Cute and cuddly masochists

Step aside, Cartman. There's a new badass in town and it happens to be cuter than Bambi and the Care Bears combined.

The recently released "Happy Tree Friends: Overkill" proves once again that cartoon violence is not a thing of the past, but something that has been evolving from "Tom & Jerry" to "Wile E. Coyote" to "South Park" and now this.

Although the cartoon series has been enjoyed for years on the Internet, the "Happy Tree Friends" are taking a step forward in releasing a DVD that features everyone's favorite characters in an anthology of exciting adventures.

"Overkill" is actually a compilation of HTF's three previously released volumes, "First Blood," "Second Serving," and "Three Strikes," and also includes 19 minutes of bonus footage. The good part is that fans now only have to shell out $30 for the trilogy, little more than one volume previously cost alone.

For those who have no idea what the "Happy Tree Friends" are all about, the premise is a very simple one.

The creators take a bunch of the smallest, fluffiest and cutest animals around and put them through the most abominable, sadistic situations, all for the pure pleasure of watching cute things rip each other to shreds.

In one such short entitled "Flippin' Burgers," Petunia, Cuddles and Giggles are enjoying themselves eating fries at a burger shack. As Giggles accidentally spills ketchup on Cuddles, an adorable little cub named Flippy walks in. Flippy, by the way, is a Vietnam vet, so he goes crazy once he sees the ketchup spilled on Cuddles.

As he flips the table, the fries fly in the air. Flippy stabs Cuddles in the heart with a drinking straw, injects ketchup and mustard into Giggles' ears, and cooks Petunia's face on the grill until it's burnt.

Now that's entertainment.

At the end of each short, a quirky message is displayed that relates to the subject matter. This one happened to be "You are what you eat."

In the style of "The Itchy and Scratchy Show," "Happy Tree Friends" have definitely got the edge on every other cartoon in over-the-top violence and gore.

What makes the shorts so interesting is that each character has their own personality and each episode is no more than a couple of minutes, so the viewer never gets bored.

Violence and mayhem are the extreme opposites of cute and cuddliness, but in "Happy Tree Friends" the two come together to create something new and exciting that will feed the young public's empathetic minds for excessive and pointless violence.