“There are two things you must not do with Skinner. One: Do not look at the horrendous scar on his neck. Two: Don't talk to him. Understand? Not a word.”
Ever since a dog ripped out his vocal cords which left him with a bad scar and mute (and can only wheeze), Skinner strongly dislikes all animals, especially dogs. As a result, he enjoys killing them and skinning them, as he did to the white tiger from the London Zoo. He does not care about the age of the animal, and has no problems with killing puppies. He also doesn’t like his scar being mentioned.
Role in the film[]
1961[]
In the animated film, Mr. Skinner, as his name suggests, is a skinner, terrorist and taxidermist who often kills animals to make products out of them. When he was young, a dog attacked him by tearing open his throat and ripping out his vocal cords in the process, leaving him with a bad scar on his neck. Due to this, he cannot speak at all. He is the one responsible for killing the female white Siberian tiger at the London Zoo (which the "novelization" shows him doing) and makes it into a rug for Cruella. When Jasper and Horace come to pick it up, Horace makes a comment about Skinner's scar and why he can't talk; despite Jasper warning him not to do so, resulting in Jasper hitting his brother. Later on, when Jasper and Horace kidnap the puppies and take them to De Vil Manor, Cruella calls Skinner and hires him to kill the puppies and turn them into a fur coat. When Skinner arrives at De Vil Manor, Jasper and Horace have already left and all the puppies except for Lucky have escaped. Just as Skinner is about to grab Lucky, another dog named Kipper comes and bites Skinner's butt and fights with him, saving Lucky. A few days later, Jasper and Horace meet up with Cruella and Mr. Skinner on the road. She asks them if they've found any sign of the puppies and is given a negative response from Jasper. Horace then says they're freezing and intend to give up the search. However, Cruella and Mr. Skinner refuses to let them off the hook and forces them to continue, declaring they will find the puppies if it takes until the next Christmas; she also tells them to be careful with their driving if they do not want to be caught and ticketed by the police (Cruella herself, ironically, is an extremely fast and reckless driver). She is still bent on getting her coat one way or another. She eventually finds footprints lead to a nearby village called Dinsford. There, she, Skinner, Jasper, and Horace search for the puppies. Horace points out some "Labrador puppies", suggesting the possibility that the dogs disguised themselves. Annoyed, Jasper sarcastically blows off the idea and furiously bashes Horace on the head, angrily calling him an idiot. When the Dalmatians are discovered to be hiding in a moving van heading for London, they pursue it in their truck. Mr. Skinner, Jasper and Horace makes a plan to ram the van into a ravine, but Horace panics and accidentally pulls out the truck's steering wheel, making the truck slide down the mountain out of control. The truck ends up individually crashing into Cruella's car, dislodging it from where she had jammed it under the back of the moving van and sending both vehicles over the edge as they fall apart to pieces. Though Cruella, Skinner, Horace, and Jasper are still alive, she suffers a mental breakdown, angrily cursing their incompetence while they sit on the wreckage sulking as the van escapes. An annoyed Jasper simply tells Cruella to shut up, finally getting the courage to stand up for themselves as Cruella collapses on a piece of wreckage and cries over losing her Dalmatian coat. Later, The police find Cruella, Skinner, Horace, and Jasper and put them in the paddy wagon.
1996[]
In the live-action film, Mr. Skinner, as his name suggests, is a skinner and taxidermist who often kills animals to make products out of them. When he was young, a dog attacked him by tearing open his throat and ripping out his vocal cords in the process, leaving him with a bad scar on his neck. Due to this, he cannot speak at all. He is the one responsible for killing the female white Siberian tiger at the London Zoo (which the "novelization" shows him doing) and makes it into a rug for Cruella. When Jasper and Horace come to pick it up, Horace makes a comment about Skinner's scar and why he can't talk; despite Jasper warning him not to do so, resulting in Jasper hitting his brother. Later on, when Jasper and Horace kidnap the puppies and take them to De Vil Manor, Cruella calls Skinner and hires him to kill the puppies and turn them into a fur coat. When Skinner arrives at De Vil Manor, Jasper and Horace have already left and all the puppies except for Lucky have escaped. Just as Skinner is about to grab Lucky, another dog named Kipper comes and bites Skinner's butt and fights with him, saving Lucky. The police later find Skinner and put him in the paddy wagon along with Jasper, Horace, and Cruella, who are all taken to jail. On the way, Cruella finds out that she has accidentally brought a real skunk (instead of her purse) into the paddy wagon, and she, Skinner, Jasper, and Horace are all sprayed by the skunk, causing them to all scream in terror, while Horace holds his nose. Skinner also tries to bang the roof of the paddy wagon open to get the skunk out but has no luck.
Trivia[]
Skinner is based loosely on Cruella's husband, Mr. De Vil, from the original story, who was also a skinner but could talk, except he had a more weak-willed personality, while Skinner has a more menacing personality.
Skinner gets bitten on his butt, which actually happened to Jasper in the 1961 animated film.
John Shrapnel (who portrays Skinner) and Tim McInnerny (who portrays Alonzo) later starred in Notting Hill together. In said film, Shrapnel portrayed the P. R. Chief and McInnerny portrayed Will's best friend Max.
In the "novelization" of the live-action film, Skinner's address is: "152 Merton Road, London, SW1 9EH", with Horace describing his building as a red brick townhouse with a black door.
Skinner is the first live-action Disney villain who doesn't speak. In one instance, he communicates with Cruella over the phone by morse code- tapping a knife against the receiver, which Cruella surprisingly understood as a response translated as, "How should I kill them?" when discussing the Dalmatian puppies.
Ironically, despite being unable to speak, Skinner screams really loud when a real skunk (which Cruella had accidentally brought with her) sprays its odour fumes while in the paddy wagon.
Television series:101 Dalmatians: The Series • 101 Dalmatian Street Video Games:Animated StoryBook: 101 Dalmatians • Math Antics with Disney's 101 Dalmatians • Disney Hotshots: Disney's 101 Dalmatians • 101 Dalmatians: Escape from DeVil Manor • 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue • 102 Dalmatians: Activity Center • 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure • Kingdom Hearts Books:Disney Princess Beginnings • Hello, Cruel Heart • Be Careful What You Wish Fur • Evil Thing: A Tale of That Devil Woman • Evil Thing: A Villains Graphic Novel
ABC Episodes: "Home is Where the Bark Is" • "He Followed Me Home" • "Love 'Em and Flea 'Em" • "Howl Noon" • "Easy on the Lies" • "Two for the Show" • "An Officer and a Gentledog" • "Bad to the Bone" • "Southern Fried Cruella" • "Swine Song" • "Watch for Falling Idols" • "The High Price of Fame" • "The Great Cat Invasion" • "No Train, No Gain" • "Rolly's Egg-Celent Adventure" • "Wild Chick Chase" • "The Dogs of DeVil" • "Dog's Best Friend" • "A Christmas Cruella" • "Out to Launch" • "Prophet and Loss" Syndicated Episodes: "You Slipped a Disk" • "Chow About That?" • "Tic Track Toe" • "Lucky All Star" • "Shake, Rattle, and Woof" • "Cadpig Behind Bars" • "Leisure Lawsuit" • "Purred It Through the Grapevine" • "Our Own Digs" • "Goose Pimples (Goose Pamples)" • "Two Faces of Anita" • "The Fungus Among Us" • "Market Mayhem" • "Lucky to be Alone" • "Four Stories Up" • "It's a Swamp Thing" • "Roll Out the Pork Barrel" • "Alive N' Chicken" • "Prima Doggy" • "You Say It's Your Birthday" • "Oozy Does It" • "Barnboozled" • "Citizen Canine" • "Full Metal Pullet" • "Dough the Right Thing" • "Frisky Business" • "Cadet of the Month" • "Valentine Daze" • "Close But No Cigar" • "Invasion of the Doggy Snatchers" • "Smoke Detectors" • "Lobster Tale" • "Double Dog Dare" • "Mooove It On Over" • "Shipwrecked" • "Mall Pups" • "Shrewzle Watch" • "The Life You Save" • "Spots and Shots" • "On the Lamb" • "Treasure of Swamp Island" • "Lord of the Termites" • "Fountain of Youth" • "Walk a Mile in My Tracks" • "Cruella World" • "Hail to the Chief" • "Food for Thought" • "The Maltese Chicken" • "Film Fatale" • "My Fair Chicken" • "Snow Bounders" • "Gnaw or Never" • "Poison Ivy" • "Twelve Angry Pups" • "The Good-bye Chick" • "Robo-Rolly" • "Splishing and Splashing" • "Virtual Lucky" • "Cupid Pups" • "The Artist Formerly Known as Spot" • "The Nose Knows" • "K is for Kibble" • "Humanitarian of the Year" • "Beauty Pageant Pandemonium" • "Hog-Tied" • "Coup DeVil" • "Every Little Crooked Nanny" • "Cone Head" • "Channels" • "Un-Lucky" • "The Making of..." • "Best of Show" • "Walk on the Wild Side" • "Horace and Jasper's Big Career Move" • "DeVil-Age Elder" • "Jurassic Bark" • "My Fair Moochie" • "Dog Food Day Afternoon" • "Spot's Fairy God-Chicken" • "Good Neighbor Cruella" • "Animal House Party" • "Dalmatian Vacation, Part I - Road Warriors" • "Dalmatian Vacation, Part II - Cross-Country Calamity" • "Dalmatian Vacation, Part III - Dearly Beloved" 101 Dalmatian Street Shorts: "Merry Pups" • "Muddy Pups" • "Prank Pups" • "Ransom Pups" • "Target Pups" • "Yoga Pups" • "Jurassic Pups" "Space Pups" • "Disco Pups" • "Diva Pups"
Season One: "Dog's Best Friend" • "Boom Night" • "Power to the Puppies" • "Who The Dog Do You Think You Are?" • "Walkies on the Wild Side" • "May Contain Nuts" • "Winter Funderland" • "Snow Day" • "Perfect Match" • "All Fired Up" • "Poetry Scam" • "Crushed Out" • "Girls' Day Out" • "The Woof Factor" • "The Nose Job" • "My Fair Dolly" • "Flea-Mageddon" • "A Right Royal Rumble" • "Dal-Martians" • "A Date with Destiny... Dallas and Déjà Vu" • The Wow of Miaow • Fear Window • The Dog House • A Summer to Remember • Long Tongue Day • Doggy Da Vinci • London, We Have a Problem • It's My Party • Fox in the Dog House • Fetch • Don't Push Your Luck • The Curse of the Ferrydog • The Walls Are Alive • Diamond Dogs • Ride Along • Poodlewolf • The Longest Night • Balancing Act • Dawkins Strikes Back • Poodlefall! • Dotty Dancing • Yappily Ever After • D-Factor • Puppy Dreams • Dante's Inferno • Better the De Vil You Know • The De Vil Wears Puppies
Locations
London • Regents Park • Hell Hall • Dinsford • Dearly Farm • Gruteley County • Cherry Tree Farm • House of DeVil • 101 Dalmatian Street • 2nd Time Around • Liberty London • Smith & Wollensky • House of Baroness • John's Apartmnt
Animated Storybook:I Love Fur • Puppies, Oh, Puppies • Twilight Bark • Up the Stair • Cover Yourselves with Soot Television series:1-0-1 • Dalmatian Vacation • Surf Puppies • I Got My Pups with Me • It's a Dog's Life • In the House • Dolly's Rap • Dogs are Out for Summer Sun • It's a Prank • We're Sending You Love Deleted:Don't Buy a Parrot from a Sailor • March of the One Hundred and One • Cheerio, Good-Bye, Toodle-oo, Hip Hip! • One Hundred and One • The Creation of Cruella De Vil
