History Creator / BillyWest

He's also quite adamant about not working on projects that prioritize [[CelebrityVoiceActor celebrity stunt-casting]] over actual voice actors which means that he's all but entirely absent from the filmographies of [[Creator/WaltDisneyAnimationStudios Disney]], Creator/{{Pixar}}, Creator/{{DreamWorks|Animation}}, and Creator/{{Illumination|Entertainment}}.[[labelnote:*]]To be clear, he's not entirely opposed to mainstream celebrities crossing over into animation; he's had fewer objections to celebrity voice performances like Creator/RobinWilliams as [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} the Genie]], Creator/MikeMyers as WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}, and Creator/TomHanks as [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory Woody]] because these guys were playing unique characters with their voices. His ire is directed more firmly at the trend of casting celebrities who do nothing unique with their vocal performances and are simply playing themselves because [[MoneyDearBoy the studio is banking on their name recognition to draw in an audience]].[[/labelnote]]

He's also quite adamant about not working on projects that prioritize celebrity stunt-casting over actual voice actors which means that he's all but entirely absent from the filmographies of [[Creator/WaltDisneyAnimationStudios Disney]], Creator/{{Pixar}}, Creator/{{DreamWorks|Animation}}, and Creator/{{Illumination|Entertainment}}.[[labelnote:*]]To be clear, he's not entirely opposed to mainstream celebrities crossing over into animation; he's had fewer objections to celebrity voice performances like Creator/RobinWilliams as [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} the Genie]], Creator/MikeMyers as WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}, and Creator/TomHanks as [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory Woody]] because these guys were playing unique characters with their voices. His ire is directed more firmly at the trend of casting celebrities who do nothing unique with their vocal performances and are simply playing themselves because the studio is banking on their name recognition to draw in an audience.[[/labelnote]]

...and all of this after he first came to public attention as the voice of both Doug and Roger on ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' and both title characters of ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy'' after Creator/JohnKricfalusi (the original voice of Ren) was fired[[note]]Ironically, Billy West auditioned for both Ren and Stimpy when the show was being created, but was given the Stimpy role after John K. decided to do Ren's voice himself. He's also stated that it was such an ordeal that he'll never work with John K. again.[[/note]]. He (along with the late Creator/JoeAlaskey) became one of few voice actors who can impersonate Creator/MelBlanc in his prime, including characterizations of WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck, [[ElmuhFuddSyndwome Elmer Fudd]] and other characters from the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes. He's also the Red M&M. Even before he was known for all these roles, West worked in radio, and was actually a cast member of ''Radio/TheHowardSternShow'' from 1989-1995.

He's also quite adamant about not working on projects that prioritize celebrity stunt-casting over actual voice actors which means that he's all but entirely absent from the filmographies of Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, and Illumination.[[labelnote:*]]To be clear, he's not entirely opposed to mainstream celebrities crossing over into animation; he's had fewer objections to celebrity voice performances like Robin Williams as the Genie, Mike Myers as Shrek, and Tom Hanks as Woody because these guys were playing unique characters with their voices. His ire is directed more firmly at the trend of casting celebrities who do nothing unique with their vocal performances and are simply playing themselves because the studio is banking on their name recognition to draw in an audience.[[/labelnote]]

He's also quite adamant about not working on projects that prioritize celebrity stunt-casting over actual voice actors which means that he's all but entirely absent from the filmographies of Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, and Illumination.[[labelnote:*]] This isn't to say he's opposed to mainstream celebrities crossing over into animation given that he was a fan of Robin Williams' performance of the Genie in Aladdin, which he says was due to Williams understanding what made a good vocal performance and his personality and comedic sensibilities being uniquely suited for that character. His ire is directed more firmly at the trend of casting celebrities who do nothing unique with their vocal performances and are simply playing themselves because the studio is banking on their name recognition to draw in an audience.[[/labelnote]]

** He revealed on ''Podcast/TalkinToonsWithRobPaulsen'' that he was a voice match for Della Reece, of all people, in the video game adaptation of the film ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}''.

[[NamesTheSame Not to be confused]] with the guy from the video game ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfBayouBilly'' or Creator/BobWest, the voice of [[Series/BarneyAndFriends Barney the Dinosaur]].

* VocalDissonance: He claims to have based the voice of Philip J. Fry on himself when he was 25 years old. It's ''barely'' any different from the way he sounds now. He's almost 70 now and yet the very youthful voices of Fry, Doug, and the Red M&M are the voices he does that are closest to his natural speaking voice.

[[NamesTheSame Not to be confused]] with the guy from the video game ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfBayouBilly''.

** He doesn't like talking about his work on ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' because he hated working with John K so much. He's still willing to voice the characters, but only when John K isn't involved (which meant he didn't participate in the infamous ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpyAdultPartyCartoon'').

** He doesn't like talking about his work on ''The Ren and Stimpy Show'' because he hated working with John K so much. He's still willing to voice the characters, but only when John K isn't involved (which meant he didn't participate in the infamous ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpyAdultPartyCartoon'').

** He doesn't like talking about doing ''Ren and Stimpy'' because he hated working with John K so much. He didn't even come back for the short-lived (and ill-fated) ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpyAdultPartyCartoon'' series.

** He hates ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'', primarily because he [[TheOtherMarty was replaced by Joe Alaskey]] as Bugs' voice half-way through production (although his work as Elmer Fudd remained), and accused director Joe Dante of being too demanding and indecisive.

* ManOfAThousandVoices: If you gave this man a script for a half-hour animated show and a microphone, he could do the voices for nearly all the characters.[[note]]This is a ''very'' slight exaggeration, as he's been known to record ''entire conversations'' between multiple characters ''in one take!!''[[/note]] He can even do things to his voice that would require alteration from studio recording equipment (cf. the voice of the pure EnergyBeing from the ''Futurama'' episode "Love Labors Lost in Space," which was initially thought to be technical difficulties). He's ''that'' good.

** He revealed on ''Podcast/TalkinToonsWithRobPaulsen'' that he was a voice match for Della Reece of all people in the video game adaptation of the film ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}''.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: A handful of his most memorable voices are some variation on Larry Fine of Film/TheThreeStooges (Stimpy is basically Larry, but high-pitched so as not to sound like "a depressed old Jewish man"). He was even hired as a dialect coach for the 2012 ''Stooges'' movie.

* PromotedFanboy: West is a big Creator/MelBlanc fanboy as elaborated on the main page. He stated that one of his biggest career highlights was seeing his name appear next to Blanc's during the credits of ''Daffy's Rhapsody.''

* Rocket Raccoon in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan''

* Sparx in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro'' (second game only)

* VocalDissonance: He claims to have based the voice of Phillip J. Fry on himself when he was 25 years old. It's ''barely'' any different from the way he sounds now. He's almost 70 now and yet the very youthful voices of Fry, Doug, and the Red M&M are the voices he does that are closest to his natural speaking voice.

* PlayingAgainstType: His voice for Magus in ''Film/TheScorpionKing'' video game tie-in sounds a bit like [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Zapp Brannigan]], but his characterization sounds a lot more evil.

* Joe Biden, Rudy Giuliani and others in the 2021 ''Series/SpittingImage'' revival.

* Chit Chatterson, Ben Franklin, Genghis Khan, Winston Churchill and several others in ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}''

* VocalDissonance: He claims to have based the voice of Phillip J. Fry on himself when he was 25 years old. It's ''barely'' any different from the way he sounds now. He's in his mid-60s and yet the very youthful voices of Fry, Doug, and the Red M&M are the voices he does that are closest to his natural speaking voice.

* Hamton J. Pig in ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' following the passing of Don Messick

* WeUsedToBeFriends: As noted, West is among the many people who feel this way about Creator/JohnKricfalusi.

* Principal Razinski in ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot''

* Sheriff Tex Avery, Sagebush Sid and Freddy the Fly in ''WesternAnimation/TheWackyWorldOfTexAvery''

* CreatorsPest: Averted. He once stated on [[https://twitter.com/TheBillyWest/status/1364370449954611204 Twitter]] that there was never a character he voiced that he disliked because he gave them so many varieties that he was seldom bored.

* Brian's Uninary Bladder in ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania 4''

* Muttley, Bella and most of the cameos in ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces2017''; he also reprises Muttley in ''WesternAnimation/Scoob''

* Stimpy, and Ren in the later seasons, from ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow''
* Doug Funnie and Roger Klutz from ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}''

* VideoGame/{{Rayman}} in ''WesternAnimation/RaymanTheAnimatedSeries''

* George Klimer and Anita Bidet in ''WesternAnimation/TheOblongs''

* ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} in ''Popeye's Voyage: The Quest For Pappy''