No money means no animation!
October 3, 2015 1:31 PM Subscribe
It's missing Rick and Morty.
posted by Pendragon at 1:35 PM on October 3, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Pendragon at 1:35 PM on October 3, 2015 [5 favorites]
The Barbie and Phineas and Ferb jokes wouldn't seem out of place on the real shows.
posted by swift at 1:47 PM on October 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by swift at 1:47 PM on October 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think these are from the real shows.
posted by wemayfreeze at 1:52 PM on October 3, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by wemayfreeze at 1:52 PM on October 3, 2015 [7 favorites]
You laugh, but just wait until you seem someone break the fifth wall of our holographic universe.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 1:53 PM on October 3, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 1:53 PM on October 3, 2015 [5 favorites]
You laugh, but just wait until you seem someone break the fifth wall of our holographic universe.
Eh it'll just be someone's dad pushing books out of a shelf.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:13 PM on October 3, 2015 [29 favorites]
Eh it'll just be someone's dad pushing books out of a shelf.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:13 PM on October 3, 2015 [29 favorites]
My six year old daughter got hooked on Phineas and Ferb earlier this year, and I am so grateful. Just an awesome show all around.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 2:22 PM on October 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 2:22 PM on October 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
No Looney Tunes? I'm guessing the person compiling these is a millennial. For folks of a riper vintage, we hear about cartoons breaking the 4th wall and automatically think about stuff like Duck Amuck.
I did a whole series about self-aware cartoons. Years ago I heard Gary Shandling talk about what a crutch it was for a novice screenwriter to have the characters break the 4th wall on It's Gary Shandling's Show. Exposition becomes a cinch when you can just have the character turn to the camera and say, "Hello folks. This is happening because of that, and here's how I feel about it..."
Weirdly enough, going totally postmodern like that doesn't always mean that we stop caring about the story or the characters. It's distancing certainly, but if the characters have clear personalities and clear goals we'll follow them even as their adventure takes them them off the set and onto the backlot. I found with my cartoon that the characters being self-aware added a weird kind of tragedy to it. They knew they were made-up characters in a goofy cartoon series where they were made to suffer all sorts of indignities and terrors for the audience's entertainment, and they weren't that thrilled about the situation. Would you be?
The same thing happens in Duck Amuck. You're laughing at Daffy's frustration, but as the existential horror of his plight grows you starts to feel sorry for him too. He's all of us, getting endlessly transformed and degraded by fate and demanding to know who's in charge here.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 2:37 PM on October 3, 2015 [20 favorites]
I did a whole series about self-aware cartoons. Years ago I heard Gary Shandling talk about what a crutch it was for a novice screenwriter to have the characters break the 4th wall on It's Gary Shandling's Show. Exposition becomes a cinch when you can just have the character turn to the camera and say, "Hello folks. This is happening because of that, and here's how I feel about it..."
Weirdly enough, going totally postmodern like that doesn't always mean that we stop caring about the story or the characters. It's distancing certainly, but if the characters have clear personalities and clear goals we'll follow them even as their adventure takes them them off the set and onto the backlot. I found with my cartoon that the characters being self-aware added a weird kind of tragedy to it. They knew they were made-up characters in a goofy cartoon series where they were made to suffer all sorts of indignities and terrors for the audience's entertainment, and they weren't that thrilled about the situation. Would you be?
The same thing happens in Duck Amuck. You're laughing at Daffy's frustration, but as the existential horror of his plight grows you starts to feel sorry for him too. He's all of us, getting endlessly transformed and degraded by fate and demanding to know who's in charge here.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 2:37 PM on October 3, 2015 [20 favorites]
I'm not sure what wall this is breaking, but shit's getting broke.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:49 PM on October 3, 2015 [18 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:49 PM on October 3, 2015 [18 favorites]
Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse is incredibly funny. Never watched it much due to the screeches of pain from my 3 boys, but what I did see was golden. Can't remember the episode, but Barbie says, "We need a vet!" and her friend cocks her head and says, "Hey- weren't you a vet?"
posted by Sweet Dee Kat at 4:37 PM on October 3, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by Sweet Dee Kat at 4:37 PM on October 3, 2015 [9 favorites]
Just came in to also say that Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse is one of the best cartoons ever made. It's the exact opposite of what I expected when I watched it with my kids.
posted by blue_beetle at 5:34 PM on October 3, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by blue_beetle at 5:34 PM on October 3, 2015 [6 favorites]
Yes, these all really were in the cartoons. (I looked up the Simpsons one; it was in a Season 22 episode about Marge's hair turning from blue to gray when Bart & Lisa had their own 'hair revelations' as a short aside)
I was seriously considering posting this myself but saw this link in the comments pointing to a one-day-older listicle with the same images, then tried checking the 'vias' attached to them there (to see if there were more) and it was Ninja Turtles all the way down from there. (Google "cartoons becoming self-aware") There's even a much better animated GIF version of the Adventure Time one.
My only change would've been to use Zorak's "Every time I move my arm, it costs The Cartoon Network 42 bucks" as the title.
But the Fourth Wall has been either vulnerable, poprous or in rubble in cartoons ever since Bugs Bunny first looked into the camera and said "Ain't I a stinker?" You could consider Wile E. Coyote's ability to keep running off a cliff and not falling UNTIL he looks down as a 'self-awareness' trope. And Bullwinkle and other Jay Ward/Bill Scott cartoons had never-seen narrators having conversations with the characters. I think it was much less common among the Hanna-Barbera and Disney cartoons (which is why the Scooby Doo and Goofy Movie examples are good to have), but The Simpsons did things like that almost every week and Robin Williams' performance in "Aladdin" opened the floodgates at Disney for "The Emperor's New Groove", "Fineas & Ferb" and others to exploit.
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:43 PM on October 3, 2015 [6 favorites]
I was seriously considering posting this myself but saw this link in the comments pointing to a one-day-older listicle with the same images, then tried checking the 'vias' attached to them there (to see if there were more) and it was Ninja Turtles all the way down from there. (Google "cartoons becoming self-aware") There's even a much better animated GIF version of the Adventure Time one.
My only change would've been to use Zorak's "Every time I move my arm, it costs The Cartoon Network 42 bucks" as the title.
But the Fourth Wall has been either vulnerable, poprous or in rubble in cartoons ever since Bugs Bunny first looked into the camera and said "Ain't I a stinker?" You could consider Wile E. Coyote's ability to keep running off a cliff and not falling UNTIL he looks down as a 'self-awareness' trope. And Bullwinkle and other Jay Ward/Bill Scott cartoons had never-seen narrators having conversations with the characters. I think it was much less common among the Hanna-Barbera and Disney cartoons (which is why the Scooby Doo and Goofy Movie examples are good to have), but The Simpsons did things like that almost every week and Robin Williams' performance in "Aladdin" opened the floodgates at Disney for "The Emperor's New Groove", "Fineas & Ferb" and others to exploit.
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:43 PM on October 3, 2015 [6 favorites]
Phineas and Ferb: Dr. Doofenshmirtz (the villain) is arguably one of the very best dads ever on TV.
An entire episode is devoted to him trying to make things right when he believes his daughter overheard him wishing he had a son, instead. It was an out-of-context comment, but he was horrified.
At the end of the episode, we discover she had her earbuds in, and didn't hear it at all. GROUP HUG!
posted by IAmBroom at 6:13 PM on October 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
An entire episode is devoted to him trying to make things right when he believes his daughter overheard him wishing he had a son, instead. It was an out-of-context comment, but he was horrified.
At the end of the episode, we discover she had her earbuds in, and didn't hear it at all. GROUP HUG!
posted by IAmBroom at 6:13 PM on October 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Hey! Every time I move my arm, it costs Hanna-Barbera forty-two bucks!
posted by lorddimwit at 6:59 PM on October 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by lorddimwit at 6:59 PM on October 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hey, John DiMaggio!
posted by louche mustachio at 8:04 PM on October 3, 2015
posted by louche mustachio at 8:04 PM on October 3, 2015
Also, Deadpool.
I didn't even want to begin to get into comics, but 4th Wall Destruction is one of Deadpool's most important superpowers. And he's far from the only one. The first thing the New SquirrelGirl did was rewrite the lyrics of the 1960's Spider-Man theme to be about her ("Finds some nuts / Eats some nuts / Kicks bad guys' / Evil butts") and I haven't seen it yet but I expect nothing less from the Howard the Duck revival. I suspect MARVEL has found a way to tear out the 4th Wall in order to save paper.
Meanwhile, the Bloom County revival shows off characters' self-awareness about once a week and from Diesel Sweeties to Penny Arcade, metacontent is a requirement for any webcomic wishing to become cool. Fantasy webcomics from "Order of the Stick" to "Erfworld" are openly conscious of the D&D tropes in their universes, and most superhero webcomics start at a 'Deadpool' level and go further. ("Spinnerette", the comic with the 'anatomically accurate spiderwoman' (four extra limbs, shoots web from butt) has just gotten out of a storyline with past versions of herself, identified as "Golden Age", "Silver Age" and "Nineties", all fighting a time-traveling enemy called The Editor. )
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:44 PM on October 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
I didn't even want to begin to get into comics, but 4th Wall Destruction is one of Deadpool's most important superpowers. And he's far from the only one. The first thing the New SquirrelGirl did was rewrite the lyrics of the 1960's Spider-Man theme to be about her ("Finds some nuts / Eats some nuts / Kicks bad guys' / Evil butts") and I haven't seen it yet but I expect nothing less from the Howard the Duck revival. I suspect MARVEL has found a way to tear out the 4th Wall in order to save paper.
Meanwhile, the Bloom County revival shows off characters' self-awareness about once a week and from Diesel Sweeties to Penny Arcade, metacontent is a requirement for any webcomic wishing to become cool. Fantasy webcomics from "Order of the Stick" to "Erfworld" are openly conscious of the D&D tropes in their universes, and most superhero webcomics start at a 'Deadpool' level and go further. ("Spinnerette", the comic with the 'anatomically accurate spiderwoman' (four extra limbs, shoots web from butt) has just gotten out of a storyline with past versions of herself, identified as "Golden Age", "Silver Age" and "Nineties", all fighting a time-traveling enemy called The Editor. )
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:44 PM on October 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Holy shit, I am so obsessed with Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse after watching 5 minutes of it. I've been craving sharp, fast, witty dialogue in animation form, and been totally drained after Legend of Korra is over and want something else that isn't Rick and Morty. Now to watch all the seasons and then show it to my friends!
posted by yueliang at 11:22 PM on October 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by yueliang at 11:22 PM on October 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
Just started Gintama and now I know the dojo issue won't be resolved for over 200 episodes. Great.
posted by charred husk at 12:19 AM on October 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by charred husk at 12:19 AM on October 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
There's a whole tumblr of these for She-Hulk. It's really something else.
posted by knuckle tattoos at 12:33 AM on October 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by knuckle tattoos at 12:33 AM on October 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
Bit of an oldie, but the webcomic 1/0 based its premise on character self-awareness. While not a perfect comic, it did have its moments.
posted by YAMWAK at 1:12 AM on October 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by YAMWAK at 1:12 AM on October 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Another fun one from Looney Tunes: in The Big Snooze, Bugs gets on Elmer's nerves so much that Elmer tears up his contract-- "I get the worst of it from that wabbit in evwy one of these cartoons!"
posted by zompist at 2:54 AM on October 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by zompist at 2:54 AM on October 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
The truly brilliant Earthworm Jim show at one point ran out of money, necessitating Jim to write and post a check, before the colour came back.
Another episode was entirely dedicated to the show's failing ratings and the power of the focus groups and the Nielsen Box.
Oh, and there was also the Plot Development Alarm, which permitted Our Heroes to read from the script, which obviously came in rather handy, even if they were dubious about the quality of the writing.
posted by bouvin at 5:35 AM on October 4, 2015
Another episode was entirely dedicated to the show's failing ratings and the power of the focus groups and the Nielsen Box.
Oh, and there was also the Plot Development Alarm, which permitted Our Heroes to read from the script, which obviously came in rather handy, even if they were dubious about the quality of the writing.
posted by bouvin at 5:35 AM on October 4, 2015
This is incomplete without something from Animaniacs.
posted by merelyglib at 10:53 AM on October 4, 2015
posted by merelyglib at 10:53 AM on October 4, 2015
The Bat-mite (voiced by Paul Reubens!) episodes of Batman-Brave & The Bold are particularly good:
Changing up Batman's suits
Or taking on the the Fanboys
When the show gets cancelled.
posted by Ashwagandha at 10:27 AM on October 5, 2015
Changing up Batman's suits
Or taking on the the Fanboys
When the show gets cancelled.
posted by Ashwagandha at 10:27 AM on October 5, 2015
Ah geez, I know it's not animation, but this scene from Top Secret is one of the best
posted by Redhush at 11:27 AM on October 5, 2015
posted by Redhush at 11:27 AM on October 5, 2015
Imma let you finish Redhush, but Blazing Saddles literally broke the 4th wall.
posted by cmfletcher at 12:25 PM on October 5, 2015
posted by cmfletcher at 12:25 PM on October 5, 2015
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Love this FPP, O mantot!
*adds sweetheart to contact form*
posted by infini at 1:35 PM on October 3, 2015