The long running era of the Saturday morning cartoon has officially ended, but no one can stop you from fulfilling your true weekend calling. Cartoons and Saturday mornings were made for each other and no one can tell us otherwise. It is to that end that we maintain vigil, bringing you animated selections each Saturday morning until the internet dies, or until we run out, good thing there’s always reruns.
“Courage the Cowardly Dog” Created and directed by John R. Dilworth; Written by John R. Dilworth, David Steven Cohen, Irvin S. Bauer, Billy Aronson, Craig Shemin, Bill Marsilii, and Lory Lazarus; Starring Marty Grabstein, Thea White, Lionel G. Wilson, Arthur Anderson, and Simon Prebble. Series ran from 1999 to 2002.
“Courage the Cowardly Dog” is Cartoon Network series that premiered originally as a seven minute animated short at Hanna-Barbera’s World Premiere Toons showcase in 1996. The short, entitled “The Chicken from Outer Space” received a nomination the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film but was beat out by “Wallace and Gromit’s A Close Shave.”
The acclaim the short received resulted in Cartoon Network greenlighting a series which debuted in 1999 and ran for 52 episodes. The series follows Courage, a pink dog, and his owners Muriel and Eustace Bagge. The three of them live in a small house in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas. Each episode puts the three of them in a dire situation, usually at the hands of some mythological creature or supernatural phenomenon. Courage is tasked with keeping Muriel and Eustace, who are seemingly oblivious to what’s going on around them, out of harm’s way.
Watching the show as a kid I remember being freaked out by it but intrigued at the same time. My attitude toward the show then reflects my attitude toward horror then, it’s exciting yet uncomfortable. Watching “Courage the Cowardly Dog” again now as an adult I feel the same feelings resurfacing, it holds up and is genuinely disturbing at times. It makes me curious why it ran on Cartoon Network during daylight hours instead of as a part of Adult Swim where it would have felt right at home.
I find myself, however, fighting through the discomfort to watch it more and more because it went into some uncharted cartoon territory and it did it in the light of day and garnered a respectable following.
One fan theory suggests that the events of the series are simply the imaginings of a small scared dog and none of it is real. This theory makes sense because it explains why Eustace and Muriel are always completely unaware of what’s going on and why Eustace is so frustrated with Courage. While it’s also perfectly acceptable to just take it at face value, it is a cartoon afterall and the rules of our reality need not apply, but it does make sense. I’ve met dogs like courage.
Whatever it is, it’s fun, and freaky, and absolutely addicting.
I’ve selected two episodes for viewing today, first off, season one, episode four:
“The Demon in the Mattress/Freaky Fred”
Wherein Muriel purchases a miracle mattress that comes with a free possession. It’s essentially a slightly toned down interpretation of the “The Exorcist” and then her nephew Fred arrives for a visit. Fred is one of the creepiest cartoon characters I’ve ever seen. He’s like if the Joker washed off the makeup and went to visit his elderly aunt.
As well as the 52nd and final episode:
“Remembrance of Courage/Perfect.”
Wherein we see Courage’s origin story, how he lost his parents and met Muriel and the machinations of a mysterious veterinarian turned mad scientist. Then Courage is visited by an obedience trainer who demands nothing short of perfection. Courage is faced with crushing doubt as well as vivid and terrifying nightmares.