Original music featured in Courage the Cowardly Dog was composed by Jody Gray and Andy Ezrin. Classical music can be heard at times, which pays homage to classic Warner Bros. animation and the scores of Carl Stalling. In several episodes, Gray arranged various famous classical pieces and wrote up to 15 songs, such as Wagners “Ride of the Valkyries.”
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 the Ooga-Booga Mask). Courage, Muriel, and Eustace 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.
Its central plot revolves around a somewhat anthropomorphic pink dog named Courage who lives with his owners, Muriel Bagge 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 show is known for its surreal, often disquieting humor and bizarre plot twists. The series combines elements of comedy horror, science fantasy, and drama.
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.” 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.
As depicted in every opening sequence of every episode, 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, who lives in the middle of Nowhere with her husband Eustace Bagge… But creepy stuff happens in Nowhere. Its up to Courage to save his new home!”
Plot Of Courage The Cowardly Dog
The plot revolves around an anthropomorphic dog, that is, a human-like animal that walks on two legs and possesses the emotions and qualities of a human.
Courage is a timid pink-colored dog who lives with a woman named Muriel and her husband Eustace in particular Nowhere. In fact, when the episodes air, if you notice you’ll find Eustace reading the “Nowhere News.”
However, their house was not like any other ordinary houses. It was located in a very barren place with no sight of civilization for miles. And what set it apart from the rest was the fact that each day, some creepy thing was bound to happen.
Sometimes aliens descend from space and sometimes mummies come back to life and ask for stones.
Courage saves the family from such dangers. Muriel had found Courage in a dark lane where he lived everyday in fear. It wasn’t easy to survive in a place like that and hence she named her Courage. Ironic as it may be, Courage was actually brave even if he were a shy dog.
Origin Of Courage The Cowardly Dog
Courage The Cowardly Dog is an American television series that is an amalgamation of the genres horror and comedy. It was created by John R. Dilworth specially for the channel Cartoon Network.
John R. Dilworth is an American actor, animator, director, writer, storyboard artist and producer. He began his journey in the New York School Of Visual Arts where soon he began creating his own animations.
After completing his degree in Fine Arts, he began his own animation studio called Stretch Films in 1991. John Dilworth has created some well known cartoons like The Limited Bird and The Dirdy Birdy however there was one such cartoon called The Chicken From Outer Space without which Courage The Cowardly Dog wouldn’t have come into existence.
On 20th February 1995, Cartoon Network began a series known as “What A Cartoon Show” which aired a series of different cartoons of the horror genre every week.
On one such week, The Chicken From Outer Space was aired which portrayed a single shot of Courage The Cowardly Dog and The Chicken fighting. It had absolutely no dialogues apart from Courage saying a line or two. In the year 1998, the producers of Cartoon Network approached John Dilworth with the proposal of turning his short animation story of Courage and the Chicken into a cartoon series. John Dilworth agreed to it on one condition, that the animation would be done by Stretch Films Studio. And thus, one year later on 19th November 1999, Courage The Cowardly Dog was aired for the first time on television.
