News

There’s no understating the impact that the now-defunct Macromedia Flash had on the animation industry. Sure, the cheaper production value and recycled frames resulted in a noticeable decline in quality in some areas (even if that was usually due to studios overworking animators), but it also meant more democratic access to cartooning tools and more varied creators working in the field.

This ultimately led to an explosion of offbeat projects that would have previously been unfeasible to produce on regular TV networks. The rise of widespread internet access also gave these unusual cartoons a chance to connect with international audiences, marking a unique moment in animation when independent creations could compete on near equal footing with titans like Nickelodeon and even Cartoon Network.

One of the most iconic projects of this early 2000s boom came in the form of Mondo Media’s unexpectedly violent Happy Tree Friends, a mean-spirited...

Today popular animated series form Mondo Media Happy Tree Friends returns with original Christmas episode "Clause For Concern." "Clause For Concern" marks Happy Tree Friends' 5th official Christmas-themed episode. The episode features the adorable father-son duo Pop and Cub, who set out to get into the holiday spirit with the best of intentions, until something goes horribly, horribly wrong. "We wanted to surprise our fans with this new Christmas-themed episode," Mondo Media CEO John Evershed told Tubefilter. "They have been asking about it and we are happy to spread some Happy Tree Friends holiday cheer." The series, created by Kenn Navarro and Rhode Montijo, generates over 22 million views per month on Mondo Media’s YouTube channel, Mondo Mini Shows, a top 20 YouTube channel that recently passed the 1 billion-view mark. Mondo Media was one of the nearly 100 YouTube Original Channels announced at the end of October as a part of a $100 million premium content initiative.