Editing Happy Tree Friends (section)

== Background ==
=== History ===
While working with [[Mondo Media]], [[Rhode Montijo]] drew a character on a piece of scrap paper who would later become Shifty. He then drew a yellow rabbit that bore some resemblance to Cuddles, writing "Resistance is futile" underneath it on a spreadsheet poster. Rhode 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/features/52004/Gruesome_Fun_With_Happy_Tree_Friends.html |title=Gruesome fun with Happy Tree Friends |publisher=G4tv.com |date=June 22, 2005 |access-date=June 9, 2014 |archive-date=December 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217150251/http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/features/52004/Gruesome_Fun_With_Happy_Tree_Friends.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1999, Mondo gave [[Aubrey Ankrum]], Rhode Montijo, and [[:simple:Kenn_Navarro|Kenn Navarro]] a chance to do a short for them. They came up with a short named "Banjo Frenzy", which featured a dinosaur (an earlier version of Lumpy) killing three woodland animals, a squirrel, a rabbit, and a beaver (earlier versions of Giggles, Cuddles, and Toothy) with a banjo. From there, Mondo gave them their own Internet series, which they named ''Happy Tree Friends''.

Although the first episodes of ''Happy Tree Friends'' were produced in 1999, it debuted online sometime in 2000 and became an unexpected success, getting over 15 million hits each month<ref name="CHF" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.coldhardflash.com/2005/04/kenn-commandments-part-1.html|title=The Kenn Commandments.|publisher=coldhardflash.com|date=April 5, 2005|access-date=April 9, 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051223181821/http://www.coldhardflash.com/2005/04/kenn-commandments-part-1.html|archive-date=December 23, 2005}}</ref> along with screenings at film festivals.<ref>{{cite web|author=Citia |url=http://www.annecy.org/about/archives/2003/official-selection/film-index:film-20035016 |title=2003 Official Selection, film |publisher=Annecy.org |access-date=March 25, 2014}}</ref>

Mondo Media CEO John Evershed attributes the success of the series to animator Kenn Navarro:

{{blockquote|"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."<ref>{{cite web |author=Horn |first=Jesse |date=December 10, 2010 |title=Oddities Magazine interview with John Evershed |url=http://www.azalert.com/odd/?p=4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707202321/http://www.azalert.com/odd/?p=4 |archive-date=2011-07-07 |access-date=June 9, 2014 |publisher=Azalert.com}}</ref>}}

In 2014, after the episode "Dream Job" was released, Mondo Media announced plans to produce a feature film based on the series,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/mondo-announces-feature-film-plans-for-happy-tree-friends-dick-figures-and-deep-space-69-104500.html|title=Mondo Announces Feature Film Plans for 'Happy Tree Friends,' 'Dick Figures' and 'Deep Space 69'|work=cartoonbrew.com|date=October 15, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tubefilter.com/2014/10/10/mondo-media-happy-tree-friends-dick-figures-deep-space-69-movie/|title='Happy Tree Friends' Movie Leads Three-Film Slate For Mondo Media|work=Tubefilter|date=October 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=FEATURE FILMS ‹ Home Plate Entertainment|url=http://homeplateentertainment.com/projects/in-pre-production/feature-films/|website=homeplateentertainment.com|access-date=July 26, 2016|archive-date=August 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817001216/http://homeplateentertainment.com/projects/in-pre-production/feature-films/|url-status=dead}}</ref> but in 2016, Kenn Navarro tweeted that he was unaware of work being done on a film, but that his team was "in talk to do more shorts". Later, when a fan asked Kenn Navarro about the film, he replied: "a treatment that [I] and the writers did was all the work (that [I] know of) for the movie."<ref>{{cite tweet|user=ChainKnuckle|author=Kenn Navarro|number=768188769522503680|date=23 August 2016|title=@SpringtrapTrap As far as I know, there's no work being done on an HTF movie but we are in talks to do more shorts. Stay tuned...}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=QA – Happy Tree Friends – Mondo|url=http://mondomedia.com/channel/HappyTreeFriends/qa|website=mondomedia.com}}</ref>

Throughout December 2016, Mondo Media released five all-new episodes for purchase online.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://htf.mondomedia.com/ |title=Happy Tree Friends: Still Alive |website=htf.mondomedia.com |access-date=28 November 2017}}</ref> Bundled as a set named "Happy Tree Friends: Still Alive", the episodes came with some additional bonus material such as background designs, animated storyboards, the animation process, and a writer's session video. Upon purchase, the buyer was allowed to download the [[Digital rights management|DRM]]-free video files to their computer. In January 2017, Kenn Navarro tweeted "As I understand, sales were OK but fell below what was expected."<ref>{{cite tweet|user=ChainKnuckle|author=Kenn Navarro|number=821133557494005760|date=16 January 2017|title=@BL00DYKILLS As I understand, sales were OK but fell below what was expected. 😔}}</ref> 

It was announced on August 17, 2023, that a new ''Happy Tree Friends'' episode would be released on September 27 to tie into the downloadable content for the [[shoot 'em up]] video game ''The Crackpet Show'' (titled ''The Crackpet Show: Happy Tree Friends Edition''), which was released on the same day.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Lawardorn |first=Damien |date=2023-08-18 |title=Happy Tree Friends Returning in New Game and Episode |url=https://www.escapistmagazine.com/happy-tree-friends-returning-in-new-game-and-episode/ |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=The Escapist |language=en-US}}</ref> On October 18, 2024, a new episode titled "Happy Train Friends" was released as a crossover with ''[[Dumb Ways to Die]].''<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytlcGwlXJfI |title=Happy Tree Friends x Dumb Ways to Die - Happy Train Friends |date=2024-10-18 |last=MondoMedia |access-date=2024-11-25 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

===Premise===
''Happy Tree Friends'' centers on the lives of anthropomorphic, multicolored woodland animals. It intentionally misleads first-time viewers into thinking it is a children's animated edutainment series, with the show's regular opening and closing sequences being in the form of the [[Little Golden Books]],<ref>Kenn Navarro [@ChainKnuckle] (February 15, 2015). "[https://twitter.com/ChainKnuckle/status/567052463723655168 @gagedude1 @Htf432 @devthedoodler @happytreefriend Good eye! All the openning ''<nowiki>[sic]</nowiki>'' and credits for the show are based on Golden Books designs.]" (Tweet) – via [[Twitter]].</ref> and all main characters (except Lumpy and Sniffles) sharing a ''[[Care Bears]]''-esque design (pie-eyes, heart-shaped noses, mitten hands, and boot-shaped feet). Each episode starts peacefully with the characters living their lives normally, with activities ranging from childish to grown-up, but a sudden event unintentionally (sometimes intentionally) caused by another animal leads to many of the characters being subjected to very extreme and cruel [[graphic violence]]. Each character has suffered brutal pain, murder, or mutilation by the end of each episode, but always returns alive and well by the next.<ref name="Metacritic">{{cite web |title=Happy Tree Friends: Season 1 |url=http://www.metacritic.com/tv/happy-tree-friends |access-date=September 12, 2013 |work=Metacritic.com |publisher=CBS Interactive Inc. |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305222809/http://www.metacritic.com/tv/happy-tree-friends |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite web |last=Horn |first=Jesse |date=December 10, 2010 |title=Happy Tree Friends |url=http://www.azalert.com/odd/?p=4 |access-date=February 7, 2013 |work=Interview with Mondo Media CEO John Evershed |publisher=Oddities Magazine}}</ref>