The show is nearly free of speech; however, when the characters do speak, their words are severely garbled. Though it is easy to tell what each character's reaction is, their words can hardly be understood at all. According to the website, the idea for "Happy Tree Friends" was created by Rhode Montijo when he drew a yellow rabbit, slightly resembling the character Cuddles, on a piece of paper and wrote "Resistance Is Futile" underneath it.