History BreakingTheFourthWall / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' 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. (The gag is ruined on DVD, where there are no commercial interruptions.)
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''. Most apparent in the episodes with Bat-Mite. Its comparatively minor, maybe subtle even, until the series finale. The plot of which centers on Bat-Mite trying to force the show to JumpTheShark to get it cancelled and make room for a DarkerAndEdgier Batman show. ''Everybody'' breaks the fourth wall in that one. Aquaman's temporary new voice actor even breaks ''character''.

* ''WesternAnimation/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur2023'':
** Lunella does this herself in the first episode, lampshading that if she lost her fight against Aftershock, they'd get cancelled after 1 episode.
** The narrator of the show is revealed to be The Beyonder, a godlike, reality warping alien that will directly address the audience to explain villain backstories after his big reveal.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman''. 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.

* In a first-season episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', Dr. Octopus, enraged by one of Spider-Man's signature glib quips, asks Spider-Man if he ever shuts up. Spider-Man responds by saying that the fans require a certain amount of quippage. Since hardly anyone ever sees him fight or hears these quips besides his adversaries, it's clear he means the audience watching the show.

* In ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'', Spider-Man has total control over the fourth wall to which he pauses the show and expresses his thoughts, and imagines whats on his mind.
** One of season 2's episodes is titled ''Ultimate Deadpool'', with said character even hijacking the ''series'' title screen for himself, just to let anyone not familiar with the character know ''exactly'' what kind of episode it's going to be.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' version of the Joker is not the most well received version of the character, however he, like his comic iteration knows he is in an entertainment media. Episode 14, features not one, but two instances of fourth wall shattering. In the first he actually [[LampshadeHanging Lampshades]] his very appearance by letting the viewer know he is aware of just how surprised they are at his appearance, he then does a ScreenTap to make sure everyone is paying attention when the Injustice League gives their demands.

** In the show's first season, [[Characters/TheLoudHouseLincolnLoud Lincoln Loud]]] regularly breaks the fourth wall, talking with the viewer about how to survive in a house with 10 sisters. This was mostly dropped by Season 2, only to return in later seasons (albeit more sporadically due to the series branching out to give the entire family more focus as an EnsembleCast).

** In the show's first season, Lincoln Loud regularly breaks the fourth wall, talking with the viewer about how to survive in a house with 10 sisters. This was mostly dropped by Season 2, only to return in later seasons (albeit more sporadically due to the series branching out to give the entire family more focus as an EnsembleCast).

* The Narrator of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' 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.

* One third-season episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{ReBoot}}'' ''[[Recap/ReBootS3E1ToMendAndDefend To Mend and Defend]]'', featured Enzo and Dot hiding behind tombstones as a player looking like Ash (from ''Franchise/EvilDead'') massacered zombies and skeletons in a game. They both express horror at the (offscreen) carnage and wonder what kind of sick, demented person would ever play a game like that...[[DeathGlare and both turn and glare at the camera]].

->'''Carl:''' This ''is'' a cartoon, sir.
->'''Major Monogram:''' Carl, what have I told you about breaking the fourth wall?
-->--''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''

* The TrappedInTVLand episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' has this in spades, with Cyborg referencing the particular episode and season they're in, and Robin giving quizzical glances out the TV screen and then later running up and grabbing the camera, yelling at the audience "Do not watch this program! It will liquify your brain!" (The InUniverse explanation for this action is that Control Freak has tampered with the broadcast.)

** On ''WesternAnimation/TheArchieShow'', between stories Archie introduced a dance for the young viewers to watch and learn.

* Preschool shows such as ''WesternAnimation/BluesClues'' and ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'' popularized this as a way to teach skills such as math, language, and problem solving to its child audience. The main characters will encounter some problem and ask the viewer to help them, or ask them to repeat a certain phrase, and pause for a few seconds to give the kids at home time to (hopefully) give the correct response. This wiki places all examples of this particular type of fourth-wall breaking under FakeInteractivity.

* Creator/TexAvery 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.

* Old Filmation cartoons (''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'', ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'', [[WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters Ghostbusters]]) always ended with a character breaking the fourth wall and [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle teaching a worthy lesson to the children]] after the main story ends.

* Creator/HannaBarbera'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".

* Subverted at the end of the first part of the two-part ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" Dr. Hibbert says "I can't possibly solve this mystery. Can ''you''?" He points straight at the camera, which pulls back to reveal [[FourthWallPsych he's actually pointing at Chief Wiggum, who is standing in front of him]].
-->'''Chief Wiggum:''' Yeah, I'll give it a shot. I mean, you know, it's my job, right?

** In one episode, Roger Meyers Jr. (arguing that everything is plagiarized from everything else) mentions that Chief Wiggum is a ripoff of Edward G. Robinson... which is kind of true. In the background, Wiggum does a double take.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'': A rather elaborate example in the episode "Puppets": During Bluey’s dream, she is asked by a puppet about if she’s also a puppet. She dismisses the idea and goes to sleep…but then the camera pulls back to show a time lapse of an animator working on the next scene.

[[SelfDemonstratingArticleWhy are you on this page?]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'' broke the fourth wall a couple of times in the episode "Good Clean Fun":

* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'': In the episode "Cheap Show", this episode had a lot of fourth wall breaks like Tilly saying Cricket broke the "fourth wall", then the Greens family (excluding Nancy) looks at the audience, it then shows a literal wall that Cricket broke.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Fear of a Bot Planet", Fry and Leela are attempting to work out how to rescue Bender from a planet full of human-hating robots. Leela remarks, "If only I had two or three minutes to think about it," at which point it immediately cuts to a commercial break. When the show returns from commercial, Fry and Leela have worked out a plan and are enacting it.
** Futurama liked playing with the fourth wall. In "Bender's Big Score," the Professor talks about how their license was "cancelled" two years ago by "the delivery network" (a building with a logo BOX NETWORK is shown. The B flickers and part of it goes out so that it looks like an F). The professor gets a phone call and announces "The asinine morons who canceled us were themselves fired for incompetence," so Planet Express is "back on the air! Yes, flying on the air in our mighty spaceship!"

* ''WesternAnimation/Big City Greens'': In the episode "Cheap Show", this episode had a lot of fourth wall breaks like Tilly saying Cricket broke the "fourth wall", then the Greens family (excluding Nancy) looks at the audience, it then shows a literal wall that Cricket broke.

* ''Western Animation/{{Big City Greens}}'': In the episode "Cheap Show", this episode had a lot of fourth wall breaks like Tilly saying Cricket broke the "fourth wall", then the Greens family (excluding Nancy) looks at the audience, it then shows a literal wall that Cricket broke.