Anton Ego

Anton Ego
Home	his office shaped like a coffin in Gusteau's
Occupation	food critic
Story appearances
Feature films	Ratatouille
Voice actor	Peter O'Toole

Anton Ego is the food critic is the secondary antagonist of Ratatouille.

Ratatouille

Ego is an imperious and acerbic food critic, whose reviews can make or break a restaurant. He adamantly rejects Chef Gusteau's belief that anyone can cook, and was a firm critic of the idealist chef. We're sure his nickname "the Grim Eater" and the fact that Auguste Gusteau died mysteriously after Ego downgraded him from five stars to four are just a coincidence. The restaurant then lost another star with his death. In his career-killing review, he compared Chef Gusteau to the rather pathetic Chef Boyardee.

When he had heard that Gusteau's restaurant was rising in popularity with Remy as the cook, he personally offers a challenge to the restaurant in which they must deliver "their best shot" to impress him. Remy serves a simple peasant dish, ratatouille (a play on words and the title namesake) which is so brilliant it reduces Ego to his childhood memory of his mother cooking. Tears flow from his eyes, and when he requests to see the chef, Linguini and [[Colette tells him to wait until after the customers have gone.

When closing hour is struck, Linguini reveals Remy. Ego believed at first it was a jest, but after viewing Remy perfectly recreate the dish, he thanks them for the meal and quietly leaves.

A changed man, he presents a shining review of the restaurant, and in particular, the chef (whom he does not name). Ego then lost his job and credibility when Gusteau's was closed down due to a rat infestation. But Ego now leads a successful and a happy life as an investor and regular patron of a small bistro, with queues around the block and where the cook is a small rat. Anton Ego is an example of a realistic villain, one who faces adverse action or reformation, rather than simply getting destroyed at the end.

Personality

The name Ego means "self-esteem", from the Roman meaning "I". This would allude to a certain level of vanity and arrogance on the part of Anton. He has nothing but contempt for the people around him combined something of a sadistic streak. However, unlike Skinner, he is not presented as a man of pure evil. He shows a great amount of humility and indeed sentiment after eating Remy's dish of ratatouille and learning the secret of Gusteau's restaurant.

Ego has a scathing and cyical sense of humour, telling Linguini "You're slow for someone in the fast lane" and "hit me with your best shot."

He is extremely passionate about food, claiming "I don't like food, I love it."

Ego is a man of great taste and distinction, showing a knowledge of fine wines as well as food.

Ego is intelligent and sophisticated and in terms of dress sense, he appears to be something of a dandy, completing his dark, dapper suit with a chic scarf.

Trivia

• Ego is most likely a mixture of traits borrowed from the late horror actor, Vincent Price and British art critic, Brian Sewell.
• Ego's appearance was modeled after Louis Jouvet.
• Many fans have noted the similarities between Ego's design and that of the work of Tim Burton, a well known movie director.
• Ego's appearance is similar to Nospheratu.
• At one point in the film, you can see /pixar.wikia.com/Bomb_Voyage Bomb Voyage] as a mime in the background. There is a young boy watching him do his tricks, and if you look closely, you can see that it is young Anton Ego (From Ego's flashback).

See also

• Judge Claude Frollo

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