History Main / WallpaperCamouflage

%%Image selected per Image Pickin thread:https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16895648580.83746500

* In the WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts "Tiger Trouble", the tiger's natural camouflage is parodied by making it invisible in front of a thicket of bamboo.
* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Leela criticizes bureaucrats as pencil pushers who just blend into the walls. Camera turns to Hermes, who happens to be wearing a shirt the exact same color as the wall behind it.
* In a WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes documentary-style short which features animals, a chameleon blends with many colors, but breaks down when asked to demonstrate on a plaid background. "I can't do it! ''I can't do it!''"
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "No Guts, No Glori", Luan uses camouflage when she and her sisters are sneaking into Lincoln's room to discuss a plan to overthrow Lori's tyranny as their babysitter.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBusRidesAgain'' episode "The Magic School Bus Hides and Seeks" where the kids are learning how animals camouflage themselves. Jyoti invokes this trope by donning an actual InvisibilityCloak while Ralphie and Tim put on all sorts of disguises to blend into the surrounding walls.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse2013'' short "Al Rojo Vivo", Mickey is running from a bull [[BullSeeingRed going after his red shorts]] when he's caught in a street where everything is red save for one white door. So he hides all the black parts of his body (including swallowing his ears) and stands against the door to hide.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'' had the babies try to make Gonzo feel less weird by proving they could be weird themselves. Kermit's attempt involved taping a large piece of green construction paper to the wall and blending into it. Unfortunately, this ends up breaking Gonzo.
* In his first cartoon, "WesternAnimation/ThePinkPhink," (which also won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward) WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther hides by standing against a wall painted pink.
* In one ''WesternAnimation/ScrewySquirrel'' cartoon, Screwy paints a barn wall white, then paints himself white as well to appear invisible and hit the dog chasing him with a bat.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SecretSquirrel'', Secret and Morocco Mole must capture a serial art thief called the Chameleon, who uses his chameleon ability to change colors by disguising himself as the art piece he plans to steal. In order to defeat him, Secret and Morocco lead him into the modern art wing of the museum which, one the Chameleon hates modern art, and two the highly contrasting and garish colors over-stress his chameleon camouflage ability until he passes out and [[AndIMustScream falls into empty canvas where he remains trapped.]]
* One ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' couch gag involves the family breaking into a museum, where their living room is on display. They're wearing strangely erratically colored jumpsuits and at one point evade guards by standing in front of a Jackson Pollock painting which the jumpsuits match.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'': When AAARRRGGHH, Blinky and [=NotEnrique=] sneak into the school to find Strickler's office, they hear a security guard coming so they pose in front of a mural to hide and the guard barely gives them a second thought.

[[quoteright:350:[[Music/{{Gotye}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_gotye_that_we_used_to_know.png]]

[[quoteright:320:[[Film/AddamsFamilyValues https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/WallpaperCamouflageWednesday_4132.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:320:[[{{TheWallsHaveEyes}} The Walls Have Eyes.]]]]

* This is one of Carl Creel's tricks in Series/AgentsOfSHIELD, doing it twice in [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E1Shadows his first episode]]. Given that he's capable of literally [[ElementalShapeshifter becoming the substance the wall is made of]], it works really well.

* Series/FullerHouse : Stephanie gives Danny a jacket made from the upholstery of the old couch they've had re-covered. Jackson walks in and asks if Stephanie has seen Danny, who's lying on the couch.

* Gradually happens to Music/{{Gotye}} in the video for "Somebody That I Used To Know". Gradually un-happens to Music/{{Kimbra}} in the same video.

*** [[RunningGag You can always tell a Milford man.]]

This is when a character is decked out in an outfit that blends in seamlessly with the wallpaper or furniture upholstery, to the point they're either invisible or seem like a (not [[HugeHolographicHead giant holographic)]] floating head and hands. Why are they wearing such a bizarre get up? They may have gotten the shirt/dress as a horribly tacky gift, worn a normal article of clothing and through sheer random chance end up in a place that they blend in to. Or they may be CrazyPrepared and created the outfit/camo paint combo from scratch precisely to blend in to the background. HollywoodChameleons can do this naturally.

[[caption-width-right:320:TheWallsHaveEyes.]]

* Chinese artist [[http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/meet-the-real-life-invisible-man.html Liu Bolin.]]

* The [[http://defensetech.org/2007/07/06/when-you-dont-want-to-take-out-the-trash/ US Army ACU Uniform.]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* Caesar's spy in the animated ''WesternAnimation/AsterixAndCleopatra''. In the comic, he's simply dressed as just another Egyptian worker. In the film, he's introduced wearing a robe that blends with the wall decorations behind it, and gets more elaborate with each scene.

* English does this in ''Film/JohnnyEnglishStrikesAgain'', as a demonstration to his students.

* On ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'', the psychedelic paint job the Electric Mayhem gives Fozzie's Studebaker serendipitously matches a billboard for soda, enabling Kermit and Fozzie to elude Doc Hopper.
* François Toulour (AKA the Night Fox) does this in ''Film/OceansThirteen'' to get the drop on Linus and [[spoiler:his dad]]. However, he reveals himself almost immediately, so the goal appears to have been to avoid alarming them as soon as they walked onto the roof.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* In [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Boomerhumour/comments/ck9tv6/good_move_lola/ this]] ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' comic, a woman named Lola and her husband Harold are home alone when a gigantic monster comes to the door. Lola is wearing a floral dress that exactly matches the wallpaper and upholstery of the house, and so remains "motionless and undetected," while Harold--dressed in the [[ImpossiblyTackyClothes ridiculously tacky outfit]] of a striped shirt and plaid pants--is "immediately devoured."
* One ''{{ComicStrip/Garfield}}'' strip has Jon put up new wallpaper [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield-classics/2019/05/17 that just so happens to look exactly like Garfield's stripes.]]
* One ''ComicStrip/KrazyKat'' strip featured a lecturer demonstrating Krazy's natural camouflage by having him/her stand against a black background. (Ignatz gives Krazy a bottle of milk to ruin the lecture; the lecturer retaliates by giving Krazy a bottle of ink to drink.)
* One Creator/GahanWilson comic has a guy sitting in his easy chair, wearing full-body camouflage complete with a hood with eyeholes, so that he blends in with the chair, carpet ''and'' wallpaper. His wife comments on how creepy this is.

* Caesar's spy in the animated ''WesternAnimation/AsterixAndCleopatra''. Didn't use such camouflage in the book.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'' had the babies try to make Gonzo feel less weird by proving they could be weird themselves. Kermit's attempt involved taping a large piece of green construction paper to the wall and blending into it. Unfortunately, this ends up breaking Gonzo.

* One ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' couch gag involves the family breaking into a museum, where their living room is on display. They're wearing strangely erratically colored jumpsuits and at one point evade guards by standing in front of a Jackson Pollek painting which the jumpsuits match.

* In ''Anime/{{Bleach}}'', resident MadScientist Mayuri Kurotsuchi pulls this off a couple of times.

* English does this in ''Film/JohnnyEnglishStrikesAgain'', as a demonstration to his students.

* The stoned girl in ''Film/LockStockAndTwoSmokingBarrels'', whose outfit blends perfectly into the couch upon which she passed out.
* In the movie ''Film/{{Toys}}'', a few of Patrick's outfits are used in this way for his trademark StealthHiBye entrances.

* Done by the killer in the remake of ''Film/WhenAStrangerCalls''.
* Done by Holmes in ''Film/SherlockHolmesAGameOfShadows'' when Watson first arrives at his office allowing Holmes to hit him with three darts. [[spoiler: And once again at the end when Watson realizes that Holmes faked his death but fails to realize he was there the whole time.]]
* Done by Inspector Clouseau in Creator/SteveMartin's ''Film/ThePinkPanther2006'' as he and his sidekick, played by Creator/JeanReno, try to infiltrate a party where the villain will be present. (They are then discovered, but pass their strange skin-tight outfits off as being part of a dance troupe.)

* Peeta learns to do this in ''Film/TheHungerGames'' thanks to his experience as a baker. He is later able to paint his face and hands to match the pattern on a log.

* Columbus and his girls do this in ''Film/BasnOLudziachStad'' to hide, but invisibility turns out to have disadvantages.
* In ''Series/{{Jackass}} 3'', Johnny Knoxville has himself painted into a mural, Liu Bolin-style, just to see if a bull will ignore him ([[BullSeeingRed it doesn't work]]). Likewise, in ''Jackass 3.5'', Wee Man has himself painted to look like the hand-painted wall of the basement stairway at Ape and Phil's house. He scares a couple of people, until Ryan Dunn comes down and shocks him with a cattle prod.

* In ''Literature/TheAmityIncident,'' Susan creates a gilly suit which, while matching ''none'' of the local flora, is so effective people occasionally try to water her. [[SoMuchForStealth It is less effective when you forget to tuck your hair into the hood.]]

* Played for laughs in a ''Series/FrenchAndSaunders'' sketch parodying some current CostumeDrama. Part of a pair of curtains turn out to be our heroines' voluminous dresses.
* Once on ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' Iolaus hid from some {{Mooks}} by covering himself in mud and lying down, blending in with the mud patch which the mooks ran through while looking for him.
* Inverted in one episode of ''Series/HomeImprovement,'' when Tim pranks Al on [[ShowWithinAShow Tool Time]] by wheeling out a portable wall decorated to resemble Al's plaid shirt, work pants, and tool belt, and then pretends he can't see Al when he walks in front of it.

* Series/FullerHouse : Stephanie gives Danny a jacket made from the upholstery of the old couch they've had re-covered. Jackson walks in and asks if Stephanie has seen Danny, who's lying on the couch.

* This is one of Carl Creel's tricks in Series/AgentsOfSHIELD, doing it twice in [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E1Shadows his first episode]]. Given that he's capable of literally [[ElementalShapeshifter becoming the substance the wall is made of]], it works really well.
* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'': Andy is trying very hard to keep Leslie's secret [[spoiler:(she is pregnant)]]. After spending all day trying to forestall April's questions, he tries blending into the background by dressing in camouflage, then standing by the mural in the conference room. It doesn't work, though, as April spots him right away.
* The ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' episode "The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out" opens with Sherlock, surrounded by heaters, staring at what appears to be a Middle-Eastern style tiled wall that he's installed in the brownstone. He then complains that the woman in bodypaint standing in front of it has moved, ruining the experiment. And then, once the viewers' eyes have adjusted to that, there turns out to be ''three'' women, because he's studying the effect of the heat on different brands of bodypaint.

* One version of the music video for Music/OKGo's "Do What You Want" takes this to extremes, with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i00GDT9FuFM the entire band in such a get-up.]]
* Gradually happens to Music/{{Gotye}} in the video for "Somebody That I Used To Know". Gradually un-happens to Music/{{Kimbra}} in the same video.

* In the second level of ''VideoGame/Gamer2'', Hailey can hide under red lights. The zombies won't be able to see her thanks to her red fur.

* In one ''WesternAnimation/ScrewySquirrel'' cartoon, Screwy paints a barn wall white, then paints himself white as well to appear invisible and hit the dog chasing him with a bat.
* In his first cartoon, "WesternAnimation/ThePinkPhink," (which also won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward) WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther hides by standing against a wall painted pink.
* Caesar's spy in the animated ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} and Cleopatra''. Didn't use such camouflage in the book.
* In the WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts "Tiger Trouble", the tiger's natural camouflage is parodied by making it invisible in front of a thicket of bamboo.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'' had the babies try to make Gonzo feel less weird by proving they could be weird themselves. Kermit's attempt involved taping a large piece of green construction paper to the wall and blending into it. Unfortunately, this ends up breaking Gonzo.

* In [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Boomerhumour/comments/ck9tv6/good_move_lola/ this]] ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' comic, a woman named Lola and her husband Harold are home alone when a gigantic monster comes to the door. Lola is wearing a floral dress that exactly matches the wallpaper and upholstery of the house, and so remains "motionless and undetected," while Harold--dressed in the [[ImpossiblyTackyClothes ridiculously tacky outfit]] of a striped shirt and plaid pants, is "immediately devoured."

* In ]]https://www.reddit.com/r/Boomerhumour/comments/ck9tv6/good_move_lola/ this]] ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' comic, a woman named Lola and her husband Harold are home alone when a gigantic monster comes to the door. Lola is wearing a floral dress that exactly matches the wallpaper and upholstery of the house, and so remains "motionless and undetected," while Harold--dressed in the [[ImpossiblyTackyClothes ridiculously tacky outfit]] of a striped shirt and plaid pants, is "immediately devoured."

* A ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' comic has a woman wearing a flowered dress in a room full of a flower motif, and she's spared when a monster comes in an eats her husband, who stands out in his striped shirt, while she's practically invisible, thanks to her "camouflage".