I can easily imagine that today's quote from Page 19 -
Book Three/Issue One/Page 19 - Barnabas: 'PLEASE,
WILLIE, CERTAIN SUBJECTS STILL MAKE ME
UNCOMFORTABLE. I'VE ASKED YOU BEFORE TO REFRAIN
FROM MENTIONING THEM.' - could have also been a part of the Depp/DS film.
As for the '91 Series' Willie, he was often used on the show as a humorous counterpoint to all the, as DC often put it, "biting, ripping and tearing" - and it was DC's specific intention that it be that way...