Courage the Cowardly Dog

*Courage the Cowardly Dog*
Courage the Cowardly Dog
	File:Couragedog.png
Genre	Adventure; Black comedy; comic science fiction; comedy horror
Created by	John R. Dilworth
Directed by	John R. Dilworth
Voices of	Marty Grabstein; Thea White; Lionel G. Wilson; Arthur Anderson; Simon Prebble; Paul Schoeffler; Billie Lou Watt; Earl Boen; Peter Fernandez; Arnold Stang
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	52 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	22 minutes approx.
Production company	Stretch Films
Original release
Network	Cartoon Network 1999-present Boomerang from Cartoon Network 2009-present; produced by Stretch Films and Frederator Studios
Release	November 12, 1999 –; November 22, 2002; (Pilot aired on December 31, 1995)

Courage the Cowardly Dog is an American animated television series created and directed by John R. Dilworth. The central plot of the program revolves around the titular character, a somewhat anthropomorphized dog named Courage, who lives with his owners Muriel Bagge, a kindly old woman, and Eustace Bagge, a grumpy old farmer, in a farmhouse in the middle of the fictional town of Nowhere, in the U.S. state of Kansas. The series premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network on November 12, 1999 and ended on November 22, 2002.

Overview

Courage the Cowardly Dog revolves around Courage, a small, pink/purple dog, who despite his name is afraid of the most mundane things. His fears are justified as Eustace, Muriel, and Courage constantly run into monsters, aliens, Demons, curses, experiments, natural disasters, and other perils that Courage must face and overcome to save his owners and himself.

The show starts, "We interrupt this program to bring you: Courage, the Cowardly Dog! show." It then tells of the set-up for the series: "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." When the announcer says, "But creepy stuff happens in Nowhere:", it shows the season's villains.

The program often alludes to or spoofs horror, cult, and classic films. This is seen in some episode titles: The Demon in the Mattress, The Precious, Wonderful, Adorable, Loveable Duckling, Heads of Beef, Klub Katz, Night of the Weremole, Journey to the Center of Nowhere, The Great Fusilli, Robot Randy, 1000 Years of Courage, Invisible Muriel, Campsite of Terror, Human Habitrail, A Night at the Katz Motel, Courage the Fly, Mega Muriel the Magnificent, The Transplant, McPhearson Phantom, House of Discontent, Courage vs. Mecha-Courage and Hard Drive Courage.

Production

The Original Short Cartoon

Courage, The Cowardly Dog began as a seven minute short cartoon, "The Chicken from Outer Space". Shown in one of the episodes of the Cartoon Network What a Cartoon! Show, a Hanna-Barbera Cartoons innovation by then president Fred Seibert, the short served as a de facto pilot for a future series. The original cartoon had no dialogue except for a line spoken by Courage, who had a more authoritative voice than in the series. An alien chicken was the villain in this short, and would come back for its revenge in the series. (In a still-later episode, the single-bodied, triple-headed sons of the alien chicken attempt revenge, but only because their mother won't let them in the house until they kill Courage.) "The Chicken from Outer Space" was nominated for an Emmy as well as an Academy Award (the only nomination in Hanna-Barbera's long history).

Series

Cartoon Network gave Dilworth the okay to turn the short into a series in 1996. Hanna-Barbera Studios had financed the short, and was supposed to create the series; but Dilworth instead took production to his Stretch Films Studios. Stories were written by the show's head writer, David Steven Cohen, plus Irv Bauer, Craig Shemin, Lory Lazarus, Bill Marsili and Michelle Dilworth. The studio produced 4 seasons with 13 episodes in each season until the last original airing on November 22, 2002. In 2003 it was rumored that the network was considering a fifth season for the show, and many fans compiled an online petition for Cartoon Network to run that fifth season. However, the petition was never sent^{[citation needed]} to the network, which decided not to renew their four-year contract. There would probably not have been a fifth season at any rate: the production team had finished an exhausting year at the end of two full unbroken seasons, and felt that they were finished with Courage for a while^{[citation needed]}. They decided to work on a new series for Cartoon Network -- though this never went beyond pre-production^{[citation needed]}. That same year, there were talks about two new Courage projects, neither of which came to fruition. The first was a CD soundtrack produced by the series' composer Jody Gray, having music scores from the series and popular songs. The second was a possible feature-length movie; they did not discuss whether it would have been a made-for-TV movie or a theatrical release.^{[citation needed]}

Current status

On August 26, 2007 and again on October 7, 2007, a Courage marathon occurred in the US that consisted of 14 half hour segments running from 12PM-7PM, under the title of "Courage Monstervision Marathon". The most recent marathon was on August 13, 2009 on Cartoon Network. Boomerang, Cartoon Network's other network, decided to show Courage reruns every night.

In Australia, Courage reruns air on Cartoon Network in multiple timeslots throughout the week.

In India, Pakistan and Bangladesh Courage reruns air on Cartoon Network at 11 AM in the morning.

In the United Kingdom, the show also continues to air in reruns. Episodes are aired without commercials, not even for half-hour breaks. This is the only show on the UK version of this network aired in such a manner.

In Bulgaria, on March 31, 2009 Courage the Cowardly Dog started on Diema Family.

In Italy, Courage the Cowardly Dog is broadcast from 7 August 2009 on the satellite channel Boing. Before, it was also broadcast by La7 and Cartoon Network. Soon, also will air on Boomerang.

In Brazil, the show is broadcast by Tooncast throughout the week at 11:30 AM and PM. The show is also often broadcast by Cartoon Network.

References to Dilworth

Dilworth often references himself in episodes, putting Dil, a shortened version of his last name on most of the products used, such as tennis rackets, bug zappers, and Courage's computer. He also has a store named, "Dil's General Store", which references to him.

Characters

Episodes

DVD release

Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season One 3 VHS, 2 Episodes Per VHS by Warner Bros..{{, 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.^{[citation needed]}, On January 13, 2010 the complete second season was released. During the Warner Video conference on April 5, 2010 it was said that there will be a DVD set release following up to the Johnny Bravo season 1 dvd set which will be released June 15, 2010. The date is said to be July 20, 2010.(Source: tvshowsondvd.com)

Other releases

Additionally, select episodes from the series have been featured on various Cartoon Network DVDs.

Cartoon Network Halloween Volume 1: 9 Creepy Capers - The Demon in the Mattress / Courage Meets Bigfoot
Cartoon Network Halloween Volume 2: Grossest Halloween Ever - Courage Meets the Mummy / Night of the Weremole
Cartoon Network Christmas Volume 1: Yuletide Follies - The Nutcracker
Cartoon Network Christmas Volume 2: Christmas Rocks - The Snowman Cometh

External links

Template:Cartoon Network Original Series