YouTube 101: Subscriptions is the first video of the YouTube 101
series, YouTube's educational videos originated from various channels, made to teach new users how to use the site. Mondo Media represents this video using Happy Tree Friends characters. This video was released on February 9, 2010.
Cuddles the rabbit represents a typical YouTube user. He searches for, and then subscribes, to Giggles the chipmunk's channel. His other actions on the site also show off the subscription features, like her latest video uploads shown on his front page feed, her ratings, favorites, or comments on his videos, and the ability to broadcast a message to his subscribers. He can also view his own channel's subscribers and (after some hilarity) unsubscribe from the very same channel he just subscribed earlier.
The short can also be viewed on Mondo's official website.
"YouTube 101: Subscriptions" provides examples of:
- The Cameo: To showcase the subscriber list feature, Lumpy and Nutty appear as Cuddles's subscribers.
- Cardboard Pal: Disco Bear uploads a video of him seemingly being on a date with Giggles. At the end of the video, "Giggles" falls over, revealing her to just be a cardboard cut-out.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Cuddles becomes upset when he finds out Giggles's recently favorited video, thinking that she was dating Disco Bear (it's actually a cardboard cut-out of her).
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Many of the activity details and thumbnails can only be seen briefly.
- Instructional Film: On how to use YouTube's subscription system and its features.
- Interspecies Romance: The Giggles imagery in Cuddles's room is not subtle.
- Lighter and Softer: Aside from Freeze-Frame Bonus, no violence typical of the show this video originated from can be seen here.
- Limited Sound Effects: Much of Cuddles's voice work is reused from older official Happy Tree Friends works, mostly from the TV episode "In a Jam".
- Mythology Gag: Shots and artwork from various official Happy Tree Friends works are used as video thumbnails (except the Malt Shop video) depicted in this short.
- Non-Indicative Name: Happy Tree Friends fans should know that Cuddles's "Carpal Tunnel of Love" thumbnail is actually from an unrelated episode called "A Change of Heart", not the Fall Out Boy music video.
- Pink Means Feminine: The Giggles Channel is adorned with loads of pink like the chipmunk herself.
- Recycled Soundtrack: The background music is reused from the Happy Tree Friends episode "I've Got You Under My Skin".
- Sweetheart Sipping: Disco Bear does this with Giggles on their date to the malt shop in the video he uploads. Or rather, with a cardboard cut-out of her.
- Symbol Swearing: At one point, Cuddles types an angry string of profanities on the bulletin board to show his rage at Disco Bear (and to show the viewers how the bulletin board feature works).
- Troll: Disco Bear's "Giggles at the Malt Shop" video where he is apparently shown dating her. Cuddles badly takes the bait without even finishing the video, which shows "Giggles" collapsing and turning out to be a cardboard cut-out before Disco Bear shuts off the recording, revealing that he just tricked the audience.
- Vague Age: As a reference to how the Happy Tree Friends' exact ages are never specified, Cuddles lists his age as "??".
- Writers Cannot Do Math: Many instances of visual inconsistency can be spotted if the viewer looks closely, but this only lists the numeric errors.
- When Cuddles is on the homepage on YouTube, the video he's about to view has only 4 views, but on Disco Bear's channel it has over 2 million views and 2,961 ratings.
- Disco Bear has only uploaded 1 video, yet his channel info mentions 35. Similarly, Giggles only has 2 video uploads yet she's supposed to have 390.
- Disco Bear's video's length is actually about half the amount shown on the activity feed.
