Jennifer Donovan, Stephanie Rose and at "The Drunken Hoosier," Quillsville's local tavern. Angie is known for her brash impulsiveness, which has led to several awkward situations, such as attempting to molest Tom in order to adopt a redneck lifestyle. She is incredibly jealous of other attractions Ava has in her life (predating her transition from Angie's husband to Angie's transgendered wife), an attitude which has led to extreme situations, such as when she punched another woman who kissed Ava. Angie has a very short attention span which frequently leads her to bizarre situations, as Deanna points out in one episode after Angie's bird dies "She will get over it pretty quickly and then move on to another crazy thing", to which Angie finds a piano and forgets about her bird (Angie then destroys the piano within seconds and then finds a deed to a supermarket).

Angie has complex relationships with all eight of her children. She normally made fun of Tom and treated him badly. Though in some episodes Angie had a good relationship with Tom, in "Hell Comes to Quillsville", Angie almost tells Tom she loves him and in "Back Home Again to Kevin", she told Tom that she would treat him badly in front of the family, but that she would be his friend in secret. Angie communicates and has a much better relationship with the sextuplets as well as respective cat and dog, Shushu and Rags (now Tabby). Angie, Rags, and Shushu had their adventures when he took him to Indiana Beach in the episode "The Courtship of the Mother". With Deanna, Angie communicates well, but at times when in need of advice or in an adventure Angie tells Deanna to do the opposite of what she should do, like in "Long John Angie" , where Deanna is asking for advice on dating and Angie tells her to treat men horribly.

Angie is best friends with her anthropomorphic lobster, Heather. In earlier seasons, Heather often served as a voice of reason for Angie, helping her out with issues. Heather is extremely grateful to Angie for picking her up as a stray while vacationing in Maine, shown during a flashback in the episode, "Heather Wallows and Angela Swallows". Her gratitude was affirmed in, "For the Love of Heather", where Heather loses a staggering amount of weight (and nearly costing her life), while Angie permanently gains the same amount of weight Heather lost (although she did gain the weight back thanks to Melissa giving her a sedative to put her in a two-week coma).

Within the household, Angie provides a buffer between Ava, Tom, Deanna, and the sextuplets, who have difficulty relating to each other. Angie has taken Ava to task about their relationship, or the lack thereof. Angie's devotion to family extends to her nephew, Austen, and pet niece Bianca, whom she thinks of respectively as a son and as a transgender daughter. Angie freely encourages Deanna and Bianca; sometimes to Ava's distress. Angie's high opinion of herself is often quite an annoyance to her family and friends. She usually considers herself smarter than everyone she meets and knows; more attractive than Deanna, Stephanie and many other more conventionally attractive women or transwomen; and constantly takes credit for things she has never done. Ava finally confronts her about her confidence issues in "Ava and the Great D Cups". Despite boasting of her intelligence, she has been a victim of manipulation multiple times.

She believes that people can do anything if they commit themselves. This often gets her into trouble, as she takes the philosophy too literally. Angie often plunges into things, disregarding her own complete lack of skill. Her inability to understand the potential consequences of her actions has led to the harm of those around her. For example, when Angie begins selling working-class housing to upper-middle-class Millennial hipsters in Adrienne's primarily German neighborhood, property values skyrocket and Adrienne nearly loses her house due to the massive increase in her rent. To solve the problem, Angie makes it appear as if typical middle-class families were moving in, prompting the hipsters to leave.

As another running gag, Angie often calls attention to her part in something for its own sake. In line with this, she uses "As I like to say/call it," alongside common expressions such as referring to leverage as a function to which only she specifically refers. Angie occasionally makes claims that seem to have no basis in reality at all. This is also portrayed when talking about people; for example, when she saw there was no organ donor sticker on a man's driver license, she stated she believed he was an alcoholic. She also believed Lando had an unhappy marriage because he enjoyed growing roses. When she is particularly pleased with her own cleverness, she raises her hand to her chest and chuckles, "Oh, Angie!"

In early seasons, Angie prided herself as a cook, although others consider her cooking to be average to poor. Her family dinners were a regular rotation of a few menu items which included Seyfert's Pie with Cincinnati Chili on Mondays and Thursdays, Sloppy Janes, Corn and Fries on Tuesdays, "Angie Burgers" and chips on Wednesday, and Pizza on Friday, the one dish which, according to Ava, "she's kind of made her own" though it is simply Veggie Burgers with "just the right amount of chickpeas, beans, tofu, and grated parmigiana cheese." She was also proud of her Pumpkin Pound Cake to which she adds a spoonful of apple juice. Other dishes mentioned are vegetable chop suey, vegetarian chicken and broccoli which is made with "plenty of cheese", and tacos. Angie becomes very defensive when others challenge her cooking abilities, having been in cooking rivalries with Lilly Abhrams, Ava, Deanna. In one episode when Ava begins to prefer Deanna's cooking over her own, Angie shows that she is not above sabotaging even her own transgendered daughter to restore her ego. In the same episode she is also shown as jealous of Deanna after she ruined Ava's pants in the wash and Deanna made Ava a new pair with skills she had learned at school in Home Ec, claiming that her sewing machine could not make seams as straight as Deanna had achieved.

As the series progresses, it puts increasing emphasis on Angie's superiority complex. As her egotism grows to extremes, other characters become more aware of it. Other characters seem to tolerate Angie's behavior. Ava truly loves Angie and indeed tolerates her ego on numerous occasions, but at one point, she has enough of Angie's ego and directly confronts Angie.

Character flaws aside, Angie is a kind person at heart who often works from the best motives. Angie is completely devoted to her transgendered wife and family. She refers to Ava as the love of her life. Angie has demonstrated her love for and protectiveness of Ava several times. For example, in the episode "What Happens at the National Retailers Convention in Chasworth, California Stays at the National Retailers Convention in Chasworth, California" she stood up to Tina Kelso on her transgendered wife's behalf when her antics drove Ava to get drunk and make a scene in public at a trade show. Angie confronted Tina and told her very bluntly that Tina owed her successful business to Ava and demanded that Tina help her fix the mess that she got Ava into as a result of her behavior.

However, Angie makes no secret of her contempt for her mother-in-law, Peggy Willis, particularly because of her neglectful, cruel behavior toward Ava. Of course Peggy shows even more disrespect towards Angie herself, including frequently referring to her as "Ava's wife" instead of her name. Her hatred of Peggy is such that she accepts her offer to literally dance on her grave. This hatred between the two even continues when Peggy is on her deathbed. While Ava is out of room, Angie tells Peggy exactly what she thinks of her just before she dies. When Ava returns, she lies and says Peggy said kind things about Ava before her passing.

It is revealed in "Ten Years to Life" that Angie has repressed emotions from the death of Tom and in "For the Love of Heather" the primary reason she became obese is resentment towards her mother-in-law as well as being raped by her ex-boyfriend, Todd Unger, in 1983 and 2018. In "Ten Years to Life", Deanna revealed resentment towards her eldest half-sister, Laura Donaldson, for voting for Hannah Huston over Alisan Porter on The Voice that started a ongong feud which Angie claimed Alisan Porter was the most beautiful woman on Earth.

Ancestry

Before Angie was born, her mother Lisa went to Utah to have an abortion. However, she gave birth during the procedure, and smuggled her home to Marion, Indiana, where she spent her childhood. Angie was raised by Ned and Lisa Shanks in the Roman Catholic faith. However, in "Revenge of the Male Anchors 2", she discovers that her biological father is long-time Indianapolis news anchorman named Bob Donaldson. Angie visits Bob, who initially rejects her. Bob later accepts her as his daughter after Rags confessed to attacking, biting and chewing off the legs of both Zach Mullins and Gene Cox. Bob is based on the Indianapolis anchorman of the same name. Zinn said: "When I was growing up in Van Buren and Marion, I was watching lots of Indianapolis newscasts and Fort Wayne newscasts. They were all bursting at the seams with personality, and Diane Willis came out of a lot of those archetypes that I spent years observing."

Death

In the series finale episode "Into That Final Good Night in Quillsville," Angie suffers severe injuries after driving drunk in Quillsville in an accident she caused. She is taken to the hospital.

The last person to see her alive is Ava, who tells her that despite Angie's constant drinking and alleged drug use, Ava has always loved her and asked Angie to slow down on her drinking.

Reception

Criticism and controversy

Angie has been criticized for being too similar to Peggy Hill. One TV critic criticized the Willis family for being too similar to the Hill and Griffin families; and he said that Angie "has Peggy written all over her". This is eventually made fun of in the episode "Ratings Queen" when, after Angie ruins television and goes to the networks to reverse the changes, Peggy Hill shows up with the same plight, with Angie going "A-ha! Looks like this is one WE beat YOU to!"

Cultural influence

Angie has had several television appearances outside Queen of the Willis, often in the form of direct parody. Angie has appeared in the King of the Hill movie, referencing how the two shows are frequently compared to each other. Angie is depicted as one of Peggy Hill's clones. Angie also appeared in various episodes of Amanda & Elisa and Queen of the Willis's spin-off The Souzas.