Fourth wall

The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imagined wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes, the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th century onwards, the rise of illusionism in staging practices, which culminated in the realism and naturalism of the theatre of the 19th century, led to the development of the fourth wall concept.

The metaphor suggests a relationship to the mise-en-scène behind a proscenium arch. When a scene is set indoors and three of the walls of its room are presented onstage, in what is known as a box set, the "fourth" of them would run along the line (technically called the "proscenium") dividing the room from the auditorium. The "fourth wall", though, is a theatrical convention, rather than of set design. The actors ignore the audience, focus their attention exclusively on the dramatic world, and remain absorbed in its fiction, in a state that the theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski called "public solitude" (the ability to behave as one would in private, despite, in actuality, being watched intently while so doing, or to be 'alone in public'). In this way, the fourth wall exists regardless of the presence of any actual walls in the set, or the physical arrangement of the theatre building or performance space, or the actors' distance from or proximity to the audience.

"Breaking the fourth wall" is any instance in which this performance convention, having been adopted more generally in the drama, is violated. This can be done through either directly referencing the audience, the play as a play, or the characters' fictionality. The temporary suspension of the convention in this way draws attention to its use in the rest of the performance. This act of drawing attention to a play's performance conventions is metatheatrical. A similar effect of metareference is achieved when the performance convention of avoiding direct contact with the camera, generally used by actors in a television drama or film, is temporarily suspended. The phrase "breaking the fourth wall" is used to describe such effects in those media. Breaking the fourth wall is also possible in other media, such as video games and books.

Listed here are scenes in Universal movies and television shows where such characters break the fourth wall.

Ama and the Mysterious Crystal
Coming soon!

Galaxion
Coming soon!

Paint World
Coming soon!

Mistress Masham's Repose
Coming soon!

The Gabriel Garza Movie

 * Gabriel says, directly to the audience, "He's smart, he's good, he's back!"
 * Near the end of the film, when Claire was left confused after unintentionally giving Roge advice, he looks toward the camera and says, "What did I do?"

Computeropolis
Coming soon!

BJ and Wally

 * As BJ acts out on what Cal would say to him about B.E.T. Corps, Cal looks directly at the audience. Then, after BJ runs off to catch up with his friends, Cal says to the viewers, "My work here is done."
 * During the credits, characters in the movie break the fourth wall by interacting with the credits.

Computeropolis 2
Coming soon!

Swapped
Coming soon!

Woo La La

 * At the start and end of the movie, Amai narrates the story, while also taking part in the film's plot.

Gabriel Garza
Coming soon!

Plucky Chicken

 * At the start and end of the movie, Plucky narrates the story, while also taking part in the film's plot.
 * At the end of the film, Plucky waves goodbye to the camera before looking away.

Quest

 * At the start and end of the movie, Ridder narrates the story, while also taking part in the film's plot.

Gabriel Garza 2
Coming soon!

Paradoria

 * At the start of the movie, Jamo narrates the story, while also taking part in the film's plot.

Luna & Zak
Coming soon!

Imagimals

 * At the start of the movie, Prack narrates the story, while also taking part in the film's plot.

Lix

 * At the start and end of the movie, Lix narrates the story, while also taking part in the film's plot.

Computeropolis: The Deep Web

 * During the credits, characters in the movie break the fourth wall by interacting with the credits.

Despicable Me

 * During the end credits, one of the minions crashes through the screen after being shot out of a cannon by two other minions.

The Lorax

 * At the start of the movie, the Lorax steps onto the stage in front of a large curtain and looks at the audience to talk part in the film's plot.
 * During the credits, characters in the movie break the fourth wall by interacting with the credits.

Despicable Me 2

 * During the end credits, Kevin, Stuart and Bob are seen auditioning for their film.

Minions

 * At the start of the movie, the Minions sing the Universal Pictures fanfare.

The Secret Life of Pets

 * At the start of the movie, Max narrates the story, while also taking part in the film's plot.

Sing

 * At the start of the movie, Buster Moon narrates the story, while also taking part in the film's plot.

DreamWorks Animation feature films
Coming soon!

Direct-to-video films
Coming soon!

Television shows
Coming soon!

Video games
Coming soon!

Comics
Coming soon!

Trivia
Coming soon!