Happy Tree Friends (film)

Happy Tree Friends is a 2013 American 2D animated action-adventure horror comedy film produced by Buddy Studios, 6 Point Harness and Mondo Media, and distributed by Mondo Media and 20th Century Fox. It is based on the Happy Tree Friends series and was directed by Kenn Navarro.

The film stars the voices of Chris Pratt, Amy Adams, Tom Holland, Katherine Heigl, David Winn, Steve Carell, Chris Evans, Kristen Schaal, Eric Bauza, Ryan Reynolds, Tom Kenny, Benedict Cumberbatch, Taika Waititi, Daniel Craig, Danny Devito, Peter Kelamis, Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bergman, Renée T. MacDonald and Tom Hiddleston.

In theaters, a sneak peek from the upcoming Disney film entitled Heffalump was shown prior to the film. The film was theatrically released in movie theaters on March 29, 2013 in the United States and Canada, by Mondo Media. The film was met with critical acclaim upon release, with critics praising its animation, voice acting, soundtrack and humor. The film was a critical box-office success, grossing over $1.186 billion worldwide against a $140 million budget, making the first Mondo Media film to have a 1 billion dollar mark.

Cast

 * Chris Pratt as Cuddles
 * Amy Adams as Giggles
 * Tom Holland as Toothy
 * Katherine Heigl as Petunia
 * David Winn as Lumpy
 * Steve Carell as Nutty
 * Chris Evans as Flippy
 * Kristen Schaal as Flaky
 * Eric Bauza as Handy
 * Ryan Reynolds as Disco Bear
 * Tom Kenny as Mime
 * Benedict Cumberbatch as Splendid
 * Taika Waititi as Russell
 * Daniel Craig as The Mole
 * Danny Devito as Lifty
 * Peter Kelamis as Shifty
 * Robert Downey Jr. as Pop
 * Jeff Bergman as Teenage Cub
 * Renée T. MacDonald as Lammy
 * Tom Hiddleston as Fliqpy

Announcement
The announcement for a Happy Tree Friends feature film was announced at the 2011 San Diego Comic Con, with Director Kenn Navarro making a statement after being asked by a spokesperson. He stated that "there will be a Happy Tree Friends film. We're still working on development," leaving the audience going wild. Shortly after the announcement, Kenn Navarro and series writer Rhode Montijo said in an interview that the "film would begin production either in December this year, or early to mid 2012." But, in February 2012, the development for the film began.

Development
Development on the film began in 2012 after the announcement was made at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, with Kenn Navarro as the director and Rhode Montijo as the writer. David Ichioka was served as the producer for the film. Its storyboard was developed and created by Aubrey Ankrum, Rhode Montijo and Kenn Navarro.

Casting
The film stars the characters from the series, with Chris Pratt as Cuddles, Amy Adams as Giggles, Tom Holland as Toothy, Katherine Heigl as Petunia, David Winn as Lumpy, Steve Carell as Nutty, Chris Evans as Flippy, Kristen Schaal as Flaky, Eric Bauza as Handy, Ryan Reynolds as Disco Bear, Tom Kenny as Mine, Benedict Cumberbatch as Splendid, Taika Waititi as Russell, Daniel Craig as The Mole, Danny Devito as Lifty, Peter Kelamis as Shifty, Robert Downey Jr. as Pop, Jeff Bergman as Teenage Cub, Renee T. MacDonald as Lammy, and Tom Hiddleston as Fliqpy.

Chris Pratt, Amy Adams, Tom Holland, Katherine Heigl, Steve Carell, Chris Evans, Kristen Schaal, Eric Bauza, Ryan Reynolds, Tom Kenny, Benedict Cumberbatch, Taiki Waititi, Daniel Craig, Danny Devito, Peter Kelamis, Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bergman and Tom Hiddleston replaced voice actors/actresses Kenn Navarro, Ellen Connell, Michael "Lippy" Lipman, Aubrey Ankrum, Dean MacDonald, Peter Herrmann, Francis Carr, Sarah Castelblanco and Warren Graff.

Actors Chris Pratt and Tom Holland agreed to sign on for voicing Cuddles (Pratt) and Toothy (Holland) as they were "expressible characters with lively emotions, but can turn deadly and gruesome if they get hurt". Actresses Amy Adams, Katherine Heigl and Kristen Schaal signed to voice Giggles (Adams), Petunia (Heigl) and Flaky (Schaal) as they were "cute, sweet and giggly characters with so much emotion, but will turn into scary and bloody if they get killed".

Animation
Animation for the film was produced at Buddy Studios, 6 Point Harness and Mondo Media. Principal animation production began on April 17, 2012 at Buddy Studios and Mondo Media.

Soundtrack
Happy Tree Friends ' music was produced by RJ Eleven, Jim Lively and Winn Winn Situation. The music was composed, orchestrated and conducted by American film composer Michael Giacchino.

Release
The film was theatrically released in theaters on March 29, 2013 in the United States and Canada, by Mondo Media and 20th Century Fox. The film was presented in a 1.85:1 format. The film's theatrical release was serving as a sneak peek to the upcoming Disney animated film Heffalump. The film was rated R for Restricted by the Motion Picture Association of America for cruel, explicit violence, blood, some sexual content, and language.

Marketing
The film's trailer was released on September 1, 2012 on the Mondo Media YouTube channels, and on the 20th Century Fox YouTube channels.

Home media
The film was released on digital on May 4 and on Blu-Ray and DVD on May 8, 2013 by Buddy Home Entertainment. It contains the deleted scenes, the 18-minute featurette, behind-the-scenes of Happy Tree Friends, featuring interviews with most of the principal cast and crew, animatics, the pilot episode, the audio commentaries and the sneak peek of the upcoming Disney film Heffalump.

Critical response
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rare 100% approval rating based on the 196 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The critical consensus reads, "Gruesome, horrific, and bloody fantastic, Happy Tree Friends serves as a great film adaption to the beloved web series." Metacritic assigns the film a weighted average score of 93 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare grade of "A+" on its A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak reported 98% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 83% saying they would recommend it.

Box office
Happy Tree Friends opened theatrically in the United States alongside Tyler Perry's Temptation and The Host on March 29, 2013 in 3,912 theaters. The film was projected to gross $15-25 million in its first opening weekend. In the opening weekend of the film, it grossed $60.5 million ($59.4 million with an additional $5.6 million in Saturday night previews), hitting #1 at the US box office. In international markets, the film grossed $102.5 million ($92.3 with an additional $10.2 million in Saturday night previews). Throughout the week following in the United States, it grossed over $154.3 million, while internationally, it grossed $293.2 million.

In the following weeks, its projection was estimated to $70-100 million. The film grossed $95.8 in the United States and $299.4 internationally in its 2nd weekend. The films projections ended on October 12th, 2013, for a total of $390.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $741.3 internationally, for a worldwide total of $1.186 billion, making it the highest grossing film of 2013, and the 6th highest grossing animated film of all time, dethroning Minions.

Main transcript
Main article: Happy Tree Friends/Transcript

Trailer transcripts
Main article: Happy Tree Friends/Trailer transcripts

Credits
Main article: Happy Tree Friends/Credits

Trivia

 * It is 20th Century Fox's first 2D animated film with Mondo Media.
 * It is the first feature length film in the Happy Tree Friends series.
 * It is the franchise's first film to be rated R by the MPA.
 * It is the first Mondo Media film to be distributed with 20th Century Fox.