The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" in front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theater, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play.[1] When a character makes direct contact to the audience from a film or television program or references his or her status of being in one, it is called "breaking the fourth wall."[1][2] The technique of breaking the fourth wall can be seen in various television programs, especially situation comedies, in animated cartoons, and in films.
List of fourth wall breaks[]
Season 1[]
- When Wander tells Lord Hater he doesn't want to know where Sylvia is going to the bathroom, he looks at the camera and utters "Weird". Later, he sees that watching the fight himself is awful, and says to the audience he almost ate his meal without a friend to share, and shrugs. Also, he says "Bonk" when he slams into Lord Hater's forcefield. ("The Picnic")
- When Sylvia is trying to fight the monster and says she got it under control, Wander stares at the screen and cringes. Later, when Wander cannot lift the egg, Sylvia looks at the camera and growls in frustration. ("The Egg")
- Wander provides "the appropriate racing-the-clock action music" while Sylvia zips Fleeblebort to his wedding. ("The Good Deed")
- Wander stares at the screen when he sees Lord Hater working out via jumbotron. ("The Prisoner")
- At the end of the animatic, Captain Tim jumps towards the camera and growls. ("The Pet")
- When Sylvia sees Wander pulling his fur off his head, he whimpers in time with the background music. ("The Box")
- During the Watchdog chase, Wander seems to play the background music on his banjo. ("The Little Guy")
- When Wander thanks Peepers for saving him and Sylvia from the bounty hunters, the ending tune from Wander Over Yonder End Title Theme plays to end the scene. Lord Hater's security footage of the scene includes the background music. ("The Bounty")
- Buster licks the camera during the episode's animatic. ("The Ball")
- At the end, Wander narrates by saying "And they lived happily ever after", which leads Demurra and Draykor to talk about a real life relationship which takes time. Wander does not care and says: "Happily ever after, we kinda sorta saved a princess!". During this, Wander stares directly into the camera with his face real close to it. ("The Hero")
- Wander looks at the camera while whispering, "The birthday boy does not seem to be enjoying the festivities." Later while making the pinata, Wander paints the camera screen. Lord Hater stares at the camera after seeing Wander tame the monster he released to scare him. Finally, while Wander is running to the finish, he looks at the camera while saying, "Aw, the birthday boy should win at least one." ("The Birthday Boy")
- While waiting for Old Slooshy to erupt, Wander impatiently taps on his shoulder in time with the background music. Later, during Wander and Sylvia's third encounter with Trudi when she agrees it's a nice surprise to see them, the camera shows an extreme close-up as Sylvia rolls her eyes. ("The Tourist")
- When Sylvia was opening and closing the door, one of pictures was of Jack McBrayer (the voice of Wander), and Wander looked really shocked. (Since Jack and Wander look alike) Also, Sylvia discovers the background music keeps looping after she sees that she is only walking on a treadmill. ("The Void")
- During her introduction, Sylvia punches the screen, breaking it. ("The Big Job")
- Wander says to Sylvia their Christmas presents are for everyone they met "over the past season...of our lives." ("The Gift")
Season 2[]
- Hater looks over at Wander's panel in the very last shot. ("The Breakfast")
- Lord Hater imitates the "whooooop" sound effect when taking out a banjo before singing to Major Threat. ("The Good Bad Guy").
- Wander tells Something the So-and-So he would normally spend 11 minutes on a fight. ("The Matchmaker")
- The fourth wall was broken throughout the episode. ("The Eye on the Skull Ship")
- Lord Hater comments how hard animation is and how animators should receive more respect while staring into the camera. ("The Cartoon").
- At the end of the episode, after Dominator blasts Emperor Awesome's limo, his license plate flies towards the camera, smashing the screen. ("The Rival")
- Dominator says "Show's over" to end the story. ("My Fair Hatey")
- Sylvia says "We can't keep wasting our time watching past episodes...of our lives." ("The Waste of Time")
- Sylvia and Peepers stating that "Dominator has driven us from our homes and kept us on the run for the entire season... of our lives!" and "Where's this guy been all season... of our lives?" respectively. ("The End of the Galaxy")
Shorts[]
- Hater mentions he and Wander were fighting for a year and a half, referring to the length of the first season. ("The First Take")
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bell, Elizabeth S. (2008), Theories of Performance, Los Angeles: Sage, pp. 203, ISBN 9781412926379 .
- ↑ Wallis, Mick; Shepherd, Simon (1998), Studying plays, London: Arnold, pp. 214, ISBN 0340731567 .
External link[]
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