Chef Skinner (or simply known as Skinner) is the main antagonist of the Disney/Pixar 2007 film Ratatouille. He is the former sous chef under the restaurant Guesteau's as well as the former head chef, Remy's arch-nemesis, and Linguini and Colette's former boss.
He was voiced by the late Ian Holm.
Personality[]
Skinner was sous-chef of the famous five-star French restaurant, Gusteau’s. When the famous chef and owner of Gusteau’s, Auguste Gusteau, died, the chef position was handed down to Skinner, who Gusteau intended to lead the restaurant if he were to die (if there was not an heir to replace him).
After Skinner was fired as head of the kitchen due to Alfredo Linguini being the heir of Gusteau and due to bad performance, he caught Rémy intending to use him to do his cooking. This plan failed however, when Rémy was rescued by his brother, Emile, and Skinner was later held hostage in Gusteau’s kitchen as he was bound to tell on Linguini for using rats to cook meals. Though they did have to let him go.
Ratatouille[]
He is the head chef of the famous restaurant Gusteau's. He was sous-chef under Auguste Gusteau but became the head chef after Gusteau's death. In Gusteau's will, it was stated that Skinner would inherit Gusteau's business interests if no heir appeared within two years after the latter's death. Skinner evidently did not hold Gusteau's ideals in the highest regard, and was more interested in personal profit from his line of Chef Gusteau Frozen Foods. This line comprised of several different foreign foods like chicken, haggis, burritos, and corn dogs in order to appease overseas markets, with Gusteau as its image to woo buyers.
Skinner reluctantly hires Alfredo Linguini to work at the restaurant as the plongeur (garbage boy). soon he reeds Renata's letter and finds out that Linguini's mother, Renata, with whom Gusteau was close, requested that Linguini will get the job prior to her recent death. He is shocked when Linguini makes a soup that night that impresses a food critic that just happened to be at the restaurant, although it was Remy who cooked it in secret. Suspicious, Skinner forces Linguini to make it again, hot headedly welcoming him to hell and telling him to use as much as time as he needs.
After Linguini and Remy team up, they successfully recreate the soup and impress Skinner. However, Skinner was shocked when he learns that Linguini is Gusteau's biological son, and is determined to keep Linguini from discovering this fact.. He becomes even more determined when he sees Linguini making contact with Remy on numerous occasions, suspecting that Linguini is scheming in the kitchen with a rat. He later invites Linguini to a congratulations meeting for telling Linguini how wonderful he was. but in the meeting, he held bottles of wine. he gave Linguini wine so he will get drunk and tell him about the rat.
He loses the restaurant to Alfredo Linguini when it comes out that Linguini is the son of the dead chef. Remy discovered this fact and gave it to Linguini so that he may assume his rightful place as owner. Linguini later cancels the frozen food line altogether, as it was smearing Gusteau's image.
Skinner spies on Linguini and eventually discovers that Remy is the cook. He captures him and intends on forcing him to create a new frozen food line so he wont disturb Linguini from making Anton Ego proud. he did that for to give Linguini good-luck, but on the other side put the rats in danger.
To Skinner's amusement, Linguini served him and Ego a simple dish of ratatouille, and Skinner being kind to him, reminds him he should take all the time he needs.
but is surprised when Ego actually likes it. He races to the kitchen to find that Remy and his colony of rats cooked the dish, and is locked in the fridge. However, the rats had to let him loose as well the Health Inspector. It's clearly unknown what happen to Skinner after this.
Trivia[]
- Skinner is sometimes thought to be the central antagonist of the film but this is not true as he is the one who drove the plot, trying to prevent Remy, and Linguini succeeding their goals by hindering, and do things negative to them which takes up the middle of the portion of the movie , getting in Linguini's way more than Ego, having bigger plans than anyone, being more of a prominent character, appearing way more than Ego, serving as the arch-enemy of Remy, and not to mention Ian Holm's name comes before Peter O' Tootle's name in the voice cast list and Skinner is also featured in the tribute to the Pixar Villains showing that he is the main antagonist of Ratatouille.
- Skinner is the direct antithesis to Remy. Throughout the movie, humans are associated with creating, while rats throughout the entire movie are synonymous with stealing, Remy is a rat that wants to break the boundaries and create, whereas Skinner is a human rat that only leeches off of others' talent and success. During their confrontation near the climax of the film by the car trunk, the contrast between the two characters are shown, and how Skinner is so much of a rat, by the movie's standard, that he was willing to go to extreme lengths to leech off of the success of a literal rat to further progress his status and forture.
- Despite being the head of Gusteau's, Skinner is never seen cooking in the movie, preferring to bark orders to his employees, and stat in his office instead.
- Skinner's name is named after the psychologist, B. F. Skinner.
- Skinner's behavior, diminutive size, and body language are based on Louis de Funes.
- Skinner is the first Pixar villain with an accent.
- Skinner is one of a few Pixar villains to both win, and lose.
- If Skinner, and the Health Inspector are kept in the fridge forever, both of them could died given it's too dark, no air, and they have duct tapes which will cause them to unable to breathe.
- According to a piece of concept art, Skinner is 3ft tall (although he is seen driving his car).
- Skinner's line; Welcome to Hell," could be a reference to Gordon Ramsay's Hell Kitchen, where Ramsey says, Welcome to Hell," a few times.
- Skinner using a footstool to get up to a stone references to an old emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaquarte who to this day is inaccuratley mocked for his supposed short height.
- Skinner is similar to Gilbert Huph from the Incredibles (a another Pixar film). As a few examples, he is energetic, angry, short, and more or less obsessed with money and power. He is also the head of Gusteau's, just like Gilbert Huph being the CEO of Insuricare but the difference is that Skinner is the main antagonist while Gilbert is a minor antagonist.
- Skinner is also similar to Ernie, and Lars Smuntz from the Dreamworks film, Mouse Hunt since the three of them tried to kill rodents (The Mouse, and Remy), and one of them is a chef just like Skinner but the difference is that Ernie, and Lars Smuntz are heroes, and the main protagonists while Skinner is a villain, and the main antagonist.
- Skinner is also similar to Henry J. Waternoose III from Monsters, Inc. since they're both evil and greedy businessmen and they use be to heads (Waternoose being the CEO of Monsters, Inc. while Skinner is the head of Gusteau's but however the only difference is that Skinner is the main antagonist of his film while Waternoose is the secondary antagonist of his film.
- Skinner is sometimes thought to be redeemed in the film but this is not true since it never shows what happen to him after his defeat.
- Skinner is one of the last characters to be played by Ian Holm before his retirement in 2014, and his death in 2020.