"Tongue Twister Trouble " is an episode of the Happy Tree Friends internet series, the nineteenth of the first season. This episode continues Sniffles' eternal struggle with the ants. It also introduces Cro-Marmot, an ancient mammal frozen in a block of ice and Mittens/Honey, Giggles' beloved cat.
HTF's Episode Description
A leisurely ice skate goes horribly wrong in this snowy Happy Tree Friends episode. The ants once again take revenge on Sniffles the anteater. He just can't get a break!
Plot
The episode begins with the Happy Tree Friends enjoying a day on the ice, ice skating. Sniffles, meanwhile, seems to have some trouble with his footing. As Sniffles gets a good balance, an ant skates by. Fascinated, Sniffles proceeds to eat the ant. As Sniffles launches his tongue, his tongue misses the ant and instead hits the ice. Sniffles attempts to pull his tongue off the ice, but as he does so, he tears off the skin on the bottom of his tongue, which traps him.
The ants now use this as an opportunity to get back at Sniffles. First, they throw a toy mouse on Sniffles' tongue, and one of the ants releases a cat named Mittens/Honey. Mittens/Honey quickly jumps Sniffles' tongue, and she finds it so comfortable, she begins pricking her claws on Sniffles' tongue, making Sniffles shout in pain.
Behind Sniffles, one of the ants ties a rope to Sniffles' tail, and another ant is signaled to the next task. The other ant is seen holding a bottle of wine, and it swings it at an anvil, which is also tied by some rope. The anvil begins to sink into a hole in the ice. As the anvil sinks down, Sniffles is about to get pulled in as well. Luckily for him, his tongue is the only thing from making him fall in completely. Unfortunately, Mittens/Honey, still resting on Sniffles' tongue, uses her razor sharp claws to slice off Sniffles' tongue with one swing. With his tongue severed, Sniffles starts sliding into the hole, up until Sniffles sinks completely. Seconds after falling into the ice cold water, Sniffles re-submerges, now encased in a block of ice.
The final scene shows Mittens/Honey falling asleep on Sniffles' now severed tongue.
Moral
"Mind your manners!"
Deaths
- Sniffles is pulled into the water by an anvil and gets encased in ice, causing him to freeze to death or be put into suspended animation. (debatable because of Cro-Marmot)
Goofs
- Sniffles' scarf disappears as he begins sliding into the water.
- When one of the Ants ties the rope to Sniffles' tail, the rope was tied midway, but when Sniffles began to slide into the ice, the rope somehow moved further up his tail.
Quick Shot Moment
Just before Mittens/Honey comes out of her cage, there's a brief shot of Mittens/Honey resting on Sniffles' tongue.
(It looks exactly like the YouTube thumbnail for the HD version of this episode)
Trivia
- Cro-Marmot makes a brief cameo in this episode, skating by in the background. As this is his first appearance in the series, he is the only character who did not star in his debut episode.
- When Sniffles falls down, trying to reach down to catch the ant, his glasses are off for a brief second, showing he has small, dotted eyes (similar to the eyes of Cub and Mr. Pickles). Later in A Sight for Sore Eyes, Sniffles is shown to have typical HTF eyes.
- This marks the first episode where only the starring character dies and the featuring/appearance characters survive.
- Cro-Marmot being in a big block of ice and still surviving makes Sniffles' death debatable.
- This is the first episode of season 1 to be uploaded to the Mondo Media YouTube channel and the 5th overall of the Happy Tree Friends episodes uploaded.
- In conjunction with Cro-Marmot's first appearance, this is also the first episode to use the "Mondo" watermark up to Icy You.
- This is the episode with the lowest amount of goofs (not counting the ones without goofs; like Asbestos I Can Do).
- The episode with the highest amount of goofs is Concrete Solution.
- While his tongue is stuck on the ice, Sniffles' snout is as short as it would be from the TV series onwards.