Courage the Cowardly Dog is an American animatedcomedy horror television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network and the eighth of the Cartoon Cartoons. It was produced by Dilworth's animation studio, Stretch Films. The title character is an anthropomorphicdog who lives with an elderly couple in a farmhouse in the middle of "Nowhere". In each episode, the trio is thrown into bizarre, frequently disturbing, and often paranormal or supernatural-type misadventures. The series is known for its dark, surreal humor and atmosphere.
Dilworth pitched the series to Hanna-Barbera's animated shorts showcase What a Cartoon! and a pilot titled "The Chicken from Outer Space" aired on Cartoon Network on February 18, 1996.[1] The segment was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost to the Wallace and Gromit short film A Close Shave. The short was greenlit to become a series, which premiered on November 12, 1999, and ended on November 22, 2002, with 4 seasons each consisting of 13 episodes. During its run, it was nominated for three Golden Reel Awards and won one Annie Award.
We interrupt this program to bring you "Courage the Cowardly Dog" show, starring Courage, the cowardly dog! Abandoned as a pup, he was found by Muriel, who lives in the middle of Nowhere with her husband, Eustace Bagge. But creepy stuff happens in Nowhere. It's up to Courage to save his new home!
— The Nowhere Newsman, in the opening title sequence
Courage the Cowardly Dog follows Courage (Marty Grabstein), a kind yet easily frightened dog. He was abandoned as a puppy after his parents were forcibly sent into outer space by a crazed veterinarian.[2] Soon after, he was found in an alleyway by Muriel Bagge (Thea White), a friendly, sweet-natured Scottish woman, who decided to take Courage in as her own, and was inspired by the nature of this first meeting to give him his name. In the present, he lives with the now elderly Muriel and her also elderly husband Eustace Bagge (Lionel Wilson in episodes 1–33, Arthur Anderson in episodes 34–52, Wallace Shawn in The Fog of Courage, Jeff Bergman in Straight Outta Nowhere), a grumpy, selfish and greedy American man who regularly mistreats Courage out of jealousy and refers to him as "stupid dog", in a two floor, isolated farmhouse in what consists of a large, desert-like area in the middle of Kansas: the nearest town to the farmhouse is a fictional town with the literal name of Nowhere.
Courage and his owners frequently encounter monsters, aliens, demons, mad scientists, zombies, vampires, ghosts, and other such perils involving the paranormal or supernatural that are attracted to Nowhere. The plot generally uses conventions common to horror films. Although most of the creatures the three face are hostile, some only appear that way, but are simply suffering from distress and/or acting in desperation, and can even turn out to be friendly to them.
The task of protecting Muriel and Eustace from such dangers falls on Courage, who endeavors to thwart or reconcile with the monster of the week and remedy or repair any damages done. Although Courage is occasionally aided with that task, the full extent of his efforts is usually performed unbeknownst to Muriel and Eustace. Ironically, given his name, Courage may be considered a genuine hero who often goes to great lengths to protect his owners, and a genuine coward who still expresses much of his distress with over-the-top, piercing shrieks.
Although episodic in nature, there are a handful of recurring characters in the show's cast, including Courage's sarcastic, sentient computer (Simon Prebble); the family physician Dr. Vindaloo (Paul Schoeffler); a fortune-telling chihuahua named Shirley the Medium (Mary Testa); Eustace's mother "Ma" (Billie Lou Watt); villains Katz and Le Quack (both voiced by Schoeffler); and the antagonistic Di Lung.
Production
Creation
John R. Dilworth, the creator of the series photographed in 2014.
Originally, Courage the Cowardly Dog was created as a seven-minute animated short, "The Chicken from Outer Space". Dilworth started the animated short with Hanna-Barbera, sponsored by Cartoon Network and introduced Courage.[3] Dilworth graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York in 1985. He became an art director and founded his own animation studio, Stretch Films in 1991, and incorporated in 1994.[3]
The animated short was shown as one of the episodes of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons in 1996, a Hanna-Barbera Cartoons innovation by then-president Fred Seibert. The short served as a de facto pilot for the future series.[4] The original animated short had no dialogue except for one line spoken by Courage, who had a more authoritative voice than in the series. It was uttered by voice actor Howard Hoffman who also provided all the other vocal sounds and effects for the short.[3] An alien chicken was the villain in this short, who later reappears in the series to seek revenge. His sons also attempt to seek revenge in a later episode.[5] The short was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 68th Academy Awards, but lost to the Wallace and Gromit short film A Close Shave.[6]
In 1998, Cartoon Network permitted Dilworth to turn the short into an animated series. Hanna-Barbera was responsible for the What a Cartoon! anthology and intended on developing the series. However, Dilworth insisted on taking the production to his Stretch Films Studios. The stories' plots were mostly outlined in story conference sessions attended by John Dilworth, David Steven Cohen, Irvin S. Bauer, William Hohauser, Michelle Belly Dilworth, and that segment's scriptwriter. Many of the scripts were written by the show's head writer, David Steven Cohen, in addition to Irvin S. Bauer, Craig Shemin, Lory Lazarus, Bill Marsilii, Allan Neuwirth, Bill Aronson, and Michelle Belly Dilworth. Additional writing occurred in the animatic sessions directed by John Dilworth, supervised by William Hohauser with Jim Mitchell and Dan O'Connor.
Sound design
When deciding on sound effects, Dilworth tried to avoid pre-made stock sounds.[3] He contributed a substantial amount of new material to sound designer Michael Geisler and only looked for sounds that made him laugh. The composition of the series' music relied on what was being portrayed: suspense, comedy, or action. The production crew worked together to come up with new music for the series that had not previously been used. There were a few sections on one particular piece that Dilworth exceptionally liked.[3] The production crew was able to isolate these sections and expand them into a usable theme.[3] Dilworth further complicated the crew's job by suggesting layering the theme with a variety of funny sounds, a strange tempo, and a voice-over of a crazed laugh or person singing to give the music and sound effects their own personality beyond anything else out there.[3]
Original music featured in Courage the Cowardly Dog was composed by Jody Gray[7] and Andy Ezrin.[8][9] Classical music can be heard at times, which pays homage to classic Warner Bros. animation and the scores of Carl Stalling.[10] In several episodes, Gray arranged various famous classical pieces, such as Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries", and wrote up to 15 songs.[9]
Broadcast history
Courage the Cowardly Dog originally was premiered as a short on February 18, 1996. The show premiered on November 12, 1999, and became the highest-rated premiere in Cartoon Network history at the time.[11] It last aired on November 22, 2002, with 52 episodes produced in four seasons.
In total, there were 52 episodes in four seasons produced, plus a pilot episode and a special episode. The series ran from November 12, 1999, to November 22, 2002.
John G. Nettles of PopMatters reviewed the show and called it, "a fascinating and textured mixture of cartoon and horror-movie conventions, and a joy to watch."[12]
Alex Mastas of Lights Out Films reviewed the show gave it a grade "A−" and described it: "The backgrounds are rich and imaginative—they composite a lot of the show over real photos and occasionally integrate CGI into the cartoon. The look is weird and ethereal, just like the show itself."[13]
KJ Dell Antonia of Common Sense Media gave three stars out of five with the summary, "Cult fave 'toon plays over-the-top violence for laughs."[14] Antonia warned parents that the series contains graphic animated violence, including "exploding organs, growing extra limbs, turning inside out, you name it".[14] Randy Miller III of DVD Talk said that shows aimed at younger audiences "usually don't go for thrills and chills, so it's good to see a genuinely surreal and slanted series develop a decent following."[15]
Jeff Swindoll of Monsters and Critics reviewed the first season DVD and felt a bit disappointed about its lack of the original Hanna-Barbera short The Chicken from Outer Space.[16] Swindoll felt that the lack of special features should still not deter fans from buying the season since the other episodes have only appeared piecemeal on other releases of the series.[16]
Awards and nominations
Year
Nominee / work
Award
Result
Academy Awards
1995
John R. Dilworth For short film "The Chicken From Outer Space"
Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season One, a two-disc DVD set featuring all 13 episodes from the show's first season, was released in Australia (Region 4) on September 12, 2007, by Madman Entertainment.[19][20] On January 13, 2010, the complete second season was also released.[19][21]
A Region 1 release of the first season was done by Warner Home Video (via Warner Archive) on July 20, 2010. The release is the second in an official release of several Cartoon Cartoons on DVD, under the "Cartoon Network Hall of Fame" name.[22] The second season was released on October 14, 2014 as the fourth in the "Hall of Fame" series.[23] The third season was originally supposed to be released on DVD in Region 1 on February 2, 2016,[24] but it was delayed to (and was released on) March 22, 2016.[25] It is the fifth title in the Cartoon Network Hall of Fame series. The fourth and final season was released on September 27, 2016. Courage is one of the few Cartoon Network shows to be available in its entirety on DVD.
In addition, all four seasons of the series are available for download on iTunes.[26][27][28][29] The PlayStation 2 version of the video game Cartoon Network Racing contains the episodes "Robot Randy" and "The Magic Tree of Nowhere" as unlockable extras.
As of January 1, 2021, all 52 episodes (seasons 1–4) of the series are available to stream on HBO Max.[30]
The Powerpuff Girls: Dream Scheme (VHS): November 7, 2000 Episode(s): "Journey to the Center of Nowhere"Cartoon Network Halloween: 9 Creepy Cartoon Capers: August 10, 2004 Episode(s): "The Demon in the Mattress" - "Courage Meets Bigfoot"Cartoon Network Halloween 2: Grossest Halloween Ever: August 9, 2005 Episode(s): "Night of the Weremole"The Complete First Season: July 20, 20104 Kid Favorites: The Hall of Fame Collection: March 13, 2012 Episode(s): "A Night at the Katz Motel" – "The Gods Must Be Goosey"4 Kid Favorites: The Hall of Fame Collection Vol. 2: March 12, 2013 Episode(s): "Queen of the Black Puddle" – "The Great Fusilli"The Complete Series: October 2, 2018 Episode(s): Entire season featured
Cartoon Network Halloween 2: Grossest Halloween Ever: August 9, 2005 Episode(s): "Courage Meets the Mummy"The Complete Second Season: October 14, 2014[23]The Complete Series: October 2, 2018 Episode(s): Entire season featured
Cartoon Network Christmas: Yuletide Follies: October 5, 2004 Episode(s): "The Nutcracker"The Complete Fourth Season: September 27, 2016[32]The Complete Series: October 2, 2018 Episode(s): Entire season featured
In February 2012, BuzzFeed reported that a CGI special of Courage the Cowardly Dog was in development.[33] The special, titled "The Fog of Courage", aired in 2014.
In October 2018, Dilworth commented on a Facebook post that he was in negotiations with Boomerang for a prequel to the series under the working title Before Courage.[34] However, in May 2020, when asked about the project, Dilworth responded that it had been "transformed into another thing".[35] In June 2021, Dilworth revealed that the project was on turnaround as Cartoon Network's management is prioritizing their focus on other projects.[36] However, in January 2022, Dilworth revealed that the project has already been dropped and fell through for the same reason.[37][38]
Marty Grabstein and Thea White reprise their roles as Courage and Muriel, while Eustace is voiced by Jeff Bergman due to the deaths of the character's former voice casts Lionel Wilson and Arthur Anderson in 2003 and 2016, respectively. The film was released on DVD and digital on September 14, 2021.[39] The film also serves as a posthumous role for Thea White, who died in July 2021, around two months before the film's release date.[40] John R. Dilworth didn't have any involvement in this crossover.[41] According to animator and artist Tracy Mark Lee, the film's original premise was originally pitched as an episode of Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?.[42]
