'Sick' cartoon coming to Britain

The cartoons have become a cult hit in the US

A violent new cartoon being touted as making "South Park look like the Tweenies" is coming to the UK.

Happy Tree Friends is a violent animated series that sees hapless woodland animals meet gory deaths at the end of each short episode.

A DVD of the cult US hit is being released in the UK, and TV stations are said to be interested.

"It's sick, twisted and extremely funny," said Natascia Phillips of the DVD distributor Revolver.

The 1950s-styled animations include a rabbit poking a fork into an electric plug socket, a bear being shredded by helicopter blades, and an anteater being set alight.

The cartoons were first seen on the internet, created by a team called Mondo Media, but have since been released in the US on DVD.

'Unfortunate accidents'

It will be available in the UK from 29 September.

"Happy Tree Friends makes South Park look like the Tweenies," said Phillips.

"They have fun and play together, then they die in a variety of horrible ways, mostly through unfortunate accidents or sometimes as a result of Flippy the bear's psychotic Vietnam flashbacks which prompt his regular killing sprees."

Happy Tree Friends co-creator Ken Navarro said: "I don't think we are intentionally making a statement. When it comes down to it, it's whatever makes us laugh."