Coach Skip

Coach "Skip"

Coach "Skip" is a minor character in the film Fantastic Mr. Fox. He leads the school Whack-Bat team. While Skip thinks that Mr. Fox's nephew Kristofferson is a great whack-bat player, he shows an opposite attitude towards Mr. Fox's son Ash. Skip is voiced by Owen Wilson, who also voiced Lightning McQueen from Cars and Reggie from Free Birds.

Appearance

Coach "Skip" is an albino river otter with white fur, light red eyes and a round, grey nose. He dresses in his coaching uniform, consisting of a white elbow length shirt with a red collar, and his name stitched on the pocket. His shorts are golden brown. with a lighter waistband and no pockets. He has a metal whistle strung around his neck on a black cord.

Plot Involvement

Coach "Skip" first appears during a game of whack-bat being played by the local animal school children, including the son and nephew of Mr. Fox, Ash and Kristofferson respectively. Skip explains the rules of the game to Kristofferson, who has never played it, and then calls Ash out to substitute for his cousin. Ash inquires as whether he's gotten better at the game, hoping to emulate his father. Despite Skip pointing out that while Mr. Fox was once the greatest whack-bat player in the history of the school, he sourly expresses that Ash is merely "not getting any worse" and that he's just "improving" for lack of anything more positive to say. Ash is further insulted by the fact that Kristofferson's first swing at whack-bat is an astounding play that cheers Skip greatly.

Personality

Coach "Skip" possesses a biased attitude towards the athlete children under his tutelage, Ash foremost. He praises Kristofferson for being Mr. Fox's nephew, to which Ash points out that he comes from the maternal side of the family (Kristofferson's father being a brother to Mr. Fox's wife Felicity.)

Trivia

• Skip is an original character created for the film. There is no mention of any distinct otter characters in the original children's book.
• Skip's species is Lutra lutra, the European river otter, despite having an American accent.
• Coach Skip is voiced by Owen Wilson, whose other film credits include Hansel in "Zoolander" and "Zoolander 2", Reggie from "Free Birds", Jedediah Smith in the Night at the Museum films, Lightning McQueen in Disney/Pixar's "Cars" films, and John from "Marley & Me".