Breaking the Fourth Wall/Western Animation: Difference between revisions
Breaking the Fourth Wall/Western Animation (view source)
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* In too many children's cartoons to name, dialogue, violence, or risque material gets [[Relax-O-Vision|censored]] or nixed before it starts, either by the characters or the narrator. The reason? "We can't show that on a kid's program!"
* ''[[Dora the Explorer]]'' and ''[[Blue's Clues]]'' use this to try and teach skills to the children, becoming very quickly annoying to any viewer over the age of five.
* ''[[The Weekenders]]''
** Tino often talks to the audience by having the background turn grey.
** At the end of "Listen Up", Carver talks about the plot until the camera turns away. He comes close to the screen and knocks on it. Suddenly, the show fades out and he complains about the fading. Seeing as there's no other choice, he says "LATER DAYS!!!!"
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'''Pumbaa:''' ''(also looks)'' Oh! Sorry.
'''Simba:''' ''(also looks, with a perplexed expression on his face)'' }}
* One third-season episode of ''[[
** There's also an incident during the first season in which Mike the TV is being particularly annoying, and Enzo asks "You want to live to see another season, right?" in an attempt to shut him up.
*** Since Mike ''is'' a TV and speaks often in TV-related lingo, Enzo might simply have been putting the threat into words Mike will be more likely to understand.
* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' (first cartoon) frequently used this trope.
** In one episode an ancient Japanese sorcerer gets summoned and starts threatening the Turtles in English. One turtle says, "If he's from ancient Japan, why is he speaking English?" Another replies, "Because we can't afford subtitles."
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* Used straight, and [[Lampshade Hanging|topped with a turtle themed green lampshade]] in ''[[Turtles Forever]]''. When 80's version Raphael keeps breaking the fourth wall, other characters pause with confused looks. The third time he does it, [[The Dragon]] gets angry and starts shaking him. "Why do you keep doing that? Who are you talking to?! '''THERE'S NO ONE THERE!'''"
** When it comes to it, this is the whole plot of the movie. The 2003 Shredder learns about the fourth wall and decides to destroy it forever.
* Subverted in ''[[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron|Jimmy]] [[The Fairly
* In the [[Superhero Episode]] of ''[[The Fairly
* Double [[Fourth Wall]] smashed--by ''[[Captain Planet and the Planeteers]]''. In "Hog Tide", to keep the Planeteers' minds off the hurricane that's doing a number on Hope Island, Gaia tells a tall tale about fictional heroes based on the Planeteers. As usual, the fictional heroes combine their powers to form Captain Planet, and asked who he is. Captain Planet sings his own [[Ending Theme]].
{{quote|"I'm your powers, magnified. Haven't you heard the song? 'Captain Planet, he's a hero...'"}}
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* Happens on occasion on ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]''. There are a few in-story occurrences, and a number in various episode endings. The most obvious ones are during Professor Nimnul's rants, when he seems quite aware of the camera's presence.
* ''[[Family Guy]]'' toyed with this in "Fifteen Minutes of Shame", where they broke the fourth wall in a reality-TV [[Show Within a Show]]. Chris hung a lampshade on it with "Fourth wall! You're breaking the Fourth wall!"
** What's especially funny about the example above is that it's a reality show, which acknowledges the fact that there's a camera there, so even though Peter is talking to the camera, it's not actually breaking the fourth wall any more than a TV news show would be because there's no pretense of not having a camera there.
** Another episode had a pretty direct fourth-wall-breaking when Stewie mocked the cast of ''[[Desperate Housewives]]'' (which shared a timeslot with their show), then turned to the camera and encouraged the audience to switch over to ABC and look. "I'll wait. I'll wait five seconds. ''[pause]'' Oh my God, did you see? Did you see how old and ugly they all are??"
** Very recently, Stewie broke from the current scene to start complaining about the banner ads promoting other shows that are commonly shown across the bottom of programs now [[Berserk Button|(don't get me started).]] It started off as [[Medium Awareness]], because Stewie was obviously cognizant of the fact that he's on a TV show. He then broke the Fourth Wall by telling the audience to enjoy the ads as they went to commercial.
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* ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' breaks the fourth wall often in the later episodes. One example is Rolf saying "Rolf finally feels safe to appear in this episode!" in "Look Before You Ed"
** The episode "One Plus One Equals Ed" was largely devoted to breaking the fourth wall, with the Eds making observations about the things they could do that broke the laws of physics (Stealing Jimmy's outline, going from the foreground to behind the background and crushing stuff), taking notes, and eventually warping all of reality, until the balloon they were using to fly pops on the animator's pencil.
** "Every Which Way But Ed" has them parodying the [[Flash Back]] technique in a way that has to be seen to be believed. For instance, they manage to get caught in a flashback that's in a flashback that's in a flashback that Eddy's having.
** In "Key to My Ed", [[Cloudcuckoolander]] Johnny is found sleeping in the middle of the street. The second time the Eds encounter him, Eddy asks "Does this kid sleep through the whole show?"
** In "Mama's Little Ed", Eddy apologizes to Edd for an earlier outburst of bad temper, blaming it on Ed and Kevin, and Edd points out "Kevin wasn't in this show, Eddy."
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* In another short featuring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, they are trying to get to sleep to wake up early in the morning, so they are not fired for being late to work. Of course, this causes many things to plague them and prevent them from getting to sleep. One of them is the moonlight shining through the window and keeping Porky awake. The problem is resolved when Daffy shoots at the moon, causing it to fall and disappear over the horizon. In response to the unexpected outcome, Daffy looks at the audience, and expresses his disbelief ("Amazing, isn't it?").
* And then there were the shorts whose films "broke" near the end, leaving the screen a [[White Void Room|white void]]. After a brief pause, one of the characters from the cartoon in question steps out into the void and addresses the audience, "Ladies and gentlemen, due to circumstances beyond our control, we are unable to continue with this picture."
* Foghorn Leghorn did this often. Speaking to the foil ''du jour'': "It was, I say, it was a joke, son!" Then turning to the camera: "Nice boy, but about as sharp as a sack o' wet mice."
* Marvin the Martian does this in an episode of ''[[Duck Dodgers]]''. He details his evil plot and laughs evilly when one of his henchmen comes up and asks who he's talking to. He stammers out a brief 'You know...them! The people watching us!' before the henchman goes "Oooooookaaaay,' and whispers to his fellow goon that Marvin is insane because he thinks there are people watching them.
* [[Chuck Jones]] is infamous for this, but in his movie ''The White Seal'', the fourth wall is broken constantly by characters looking straight into the camera. At certain points, it happens repeatedly with only seconds between them.
* Staying with Jones, the entirety of his Daffy Duck short ''[[Duck Amuck]]'' is devoted to this very idea, with Daffy being tormented throughout by a mystery director. Daffy spends the entire short talking to the director who is constantly changing the scenery, props, and even Daffy himself with the use of a paintbrush. And in the end, the director turns out to be Bugs Bunny!
* ''[[Animaniacs]]'' features this on several occasions. Example: Wakko, dressed as a doctor in a Russian-themed segment, remarks of his patient: "I think he'll need some Anastasia." Dot turns to the camera and says "Historical reference. Ask your parents." Lampshaded in the episode "Hello Nice Warners," where they're asked who they're talking to.
{{quote|'''Slappy:''' I wrestled with Walto Wolf, Sid the Squid and Beanie the Brain-dead Bison. This Doug-guy here's nothin'!
'''Skippy:''' Yeah, but those were cartoons and this is real life!
'''Slappy:''' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}HNy4iSev97Q#t{{=}}3m40s ...Don't tell him - he might crack.] }}
** Really just one of many examples of how ''Animaniacs'' took most of ''Looney Tunes''' running gags and did them to wretched and hilarious excess... another example being anvil-dropping.
* Ron occasionally gets to play with fourth wall breakage during the post-script season of ''[[Kim Possible]]'', most notably in the first episode, where in the tag he tells Kim about a dream he had where she [[Jumping the Shark|jumped sharks]], and once in "Grande Size Me", where he [[And Knowing Is Half the Battle|delivers a PSA to the audience]] about the dangers of allowing your DNA to be mutated in chemical vats (while the other characters stand around confused as to who he's talking to).
** Kim does it one time herself, interrupting ''the opening title'' to double-take at the scientists wanting to study ''Ron'' as the secret to her success.
* [[Hanna-Barbera]]'s ''The Adventures of Gulliver'' episode "Gulliver's Challenge". After Bunko says (of an opponent) "He's going to get it", Glum turns to the camera and says "I have a feeling we're going to get it too".
* In the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society", when Eric tries to kick Kyle off the group of main characters, Kyle remarks that he's "been there since the beginning".
** There's also a gap in the fourth wall in "Cartoon Wars". The overall plot is a battle to show the prophet Mohammed uncensored in a [[Show Within a Show|cartoon]]. The closing narration for part I: "Will the cartoon be allowed to appear uncensored? Will Family Guy be destroyed??? Will television executives fight for free speech? Or will Comedy Central puss out?" {{spoiler|They did}}.
** ''[[South Park]]'' has an intermittent tendency to lean on the fourth wall. Example 1: In "Christmas Critters", Stan is arguing with the narrator of the story over the ridiculous plot (the narrator wins) (although considering Cartman was telling the story this could be considered a slight subversion), Example 2: Kyle deconstructs the entire episode structure in "Butt Out", trying to get everyone else to realize that they go through the same formula every week, and bemoaning the fact that he's always the one to deliver the Aesop... Look, it's [[Trey Parker and Matt Stone]]. There's gonna be leaning on the fourth wall.
* ''[[Space Goofs]]'' Christmas episode. The aliens were about to blow Santa Claus sky high with firecrackers as he was climbing down the chimney when the characters give a PSA about fireworks safety.
{{quote|'''Etno:''' Remember, kids, handling fireworks is dangerous.
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* [[Tex Avery]] was the master of this. His characters would often do things like running off the edge of the film. One of his best involved a wiggling hair stuck on the film (which often happened in old projectors). After being there for a while, one of the characters stops the action and plucks the hair off the film and tosses it away before resuming the scene.
* On ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', Jimmy does this after {{spoiler|an [[Accidental Kiss]] between Beezy and Heloise}} to show it again ''in slow motion!''
* ''[[
* Done all the time on ''[[Duckman]]'', with asides to the audience, and [[Biting the Hand Humor|slams against the show's home]], the [[USA Network]].
* A planned but [[What Could Have Been|unproduced]] finale episode of ''[[The Angry Beavers]]'' had Norbert explain to Daggett that they were really cartoon characters who were now facing cancellation. Although the episode was never animated, parts of the audio recording can be found floating around online.
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'''Marvin:''' Sure. Any idea how?
'''Wendy:''' Uh uh. [Looks at the camera and the audience] Do you? }}
* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' The episode "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich." Robin trips a thug on a table by yanking the tablecloth. He then says "I love that trick, but I can never get it to work" unmistakably to the camera.
** Another episode had Gotham City being rampaged by a Godzilla sized cow. Robin reacts to the destruction by saying "Holy cow!" Batgirl turns to the audience and says "He had to say it."
** This gag was used very early in the show's history, in 1992's "Christmas With the Joker." The Joker is airing a pirated TV broadcast from some unknown location, and the viewer often sees him via a TV screen. About two-thirds of the way through the show, he tells all the Gothamites who are watching that his Christmas special will return after "a word from our sponsor." Both the fictional program and the episode itself then cut to a commercial break in our own world. (Of course, the gag is ruined on DVD, where there are no commercial interruptions.)
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** To be fair, Phineas and Ferb breaks the fourth wall [[No Fourth Wall|nearly every other episode.]]
** When the episode's song blames Bajeet for forgetting to bring marshmallows, he starts talking back to it, until Phineas says "Barjeet, would you stop arguing with [[Medium Awareness|the soundtrack]]?"
** Characters do their own commentary on the episodes, where they acknowledge that music seems to come from no actual source (and sometimes start ''arguments'' with the disembodied singers) and where the characters host clip-shows for a "live animated audience".
** When they're building a giant robot dog, Baljeet says, "Like when you made that title sequence."
* The Narrator of ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' commonly acknowledged himself as the narrator of the show, interacted with the characters in almost every closing narration, and was often in on the show's gags. One particular episode, "Simian Says," had Mojo Jojo kidnap the narrator and take his place, causing the girls to rob banks and commit crimes for him and nearly destroy each other through his narration.
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* ''[[Garfield and Friends]]'' indulged in this a number of times. One episode had Garfield waking up in the wrong cartoon, a ''[[Mazinger Z]]''-esque action cartoon. A U.S. Acres short had Wade, freaking out over a cryptic message warning that "The bunny rabbits is coming", turn to the audience and shout "Why are you just sitting there, watching TV? Don't you know that the bunny rabbits is coming!"
* ''[[The New Adventures of Superman]]''. At the end of every episode Clark Kent would make some kind of lame pun based on the events in the episode and wink while looking at the audience.
* Jake Long was once captured by Gantu in one episode of [[Lilo
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'':
** Occasionally done by Pinkie Pie
** Done in the episode "A Dog And Pony Show". Rarity starts crying after one of the Diamond Dogs calls her a mule, and in the middle of her rant she grabs the "camera".
** Spike also indulges in this occasionally, like in "Bridle Gossip" with his [[Aside Glance]], or in "Lesson Zero" with his interrupting of Twilight Sparkle's [[Imagine Spot|Imagine Spots]]. He rolls one up like a window shade and pops another like a balloon.
** Ahem, '''Discord'''. His godlike [[Reality Warping]] powers extend to the Fourth Wall, meaning he can not only ignore it and address the viewers as easily as he does the Mane Cast, he can manipulate it, potentially [[Genre Shift| changing the whole genre of the show]], changing the art style to anime animation, live action puppets, or applying the [[Roger Rabbit Effect]] with ease. He can fast-forward or rewind the story, rewrite captions (in comic book adaptations), and even once made a side trip to the ''original'' version of ''[[My Little Pony]]'' (from way back in 1984). Plus, much like the Genie in Disney's ''[[Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', he tends to make jokes with pop culture references that, by all logic, should be unknown in Equestria, like [[Bob Ross]] and ''[[Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas]]'' . But hey, such are the ways of Chaos.
* There is a scene in one of the [[Veggie Tales]] movies that may not count but here's what it's like: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything theme plays, followed by a record scratch. This may count as [[Painting the Fourth Wall]].
* Another example of the cartoon series ''Taz-Mania''. As mentioned before, it sometimes does this; for example, in ''Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty,'' Kitty breaks the fourth wall by pulling down a poster that reads, "I'll Be Back", which is set to take place in ''Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty Part II''.
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** Tree House Capers: "Uh oh, Party! Now look what you've done! The kids won't be able to see the show!"
* Most of the short segments in between stories on ''[[Maryoku Yummy]]'' have this (most of the ones at the end), with Maryoku asking the viewer "Which wish is..." or asking the viewer to copy her actions.
* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* In the opening scene of ''[[Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken]]'', Ruby seems to be doing this, given the viewers a powerpoint presentation on how she plans to attend her junior high school prom held on a boat (despite the taboo that forbids her family from entering the ocean) - however, [[Subverted Trope |it turns out her true "audience" here is her mother]], who unfortunately rejects the reasoning.
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