Willis Family

The Willis Family

Queen of the Willis family
Type	Cartoon family
Created by	Ava Zinn
Origin	The Life of Larry Larry & Steve
Original run	August 12, 2006 (2006-08-12) – present (present)
First appearance	"Death Has a Shadow"
Address	6328 West Evansville Road, Quillsville, Indiana

Main family

Ava Willis

Aeverine "Ava" Melanie Florence Willis, (formerly Frank Alvin Willis), voiced by Ava Zinn. Ava is the father of the Willis family, protagonist who proudly sold "retail gifts and retail accessories" as the assistant manager (later manager) at Craven Gifts, and throughout the entire series always makes a big deal about the job when everybody around Ava finds her occupation boring. A few episodes show Ava escaping from her troubled home life by working on her home and garden when times are tough. In early episodes, Ava resembles—in both voice and appearance—the Claudia character from Amanda & Elisa, a character also voiced by Zinn. Ava is usually a well-meaning parent, but is often confused and anxious towards modern trends and the antics of her friends and family members. She transitioned to from male to female on November 1, 1999 and has an enlarged clitoris, which made concieving children with Angie difficult. Ava is uncomfortable with public displays of intimacy with her wife and children. She has a very difficult time saying "I love you" to any member of her family, as she thinks it is unmanly. Ava's trademark exclamation when surprised or angered or in times of discomfort (sounding like "Aahhh!") and "Dammit") are running gags on the series. Ava is a byproduct of a bygone era - always faithful, friendly, firm, reasonable, well-read and hard-working. Much of the series revolves around Ava's desire to do the right thing compared to much of the rest of the people around her who would rather cheat, lie or exploit. Ava is a proud Hoosier, having grown up there. She was, however, born a boy in a ladies room at Cleveland Municpal Stadium, and spent the first three days of her life in Cleveland, Ohio.

In an interview with News Setinel Zinn described her as "Hank Hill as a woman with the knowledge of what she's doing. She has the mind of a transgendered man, basically, and a source of big laughs is when she does realize she's doing something right."

Angie Willis

Angela "Angie" Anne Willis (née Donaldson and formerly Shanks), voiced by Holly Everman from 2006-2011, Karly Jameson since 2019. Angie is the mother of the Willis family works as a substitute accountant. Angie was born in Utah and was adopted by Ned and Lisa Shanks. Her strained relationship with her stepfather is a source of drama for her.

Angie is the Head of the Willis family and bespectacled woman who is just a big child. She has other roots beside her Irish ones, including African-American, Spanish, Scottish and German. She is incredibly jealous of other attractions Ava has in her life, an attitude that tends to get out of hand in most cases. In one episode, Angie and Ava split up because of Angie's jealousy only to discover that Ava has the same character flaw and the two decide to live with their mutually jealous nature. Angie has a very short attention span and frequently ends up in 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-ass thing".

The Willis Sextuplets

The Willis Sextuplets (Stuart, Ron, Brian, Luanne, Emilie, and Hillary) are the youngest of of the Willis family children, born in 2008 in "And Then there were 13". Because they were so young, the sextuplets didn't play a large role in the series' initial run. The sextuplets will not appear in the premiere episode of Season 6.

Ava's Family

• Albert Willis
• Margaret "Peggy" Willis
• Charlie Belcher
• Harry Willis
• Clyde Claussen

Angie's Family

• Ned Shanks
• Lisa Shanks
• Bob Donaldson
• Skye Donaldson
• Laura Donaldson

Deanna's Family

• Brandi Willis