Ipso Fatso

This TV episode (available online here: 1 & 2) of HTF features Disco Bear trying to fight the bulge, which ends up with tragic consequences - almost everyone featured in the show eventually dies due to his misadventure - but nonetheless, he attains his goal of losing weight not by shedding pounds but through decapitation, as the Mole illustrates by weighing his head (which he mistakes for a watermelon).

Msg#1a One must be in shape to be considered as attractive

A Disco Bear with a bulge is constantly slighted by others, particularly members of the opposite sex. Every attempt he tries at charming the ladies with his disco dance moves is met with rejection and dismissal. Herein lies the notion that what is on the inside doesn't count, so long as the outside appeals to others; a very narrow concept of beauty.

Msg#1b How the pursuit of beauty as constructed by society (obsession with outer appearances) can go horribly wrong

Throughout the feature, one sees the recurring motif of the scale, exercise machines, mirrors

The theme of an unreliability/distrust of technology is

Msg#1c Heterosexuality

It should be recognised also that only heterosexual relationships are featured here. Disco Bear actively tries to attract the opposite sex, representated by Giggles and Petunia. This reflects a very conventional and traditional manner of approaching relationships.

Msg#2 Dangers lurk in the urbanscape

- for the dumbwitted/ignoramus
Much as Lumpy tries to avoid treading onto danger, he ends up hurting himself anyway. This is a stark contrast to Disco Bear, who enters and leaves the diner unproblematically, without having to deal with the snares that threaten Lumpy.

- for the unsuspecting souls

Even Handy, who adorns the safety helmet is not spared from the flying concrete that eventually claims him despite having avoided one calamity.

Death as inevitable.

- for man who tries to subvert nature/the natural order

A natural steep slope becomes a catalyst that brings about the swift end of all the remaining characters. With man's attempts at restructuring the landscape to serve his needs, i.e. telephone lines, a wall, roads, he ends up putting his life in greater peril.

Somehow, I keep getting this Frostian feel echoing at the back of my mind whenever I watch these clips. To quote Robert Frost's 'Mending Wall' - "Something, there is that doesn't love a wall" - a reminder of the futility of man's actions, that in this case, becomes his undoing.

Msg #3 Fathers do not make the best parents in terms of taking good care of their children

This almost seems like a poster-ad for maternal gatekeeping. As Pop sets Cub down to play hop-scotch, he gets run over by Disco Bear on his runaway treadmill, further playing up a stereotype that mothers (females) are better suited for taking care of the children and handling matters of the domestic sphere, i.e. taking care of the family.