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|voices = [[Kenn Navarro]]<br />[[Rhode Montijo]] (1999–2005)<br />[[David Winn]]<br />[[Dana Belben]] (2000–2005)<br />[[Ellen Connell]] (2005–2009)<br />Lori Jee (2009–present)<br />Warren Graff<br />[[Aubrey Ankrum]]<br />[[Liz Stuart]]<br />[[Nica Lorber]]<br />[[Jeff Biancalana]] (2002–2005)<br />[[Peter Herrmann (voice actor)|Peter Herrmann]]<br />[[Michael "Lippy" Lipman]]<br />[[Francis Carr (actor)|Francis Carr]]
|voices = [[Kenn Navarro]]<br />[[Rhode Montijo]] (1999–2005)<br />[[David Winn]]<br />[[Dana Belben]] (2000–2005)<br />[[Ellen Connell]] (2005–2009)<br />Lori Jee (2009–present)<br />Warren Graff<br />[[Aubrey Ankrum]]<br />[[Liz Stuart]]<br />[[Nica Lorber]]<br />[[Jeff Biancalana]] (2002–2005)<br />[[Peter Herrmann (voice actor)|Peter Herrmann]]<br />[[Michael "Lippy" Lipman]]<br />[[Francis Carr (actor)|Francis Carr]]
|theme_music_composer = rj Eleven
|theme_music_composer = rj Eleven
|country = {{USA}}<br>{{CAN}}<br>{{IDN}}<br>{{ESP}]<br>{{PHI}} (Animation, Season 1 & 2)<br>{{SIN}} (Animation, TV Series, 3 &4)
|country = [[United States]]
|company = [[Mondo Media]]
|company = [[Mondo Media]]
|language = [[English language|English]]
|language = [[English language|English]]
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|executive_producer = John Evershed<br>Claudio Biern Boyd<br>Kaye Cadsawan<br>Lee Thean-jeen (TV Series, 3 & 4 only)
|executive_producer = John Evershed<br>Claudio Biern Boyd<br>Kaye Cadsawan<br>Lee Thean-jeen (TV Series, 3 & 4 only)
|runtime = Internet: 1–7 minutes<br />TV: 22 minutes
|runtime = Internet: 1–7 minutes<br />TV: 22 minutes
|network = [[G4 (TV channel)|G4]], [[MTV]], [[Cartoon Network]], [[Global TV]], [[Indosiar]]
|network = [[G4 (TV channel)|G4]], [[MTV]], [[Cartoon Network]], [[Global TV]], [[Indosiar]], [[YTV]], [[Clan TVE]], [[GMA Network]], [[Okto]] [[MediaCrop]]
|picture_format = [[Flash animation|Flash cartoon]]
|picture_format = [[Flash animation|Flash cartoon]]
|first_aired = December 24, 1999 (Internet)<br>September 25, 2006 (Television) – present
|first_aired = December 24, 1999 (Internet)<br>September 25, 2006 (Television) – present
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|website =
|website =
}}
}}
'''''Happy Tree Friends''''' (abbreviated as HTF) is an American [[flash cartoon]] created and developed by [[Aubrey Ankrum]], [[Rhode Montijo]], [[Kenn Navarro]] and Warren Graff for [[Mondo Media]]. The show is cited as an early example of a popular [[Internet phenomenon]] achieving a [[cult following]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Humphrey|first=Michael|date=November 11, 2011|title=Mondo Interview: Happy Tree Friends Join Eminem, RWJ In YouTube's Billion Views Club|journal=Forbes|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelhumphrey/2011/10/11/mondo-interview-happy-tree-friends-join-eminem-rwj-in-youtubes-billion-views-club/}}</ref>
'''''Happy Tree Friends''''' (abbreviated as HTF) is an American-Canadian-Indonesian-Spanish-Filipino [[flash cartoon]] created and developed by [[Aubrey Ankrum]], [[Rhode Montijo]], [[Kenn Navarro]] and Warren Graff for [[Mondo Media]]. The show is cited as an early example of a popular [[Internet phenomenon]] achieving a [[cult following]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Humphrey|first=Michael|date=November 11, 2011|title=Mondo Interview: Happy Tree Friends Join Eminem, RWJ In YouTube's Billion Views Club|journal=Forbes|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelhumphrey/2011/10/11/mondo-interview-happy-tree-friends-join-eminem-rwj-in-youtubes-billion-views-club/}}</ref>


The action and adventure comedy is composed of simple drawings and combines cute forest animals with extreme [[graphic violence]].<ref name=Metacritic>{{cite web|title=Happy Tree Friends: Season 1|url=http://www.metacritic.com/tv/happy-tree-friends|work=Metacritic.com|publisher=CBS Interactive Inc.|accessdate=September 12, 2013}}</ref> Each episode revolves around the characters enduring accidental events of bloodshed, pain, dismemberment, and/or death. The episodes last from between 1 to 7 minutes. At one point, the warning "Cartoon Violence: Not recommended for small children, or big babies" was given on the official website.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.azalert.com/odd/?p=4|title=Happy Tree Friends|last=Horn|first=Jesse|date=December 10, 2010|work=Interview with Mondo Media CEO John Evershed|publisher=Oddities Magazine|accessdate=7 February 2013}}</ref> In 2006, a [[television series]] featuring longer episodes aired. A spin-off called ''Ka-Pow!'' premiered on September 2, 2008.
The action and adventure comedy is composed of simple drawings and combines cute forest animals with extreme [[graphic violence]].<ref name=Metacritic>{{cite web|title=Happy Tree Friends: Season 1|url=http://www.metacritic.com/tv/happy-tree-friends|work=Metacritic.com|publisher=CBS Interactive Inc.|accessdate=September 12, 2013}}</ref> Each episode revolves around the characters enduring accidental events of bloodshed, pain, dismemberment, and/or death. The episodes last from between 1 to 7 minutes. At one point, the warning "Cartoon Violence: Not recommended for small children, or big babies" was given on the official website.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.azalert.com/odd/?p=4|title=Happy Tree Friends|last=Horn|first=Jesse|date=December 10, 2010|work=Interview with Mondo Media CEO John Evershed|publisher=Oddities Magazine|accessdate=7 February 2013}}</ref> In 2006, a [[television series]] featuring longer episodes aired. A spin-off called ''Ka-Pow!'' premiered on September 2, 2008.

Revision as of 14:51, 6 July 2014

{{Infobox television |show_name = Happy Tree Friends |image = |caption = Happy Tree Friends title card |format = Flash animation |genre = Black comedy
Graphic violence
Adult animation |creator = Aubrey Ankrum
Rhode Montijo
Kenn Navarro |developer = Rhode Montijo
Kenn Navarro
Warren Graff |voices = Kenn Navarro
Rhode Montijo (1999–2005)
David Winn
Dana Belben (2000–2005)
Ellen Connell (2005–2009)
Lori Jee (2009–present)
Warren Graff
Aubrey Ankrum
Liz Stuart
Nica Lorber
Jeff Biancalana (2002–2005)
Peter Herrmann
Michael "Lippy" Lipman
Francis Carr |theme_music_composer = rj Eleven |country =  United States
 Canada
 Indonesia
{{ESP}]
 Philippines (Animation, Season 1 & 2)
 Singapore (Animation, TV Series, 3 &4) |company = Mondo Media |language = English |num_seasons = Internet: 4
Television: 1 |num_episodes = 75 Internet shorts
39 TV series episodes |list_episodes = List of Happy Tree Friends episodes |producer = Liz Stuart |executive_producer = John Evershed
Claudio Biern Boyd
Kaye Cadsawan
Lee Thean-jeen (TV Series, 3 & 4 only) |runtime = Internet: 1–7 minutes
TV: 22 minutes |network = G4, MTV, Cartoon Network, Global TV, Indosiar, YTV, Clan TVE, GMA Network, Okto MediaCrop |picture_format = Flash cartoon |first_aired = December 24, 1999 (Internet)
September 25, 2006 (Television) – present |status = active |website = }} Happy Tree Friends (abbreviated as HTF) is an American-Canadian-Indonesian-Spanish-Filipino flash cartoon created and developed by Aubrey Ankrum, Rhode Montijo, Kenn Navarro and Warren Graff for Mondo Media. The show is cited as an early example of a popular Internet phenomenon achieving a cult following.[1]

The action and adventure comedy is composed of simple drawings and combines cute forest animals with extreme graphic violence.[2] Each episode revolves around the characters enduring accidental events of bloodshed, pain, dismemberment, and/or death. The episodes last from between 1 to 7 minutes. At one point, the warning "Cartoon Violence: Not recommended for small children, or big babies" was given on the official website.[3] In 2006, a television series featuring longer episodes aired. A spin-off called Ka-Pow! premiered on September 2, 2008.

History

1999: Beginning

While working on Mondo Mini Shows, Rhode Montijo drew on a little piece of scrap paper a character who would later become Shifty. He then drew on a spreadsheet poster a yellow rabbit that bore some resemblance to Cuddles and wrote "Resistance is futile" underneath it. Rhode then 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.[4] In 1999, 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 (earlier version of Lumpy) killing three woodland animals, a rabbit, squirrel and beaver (earlier versions of Cuddles, Giggles and Toothy) with a banjo. From there, Mondo gave them their own internet series, which they named Happy Tree Friends. They got new writers and animators to work on the show.[citation needed]

2000–Present: Success

Only after its internet debut in 2000, Happy Tree Friends became an unexpected success, getting over 15 million hits each month,[5] and being shown at film festivals.[6] In some countries, the episodes can be seen on television. The series has been reformed into its own show, rather than as a part of a compilation as before.

Encouraged by the show's success, its creators have released four DVDs (First Blood, Second Serving, Third Strike and Winter Break) containing the episodes shown on the website and others that have not been released. A collection consisting of the first three DVDs and five bonus episodes, Overkill, has also been released. Two episodes, "Stealing the Spotlight" and "Ski Ya, Wouldn't Wanna Be Ya!", were originally only available in the Happy Tree Friends: Winter Break DVD, but are now on YouTube and the Happy Tree Friends website.

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."[7]

TV series

See also: List of Happy Tree Friends episodes

The Happy Tree Friends TV series was first shown at Comic-Con 2006 and some of the episodes were shown on the website a few weeks prior the Singaporean show's television premiere, September 25, 2006 at midnight on the G4 network. Each half-hour episode of the TV series contains three seven-minute segments. 39 segments were made, making 13 full episodes for season one. Pictures from the first six episodes can be seen on G4's website. The Canadian channel Razer aired the show in syndication as did the Citytv stations throughout Canada.[8] The show was also broadcast on MTV in Europe and Latin America and on Animax in South Africa.[9] It was also shown on Paramount Comedy 1 in the UK from May 11, 2007 for a short time, with occasional reruns afterward with the channel, now branded as Comedy Central UK. It was rated TV-14 V.

Fall Out Boy music video

Main article: The Carpal Tunnel of Love

In 2007, American rock band Fall Out Boy created the music video for their song "The Carpal Tunnel of Love" . All of the characters die the same type of graphic, bloody deaths that are featured in the series. The Fall Out Boy band members cameo as special Happy Tree Friends characters.

Video game

Main article: Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm

A video game titled Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm was released on June 25, 2008. It was developed by Stainless Games and Sega for Xbox Live Arcade on the Xbox 360 and the PC.[10] Writer Ken Pontac previously posted a blog on the Happy Tree Friends website telling fans about the adventures of the staff making the game, but it was ended before the game's first slated release date in Spring 2008.[11]

Spin-offs

Three spin-off series have been aired as of September 2008. The Ka-Pow! series is about adventures of three popular characters, Flippy, Splendid and Buddhist Monkey. Three episodes were called W.A.R Journal, Splendid's SSSSSuper Squad and Buddhist Monkey. As of 2012, six episodes have been aired.

Crew

Happy Tree Friends creator Kenn Navarro
Episode Crew
Name Position Years
Kenn Navarro Director, animation director, writer, voice actor 1999 – present
Rhode Montijo Director, art director, writer, (former) voice actor 1999–2004
Aubrey Ankrum Director, writer, storyboard artist, voice actor 1999–2006
Warren Graff Story editor, writer, voice actor 2000 – present
Ken Pontac Story editor, writer, (minor) voice actor 2004 – present
Quaseda D. Novacain animator, writer,artist (recent) 2011–2013
Jeff Biancalana Writer, animator, storyboard artist, (former) voice actor 2001–2005
David Winn Writer, animator, voice actor 2003 – present
Alan Lau Animator, writer, director, storyboard artist 2001 – present
Jason Sadler Animator, writer, director 2001 – present
Mark Fiorenza Writer 2000–2003
Brad Rau Animator, storyboard artist 2001 – present
Roque Ballesteros Writer, animator, director, storyboard artist 2001 – present
Paul Allan Writer, animator, director 2000 – present
Nica Lorber Animator, voice actor 2000 – present
Michael "Lippy" Lipman Storyboard artist, animator, director, writer, voice actor 2000 – present
Peter Herrman Storyboard artist, voice actor 2000 – present
Jim Lively Sound designer, music 2000 – present
Francis Carr Foley artist, voice actor 2004 – present
Ashsha Kin Theme Song / Music Composer 1999 – 2001
Jerome Rossen Music composer 2005 – present
John Evershed Executive producer 2000 – present
Liz Stuart Producer, voice actor 2000 – present
Kristen McCormick Animator, storyboard artist 2007 – present

Cast

Cast Voice
Name Character
Kenn Navarro Cuddles, Flippy, Lifty & Shifty
Rhode Montijo Lumpy, Splendid (2000–2005)
David Winn Lumpy, Splendid (2005–present)
Dana Belben Giggles, Petunia, Cub, Giggles' Mom (2000–2005)
Ellen Connell Giggles, Petunia, Cub (2005–2009)
Lori Jee Giggles, Petunia, Cub, Panda Mom (2009–present)
Warren Graff Toothy, Handy
Nica Lorber Flaky
Aubrey Ankrum Pop, Evil Flippy
Liz Stuart Sniffles
Jeff Biancalana Russell (2000–2005), Buddhist Monkey
Peter Herrman Disco Bear
Michael "Lippy" Lipman Nutty
Francis Carr Russell (2005–present)
Mark Giambruno Lifty & Shifty (2000–2005)
Renée T. MacDonald Lammy
Ken Pontac Additional voices
Awards
Show Year Category Laureate
Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2003 Best Animated Short Film Made for the Internet Eye Candy
2007 Best Animated Series for Adults From Hero to Eternity
Ottawa International Animation Festival 2004 Best Animated Short Made for the Internet Out on a Limb
2005 Mole in the City
2007 Best Television Series for Adults Double Whammy Part 2

See also

References

  1. ^ Humphrey, Michael (November 11, 2011). "Mondo Interview: Happy Tree Friends Join Eminem, RWJ In YouTube's Billion Views Club". Forbes.
  2. ^ "Happy Tree Friends: Season 1". Metacritic.com. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
  3. ^ Horn, Jesse (December 10, 2010). "Happy Tree Friends". Interview with Mondo Media CEO John Evershed. Oddities Magazine. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  4. ^ "Gruesome fun with Happy Tree Friends". G4tv.com. 2005-06-22. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  5. ^ "The Kenn Commandments". coldhardflash.com. April 5, 2005. Retrieved 2005-04-09.
  6. ^ © Citia. "Annecy International Animated Film Festival". Annecy.org. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  7. ^ Friday, December 10th, 2010 No Comments (2010-12-10). "Oddities Magazine interview with John Evershed". Azalert.com. Retrieved 2014-06-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ CityTV.com[dead link]
  9. ^ "Mondo Media Gaining Revenue from International Licensing". Beet.tv. March 9, 2010.
  10. ^ "Sega announces Happy Tree Friends False Alarm". sega.com. February 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
  11. ^ Pontac, Ken (February 2007). "Ken Pontac's video game blog". happytreefriends.com. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
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