We're Kenn Navarro and Warren Graff. We created Happy Tree Friends and ruined your childhood. Ask Us Anything!!

What was your inspiration for HTF? I've always been a big fan, the gratuitous violence is a riot.

Ironically, gratuitous violence is our inspiration. Also, we were inspired by old Looney Tunes cartoons and the sweet sappy cartoons of the 80's (Care Bears, Smurfs, etc) Looney Tunes never showed what would really happen if you had an anvil dropped on your head and we wanted to drop an anvil on the Care Bears heads.

I had a feeling that was the case. I used to tell friends who had never watched the show that it was "like Itchy & Scratchy meets Care Bears."

Thanks for the reply! You guys kick ass.

Thanks! Itchy & Scratchy meets the Care Bears is a perfect description! We've used that before....do you read my diary?

No, but I'd like the opportunity. Do you write your crush's name in hearts?

Maaaaaayyyyybbbbeeee.

What is wrong with you guys?

My back is a little sore, but I think it's from the way I'm sitting. Thanks for asking!

Where do you guys get such creative ideas from? Is it your imagination or do you research psychopaths online or something?

On-line? Man, that would make it SO much easier!

Ideas, literally come from everywhere! We've gotten light bulb moments anywhere from walking the street to going to the dentist and everything in between. One time writer Ken Pontac came in with a news article he read about Aron Ralston (the fellow who they based "127 Hours" movie on). This was before the movie came out and we thought that was such a gnarly thing that we wanted to do our own take on it. Thus was born the episode, "Out On A Limb."

Hahaha that is awesome! Keep it up you guys. Your twisted humor makes my day every time.

Thanks! We will endeavor to spill as much cartoon blood as we can!

While I have your attention, do you guys do the episodes for a living or is it more of a pass time?

Both!

Flaky is it boy or girl? I have long been asking me and I see signs of that is girl, but by their lack of eyelashes I am confused

Splendont appears in a chapter of HTF back?

Flaky is a girl. Not all girls have eyelashes. Kenn likes to start shit, but she's a girl.

One good question: Why?

One bad answer: Why not?

Which episode was your favorite to work on?

"Eye Candy!" We wrote that whole episode in just a few hours and we were on cracking up the whole time! Then Warren said, "I got the title! We can call it Eye Candy" and we all fell on the floor, convulsing in laughter.

Oh yeah! That was like 12 or 13 years ago. I totally forgot about that! Good times!

I don't know, because they're all fun to work on. It's basically us in a room coming up with violent deaths or horrible ways to maim cute cartoon creatures. I loved working on all of them.

HTF is fucked but hilarious. What was your inspiration for HTF?

Thanks! "Fucked but hilarious" should be our motto. I've answered the inspiration part earlier but here it is so you don't have to hunt for it....> Also, we were inspired by old Looney Tunes cartoons and the sweet sappy cartoons of the 80's (Care Bears, Smurfs, etc) Looney Tunes never showed what would really happen if you had an anvil dropped on your head and we wanted to drop an anvil on the Care Bears heads.

How do you know that this thing will go viral? People should hate sadistic cartoon, don't they?

We didn't. It actually didn't do anything really during it's first 24 episode run. This was a few years before Youtube. It was just up on some website, UGO I think. Then that was it. After a while we decided that we wanted to make a DVD of the first season, just for ourselves to have. We figured out how many we need to sell to break even and we made it. Directors commentary, art work, etc. That ended up selling a TON. So we made more. The rest is history.

What is the funniest complaint you have gotten from a parent, teacher, etc?

I don't know if it's funny, but we got a couple of letters from some parents who said their son was autistic and he really responded to Happy Tree Friends. It was his obsession. He was upset that Flippy was so mean and felt that he should get what he deserves. So we decided to kill Flippy in an episode. A little while after it aired we got letters from both parents again thanking us and telling us how happy it made their son and how much better he's been acting. It was all very surreal. Happy Tree Friends, changing lives.

What's best part of the job? What's the worst part?

The best part is that I get to sit around in a room with a couple of good friends and laugh all day. The worst part is those days when we don't laugh and we aren't coming up with any ideas...that sucks.

2 questions:

Is there supposed to be some sort of deeper meaning that we can read into in HTF? (Like inevitability, mortality, etc?)

What's the most awkward situation that HTF has placed you or a co-worker in?

I think the deep meaning you can take from the show is laughter is the best medicine.

I don't think we've ever been in an awkward moment because of HTF. We had a guy from France leave a voice mail at work calling us Nazi's. Wasn't awkward for us, but I felt awkward for him.

What program do you recommend to use for getting into animations?

Flash. That's what we use.

Oh man, I've been watching HTF for years. You can probably tell by my username Flippy is my favorite character. Flippy's been my alias on Steam for years now.

My question: Have you guys ever canned an episode, or edited a part of one because you thought it was too sick/violent/gory? I know that sounds impossible but I can just imagine you guys laughing your asses off and then going real quiet and pale. "Yeah, we might have to soften that up a bit."

I can think of a single time where we said, "That's too sick/violent/gory, we can't do it." Maybe we thought something was in bad taste, or didn't fit the show or episode, but never to sick/violent/gory. The way we sit it is, it's fake blood and gore. It's not real. So lets take it as far as we can with out it being stupid....which it might get sometimes...but that's a risk we're will to take.

Do you guys work on any shows other than Happy Tree Friends? Or is that your guy's primary series?

We are working on a new show called Two-Bit. The first episode is here: http://zwakattack.com/watch/nhbbbc

I also write Sonic the Hedgehog games.

What is Splendont's daily life in the space? Is he planning to come back and kick Splendid's ass again? Is Flaky a girl?

I assume he works and hangs out with his friends. I'm sure he's planning to come back and kick Splendid's ass, I think he's just saving his money. Traveling through space isn't cheap. Flaky is a girl.

What led you guys to want to make gorey cartoons?
Also, is there a subject you stay away from in your videos?

It's a reaction to growing up with all our favorite Saturday morning cartoons. Really, we're doing the world a public service cause we're showing a more realistic depiction of what happens when when you get hit with a crowbar in the head!

As for rules, there's only a few:

• No guns. Not that we're against it, it's just too easy. We'd rather be more creative and try and have Flippy kill somebody with a flower. It's funnier and more unexpected!

• No overtly sexual situations. We want to keep the world "innocent" which makes contrasting the violence even more shocking and, hopefully, funnier! In our minds all Disco Bear want to do with the girls is kiss them. It's like they're all 5 years old.

• Nothing too new or technologically advanced. Same as above, we want to keep the world stuck somewhere around the 50's to the 70's. An idealized "Golden Age," if you will. That's why the tech in the world is very old!

• No scatological stuff. Same as guns, not that that we're above poop-humor (in fact there is some in the show), it's just a little too easy.

• The deaths are mostly accidental. With the exception of Flippy, we've found that it's funnier if their well meaning intentions go horribly, horribly awry!

Bullet Points? Dang!

Like I mentioned earlier, we didn't like the sappy sweet cartoons of the 80's, and (unlike Lonney Tunes) we wanted to show what really happens when you drop a piano on somebody's head. We stay away from sexual stuff. Plus we don't like easy violence, so we don't have guns and bombs and stuff....I think Flippy has thrown grenades, but he's Flippy.

Oh god, I have alienated so many friends by laughing at this show. Thanks! But anyways, Flippy is my favorite character by a mile, he's even my profile pic on some sites. What inspired that green devil?

He's a lot of peoples favorite. He almost didn't make the show. We liked the idea of somebody flipping out and going crazy over the littlest things. The only problem with Flippy is that he's the one character on the show who hurts other characters on purpose. We had a lot of meetings just talking about him and how he fit into the show. There was a lot of back and forth, but obviously he made the cut.

Have you ever wondered how many childhoods you fucked up, or do you just continue making these pieces of cartoon gold?

Everybody says we fuck up childhoods, but I think, in the long run we've made their lives better. Either way we're still making the show.

What's your favorite quote ? :D

"Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big ol' storm right square in the eye and he says, 'Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it." Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China

What will happen with Truffles? he will be deleted, added to the program, keep doing cameos or what?

We like his cameos to much to stop doing them. At this rate, he'll be in more episodes than any other character.

Big fan guys! I know you probably get this a lot, but what was your inspiration in creating these rambunctious little critters? And any future projects? Maybe some cameos? Lol

Thanks for being a fan!!! Here's what I said earlier about our inspiration > Also, we were inspired by old Looney Tunes cartoons and the sweet sappy cartoons of the 80's (Care Bears, Smurfs, etc) Looney Tunes never showed what would really happen if you had an anvil dropped on your head and we wanted to drop an anvil on the Care Bears heads.

Kenn and I are currently creating a show on our own called Two-Bit. Check it out, the links up above.

Cameos? I would love to get Jennifer Lawrence in an episode of HTF. She could be my love interest.

How hard is it to dream up new and strange forms of violence? And what is your thoughts/feelings on the media violence equals societal violence thing?

Sometimes it's very hard. It can take us days to come up with an episode we like. Other times we bust them out in less then an hour and take a long lunch.

I think the whole violence in media equals violence in real life is kind of crap. It's just easy to blame TV/movies/music because everybody knows that stuff. Violent people are going to be violent. I read somewhere that we live in a relatively non violent time compared to the past. Somebody should Google that to make sure I didn't just dream it.

Heys yous!

Have your parents seen your show? What do they think of it? Will you let your children watch it (or perhaps when they are older). Finally, what do you like to make yourself for dinner?

My parents have seen the show, and they love it. I haven't soon my son yet, but I'm sure he'll watch it when he's older.

Dinner? Dang, a tough one. I tend to eat out. But I do love making myself Breakfast for dinner. Waffles, eggs, stuff like that. I like to be different.

HTF is amazing, its just the sickest sense of humor ever and I love it. I have to know something though, was The Three Little pigs episode of Tails From The Crypt inspiration for HTF?

I'm pretty sure it wasn't because I don't think I ever saw it. I did watch some Tails From the Crypt 20 years ago, but I don't remember that one. We were mostly inspired by Looney Tunes meets Care Bears meets real life...sort of.

Also, thanks for loving the show!!!

I love happy tree friends! Hm, I've always wondered why the Happy Tree Friends always muttered and laughed and giggled words instead of actually speak them. Everyone knows the Happy Tree Friends speak very little. Is it easier on your part for them not to talk so much?

Glad you like the show!!! In the beginning we didn't want to write dialog so we didn't want them to talk. Later we realized that it's kinda hard to get certain ideas across when the characters can't speak. So we tried to be lazy but ended up painting ourselves into a corner.

Hey guys! It's your the biggest fan. :) What's your dream and what do you guys think about the city in which you live?

Hey! You made it over from Twitter! I dream that one day I can make a violent cartoon on the internet. I love SF!!! The parking sucks though, I hate that part.

Hi Kenn and Warren, im a big fan of HTF from a long time. Deadeye Derby will be only for iPhone or soon will be a PC or an Android version? I also want to know if Happy Tree Friends will be uploaded on Zwak or still in Mondo?

I don't know. I have an Android, so I don't get to play it. I hope it comes over soon.

Do you think HTF will return in television, like the series on G4 ?

I will always hope it does, but it's REALLY tough to get on TV in the US. It's even harder if you've already been on. Most channels don't pick up other channels shows. Sure it happens, but not a lot. Like I said, I'm always hoping.

Was HTF very profitable? I know there was a good deal of merchandise, but I feel it was more popular on free streaming sites.

Honestly, I don't know. I'm not in the loop of the business side of things. We're not millionaires if that tells you anything. We like to joke that we're internet rich...which is like not being rich.

oh geez. Where do i start.

I started watching happy tree friends in 2008 when i was 9. I have had so many nightmares about your series. Why did you make the episode of the moose cutting off his leg with a plastic spoon? That was the source of all of it. What was the inspiration for that episode?

9? That's way to young! Wasn't somebody there to stop you. That episode was inspired by an article Ken Pontac read about a guy who got trapped under a rock while climbing alone. He hacked off his arm and walked to safety. They made a movie about it with James Franco called 127 Hours. We did it years before that though.

What is your favourite episode personally?

That would either be Out on a Limb or Shared at Work. Shared at Work mostly because I had a fun time recording that one.

I just want to say, thanks for making middle school bearable for me haha. My and my friends would watch HTF non stop. Also, are you every scared you're going to run out of fucked up, demented ways to kill fluffy creatures? Thanks for this AMA!

Making middle school bearable is what we really designed the show for! Glad we could help!!

When we first made the show we figured we'd run out of ideas pretty quickly, yet here we are! I don't worry about it any more, I just assume we've got infinite ideas.

Yo, big fan of you guys! Have you guys ever been sued and/or get complaints often?

And how did you guys come up with the idea of the show?

We've never been sued, but we do get a lot of hate mail. Which we love! There's usually nothing funnier than hate mail because they always complain about the violence and then threaten us with violence. It's awesome.

Opinion on the fanbase? Search deviantart if you know what i mean?

We love our fans. How could you not love a group of people who are obsessed with something you've made. Sure, some go a little overboard, but whatareyagoingtodo?

Is there any scene you guys did where you considered you were "taking it too far"?

There was a scene in A to Zoo, I think, where we had Lumpy run in and he was stomping on a bunch of baby chicks by mistake. It felt kind of weird because the chicks weren't really characters and it felt like killing innocent animals. On the other hand, Lumpy is an idiot and we wanted to highlight this by using this horrible action. We went back and forth with it, but we kept it. Still feels weird though.

What's your least favorite episode and why?

I'm not a fan of Gems the Breaks. It just doesn't work for me. Also not a fan of Home is Where the Hurt Is. That was TV episode we did that was SOOOO hard to write. The fact that it turned out bad, in my opinion, makes it that much worse.

How was it bad? the story was easy to follow, all you had to do was put cuddles in a wood chipper,cut giggles in half, crush the moles head, crush lumpy with a pull out bed, kill petunia with electric water, and have a nail stuck to cuddles corpse pierce handys eye and brain

It just felt like it was all over the place. We had characters everywhere and it didn't feel like it paid off...at least to me.

Which death would you consider the most gory/violent?

It's not a death, but in Out on a Limb, when Lumpy bangs the spoon against his bare bone....ugh. Gets me every time!!

Have you made any other shows?

Currently, Kenn and I are working a show called Two-Bit. Here's the first episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCm3pC_S22Q

Did you run into any issues getting it aired on TV?

I use this as a drinking game, every time something gory happens

No, not really. Once G4 picked it up, they didn't really tell us what to do at all. I don't remember any notes.

So you get drunk a lot I assume?

How Handy lost his hands?

I think Handy lost his hands in the cushions of the couch. That's where I lose stuff.

Cuddles always uses the same slippers or has a closet full of them? Them must smell terrible if he use the same slippers all the time

I don't know about his slippers, he keeps that part of his life private.

What would you guys think if some magazine called your show one of the best shows for children? ...not that i've seen any claim that.

I would probably think there's something wrong with that magazine.

Happy Tree Friends will be uploaded on Zwak or still in Mondo?

Happy Tree Friends is only on the Mondo site and YouTube.

Have you ever had parents of small children email you or come up to you in the street because of the content in HTF? P.S. Love the show, Keep doing what you're doing Edit: Which moment stayed in your memory?

Nobody has ever come up to me in the street. I've met people and told them what I do. If they've heard of the show, they give me a funny look and go "really? That's you?"

What program do you use to create the characters?

Everything is created in Flash.

Do either of you have kids, and how do/would you feel about them watching the show? Big fan by the way!

I have 2 kids. Neither of them watch the show, but I think one is old enough if he wants to. He just hasn't wanted to. He'd rather watch Pokemon videos or play Minecraft.

Has there ever been a point where you guys have said "no that is just too much" and not put it in an episode?

Yeah, but I can't really remember them specifically. Usually it has something to do with sex or bathroom humor that doesn't really fit the show. Occasionally the bathroom humor gets through, but we usually stick to just violence.

How did you feel when the show went on G4?

I was SOOOO happy! I couldn't believe I was writing a TV show...my TV show. Something I made. When I heard we were going to be on at midnight and they didn't promote it I realized that being on TV is tough. Still a great experience though!

Dear Mondo, can you answer me two questions that i have?

1) How did Flaky's Chickphobia started? and 2) Are you trying to merge Flaky and Flippy, because i see some strange thing over the TV shows

1) Just because it's funny. Who's afraid of a chick? 2) Merge them? No. I think a lot of the fans want them to date, but there's no dating in HTF land...unless it's funny and ends badly.

Will Splendont appear in new episodes as a Splendid nemesis?

If we do more Ka-Pow episodes of HTF Splendont will totally be there. Right now I don't know what's going on with that show.

Who was the first happy tree friend created?

That would be Cuddles, Toothy and Giggles. They were in a little one off short that we did. There was a dinosaur in the short as well who later became Lumpy.

When you started it were children really your target audience?

No. It never was. We thought, back in 1999-2000, that we'd get the South Park audience. Early college, maybe high school. I guess you can't control who your audience is. I'm just happy there are people who like the show.

Do you know the death count form the characters that die?

There was a time when we did keep track, but over the years we've stopped. I know there's a wiki out there that I think has ever death. It's a pretty crazy document.

Huge fan, Flippy is my favorite character! Thanks for being here. Which death do you think has "ruined" the most childhoods?

They're all pretty tough, but I'll say Cubs deaths are probably the harshest. He's just a cub!

Will we ever know what's happend with Pop's wife/Cub's mom?

Maaaayyyybbeeeee.

What were some of the reactions you got after the first episode?

There were a whole lot of laughter followed by people giving us funny looks and staying away from us.