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Happy Tree Friends: Season 1
BCI Eclipse // Unrated // December 5, 2006
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
The latest in a line of shows that present a twisted take on kids programming (see also: "Wonder Showzen"), "Happy Tree Friends" is an utterly demented little series that is even funnier thanks to the decision to skip dialogue in favor of little character sounds and reactions that are just priceless and situations that are too wrong to be believed.
The series consists of short adventures featuring the various critters that make up the "Happy Tree Friends", such as Splendid (a flying squirrel), Giggles (a chipmunk), Lumpy (a moose), Flaky (a porcupine), Lifty and Shifty (racoon thieves), Flippy (a psychotic bear) and others.
Whether being wrongfully accused of car theft and breaking out of jail or riding the local roller coaster, nothing ever seems to go right for the characters. However, the characters don't face simple failures: the series has its cute little characters being chopped in half, eaten, thrown into blenders, shredded, run over, smashed, burned and worse. However, the series doesn't merely give them a few good smacks - it's often absolute chaos as characters end up in an utterly bloody mess.
While one might think that the idea of cute little characters winding up in ridiculously gory situations would get repetitive after a while, the series somehow manages to create darkly funny and inspired situations that manage to push the envelope even further. Additionally, the show's writers also do a nice job of suddenly turning a gag in a direction you wouldn't expect.
The show's animation is rather basic CGI, but the style is utterly perfect: the characters and backgrounds are incredibly cutesy...until things go seriously awry. The show's so adorable and the characters have so much personality that it just makes the disasters that the characters face even that more twisted and hilarious. This DVD set was my introduction to the series and, while I had no idea what to expect, I haven't laughed this hard in a while.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Happy Tree Friends" gets a perfectly crisp and clear 1.33:1 full-frame presentation here from Brentwood. The presentation quality looked just about flawless. The image remained consistently crisp and clear throughout the show, showing off every detail of the show's twisted animation. No pixelation, edge enhancement, shimmering or other concerns were spotted. The show's bright color palette looked terrific, with nice saturation and no smearing.
SOUND: The show's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack doesn't offer much in the way of activity in the surrounds, but audio is nicely spread out across the front speakers. The show's sound effects work is terrific and effects remain crystal clear throughout.
EXTRAS: The main extra is a commentary from a pair of writers and producers from the series. The track isn't too informative, but the bunch has a great time joking about some of the story ideas, chatting about the characters, talking about their favorite moments and discussing some of the inspiration for the stories. There's also four very short (1-3min) featurettes ("The Process", "Splitting Hares", "How Far Is Too Far?" and "Cubes") and 9 sets of storyboards.
Final Thoughts: "Happy Tree Friends" manages to be incredibly cute and yet unbelievably brutal. The show's timing is great and the gags are so incredibly wrong that they get a solid laugh. The DVD presentation offers excellent video quality, fine audio and a nice set of supplemental features. Certainly recommended for fans, but fans of "South Park", "Ren and Stimpy" and other similar shows should also give this a try.
The latest in a line of shows that present a twisted take on kids programming (see also: "Wonder Showzen"), "Happy Tree Friends" is an utterly demented little series that is even funnier thanks to the decision to skip dialogue in favor of little character sounds and reactions that are just priceless and situations that are too wrong to be believed.
The series consists of short adventures featuring the various critters that make up the "Happy Tree Friends", such as Splendid (a flying squirrel), Giggles (a chipmunk), Lumpy (a moose), Flaky (a porcupine), Lifty and Shifty (racoon thieves), Flippy (a psychotic bear) and others.
Whether being wrongfully accused of car theft and breaking out of jail or riding the local roller coaster, nothing ever seems to go right for the characters. However, the characters don't face simple failures: the series has its cute little characters being chopped in half, eaten, thrown into blenders, shredded, run over, smashed, burned and worse. However, the series doesn't merely give them a few good smacks - it's often absolute chaos as characters end up in an utterly bloody mess.
While one might think that the idea of cute little characters winding up in ridiculously gory situations would get repetitive after a while, the series somehow manages to create darkly funny and inspired situations that manage to push the envelope even further. Additionally, the show's writers also do a nice job of suddenly turning a gag in a direction you wouldn't expect.
The show's animation is rather basic CGI, but the style is utterly perfect: the characters and backgrounds are incredibly cutesy...until things go seriously awry. The show's so adorable and the characters have so much personality that it just makes the disasters that the characters face even that more twisted and hilarious. This DVD set was my introduction to the series and, while I had no idea what to expect, I haven't laughed this hard in a while.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Happy Tree Friends" gets a perfectly crisp and clear 1.33:1 full-frame presentation here from Brentwood. The presentation quality looked just about flawless. The image remained consistently crisp and clear throughout the show, showing off every detail of the show's twisted animation. No pixelation, edge enhancement, shimmering or other concerns were spotted. The show's bright color palette looked terrific, with nice saturation and no smearing.
SOUND: The show's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack doesn't offer much in the way of activity in the surrounds, but audio is nicely spread out across the front speakers. The show's sound effects work is terrific and effects remain crystal clear throughout.
EXTRAS: The main extra is a commentary from a pair of writers and producers from the series. The track isn't too informative, but the bunch has a great time joking about some of the story ideas, chatting about the characters, talking about their favorite moments and discussing some of the inspiration for the stories. There's also four very short (1-3min) featurettes ("The Process", "Splitting Hares", "How Far Is Too Far?" and "Cubes") and 9 sets of storyboards.
Final Thoughts: "Happy Tree Friends" manages to be incredibly cute and yet unbelievably brutal. The show's timing is great and the gags are so incredibly wrong that they get a solid laugh. The DVD presentation offers excellent video quality, fine audio and a nice set of supplemental features. Certainly recommended for fans, but fans of "South Park", "Ren and Stimpy" and other similar shows should also give this a try.
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