Sick...sick...oh so sick...(and funny)

I first saw 'Happy Tree Friends' whilst aimlessly watching MTV2 one day. As per usual another boring garage-rock video had just finished, when suddenly a mad sounding chirping song began. The words 'Happy Tree Friends' scrolled across the screen and I began to watch. The cartoon was appalling; internet animation, sickly characters and when it seemed like something was about to happen, the camera cut and it said 'watch happy tree friends on mtv2'.

Several nights later I was again watching MTV2, but at a much later time (around 10:00pm-11:00pm). The same episode that I seen the other day was on. But then something truly hysterical happened; where the camera had cut during the daytime showing, at this later time I saw how a poor little squirrel got sucked into a fan...and then exploded everywhere. I laughed so hard it was silly. As soon as I had clicked onto the fact that this show was meant for past watershed showing, I soon became hooked on it, following the adventures of all the little cuddly creatures from Mondo mini creations. After seeing a good handful of episodes I decided to purchase the DVD. What I got was a mixed bag of results.


Right, before I properly go to explain the pros and cons of this DVD I will just give a few more details on 'Happy Tree Friends' in general. The 'Happy Tree Friends' are a collection of very cute squirrels, bears, porcupines, etc...and basically how they go about their lives each day. Of course their lives are always ended in the most mind bogglingly gross way imaginable. Bear traps on head, broken glass through the face, sliced in half by a Ferris wheel, face smashed into a teapot, etc...These are just a few of the many, many ways in which the 'Happy Tree Friends' die. And that is it. Short and sweet.

The story begins usually with a harmless activity (such as playing with a beach ball), the middle is the specific creature acting towards the situation and the end is a bloodbath. That’s the formula for each episode, with slight alterations depending upon the situation the 'Happy Tree Friends' find them selves in. This formula could get repetitive, and in ways it does. You know that by the end nearly every single creature in that episode will be decapitated somehow, but due to the razor sharp timing, it always remains funny.

Here lies 'Happy Tree Friends' best point; the timing. If this was off key, then the show would fall flat on its face. Thankfully each hit of each character is so well timed, you cannot help but just crack up. Even when a decapitation is not well timed then the death is usually original and at least entertaining to watch.


There are a total of 16 episodes on the DVD (14 standard episodes, one secret episode and an original pilot type one) which in truth is not a lot, considering the fact that each episode never reaches one minute thirty. The makers of this show could have easily put season two onto this DVD, maybe bumping up the total running time for all the episodes to around an hour. I can't help but feel sorry for people who may have paid more than £10/$10 for this DVD. Yes it does promise around two hours of footage, but a lot of this is either commentaries (which are quite amusing) or a constant running of Christmas tree bulbuls with various facts that flash up during the episodes. So really it doesn't deliver what it promised.


One thing I did find very amusing were the 'Smoochies'. This is an obvious micky-take of the tamagotchi crazy that swept the universe a good few years ago. Basically either cuddles, giggles or who ever stand on screen and you can do things like 'Feed' or 'Sleep'. There are also themed things like 'Love Letter' for the Valentines Day 'Smoochie'. Oh and if you was in any doubt the animals get ripped apart in the 'Smoochies'. They are as amusing as the rest of the episodes and although short are very entertaining.


The other main fault with 'Happy Tree Friends' is how many times you can watch each of the episodes. There are a few which are generally funny and can be viewed over and over, but there are a few which will only be watched once or twice (after all there is only so much humor that can emit from a rabbit getting sliced to pieces). This sadly makes the DVD less appealing unless spotted for under £10/$10.


The animation is kind of quirky and very sweet, and in ways you start to root for your favorite 'Happy Tree Friend' to actually survive (my favorites are Russell the pirate who eats clams, flaky the dandruff ridden porcupine and cuddles the immensely sickly yellow rabbit). The animation has been made so sickly on purpose, basically so it makes the violence seem even more extreme. It must be said though that at least it all looks very polished (even if a little too 'internet like').

The music is annoying and overlong but I feel like that was the whole idea and as the writer, producers, directors etc tell us in the commentary 'we just went into a studio and made as many strange high pitched noises as possible'. When viewed like this is does make the music seem a lot less grating. The characters voices are cute and silly. Basically each character speaks a garbled sort of language which comes across as quite sweet (also each characters screams are lovely).


To sum up: 'Happy Tree Friends' is very, very funny and it does fully entertain for a few hours. The problem is after that you won't really ever come back and watch it again. Definitely worth buying if it's cheap.