In animation and most forms of media where it happens, the fourth wall is broken for comedic reasons. The Emperor's New Groove breaks the fourth wall in order to solidify character and plot. Kuzco literally freezes the movie in order to remind the audience that the movie is about him, and not about another character.
This provides a moment of comedic relief, but also reminds the audience that Kuzco is a self-obsessed narcissist, and that he doesn't want the audience to forget that the movie is all about himself. He also narrates the movie, further adding a layer of self-obsession to the narrative, and providing another connection between the audience and Kuzco.
At the end of Aladdin, Genie lifts up the paper that has the animation on it, revealing the pegbar holes and paper number. This is an extremely meta form of breaking the fourth wall, as it not only acknowledges that they are in a movie, but specifically in an animated movie. This is sort of an in-joke for the animators as well, as most audiences may not know what the pegbar holes are.
Aladdin breaks the fourth wall multiple times, with the peddlar at the beginning directly addressing the audience, even having his face pressed up against the "camera". Both the Genie and the peddlar are voiced by Robin Williams, a comedic actor, so this fourth-wall break is totally in-character for both the characters that do it.
Finally, I think it's important to address fourth-wall breaking in childrens' TV shows. In this case, more often than not, it is not done for comedic reasons but to establish a bond between character and child. In Dora the Explora, Dora and her friends often speak directly to the child watching in order to get them to interact with her, by asking questions such as "Can you see [x object]?" or "Can you say [word]?" This is for educational reasons, to encourage children to repeat things back in Spanish or recognise simple objects.
No comments:
Post a Comment