Courage the Cowardly Dog

"The things I do for love..."

Courage the Cowardly Dog is an American animated horror comedy television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network as part of the network's Cartoon Cartoons block.

Plot

Courage is a timid pink dog with paranoia problems. His owners are an old couple living on a farm full of bizarre adversaries. Courage must overcome his fear and help save his owners, Eustace and Muriel, from ghosts and paranormal spirits living on the farm. Although Muriel loves Courage, Eustace loves to tease him and scare him.

Why It Rocks

1. One of the first Cartoon Network cartoons.
2. Capable of handing mature subjects well, such as domestic abuse, lesbianism, and implied prostitution.
3. Great sense of horror, as the villains in the show are delightfully creepy for its rating.
4. Interesting use of both slapstick animation and CGI.
5. Original and creative character designs.
6. Likable and funny characters, such as Courage, Eustace, and Muriel.
7. Awesome plot.
8. This show is basically a throwback to cartoons and animators from the Golden Age of Animation. such as Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, Ward Kimball, Max and Dave Fleischer, Walter Lantz, Hanna-Barbera, UPA, Jay Ward, Robert McKimson, Frank Tashlin, Terrytoons and even DePatie-Freleng. Think of it as Cartoon Network's answer to Animaniacs !
9. Amazing soundtrack, such as the background music playing in the intro.
10. Sophisticated, intelligent and dark episodes, such as Demon In The Mattress, where an actual demon possesses Muriel.
11. Unique humor.
12. Interesting and smart writing.
13. Amazing voice acting.
14. Some dramatic and sad episodes, such as the last episode, Remembrance of Courage Past which shows what happened to Courage's parents.
15. The wacky Looney Tunes-inspired humor is hilarious, similar to Tom and Jerry, Donald Duck, SpongeBob SquarePants, Woody Woodpecker, Animaniacs, The Lion King's Timon and Pumbaa, Tiny Toon Adventures and Paul Rudish's Mickey Mouse cartoons.
16. Beautifully detailed background design.
17. Earned a 2014 CGI revival special, which was well-received.

Bad Qualities

1. Eustace can be a very unlikable jerk, especially in the show's weakest episode, "Ball of Revenge".
2. Some imagery can be WAY too scary for children such as the infamous "You're not perfect." scene. It also got up to the point where even adults have claimed that they had nightmares (which may have led to the series' cancellation in 2002).
3. Some gross-out scenes.
4. Some character designs were reused.
5. The 2014 revival was only exclusive to Southeast Asia.
6. There are some bad episodes:
   • Hothead
   • Heads of Beef
   • The Curse of Shirley
   • Evil Weevil
   • Curtain of Cruelty (depending on your view)
   • So in Louvre Are We Two
   • Swindlin' Wind
   • Muriel Blows Up
   • Son of the Chicken from Outer Space (depending on your view)
   • Ball of Revenge (arguably the worst episode)

Trivia

• The names Muriel and Eustace are taken from the middle names of Chandler Bing and Ross Geller of Friends (1994).
• Courage's dialogue decreased after the first season. This is because the creators at Cartoon Network thought Courage "talked too much" and wanted his dialogue cut short.
• Lionel Wilson (Eustace) quit halfway through the series and was replaced by Arthur Anderson.
• This was voice director Peter Fernandez's favourite show that he worked on.
• Tim Chi Ly, who voices the recurring character Di Lung, was one of the show's animators.
• Throughout the show of "Courage the Cowardly Dog" John Dilworth's name was somewhere seen in the environment.
• In addition to hiding his name (or DIL) in every episode, a sketch of creator John Dillworth can be seen throughout most episodes in various locations (predominantly on the wall near the stairs in the house).
• Courage originated as a side-character called Hamilton in a grotesquely animated short called "Smart Talk with Raisin" that first aired as a segment in episode 1 of season 3 of MTV's "Liquid Television" animated anthology series. The character was then completely reworked and renamed to star in a short called "The Chicken from Outer Space" which aired as an episode of season 1 of "The Cartoon Cartoon Show" and became the de facto pilot for "Courage the Cowardly Dog" series which was animated and written in the same fashion and tone. There was one more Courage the Cowardly Dog short called "The Fog of Courage" that got released in 2014 as a proposed CGI pilot for the revival of the show, and it's also designed and written in the same tone as the original show.
• The show ends on somewhat of a downbeat note. The 2014 Courage CGI short called The Fog of Courage that was made to raise interest in reviving the show continues the series and ends on a much more lighter note.