| Courage the Cowardly Dog | |
|---|---|
Intertitle featuring the main character Courage. |
|
| Genre | Black comedy Comedy horror Science fantasy Surrealism |
| Format | Animated series |
| Created by | John R. Dilworth |
| Voices of | Marty Grabstein Thea White Lionel G. Wilson Arthur Anderson Simon Prebble Paul Schoeffler Billie Lou Watt Peter Fernandez Arnold Stang |
| Opening theme | "Courage the Cowardly Dog" by Jody Gray and Andy Ezrin |
| Ending theme | "Courage the Cowardly Dog" (instrumental) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 52 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes (approx.) |
| Production company(s) | Stretch Films (series) Wang Film Productions Cuckoo's Nest Studio Hanna–Barbera Cartoons (animated short) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Cartoon Network |
| Picture format | SD: 480i |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| First shown in | July 2, 1995 |
| Original run | November 12, 1999 – November 22, 2002 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | What a Cartoon! Show |
Courage the Cowardly Dog is an American animated television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network. Its central plot revolves around a somewhat anthropomorphic dog named Courage who lives with his owners, Muriel and Eustace Bagge, an elderly, married farming couple in the "Middle of Nowhere" (the fictional town of Nowhere, Kansas). Courage and his owners are frequently thrown into bizarre misadventures, often involving the paranormal/supernatural and various villains. The series combines elements of black comedy, comedy horror, science fantasy and surrealism. It is rated TV-Y7.
The program originated from a short on Cartoon Network's animation showcase series created by Hanna-Barbera president Fred Seibert, "What A Cartoon!" titled "The Chicken from Outer Space". The segment was nominated for an Academy Award in 1996, and Cartoon Network commissioned a series based on the short. The series, which premiered on November 12, 1999, ran for four seasons, ending on November 22, 2002 with a total of 52 episodes produced. The series was the sixth and final series to be spun off from World Premiere Toons, and it was the eighth series to fall under the Cartoon Cartoons label.
Contents |
Courage the Cowardly Dog follows a dog named Courage, an easily frightened canine who lives in a farmhouse with Muriel and Eustace Bagge near the fictional town of Nowhere, Kansas. Abandoned as a puppy, Courage was adopted by Muriel Bagge (a sweet-natured Scottish woman), and her husband Eustace (a grumpy, greedy farmer who enjoys scaring Courage with a large, bright green, bug-eyed mask). Courage, Eustace, and Muriel frequently run into monsters, aliens, demons, mad scientists, zombies, and other perils that Courage must fend off to save his owners. Although most of the creatures that the three face are frightening or disturbing, some turn out to be sweet or simply in distress.
Originally, Courage the Cowardly Dog was created as a seven-minute animated short, "The Chicken from Outer Space".[1] Dilworth started the animated short with Hanna-Barbera, sponsored by Cartoon Network and introduced Courage.[1] Teletoon 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.[1] The animated short was shown as one of the episodes of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons in 1995, a Hanna-Barbera Cartoons innovation by then-president Fred Seibert.[2] The short served as a de facto pilot for the future series.[2] The original animated short had no dialogue except for one line spoken by Courage, who had a more authoritative voice than in the series.[1] An alien chicken was the villain in this short, and it would later reappear in the series to seek its revenge.[3] The short was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 68th Academy Awards.[4]
When deciding on sound effects, Dilworth tried to avoid pre-made stock sounds.[1] 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 previous been used. There were a few bars on one particular piece that Dilworth exceptionally liked.[1] The production crew was able to isolate these bars and expand them into a usable theme.[1] 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.[1]
Original music featured in Courage the Cowardly Dog was composed by Jody Gray[5] and Andy Ezrin.[6][7] Classical music can be heard at times, which pays homage to classic Warner Bros. animation and the scores of Carl Stalling.[8] In several episodes, Gray arranged various famous classical pieces and wrote up to 15 songs, such as Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries".[7]
Howard Hoffman provided all of the voices for the short.
In 1999, Cartoon Network gave Dilworth permission 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 written by the show's head writer, David Steven Cohen, in addition to Irv Bauer, Craig Shemin, Lory Lazarus, Bill Marsilii, and Michelle Dilworth. Courage the Cowardly Dog premiered on November 12, 1999, and became the highest-rated premiere in Cartoon Network history at the time.[9] It last aired on November 22, 2002 with 52 episodes produced in four seasons. Dilworth was quoted as saying, "In the western definition, I’ve only had one success - Courage. It has been extremely difficult obtaining patronage throughout my career and remains so today. Art is not something one does with an economic model to follow."[10] Answering the question whether there was any hope of new episodes of "Courage", Dilworth said, "Well, humans have a tremendous capacity to hope...There is no corporate economic rational to make any new episodes. I’ve read that there have been petitions signed by many many fans that never even got to Cartoon Network. Maybe a campaign of a substantial nature of this kind, that actually got to an exec, would be a provocation. However, the lack of courage by the merchandisers still remains. “Pink” or “fuchsia” dogs will not sell in a boy-dominated market place. This is rather complex, but the undercurrent of conservatism in America is strong and easy to intolerance." (sic) [6]
On August 26, 2007, Cartoon Network aired the "Monstervision Marathon" in the US that consisted of 14 half-hour segments of the show, running from 12pm-7pm. The marathon aired again on October 7, 2007 and again on August 13, 2009. After these events, the show was moved to weekend airings, until July 5, 2010 through June 10, 2011, when the show aired on weekdays only. It got replaced on June 13, 2011 for the 2 newest shows Sidekick and Almost Naked Animals. However the series got taken off of the summer of 2011. Boomerang, Cartoon Network's sister network, also usually airs the show during the winter months. On September 26, 2011, the show returned, once again, at 2:30 PM on Cartoon Network, replacing 2 Stupid Dogs. It stopped airing on November 18, 2011 and was replaced by Tom and Jerry Tales on Cartoon Network's schedule.
In Canada, the show was usually broadcast on weekends on Teletoon from 2000-2006.
In Spain, the show is broadcast everyday on Boing.
In the Netherlands and Denmark, the show still airs on Cartoon Network. In the Danish version, the series and the protagonist is called Frygtløs (literally: Fearless).
In Australia, reruns air on Cartoon Network in multiple time slots throughout the week.
In India, Srilanka and Nepal reruns air on Cartoon Network at 12:30 A.M. (Season 1-2) and 3:00 A.M. (Season 4).
In Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, reruns continue to air on Cartoon Network, and is also aired on Wikkid Plus(Pakistan Only).
In the United Kingdom, the show premiered on Cartoon Network in January 2000 and all seasons of the show were broadcast until 2003. During the mid-to-late 2000's, they continued to air the show in reruns as part of a 2 hour block featuring various other Cartoon Cartoon shows alongside it, which aired each evening from 11pm-1am. Episodes were aired without commercials, not even for half-hour breaks. This was the only show on the UK version of this network aired in such a manner, until the Cartoon Cartoon block was dramatically changed at the beginning of 2010 with more recent shows like Chowder and Ben 10. The show now gets rerun at 9pm every night, alongside Cow & Chicken, Samurai Jack and Johnny Bravo.
In Bulgaria, on March 31, 2009, Courage the Cowardly Dog aired on Diema Family.
In Italy, Leone il Cane Fifone was broadcasted on August 7, 2009, on the digital terrestrial channel Boing. Before, it was also transmitted by BBC, La7 and Cartoon Network. On Sunday, April 4, 2010, Cartoon Network Italy celebrated Easter by airing a marathon featuring rarely shown cartoons, including Courage the Cowardly Dog's first three episodes: "Una Notte al Motel Gatti" (A Night at the Katz Motel), "Lo Stufato Della Nonna" (Cajun Granny Stew) and "Leone e l'Ombra Malefica" (The Shadow of Courage). Since May 2010, Courage The Cowardly Dog has been back on Cartoon Network Italy, from Monday to Friday at 7am, at 2:30pm and 5pm. After being removed from Boomerang, it began its broadcast on the free channel Boing on March 30, 2009.
In Brazil, the show is broadcast by Tooncast throughout the week at 11:30am/pm and is also broadcast on Cartoon Network
As depicted in every opening sequence of every episode, a a TV anchorman announces, "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, and lives in the middle of Nowhere with her husband Eustace Bagge..."[11]
In total, there were 52 episodes in four seasons produced. The series originally ran from November 12, 1999 and ended on November 22, 2002.
A VHS tape of Courage the Cowardly Dog was released along with Mike, Lu & Og in 2000. The VHS tape is now out of print.[12]
Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season One, a two-disc DVD set featuring all 2 episodes from the show's first season, was released in Australia (Region 4) on September 12, 2007, by Madman Entertainment.[13][14] On January 13, 2010, the complete second season was also released.[13][15]
A Region 1 release of the first season was done by Warner Home Video 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.[16]
In addition, all four seasons of the series are also available for download on iTunes.[17][18][19][20]
| Title | Release date | Episodes | Region | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | September 12, 2007[13][14] | List of Courage the Cowardly Dog episodes | 4 | This two-disc release includes all 13 episodes from the first season. |
| Season 2 | January 13, 2010[13][15] | List of Courage the Cowardly Dog episodes | 4 | This two-disc release includes all 13 episodes from the second season including the pilot episode "The Chicken from Outer Space". |
| Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season One | July 20, 2010[16] | List of Courage the Cowardly Dog episodes | 1 | This two-disc release includes all 13 episodes from the first season. |
both episodes from the series were also featured on several Cartoon Network compilation DVDs:
Courage the Cowardly Dog received generally positive reviews from the television critics. 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."[21]
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 lot of the show over real photos and occasionally integrate CGI into cartoon. The look is weird and ethereal, just like the show itself."[22]
KJ Dell Antonia of Common Sense Media posted a review and gave three stars out of five and describes as "Cult fave 'toon plays over-the-top violence for laughs."[23] Antonia warned parents that the series contains graphic animated violence, including exploding organs, growing extra limbs, turning inside out.[23] Antonia gave a positive response that the series has very little, although Courage always fights for his cowardice, and another main character tries to harm Courage, as well as stating that all characters except two are prone to cruel remarks and behavior toward one another.[23]
Randy Miller of DVD Talk considered that the show is not fairly consistent, and they haven't aged much during the last decade.[24] Miller states that the show and believes: "It's obvious—especially in retrospect, if you were younger when the series first premiered—that Courage takes a very cinematic approach to its art, storytelling and characters, especially the horror genre."[24] Miller concurs that "usually don't go for thrills and chills, so it's good to see a genuinely surreal and slanted series develop a decent following."[24] Miller felt that Warner Bros. had the DVD treatment that doesn't offer much support and stated that the technical reasons is only passable that have lack of bonus features certainly doesn't help matters, and overall, fans of the series should be glad to have the first season on DVD and a relatively ticket of low price that ease the pain.[24]
Jeff Swindoll of Monsters and Critics reviewed the first season DVD and felt a bit disappointed about the DVD having not included the short in disc-set.[25] Swindoll felt that the lack of special features still should not deter fans from buying the season since the other episodes have appeared on other releases of the series.[25]
Many parents feel the show is too scary for kids . It included homages to many horror movies including the exorcist which was considered to be one of the scariest movies ever made.
| Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Annie Awards | Outstanding Individual Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Television Production[26][27] | John R. Dilworth For episode "A Night at the Katz Motel" |
Won |
| 2000 Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing — Television Animated Series — Sound[27] | For episode "The Duck Brothers" | Nominated |
| 2001 Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing — Television Animated Series — Sound[27] | For episode "Courage In The Big Stinkin' City" | Won |
| 2003 Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing — Television Animated Series — Sound[27] | For episode "The Tower of Dr. Zalost" | Nominated |
| Book: Cartoon Network
Book: Cartoon Cartoons |
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