Courage the Cowardly Dog

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. It's up to Courage to save his new home!

— The Nowhere Newsman, in the opening title sequence

Courage the Cowardly Dog follows Courage (Marty Grabstein), a kind yet easily frightened troublesome dog. He was abandoned as a puppy after his parents were sent into outer space by a crazed veterinarian.[3] Soon after, he was found in an alleyway by Muriel Bagge (Thea White), a friendly and caring Scottish woman who decided to take Courage in as her own, and was inspired by the nature of this first meeting to give him his name. In the present, he lives with the now elderly Muriel and her husband Eustace Bagge (Lionel Wilson in episodes 1–33, Arthur Anderson in episodes 34–52), a cranky and greedy man who is often jealous of Courage and refers to him as "stupid dog", and frequently uses the "Ooga Booga" mask to scare him out of his wits in an isolated farmhouse: the nearest town to the farmhouse is a town called Nowhere.

Courage and his owners frequently encounter monsters, aliens, zombies, and other paranormal or supernatural creatures that are attracted to Nowhere. The plot generally uses conventions common to horror films. Although most of the creatures the three face are hostile, some only appear that way, but are simply suffering from distress, anger, and/or acting in desperation, and sometimes because they are depressed, but they can turn out to be friendly to them.

The task of protecting Muriel and Eustace from such dangers falls on Courage, who endeavors to thwart or reconcile with the monster of the week and remedy or repair any damages done. Although Courage is occasionally aided with that task, the full extent of his efforts is usually performed unbeknownst to Muriel and Eustace. Ironically, given his name, Courage may be considered a genuine hero who often goes to great lengths to protect his owners, and a genuine coward who still expresses much of his distress with over-the-top, piercing shrieks.

Although episodic in nature, there are a handful of recurring characters in the show's cast, including Courage's sarcastic, sentient computer (Simon Prebble); the family physician Dr. Vindaloo (Paul Schoeffler); a fortune-telling chihuahua named Shirley the Medium (Mary Testa); Eustace's mother "Ma" (Billie Lou Watt); villains Katz and Le Quack (both voiced by Schoeffler), and the antagonistic Di Lung (Tim Chi Ly).

In total, there were 52 episodes in four seasons produced, plus a pilot episode and a special episode. The series ran from November 12, 1999, to November 22, 2002.

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."[14]

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 a lot of the show over real photos and occasionally integrate CGI into the cartoon. The look is weird and ethereal, just like the show itself."[15]

KJ Dell Antonia of Common Sense Media gave three stars out of five with the summary, "Cult fave 'toon plays over-the-top violence for laughs."[16] Antonia warned parents that the series contains graphic animated violence, including "exploding organs, growing extra limbs, turning inside out, you name it".[16] Randy Miller III of DVD Talk said that shows aimed at younger audiences "usually don't go for thrills and chills, so it's good to see a genuinely surreal and slanted series develop a decent following."[17]

Jeff Swindoll of Monsters and Critics reviewed the first season DVD and praised all the episodes featured in the first season and encouraged fans to buy the season's DVD, but also noted the exclusion of the original Hanna-Barbera short The Chicken from Outer Space on the DVD.[18] In 2023 Indian Entertainment Journal Pinkvilla ranked the show no 1 of their list of top 10 1990s Cartoons and gave special praise to the critically acclaimed Season 2 episode "Courage in the Big Stinkin' City" and stated that the show remains enjoyable till present times.[19]

In February 2012, BuzzFeed reported that a CGI special of Courage the Cowardly Dog was in development.[36] The special, titled "The Fog of Courage", aired in 2014.

In October 2018, Dilworth commented on a Facebook post that he was in negotiations with Boomerang for a prequel to the series under the working title Before Courage.[37] However, in May 2020, when asked about the project, Dilworth responded that it had been "transformed into another thing".[38] In June 2021, Dilworth revealed that the project was on turnaround as Cartoon Network's management is prioritizing their focus on other projects.[39] However, in January 2022, Dilworth revealed that the project has already been dropped and fell through for the same reason.[40][41]

On June 22, 2021, Warner Bros. Animation announced an animated direct-to-video crossover film with Scooby-Doo called Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog. The film follows Scooby-Doo and his friends finding a suspicious object in Nowhere, Kansas where Courage and his owners reside.[42]

Marty Grabstein and Thea White reprise their roles as Courage and Muriel, while Eustace is voiced by Jeff Bergman due to the deaths of the character's former voice casts Lionel Wilson and Arthur Anderson in 2003 and 2016, respectively. The film was released on DVD and digital on September 14, 2021.[42] The film also serves as a posthumous role for Thea White, who died in July 2021, around two months before the film's release date.[43] Series creator John R. Dilworth did not have any involvement in the crossover.[44] According to animator and artist Tracy Mark Lee, the film's original premise was originally pitched as an episode of Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?[45]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Courage the Cowardly Dog.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Courage the Cowardly Dog.

• Courage the Cowardly Dog—Cartoon Network Department of Cartoons (Archive)
• Courage the Cowardly Dog at The Big Cartoon DataBase
• Courage the Cowardly Dog at IMDb
• Markstein, Donald D. "Courage the Cowardly Dog". Toonopedia.