Clause For Concern is an episode of the Happy Tree Friends internet series. It is the fifteenth episode of the third season, and sixty-ninth overall. It was also the first canonical episode after sixteen months of only shorts that said that the series was "dead".
Plot
A Santa Claus outfit is seen in a dryer in Pop and Cub's basement. Pop takes out the contents and brings them upstairs while Cub comes crawling and gets stuck in a sack. Pop puts on his Santa Claus outfit and prepares to drive for the mall. He puts his sack in the trunk and tries to close it, but he hears a scream. Pop tries closing it again, and soon succeeds. As he drives off, one of his tires hits a small rock, causing a part of the sack to fall and leave a trail of what appeared to be blood on the road, while a dog sniffs the scent and decides to follow.
Pop soon stops at a stoplight and discovers the dog trying to tear open the sack, with several other dogs waiting nearby. Pop comes and manages to pull it from the animal's jaws, as the sack flies onto a railroad. A train then runs it over, but Pop waits patiently for the train to pass. As the train continues to run, Pop continues to wait and eats a sandwich, even sharing with the dog he fought with. Pop soon reads a newspaper and eventually goes to sleep as the train still continues its course. After a long wait, the train finally passes. Pop begins to pick up the sack, but is stopped by another passing train. When the other train passes, Pop proceeds his task, but is once again interrupted by The Mole passing by on his handcar. Afterwards, Pop finally manages to pick up the sack.
Pop is then seen at the mall sitting on his throne. Truffles walks up to him, and Pop proceeds to pick up a gift from the sack. He picks up a talking doll whose head falls off, and Pop sees that the gift is broken. He tries to find something else, but picks up a paint tray smeared with red paint. He then picks up some sausages which is then eaten by one of the same dogs he got in trouble with, leading him to confusion. As it turns out, Cub was still at home inside another sack, popping out and laughing as the closing iris closes on him.
Moral
"Ignorance is bliss!"
After the credits, Cub is seen reaching for a light switch and is soon squashed by the door when a disappointed Pop opens it.
Deaths
- After the credits, Cub gets smashed by a door Pop opens, splattering his blood all over the wall.
Goofs
- The moon switches directions several times.
- In some shots, there are stars in the dark side of the moon, which is impossible for obvious reasons.
- Pop's Santa belt changes places several times.
Trivia
- The title of this episode is a pun of the phrase "cause for concern," which means one situation leads to something bad.
- The truth behind it all: Throughout the episode, it appeared to the audience that Cub was inside the sack due to "his" screams, signs of "blood", and dogs wanting to eat its contents. However, at the end, it was shown that the sound came from a doll which sounded like Cub. While the "blood" was actually red paint. There were also a bunch of sausages in the sack, explaining why it attracted the attention of the dogs.
- This is the first time that Cub crawls on all fours. Before this, he was usually seen standing upright and walking.
- "Deck the Halls" is heard when Pop is driving and stops at the stoplight.
- This is the first episode to air after a year-long hiatus of Happy Tree Friends, during which fans thought the series was cancelled due to several rumors. After the hiatus was ended, this episode was announced by the HTF short Tunnel Vision.
- This is the only full length episode to be released in 2011. The previous episode aired in 2010 and the next episode aired in 2012.
- This is the first episode in which a post-credits scene is shown after the credits.
- This is the first time Truffles appears in an episode unhidden, with his body in motion, and showing a new expression on his face. This could further imply that he may be given bigger roles in future episodes.
- This episode is one of the few times that Pop is seen without his hat (In this case a Santa hat).
- This is one of the few times where Pop had a larger role than Cub. Another example would be the TV episode A Hole Lotta Love.
- Pop's ignorance is further shown by leaving Cub alone without a babysitter, among other things.
- One of the animators listed during the credits was James Howlett (a fictional character from the Wolverine comics).
- During the credits, under Zydravomir "Z" Staykov, they put "#1 Lumpy Fan".
- One of the dogs has a similar appearance to Whistle, but grown-up and less vicious.
- Cub's death is similar to Toothy's death in The Carpal Tunnel of Love.
- Disco Bear also could have been Santa because he is overweight (as seen in Ipso Fatso).
- The moral of this episode might be a reference toward The Matrix (1999).
- This is the last appearance of the original Mondo Media logo, Later episodes then used the current Mondo logo.
- There are no female characters in this episode.
- The large dog with his hair blocking his eyes strongly resembles The Big Dog from the old Cartoon Network show "2 Stupid Dogs."
- If one doesn't count the scene after the credits, then this would be an episode with no deaths.