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Principal Skinner

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Revision as of 17:08, 5 October 2009 by CTF83! (talk | contribs) (rvt)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For the other Simpsons character of the same name, see The Principal and the Pauper.

Template:Simpsons character Principal W. Seymour Skinner (born in Capitol City as Armin Tamzarian) is a fictional character on the animated sitcom The Simpsons, voiced by Harry Shearer. He is the principal of Springfield Elementary School, and a stereotypical educational bureaucrat. He struggles to control the crumbling school and is constantly engaged in a battle against its inadequate resources, apathetic and bitter teachers, and often rowdy and unenthusiastic students, Bart Simpson being a standout example. A strict disciplinarian, Skinner has an uptight, militaristic attitude that stems from his years in the United States Army as a Green Beret, which included service in the Vietnam War, in which he was captured by the Viet Cong and was held as a war prisoner for eighteen months.

Role in The Simpsons

Out of genuine concern for the quality of education of his students, most of Skinner's actions revolve around ensuring the school has adequate funding. His constant desperate, and usually ineffective attempts at maintaining discipline are an effort to receive good reviews from the frequent inspections of his very strict boss, Superintendent Chalmers - who makes no effort to hide his disapproval of Skinner. These inspections usually turn awry due to Bart Simpson's elaborate pranks—which play off Skinner's desperation for order. Over the years of pranks and inspections, though, Skinner has developed a love-hate relationship with each of them; when Skinner was fired and replaced by Ned Flanders, Bart found pranks less meaningful, due to Flanders' lax approach to discipline. In an accident involving both Skinner and Chalmers, Chalmers showed grief over Skinner before he realized he was still alive. Although he likes to maintain the image of a strict disciplinarian, he is often weak-willed and nervous and has a very unhealthy dependence on his mother who constantly makes demands from him. In an early episode, she addresses him by the nickname "Spanky." Also, earlier on in the show, it was heavily implied that Seymour Skinner suffers from Posttraumatic stress disorder from his days in Vietnam, where he spent 18 months as a prisoner of war.. Seeing his entire platoon devoured by an Elephant was one of the many things that led to the development of his Postraumatic stress disorder.

Aside from a short-lived relationship with Patty Bouvier, Skinner's love life has focused on Edna Krabappel. The two dated for several years and became engaged, but later cancelled the wedding. Edna has shown she does want to live a life with Skinner, but first wants him to commit to her—namely by not letting his mother, with whom he still lives, control him anymore. In the early years of the show, it was implied that Seymour and his mother had a relationship similar to that of Norman Bates and his mother from the film Psycho. During the early years of the show, it was established that Skinner had served as a sergeant in the US Army during the Vietnam War and been captured at the Battle of Khe Sanh. Skinner often seems weak-willed and easily suppressed—perhaps because he wants to avoid confrontation—but often will use his military command experience gained in the Vietnam War to get real respect and discipline; when he and the students were snowed-in at the school, he treated them like his squad to control the chaos temporarily—before they mutinied.

The controversial season nine episode "The Principal and the Pauper" revolutionises Skinner's back-story, revealing that Skinner is an imposter. Born Armin Tamzarian, it emerges that he was a troubled orphan until he was forced into the United States Army during the Vietnam War. There, he was befriended by Sgt. Seymour Skinner, whom he came to idolize. When Skinner was reported missing presumed dead, Tamzarian returned to Springfield to tell Skinner's mother, but she deliberately mistook him for Seymour, so he assumed his identity and followed Skinner's dream of becoming a school principal. The real Seymour Skinner (voiced by Martin Sheen), had been alive after all, and briefly returned to Springfield to take his rightful place as Springfield Elementary School Principal, but had proved hopelessly unpopular and the Springfielders ran him out of town on the railroad. Judge Snyder granted Tamzarian Skinner's "name, and his past, present, future, and mother", and decreed that no one will mention his true identity again "under penalty of torture". The episode provoked a very negative reaction both from fans and the show's staff. A clip from the episode was used in season eleven's "Behind the Laughter" as an example of the show's increasingly "gimmicky and nonsensical plots".

Character

Creation

Principal Skinner first appeared in "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", which was also the first Simpsons episode to air. The first drawing of Skinner was done by Matt Groening, who based him on "all the principals of youth, rolled into one bland lump." Writer Jon Vitti named him after behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner. An original idea for Skinner was that he would continually mispronounce words. He does this in the series premiere "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," but the idea was later dropped. Skinner was originally supposed to wear a toupee, but it was dropped because the writers didn't like "that type of joke." In later episodes, Skinner's behavior was based on teachers that Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein had in high school.

Development

Superintendent Chalmers was introduced in the episode "Whacking Day" as a boss for Skinner. Harry Shearer and Hank Azaria, the voice of Chalmers, fell right into the characters and quite often ad-lib between them.

In "The Principal and the Pauper" it is revealed that Skinner was not who he claimed to be and was really named Armin Tamzarian. The episode was pitched and written by Ken Keeler and he was inspired by the Tichborne Case of nineteenth century England. Producers Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein were excited about the episode because Principal Skinner was one of their favorite characters. They "spent a month immersed in the mind of Seymour Skinner" to prepare that episode, and from that point forward, took every opportunity to "tinker with personality and his backstory and his homelife." They intended for the episode to be "an experiment" and that the ending was meant to allow viewers to reset to the point before Skinner was revealed to be an impostor. The revelation that Principal Skinner was an impostor and the self-referential deus ex machina ending were negatively received by many fans and critics. Oakley considers "The Principal and the Pauper" the most controversial episode from his tenure as executive producer. In a 2001 interview, Harry Shearer, the voice of Principal Skinner, recalled that after reading the script, he told the writers, "That's so wrong. You're taking something that an audience has built eight years or nine years of investment in and just tossed it in the trash can for no good reason, for a story we've done before with other characters. It's so arbitrary and gratuitous, and it's disrespectful to the audience." The writers themselves have since mocked the inconsistencies created by the episode; in the season 15 episode I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot, Lisa is seen writing Snowball II on a cat food dish to save money after what would be the third Snowball's purchase. Skinner walks by and asks "but isn't that a cheat?" to which Lisa dryly replies, "I guess it is, Principal Tamzarian."

Before he was a principal, he taught fourth grade science. Skinner is also fatally allergic to peanuts.

References

  1. ""The Simpsons" The Principal and the Pauper (1997) at [[IMDB]]". {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  2. ""The Principal and the Pauper"". The Simpsons Episode Guide. Retrieved 2007-08-04.)
  3. Oakley, Bill; Weinstein, Josh; Anderson, Bob (1994-04-28). "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song". The Simpsons. Season 5. Episode 19. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  4. Cohen, Joel H.; Nastuk, Matthew (2008-03-02). "The Debarted". The Simpsons. Season 19. Episode 13. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  5. The Simpsons episode "The Crepes of Wrath"
  6. The Simpsons episode "I Love Lisa"
  7. The Simpsons episode "The Boy who knew too much" deleted scene
  8. Stern, David M.; Kirkland, Mark (1991-02-14). "Principal Charming". The Simpsons. Season 2. Episode 14. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  9. Snee, Dennis; Anderson, Bob (2003-01-05). "Special Edna". The Simpsons. Season 14. Episode 7. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  10. Curran, Kevin; Kirkland, Mark (2004-04-18). "My Big Fat Geek Wedding". The Simpsons. Season 15. Episode 17. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  11. Long, Tim; Kramer, Lance (2000-12-17). "Skinner's Sense of Snow". The Simpsons. Season 12. Episode 8. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  12. Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2008-12-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. Silverman, David. (2001). Commentary for "Bart the Genius", in The Simpsons: The Complete First Season . 20th Century Fox.
  14. Joe Rhodes (2000-10-21). "Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves". TV Guide. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. Reiss, Mike. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season . 20th Century Fox.
  16. Groening, Matt. (2001). Commentary for "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in The Simpsons: The Complete First Season . 20th Century Fox.
  17. Groening, Matt. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", in The Simpsons: The Complete SecondSeason . 20th Century Fox.
  18. Weinstein, Josh. (2004). Commentary for "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season . 20th Century Fox.
  19. Jean, Al. (2004). Commentary for "Whacking Day", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season . 20th Century Fox.
  20. Keeler, Ken. (2006). Commentary for "The Principal and the Pauper", in The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season . 20th Century Fox.
  21. ^ Oakley, Bill. (2006). Commentary for "The Principal and the Pauper", in The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season . 20th Century Fox.
  22. Sloane, Robert (2004). "Who Wants Candy? Disenchantment in The Simpsons". In John Alberti (ed.). Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture. Wayne State University Press. p. 165. ISBN 0814328490.
  23. Turner, Chris (2005). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. pp. 41–42. ISBN 0-679-31318-4.
  24. Wilonsky, Robert (2001-04-27). "Shearer Delight". East Bay Express. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
  25. Goldstein, Meredith (2006-12-07). "Tapping into the many roles of Harry Shearer". The Boston Globe. p. 8E. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. Swartzwelder, John; Moore, Rich (1991-10-10). "Bart the Murderer". The Simpsons. Season 3. Episode 4. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  27. "Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em"

External links

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