Overview: Bill Kopp (born April 17, 1962) is an American animator and voice actor from Rockford, Illinois. He has worked as a performer, designer and series creator across television and game-show animation, contributing a broadly cartoonish, slapstick sensibility to late 20th century North American animation.

Education and early work

Kopp studied classical animation at the California Institute of the Arts, a school that trained many animators who later worked in television and feature animation. His early professional credits include animation work on short segments that preceded fully developed series. Among those early credits are animated shorts for The Simpsons when they appeared on the Tracey Ullman Show. He left that particular assignment after the first season of shorts but continued to build a career in television animation and freelance projects.

Notable roles and creations

Kopp combined drawing and voice performance in several distinctive roles. He provided the animated mischief known as the "Whammy" on the 1980s game show Press Your Luck, an element often recalled in discussions of the program and its visual gags (Press Your Luck (1980s)). As a series creator and performer he voiced the title character on Nelvana's Eek! The Cat, credited as the title role. He also created and developed original television programs such as The Schnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show and Mad Jack the Pirate, where he took on writing, directing and voice duties.

Selected works

  • Animated performer: the Whammy on Press Your Luck
  • Animator on The Simpsons shorts (Tracey Ullman era)
  • Creator and voice of the title character on Eek! The Cat
  • Creator of The Schnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show; Mad Jack the Pirate

Style, influence and legacy

Kopp's work typifies a vein of television cartooning that favors exaggerated movement, rapid visual gags and character-driven humor. By moving between animation, voice performance and series creation he exemplifies the multi-role career path of many contemporary animators. His contributions helped keep a hand-drawn, character-centric aesthetic visible in television animation during a period of changing production techniques.

Though often associated with particular shows and characters, Kopp's career is notable for its range: from short-form game-show animation to full series development and voice acting. He has continued to work in animation-related fields, including freelance projects and collaborative productions, and is regularly mentioned in histories of 1980s and 1990s North American television animation.