After almost seven years, the deceptively cute animated series Happy Tree Friends is back, this time with a single new episode and becoming DLC for a game. Both products will arrive on September 27, 2023. Aside from the date, no details are currently available about the episode, but we can expect to see the familiar cast of cuddly critters suffering in inventive new ways. Meanwhile, those same characters are being added to The Crackpet Show, a roguelike shoot-’em-up that launched into Early Access late last year.
Today’s news was preceded by a couple of teaser videos on Mondo Media’s YouTube channel over the past few weeks, with the full announcement in another video, embedded below. Nine characters from the show will be playable in the DLC, including Cuddles, Giggles, Handy, and Nutty. To ensure the DLC remains true to the vibe of Happy Tree Friends, it will also feature unique death animations for each character, as well as sound and music ripped from the show.
It’s an intriguing crossover, as The Crackpet Show game has frequently been likened to Happy Tree Friends thanks to its similar ethos of adult animation with cutesy animals being mixed up with copious amounts of chaos and gore.
For those not in the know, though, Happy Tree Friends first emerged at the turn of the millennium and became an internet sensation. It ran intermittently until 2016. At that time, there was talk a movie, but that hasn’t yet eventuated. Most of the episodes are available to view on YouTube, if you either want to take a trip down memory lane or simply experience what the series has to offer for the first time.
