Fourth wall

Breaking the fourth wall is a comedy device (also a running gag) used in fictional stories in which a character acknowledges the fact that they are a character in a movie or television show, and are actually aware of being such, and tell the audience. This violates the separation between the character and the audience, the convention being known as the fourth wall. There are several ways of breaking the fourth wall; examples include when a character refers to a particular part in a television episode, when a character stops others from performing an occult or criminal act by referring to the fact that it is a "children's movie/show," when a character responds to a real world person who is not physically present (such as the narrator), or when a character talks directly to the viewer.

There are several instances of breaking the fourth wall found in Tom and Jerry shows, ranging from subtle to whole sections having significance or to whole episodes based around breaking the fourth wall, as can be shown in the following section (similar to Teen Titans Go! and The Amazing World of Gumball).

Episodes that break fourth wall

NOTE: Some characters can be heard talking to the viewers in some episodes.

Shorts

Fred Quimby

Cruise Cat

• Tom and Jerry watch the short "Texas Tom" on the cruise ship.

Chuck Jones

Matinee Mouse

• During the scene where both Tom and Jerry walk into the movie theater after buying their tickets, if one looks closely at the movie posters, both the Tom and Jerry and Droopy movie posters have a small byline each that reads as "Dial "M" for Mouser" and "The Sand Pauper" respectively. The real films parodied here: Dial "M" for Murder (1954) and The Sandpiper (1965).

Tom & Jerry Kids Show

Lightning Bolt the Super Squirrel

• During the ending, Jerry throws his lightning bolt at the screen and black it out with smoke.

Downhill Droopy

• After he falls down, McWolf pulls the curtain that said "KEEP WATCHING!" to make a transition.

Wild World of Bowling

• After being described as lazy, overfed and intelligent, Tom squirts his pink drink at the screen.

Tom and Jerry Tales

Tiger Cat

• The Monkey grabs tiger paint and throws it all over the screen ending the episode.

Tomcat Superstar

• Superstar Jerry gives to the screen a thumbs up and then a thumbs down making the episode poof away in a puff of dust.

Season 2

Catch Me Though You Can't

• The 4th wall is broken when Tom crashes into the camera at the end and drags the black screen downwards, ending the episode at the same time.

Bend It Like Thomas

• The 4th wall is broken when Spike turns the iris-out circle into a football-like shape as the episode ends.

Game of Mouse & Cat

• This episode breaks the fourth wall when its 6-minute run-time is referenced when Jerry finishes his 6-minute VR-setup.

The Tom and Jerry Show (2014)

Detectives Cat and Mouse

• Everyone can hear the narrator and acknowledge his presence.

Season 1

Tom's In-Tents Adventure

• After being thrown about by the supports of Tom's tent, Jerry punches the camera.

Season 2

Tom-Fu

• The fourth wall is broken when Tom and Tuffy see that a word in a different language that Tuffy said wrongly, then proceeded to correct his words.

Uncle Pecos Rides Again

• Tom has a flashback from the classic short Pecos Pest when Uncle Pecos visits Jerry and Pecos keeps plucking Tom's whiskers from his face.

Season 3

The Last Laugh

• One scene from this cartoon (where Tom fires a bomb in Jerry's hole and Jerry does the same under Tom's belly) appeared in Tom and Jerry episode "Trap Happy", on a movie theater screen which Red Herring watches.

Bull Fight

• Due to the disgust of the old tortoise's feet, it was censored.

Season 4

Maust

• Jerry Van Mouseling makes himself disappear in a haze covering the screen pink.

The Masked Mouse

• The Warner Bros. Studios appear when Jerry calls his cousin Masked Mouse.

A Kick in the Butler

• Tom crashes into the camera again.

Piñata Yadda Yadda

• Tom speaks in this episode, saying two words, he is heard angrily muttering and cursing, and caught swearing. His two words, are either (censored) “Damn It”, with bleeping, or (uncensored) “Darn It”, so that Tom, can say his two words.

Diamonds Are For Never

• One scene from this cartoon (where Jerrry opens the door releasing the iron board to land on Tom's head) appeared in Old Rockin' Chair Tom on Willy the Weasel's TV much to Tom and Jerry's surprise.

Tom and Jerry in New York

Room Service Robots

• At the end of this episode, Tom points a remote at the screen and presses a button, causing the screen to go black and end the episode.