The crew that brings us Happy Tree Friends!
Kenn Navarro
Director, Animation Director, Writer [2000 – present]
Rhode Montijo
Director, Art Director, Writer [2000 - 2004 ]
Aubrey Ankrum
Director, Writer, Storyboard artist [2000 – 2006]
Warren Graff
Story Editor, Writer [2000 – present]
Ken Pontac
Story Editor, Writer [2004 - present]
Jeff Biancalana
Writer, Animator, Storyboard artist [2001 - 2005 ]
David Winn
Writer, Animator [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 Bollestros
Writer, Animator, Director, Storyboard artist [2001 - present ]
Paul Allan
Writer, Animator, Director [2000 - present ]
Nica Lorber
Animator [2000 - present ]
Michael "Lippy" Lipman
Storyboard artist, Animator, Director, Writer [2000 - present ]
Peter Herrman
Storyboard artist [2000 – present ]
Jim Lively
Sound Designer, Music [2000 - present ]
Francis Carr
Foley artist [2004 - present ]
Jeremy Rossen
Music Composer [2005 - present ]
Liz Stuart
Producer [2000 - present]
*data obtained from Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_tree_friends]
From the table above, I’ve observed that the people involved in the production are mostly males. What does this signify?
The main theme of HTF is violence and gore. Males are more involved in this production then females. Does this mean that males are more able than females to cope with this issue? Or is it that males like the theme better than females hence they prefer to work for HTF? So does it mean that males are more violent than females?
We have always known the man as the more aggressive of the two sexes. Physically, they are stronger. This could lead to the idea that men are generally more violent than woman. However, members of the opposition advocate that it is because man finds it more difficult to come to terms with their feelings, that they find it difficult to talk to anyone about their feelings, being afraid to be called a woose and choose to protect their ‘pride and dignity’. In the end, they choose to express themselves in another way - violent acts. Such examples include punching the wall with their fists or kicking the furniture.
So are men really more violent than woman? Just because they show more of their violent side, does it justify that the nature of man is more violent than the woman? It could just be the MAN way of letting off steam.
When more man is working on this production, could it be because man actually like violence more than the woman? Since young, boys play with toy guns and swords. Girls play with Barbie dolls. The notion that man has to be more aggressive is actually inculcated in us. Could it be that violence has always been part of the man’s life that they actually accept and embrace it?
Of course, it might just be that men are more creative than woman in churning out ideas for the various episodes of HTF.
Labels: cultural anxieties, geckying, gender issues
1 Comments:
I would agree with Geck Ying that gender IS a social construct, i.e. whatever it means to be masculine or feminine has been inculcated into us through socialisation and not predetermined by biology (that would be our sex), which may have a trickle down effect onto production, especially in the way they script violence in.
However, perhaps more than the issue of whether males really are/like to be violent is how each gender is perceived and the impact of having such 'appropriate behaviour' drilled into each individual.
Because of such concepts of masculinity and femininity, the 'appropriate behaviour' that comes along with it affects and polices us as much as the producers are policed by these ideas of gender. They then reproduce it in their work as a belief/norm that they subscribe to, in the content, in their choice of production crew.
This simply further drives home gender division and through that, gender ideology.
Upon reaching the site, we are greeted by bright and vibrant colours, cute little characters and catching slogans. One of those that caught my eye was the warning – CV CARTOON VIOLENCE Not recommended for small children or big babies.
However, it is only left as such. There have been no other signs to indicate that the show is not appropriate for children. Looking at the warning that has been posted, it seems almost like a kind of joke. Big babies? What are big babies? Obviously, they are poking fun at people that feel adversely towards their videos. If that is the case, the warning loses its initial meaning. It now becomes a form of sarcasm.
The warning also seems like it is on the site just for the sake of putting it on. When it says ‘Not recommended for small children’, how many of the small children out there would actually adhere to what is on the warning. Nobody will know if the small children watches HTF. Anybody could have access to the internet. If I was a ‘small children’, I would definitely ignore the warning and venture on, curious about the content that I was not supposed to see.
It seems to be that the producers of the show simply put the warning to get themselves out of trouble as well. The theme that they are dealing with is definitely not suitable for children, yet their mode of delivery is. Hence, to avoid people from ‘slamming’ their websites, a certain form of warning have to be stated on the web. If you continue to watch the website, it would be of your own responsibility. You have been forewarned.
Actually, it is really our own responsibility to choose what sites that we want to go to. HTF is just like any other websites on the World Wide Web. I’m sure that that there are other websites that could be just as controversial or violent. Take pornography for example, there are no warnings or strict signs that could deter people from entering the site. Ultimately, we have a choice to choose what we want to watch.
Labels: cultural anxieites, geckying
I was just thinking about how much and what kind of influence does the media (websites, television programs) have on us.
In the case of Happy Tree Friends, will people really turn violent after watching too much of it?
Labels: geckying, random, technology
Even though HTF is a cartoon, it does not have the usual ‘living happily after’ ending. However, it still follows a format similar to that of a childhood story – that there’s always a moral value at the end. Some of these moral values include ‘Don’t throw the baby out with the water’ and ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. Very often, the moral value is pretty much senseless and has no direct link to the content (incidents) shown on the videos.
It seems that it has been put there just for the sake of putting it there. I feel that there is a contradiction for the moral value to be there. The content of HTF includes mainly violence and gore, which does not complement the value at the end, resulting in a stark contrast. Since it does not really complement what the video is putting across, what is the purpose of the moral value?
Could it be a reminder? A reminder from the producers that we should still remain good and proper even after watching all these violence on the videos? To pull people back to reality, to relieve them of the guilt by being so involved in watching such violence?
Or could it just be a kind of irony that the producers want to bring out? Violence and Gore versus Good and Proper.
I feel that when the producers include such values at the end of the video, it results in a ‘mocking effect’. Especially for those addicted to HTF, it seems like the producers are mocking them for enjoying the show, that the producers have actually stumbled onto their ‘dirty little secret’ of enjoying the sadistic nature of their videos.
When I first started watching the videos, I thought the presence of the moral values is an irony. I tried to link them to the ‘direct’ content that I have watched but usually to no avail. Then, I get curious about what the producers can come up with at the end of the video – what kind of senseless values will they post up. Eventually, I kind of ignored the existence of the moral values after a long time. Since it does not make any sense to me, I block them out. I’ll ‘x’ the window before the moral values could even pop out. When this happens to the audience, the producers’ intent will be unsuccessful. The reminders and the irony that the producers are trying to bring out gradually loses its appeal as they do not make any sense.
Yet, it could also be the producers’ intent to have senseless moral values at the end to portray how absurd the situation is. How absurd that people actually find their videos entertaining despite its grotesque content.
Labels: cultural anxieties, geckying, moral values
