Under The Skin
| Under The Skin | |
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| Date | October 14, 2003 (DVD)[citation needed] June 23, 2009 (Mondo)[1] July 8, 2009 (YouTube)[2] |
| Origin | Happy Tree Friends: Second Serving |
Under The Skin, formerly known as Under The Skin of Happy Tree Friends on the Happy Tree Friends: Second Serving DVD and the official website, is a bonus feature video related to Happy Tree Friends. It is a parody documentary, also known as a "mockumentary," explaining the rise and fall of Happy Tree Friends, told in the style of old documentary of celebrities complete with stock footage and testimonials. On the official Mondo website, this video used to be listed under the Happy Tree Friends Break playlist during the Atom iteration, even though it does not have the Break intro. On the 2012-2014 iteration of the website, it was moved to the "Behind The Scenes" category. It was then delisted from the official website entirely when the website was revamped once again in late 2014.
Description[edit]
Peel back the layers and take a look at how it all started in this behind-the-scene documentary! Relive all the drama, the blood, the sweat, the tears and the candy![1][3]
Transcript[edit]
Narrator: San Fransisco... a sleepy little town where nothing much happens, but the people here are about to be awakened by something that will shake the world to its very core! But that's a different story. Our tale begins in south of Market District with a group of strangers. They're mere boys at the time, but the events that will unfold would lead them on the journey into manhood. Join us now as we go under the skin of Happy Tree Friends.
(stock real-life footage, including the show's intro and footage from "Eye Candy", "Nuttin' Wrong With Candy", and "Spin Fun Knowin' Ya!", plays)
("House Warming" footage)
Narrator: The fuse was lit in the summer of 1998, when Mondo Media released Happy Tree Friends on the internet to the unsuspecting public. The world was never the same. It all started with the extensive research and development. This is where the seeds were sown for which the Happy Tree Friends sprouted.
(various footage of crew members maiming a teddy bear is shown by having it stabbed, thrown on the ground, run over by a car, getting stomped, and getting slapped)
Hans Kuthoften (dubbed voiceover with exaggerated accent): They love each other more than any other people I have ever met. They were like a well-oiled machine!
(footage of crew members doing literal magic tricks)
Narrator: With the writers doing their magic, it was up to the artist to create the look.
(footage of drawing attempts include a boat with a crude smiley face, a flower with a smiley face, a piece of lettuce with hands, feet, and a face, and finally, Cuddles)
(the artist that drew Cuddles shows an executive with a drawing of him)
Narrator: Pencil and paper didn't cut it in this new age of online entertainment. Everything had to be better. Digital machines were employed to enhance human skills. In this electronic era of technology, the possibilities were endless.
(machines process the Cuddles drawing to create copies of the drawing, from the original, Cuddles in a cowboy hat, Cuddles with a mustache, Cuddles with gag glasses, to Cuddles with a top hat and beard)
Narrator: The difference was astounding, and more characters then followed.
(sound engineer searching the outdoors for sounds to be recorded for use in the show)
Narrator: All the hard work was capped off with the final touches in the sound department.
(sound engineer recording sounds from a swing and the birds chirping)
Narrator: Great lengths were taken to capture the most authentic sound effects for the show.
(sound engineer purposefully gets run over by an off-screen car)
(footage doctored to include Happy Tree Friends on the advertisements)
Narrator: Happy Tree Friends was an instant hit and became bigger than anything man ever made. The creators had time to make fake movie posters and other doctored photos just for laughs. They were taking animation back to the streets.
(metal version of the Happy Tree Friends theme song plays over footage of the crew members fooling around in rock star-esque streetwear)
Narrator: The cartoon made them sex symbols. Their genius made them gods. But at what price? The success was too much for them to handle. They found themselves in a downward spiral of addictions.
(footage of candies as if they were drugs)
Narrator: Jawbreakers, licorices, SweeTARTS, Mike & Ikes, Pop Rocks, jujubes, Pixy Stix, Abba-Zabas, Laffy Taffy, you name it, we ate it! We even ate Twix and Skittles at the same time. It was sick!
Hans Kuthoften: Their tongues were so red, their breath so fruity, it was like they weren't even human!
Narrator: One time Kenn was so jacked up that he animated a whole season on his own in one night! Too bad it was a season we already had.
(low quality "episode" featuring Cuddles is shown)
Narrator: Then something happened nobody expected. The market for online animation went belly up.
Sir Russ T. Neil: The saddest thing about the crash is that nobody ever told them it happened.
Crew member: I got the best job in the world!
(footage of the crew members playing around in candy)
Narrator: Unable to communicate with the outside world, the creators never found out about the end of Happy Tree Friends. They continue to make them to this day. So as long as there is still candy out there, there will still be Happy Tree Friends, even if nobody cares.
Fates[edit]
Deaths[edit]
- The sound engineer gets himself run over by a car.
- Cuddles' head explodes during the segment in one the "episodes" that Kenn animates in a single night.
Staff[edit]
- Main article: List of Under The Skin staff
Marco Bertoldo directed this video while John Evershed was the executive producer.
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Under The Skin of Happy Tree Friends on the official website (archive from 2012)
- ↑ Under The Skin on YouTube
- ↑ YouTube - Happy Tree Friends - Under The Skin (archive from 2009)