In an interview with one of the creators, Kenn Navarro, carried out by G4, it was revealed that the intention of the show was to entertain and give viewers a good laugh. However, it seems like they have failed to realise that their sense of humour does not suit everyone, and the impact of HTF would go beyond their initial intention. The idea that the more gory it is the more laughter it invites sounds terribly wrong and corrupts our minds, at least subliminally which seems to be worse when people do not realise that they have slowly accepted and violence and gore, and there is the gradual inclination towards it.
G4: Who are your inspirations?
KENN: There are soooo many, I don't think I can pin it down to a list. I get inspired and learn something from everything. Movies, TV shows, comics... heck, even a nice little design on a coffee cup can turn into something. You just never know when lightning can strike. Specifically relating to Happy Tree Friends, the look and feel of the show is inspired by Mary Blair, a legendary Disney artist who designed the Small World ride at the park. We also used the classic Golden Books series as a basis for the opening of the show.
Animation wise, the show obviously owes a lot to The Simpsons. That show is such an institution that it would be hard NOT to be influenced by it. I also love Ren & Stimpy and John K.'s whacky take on things. Also can't deny that South Park's brand of unabashed and unforgiving comedy has seeped its way into the show. We're just standing on the shoulders of giants and trying to kick it up to the next level.
As for film, I love horror, action, sci-fi...pretty much anything good. Again, it's hard to distill it because I'll watch anything as long as it's interesting and well put together. Even bad movies are fun to watch and, like everyone else, I've got my own personal list of guilty pleasures when it comes to bad movies. If you look closely, we actually make nods to all our favorite films, shows and comics in the show.
G4: What is your favorite episode of the show so far?
KENN: From the internet series, if all the episodes were in a burning building and I had to save one or two, I'd point the water hose in "Eye Candy" and "Out on a limb." Those are just quintessential and classic Happy Tree Friends episodes that are simple and straight to the point. With the new, longer format of the TV series, we're able to expand and add a lot more depth and character to our cast of misfits and misanthropes that we were never able to do before. I love the new episodes like "Wishy Washy," where we get to explore Petunia's Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and how that leads to trouble. In "A Change of Heart," we find that Disco Bear really isn't in the greatest of shape and has really bad eating habits. We also see why Lumpy shouldn't be given any type of medical job (or any job!) at all. "Aw, Shucks!" is a heart warming tale of a Moose's relationship with his favorite vegetable. All real fun episodes that still crack me up whenever I watch them.G4: Are there ever idea where even you say, “Geez maybe that’s a bit too gory and insane?”
KENN: That's when we know we're doing something right! When somebody flinches, that's a sure sign that we hit a nerve...which is always a good time, in my book. The only thing that comes close to that was the original ending for the "Chip Off the 'Ol Block" episode which called for Pop purposefully hiding and then burning Cub's body in the pile of leaves after he discovers he had just murdered his own son. We thought that was a little too malicious and changed it so that he's more oblivious to the fact that he just killed and burned his son.
However, fortunately, the creators still put a limit to the ideas of cruelty as shown in the change they did to "Chip Off the 'Ol Block", though the prevalent gore is still disturbing.
Chip Off the 'Ol Block
*Interview taken from G4TV at Blood & Bunnies: HTF Co-Creator Kenn Navarro Speaks -- written by Frank Meyer on Tuesday, September 26, 2006.
*Video taken from YouTube by MondoMedia at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABpbMPpWdP4
Labels: Chip Off the 'Ol Block, creators, cultural anxieties, SinYee
With my constant exposure and touch with HTF in order to understand it more, I cannot deny the fact that I have grown to be more immune to violence, and slightly indifferrent to gore, considering my strong repellence against it before that. It sure looks like a bad sign to me, suggesting that our compassion might slowly be eroded away, unknowingly.
Viewers might not link violence in HTF to real-life violence to fellow human-beings, but what about animals? We cannot be sure that corrupted viewers would not exert the violence they picked up in the cartoons on small animals like rabbits, cats and dogs, just like how violence on rabbits is portrayed in the shows. This is especially true when animal abuse is common among children, when they fail to realise what is wrong in it, and enjoy abusing animals so much. Children most probably cannot understand how the animals are suffering, even from the minor acts of cruelty like throwing a cat into a bucket of water or kicking these animals, and they derive entertainment and joy from doing this.
With HTF, I believe the problem would get worse, with the cuddly figures being maimed in all sorts of creative ways, the children get inspired on ways to abuse animals, or may get curious of how the real-life animals would react to such situations. I really cannot imagine what fate the small animals will suffer when ignorant children carry out what they see on the HTF shows. Instead of educating children on stopping cruelty towards animals, the shows actually 'promote' animal abuse. Children's minds are easily corrupted, and un-doing the damage would seem difficult.
*Image taken from www.freewebs.com/stampoutanimalcruelty/.
Labels: animal abuse, cultural anxieties, SinYee
It makes me wonder how life would be like, full of HTF…
HTF Mimobots(Thumbdrive), HTF Volume 1. TV Series
In my bag lies:
Giggles Death Mints, Cuddles Happy Lips (Lip Balm)
If this describes a number of people, I really cannot help but worry about what actually runs in their minds. This is enough to prove that they are HTF fanatics, and with these gory-looking items around, they are constanly being reminded of the violence and gore. I believe HTF in this case has gone beyond the pure function of entertainment or stress release.
I would feel intimidated by someone like this.
Views, anyone?
*Pictures from Happy Tree Friends Official Store at (http://happytreefriends.fanfire.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/fanfire.woa/wa/artist?artistName=Happy+Tree+Friends&sourceCode=HTFWEB)
Labels: HTF merchandise, personal opinion, SinYee
2 Comments:
I agree that I'll feel intimidated by this. Do you think this actually reflects the person's character as well?
And while we are put of by the violence and gore that the person is portraying, imagine someone with no prior knowledge of HTF. I think he/she would take an instant likin to all these merchandise immediately.
I find this a bit scary. Gives me a feeling like 'You Dont know what you're in for'.
Geck Ying
By 
htfculture, at
November 9, 2007 at 11:06 AM
This comment has been removed by the author.
It really makes me wonder what it is that makes the Happy Tree Friends series so popular, to the extent that fan clubs and online stores selling a whole range of HTF products have been established, in addition to a handful of websites featuring HTF online games and podcasts. Looking at an episode with one of the highest view count and ratings (reference to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO7Q1tMGE7g) – ‘Out on a Limb’, the following few factors might be the attraction.
Violence and Gore
The gore within the scenes is no doubt the main appeal. In this episode, Lumpy’s right leg was stuck under a fallen tree (which he himself chopped), and tried to free himself by amputating his right leg, all with a spoon. Lumpy let out cries of agony as he slowly cut his limb of bit by bit with the tiny spoon. As much as how this is awfully disturbing to some, it appears to be entertaining to others who need an outlet for the pent-up frustrations or displeasure, or simply those who are psychopathic. Many see violence and bloodshed in shows as a high level of entertainment though considerably fearful of them in real life, and hence cartoons being a less realistic option possess a higher appeal.
Amusement derived from the stupidity of the characters
Right from the start of the episode when Lumpy made the tree fall on himself, a whole chain of hilarious happenings were sparked off. First, the axe actually flew off when he tried to cut a branch to free himself, and then he finally realised that he had dismembered the wrong leg, after all the agony he went through. This inevitably provokes tremendous laughter despite the pre-existing disturbing elements. Humour coupled with violence and gore, makes HTF no doubt a compelling source of entertainment.
Absurdity
Cartoons itself is absurd, but HTF is even more absurd, with all possible and impossible misfortunes befalling on the characters. Lumpy can actually get moronic to the extent where he did not realise that he cut off the wrong leg, not to mention that he could have used other methods to escape (like using the spoon to dig a hole in the ground) than to mutilate himself. It is, however, such absurdity, things absent in real life, which draws audience to the shows.
Quoting a few YouTube viewers:
"lol thats sick but its soo irresistably funny!" – dd23432
"Its so funny but it looked so painful! I Laughed softly with a sad and painful Tear in my eye!Its funny but it hurts! " – bloodybird2k6
"This makes me SICK!I hate it, but I love it too HTF 4EVA! " – MeaganWood
"these are all bloody cartoons they are not even happy tree friends they are more like bloody tree friends! cause every single episode has blood! Why did mondo even make this?" – princessperky276
The last comment received a rating of -4, so does that actually mean that people are charmed by HTF, that they no longer see anything wrong in the violence and bloodshed, and are even cheering for it?
*Picture captured from video "Happy Tree Friends - Out On a Limb" by MondoMedia on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO7Q1tMGE7g
Labels: cultural anxieties, Out on a Limb, personal opinion, SinYee
