Happy Tree Friends

The logo used from 1998 until 2016.

***Happy Tree Friends*** is an American adult animated web series created by Aubrey Ankrum, Rhode Montijo, and Kenn Navarro, and developed by Montijo, Navarro, and Jeremy Viet Duong for Mondo Media. The show has achieved a cult following on Mondo Media, G4 and YouTube. Montijo, Navarro, Graff, Ankrum serving as showrunners.

Being an adult show disguised as a children's show, the series features cartoon anthropomorphic forest animals. The show is best known for its episodes starting out peacefully with the animals living life as normal, but a sudden event unintentionally (sometimes intentionally) caused by another animal leads to many of the characters being subjected to very extreme and cruel graphic violence. Each episode revolves around the characters enduring accidental or deliberately inflicted pain, murder or mutilation.

*Happy Tree Friends* was also met with divided critical reviews.

## Background

### History

While working with Mondo Media, Rhode Montijo drew a character on a piece of scrap paper who would later become Shifty. He then drew a yellow rabbit that bore some resemblance to Cuddles, writing "Resistance is futile" underneath it on a spreadsheet poster. Rhode hung the drawing up in his workstation so other people could see his idea, and eventually the idea was pitched to and accepted by the Mondo Media executives. In 1998, Mondo gave Aubrey Ankrum, Rhode Montijo, and Kenn Navarro a chance to do a short for them. They came up with a short named "Banjo Frenzy", which featured a dinosaur (an earlier version of Lumpy) killing three woodland animals, a squirrel, a rabbit, and a beaver (earlier versions of Giggles, Cuddles, and Toothy) with a banjo. From there, Mondo gave them their own Internet series, which they named *Happy Tree Friends*.

After its internet debut in 1998, *Happy Tree Friends* became an unexpected success, getting over 15 million hits each month along with screenings at film festivals.

Mondo Media CEO John Evershed attributes the success of the series to animator Kenn Navarro. "He had a clear vision for that show and he's just a brilliant animator. He has created something that is pretty universal. I envision kids watching *Happy Tree Friends* 20 or 30 years from now the same way that they watch *Tom and Jerry* now. So really it's Kenn Navarro."

In 2014, after the episode "Dream Job" was released, Mondo Media announced plans to produce a feature film based on the series, but in 2016, Kenn Navarro tweeted that he was unaware of work being done on a film, but that his team were "in talk to do more shorts". Later, when a fan asked Kenn Navarro about the film, he replied: "a treatment that [I] and the writers did was all the work (that [I] know of) for the movie."

Throughout December 2016, Mondo Media released five all-new episodes for purchase online. Bundled as a set named "Happy Tree Friends: Still Alive", the episodes came with some additional bonus material such as background designs, animated storyboards, the animation process, and a writer's session video. Upon purchase, the buyer was allowed to download the DRM-free video files to their own computer. In January 2017, Kenn Navarro tweeted "As I understand, sales were OK but fell below what was expected." As of 2021, the series hasn't released any further episodes, nor been officially cancelled, placing the series in limbo.

### Premise

*Happy Tree Friends* is a parody of a television show (e.g. *Tiny Toon Adventures*, *Peanuts*). All the characters are anthropomorphic mammals, and they all (with the exception of Lumpy, Sniffles, and Buddhist Monkey) have two front buck teeth and heart-shaped noses. In early episodes, most characters played the roles of children playing childish games. However, as the series progressed, the age concept was dropped, and now characters act variously like children, teenagers, and adults in different episodes. The only characters who are unaffected by this concept are Pop and Cub, who always act like an adult and a child respectively, and characters whose roles usually are not affected by age, such as Splendid or Cro-Marmot.

At the beginning of each episode, the characters are typically found in everyday situations. However, these situations always escalate into violence, and the inevitable deaths of those involved and/or "innocent" bystanders, mostly because of very unfortunate, surprising accidents with otherwise harmless instruments. Some of the characters have mental illnesses, like Flippy, who has post-traumatic stress disorder from a war and will become a killer in certain situations (such as when balloons pop, which sounds like gunfire to him).

The show's characters sometimes appear not to notice others' deaths or injuries, despite clear indications (such as blood coming out of their mouths), or they seem to overcome their deaths (save for the web episode "Happy Trails Pt. 2", in which several funerals are held, and the first few are taken seriously). Most characters always return for the next episode, alive and uninjured.

Each episode starts with introduction credits resembling a book, which portrays the show's logo, the episode title (which is usually a pun), and the cast – and ends with an iris shot, followed by the end credits, where a (often sarcastic or ironic) moral is shown at the very end. Internet episodes have a typical duration of a maximum of four minutes. Usually only a few of the characters are used in a single episode, but occasionally longer episodes have been released in which most of the characters appear (and in one case, the entire cast [with the exception of the Buddhist Monkey, Lammy, and Mr. Pickels] have appeared). Television episodes last about half an hour, having three segments of about seven minutes each.

## Characters

* Lumpy – A blue moose with mismatched antlers. He is extremely dim-witted, which often leads to the deaths of many other characters and sometimes his own, but ironically, he has had more jobs than any of the other Tree Friends. His early design in Banjo Frenzy portrayed him as a dinosaur instead of a moose, and also presented him as quick to anger and having murderous tendencies, both of which were removed with his first appearance in the series proper. He is the tallest of the main characters, and is one of two main characters to not use the basic body shape. He is usually portrayed as an adult, or at least older than the other characters. He is usually considered as the show's main character, as he has appeared in the most episodes, had the most starring roles, has the most occupations of any character, survived more often than most of the other main characters, and has killed more characters than any other character. Most of his kills are unintentional and a result of his stupidity, although he has also been shown to either lack taking responsibility for those accidental deaths or has even intentionally killed some. When he dies, his deaths often involve machinery, animals, and his own mistakes. He was first voiced by Rhode Montijo(Season 1–2) and was later voiced by David Winn (Season 2-4).
* **Cuddles** – A yellow rabbit who has big ears, pink cheeks, and a tiny fluff of fur on his head that looks like his tail, along with a pair of pink bunny slippers. He is sometimes shown to be rebellious and often does things that are extremely dangerous, while he is cute and cuddly at other times. He is considered to be the series' unofficial mascot and has the highest death count in the series. His deaths usually involve his body being sliced apart, vehicles, and his intestines. He is voiced by Kenn Navarro.
* **Giggles** – A pink chipmunk with a small red bow on her head. She was the first female Tree Friend introduced. Her early design depicted her as a blue squirrel. Her deaths usually involve being crushed, her chest, and her head. She is generally considered a girly girl along with her best friend, Petunia. She is known for being featured as a romantically interested date of many of the show's male characters (except for Disco Bear, who she loathes) and has a moderate survival rate compared to many of the other main characters. If the pilot "Banjo Frenzy" is counted, she holds the distinction of being the first character in the series to die. She has been voiced by 3 actresses since her debut: Dana Belben (Season 1–2), Ellen Connell (TV Series-Season 4), and Lori Jee (for a few episodes of Season 3).
* **Toothy** – A purple beaver with freckles and huge buckteeth unlike the others (hence the name "Toothy"). He is friends with Cuddles. His deaths mostly pertain to his eyes and sharp objects. Many people consider him the most undeveloped character in the show or a "redshirt". Toothy also holds the distinction of being the first character to die in the series (if not counting the pilot, "Banjo Frenzy"). He is voiced by Warren Graff.
* **Petunia** – A blue skunk with a pink flower head accessory and a tree air freshener necklace. She is generally considered a girly girl along with her best friend, Giggles. In later seasons, she has a severe case of obsessive–compulsive disorder and has an unhealthy need to keep everything clean. Her deaths usually involve her head and household appliances. She has been voiced by 3 actresses since her debut: Dana Belben (Season 1–2), Ellen Connell (Season 3–4, TV Series), and Lori Jee (for a few episodes of Season 3).
* **Nutty** – A jittery green squirrel with a crazy candy addiction, a constant act of giggling, and a candy outfit consisting of three lollipops on his head and a candy cane on his chest. He is shown to be quite obsessive to anything made of artificial sugar, especially candy, and goes to great heights to try to get them at often the expense of himself or others. Eating sugar makes him experience an exaggerated sugar rush. He has one small black pupil on his left eye, while his right, which is afflicted by a case of lazy eye, has a green iris (much like the eyes of Flippy's bad side). His deaths usually involve his mouth, getting impaled, crushed, split apart, or shredded, and breathing problems. He is voiced by Michael "Lippy" Lipman.
* **Flaky** – A red, nervous porcupine with spiny dandruff on her quills (hence the name "Flaky"). She is very paranoid with an extreme fear of dying and frequent tendency to laugh nervously, although it hasn't often stopped her from willingly participating in activities with her friends. She is one of the most popular characters in the series given her often understandably cowardly personality due to how easily the characters can die in the series. For a long time, Flaky's gender was never made clear, but hints have leaned towards her being female. Eventually, Kenn Navarro confirmed that Flaky is female. Her deaths usually involve getting skinned, burned, or even eaten, and can also involve animals. She is voiced by Nica Lorber.
* **Sniffles** – A brainy blue anteater with big glasses and a mouth on his snout. He is easily the most intelligent character in the series, but sometimes lacks common sense. He makes many inventions, but these tend to backfire at inopportune times, sometimes resulting in his death or the death of other characters. He often attempts to eat a family of ants, who manage to save themselves while killing their natural predator in some of the most graphic and sadistic ways possible. His deaths usually involve his tongue, head, limbs, and organs. He is voiced by Liz Stuart.
* **Handy** – An orange beaver with amputated hands that are wrapped in bandages (which he is ironically named after), a tool belt, and a yellow hard hat. His amputated hands cause him trouble that often frustrates him, and his disabilities result in the death of either him or other Tree Friends. He is the Tree Friend that most often does construction work, which he manages to do without trouble as long as it is off screen. He also briefly had boots. His deaths usually involve glass, his organs, impalement, being cut in half, and his head. He is voiced by Warren Graff.
* **Pop and Cub** – Two tan father-and-son bears. Pop wears a robe and is always seen smoking a tobacco pipe, while Cub wears a diaper and a beanie with a propeller. Cub has appeared without Pop in some episodes and vice versa. Although well-meaning to his son, Pop usually causes unintentional misfortune to his son casually or negligently, ending with Cub and others injured or dead – sometimes this negligence gets himself killed as well. When he witnesses his son's death and isn't being negligent, however, he does break down due to these events. Other times it is Cub that gets himself into danger. Pop has a high survival rate compared to many of the show's other characters. Pop is voiced by Aubrey Ankrum; Cub has been voiced by 3 actresses since his debut: Dana Belben (Season 1-2), Ellen Connell (Season 2-4), and Lori Jee (for 1 episode of Season 3), which are the same voice actresses for Giggles and Petunia.
* **Disco Bear** – A golden bear with an afro and '70s-style clothing. In most episodes, he is seen flirting with mainly Giggles and Petunia, who he fails at flirting with given their dislikes and even ridicules of him. He is also shown to have extreme health issues despite his high frequency to dance. His deaths usually involve his head, his eyes, and explosions. He is voiced by Peter Hermann.
* **Mime** – A purple deer with a white-colored painted face and striped shirt. She means to be entertaining, but results in others around her getting killed or getting self-killed. She is often seen riding a unicycle while juggling. Being a mime, she does not talk, which normally results in the Tree Friend she is communicating with not understanding her, which in some cases causes many deaths. For example, in the television episode "Who's to Flame?", she tries to tell the fire department that the house is burning down, but since they are talking over the phone, Lumpy the firefighter is unable to understand her before hanging up. Later, seeing more firefighters, Mime tries to communicate with them using body motions, but they still do not understand. Her deaths usually involve her head, metallic objects, machinery, and vehicles. Her rare instances of audible noises (such as choking or gagging) are provided by Sarah Castelblanco.
* **Russell** – A teal sea otter. While he has the appearance of a stereotypical pirate and the pirate catchphrase "Yar!", he is not actually a pirate and is more often seen doing innocent water-related activities such as fishing or sailing. His deaths are usually by vehicles, sharp objects, or nautical-themed incidents, such as being eaten by an orca, impaled through his eye socket on his own ship's mast, or speared through the mouth by a swordfish. He was first voiced by Jeff Biancalana (Season 1–2) and later voiced by Francis Carr (TV Series–Season 4).
* **The Mole** – A mute, blind purple mole with black glasses, a purple turtleneck sweater that covers his mouth, a cane, and a mole near his nose. Due to his blindness, some of his actions get him and the other Tree Friends killed. He often does things blind people should not be doing, such as reading and driving and also holds various occupations that require sight that he often screws up. In his spinoff episode, his archenemy was a noir-type rat villain simply known as The Rat. The Mole doesn't die very often, but when he does, his deaths usually involve his head, getting impaled or crushed, explosions, and losses of body parts.
* **Lifty and Shifty** – Two green raccoons who steal whatever they can when possible and cackle together when they find valuable objects to take in the expense of others. Shifty wears a dark green fedora, while Lifty does not. Shifty was the first Tree Friend to be created, way before Cuddles. Even though they are brothers, they often argue, and one brother is prone to turning his back on the other in favor of the loot, but it always end up backfiring, as the double-crossing brother suffers a karmic death as a result. They have the lowest survival rates of all the characters as they almost always seem to get their comeuppance. Their deaths usually involve machines, vehicles, being mashed together or sliced apart, impalement, and heat. Both were initially voiced by Mark Giambruno (Season 1–2) and were later portrayed by Kenn Navarro (TV Series–Season 4).
* **Flippy** – A green bear with a soldier uniform bearing an army sergeant insignia. He is a war veteran with a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder. He is normally a friendly and outgoing character, but whenever he sees or hears anything that reminds him of war, he flips out (hence the name "Flippy"), thinking he is still in the middle of warfare with nobody but enemy combatants, which generally results in him murdering most or all characters around him. This alter ego is known as "Fliqpy" (as the first "p" in his name is flipped horizontally into a "q") or "Evil Flippy". He is one of the most popular characters in the series and has the highest intentional kill count. He rarely dies in the series, but when he does, his deaths usually involve vehicles, machinery, and explosions, and these deaths mostly happen either when he is in his good side or in self-defense by Lumpy. He is voiced by Kenn Navarro, while his evil self Fliqpy is voiced by Aubrey Ankrum, who also provided the voice of his good side up until 2005.
* **Splendid** – A blue flying squirrel with a red superhero mask. As a superhero, he ironically causes only harm and destruction given his poor management of his extraordinary powers and his constant refusal to take responsibility for the deaths he caused. He bears some similarities to Superman, such as his weakness being a green crystalline acorn known as Kryptonut (a parody of Kryptonite) in the television episode "Gems the Breaks", which is also his only onscreen death. His archenemy is an evil doppelgänger of himself known as Splendont. He was first voiced by Rhode Montijo (Season 1–2) and later voiced by David Winn (TV Series–Season 4).
* **Lammy** – A purple sheep with a purple bow and a white sweater representing her wool. Introduced in Q2 2010, she has a supposedly imaginary friend named Mr. Pickels, a sentient pickle who apparently enjoys brutally murdering those around her, ruining her chances to develop full friendships with other people (however, Mr. Pickels' actual sentience is still ambiguous). She is voiced by Renée T. MacDonald.
* **Mr. Pickels** – A mute anthropomorphic pickle with a top hat and mustache. He acts similar to Evil Flippy, due to his tendency of violently killing anyone nearby simply for his own enjoyment. He is also Lammy's "imaginary friend" that only she can see in animated form. However, in the web episode "Royal Flush", Giggles is able to see him, in which he also manages to single-handedly kill Flaky. At first, Lammy thinks of him as nice, but he then starts causing chaos, such as from ripping the head off of Petunia's teddy bear to running over Handy with his own truck in their debut appearances in the web episode "A Bit of a Pickle".
* **Cro-Marmot** – A yellow-green marmot who wears a leopard-skin loincloth and holds a brown club. He is frozen in an giant block of ice (rendering him mute). and lives in an igloo in a giant snow-globe in the forest. Despite being frozen, he can perform many tasks when off-screen, and a few (such as surfing) onscreen. He often drives around in an ice cream truck. He rarely dies in the series, but when he does, his deaths usually involve heat or disasters. While he almost always dies offscreen, his only onscreen death comes in is "Dino-Sore Days", which is animated in the style of an old black-and-white cartoon in the vein of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit or Mickey Mouse; it is also the only episode where Cro-Marmot is not frozen in a block of ice, as the episode takes place in prehistoric times.

## Spin-offs

Main article: Ka-Pow!
A spin-off series called *Ka-Pow!* aired in September 2008 and is an anthology of action-oriented stories starring The Mole, Flippy, Splendid, and Buddhist Monkey.

### Happy Tree Friends: The Last Desert

Main article: Happy Tree Friends: The Last Desert
A spin-off series, *Happy Tree Friends: The Last Desert*, premiered on June 11, 2013 and ended on January 15, 2021, running with four seasons and over 102 episodes. This is the Worldverse-exclusive TV series version of original 13-episode TV series that aired in 2006, though it does not exist in Worldverse. The show focuses on two girls Casey and Lilly, who are twin sisters, as they discover the world of Happy Tree Friends which brings the summoning of pain, death and destruction, as the fate of the world depends on them. The series was praised for action-packed elements and black comedy skills.

## Gallery

The *Happy Tree Friends* wallpaper featuring Cuddles.The *Happy Tree Friends* wallpaper featuring Nutty.The *Happy Tree Friends* wallpaper featuring Giggles.The *Happy Tree Friends* crash course.The poster featuring a slogan.The *Happy Tree Friends* wallpaper featuring the characters.The wallpaper of *Happy Tree Friends Complete Disaster*.The picture of *Happy Tree Friends*.
## References

1. ↑ Template:Cite journal
2. ↑ Happy Tree Friends: Season 1. *Metacritic.com*. CBS Interactive Inc..
3. ↑ Horn, Jesse (December 10, 2010). Happy Tree Friends. *Interview with Mondo Media CEO John Evershed*. Oddities Magazine.
4. ↑ Gruesome fun with Happy Tree Friends. G4tv.com (June 22, 2005).
5. ↑ Template:Cite news
6. ↑ Citia. 2003 Official Selection, film. Annecy.org.
7. ↑ Jesse Horn (December 10, 2010). Oddities Magazine interview with John Evershed. Azalert.com.
8. ↑ Mondo Announces Feature Film Plans for 'Happy Tree Friends,' 'Dick Figures' and 'Deep Space 69'. *cartoonbrew.com* (October 15, 2014).
9. ↑ 'Happy Tree Friends' Movie Leads Three-Film Slate For Mondo Media. *Tubefilter* (October 10, 2014).
10. ↑ FEATURE FILMS ‹ Home Plate Entertainment.
11. ↑ Template:Cite tweet
12. ↑ QA – Happy Tree Friends – Mondo.
13. ↑ Happy Tree Friends: Still Alive.
14. ↑ Template:Cite tweet
15. ↑ QA - Happy Tree Friends.

## See also

* *The Itchy & Scratchy Show*
* *Conker's Bad Fur Day*
* *1000 Ways To Die*