The Utterly Deranged Weirdness of Courage the Cowardly Dog

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uchytjes

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Mar 19, 2011
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Well THIS scene definitely tops the list of scariness:


But as for my favorite episode, it'd have to be the one where Murial (the nice old lady) gets turned into the most bratty kid ever.
 

ghostrider409895

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You know, as a kid I thought it was just there. I didn't really think that much of the show except the animations sometimes were really weird or gross sometimes, but otherwise I thought it was a short, entertaining although sometimes sad show. It was just there for the most part. Looking back now there were a lot of really disturbing things. There were serial killers. There were hunters who hunt humans. They had a brilliant idea in mixing and messing with animation styles to make something look out of place and creepy. I am surprised that it survived back then, considering now some of the stuff seems kind of shocking for on a cartoon only network, but at the same time it kind of makes me want to go back and re-read some of this stuff.

I remember a few shows in particular. One was a creepy show where King Ramses came back, just because the animated Egyptian king was rather scary, as were the third plague with the locus. I remember this one where it was a female that lived in the water, and she kept trying to lure Eustace and then tried to eat him. There was one where this man had became a living building, asking for auditions in order to gain wealth, and to see the body parts scattered about was creepy. I also felt really sad when the one with the alligator marionette controller turned Courage's family into puppets, and then Courage controlled the puppets in order to keep the illusion of them being alive. Those are ones I remember because there was just something about them I thought really creepy.

My favorite part though had to be the one where Courage was making macaroni and cheese for a kid version of Muriel, and she keeps telling him "More macaroni, more cheese" only to throw the creation in his face later claiming "I don't like macaroni and cheese."

When it comes to kids today, I think they would like it, although as I think about it older kids might get more out of it. I think Adventure Time exists and it has wacky stories that are a little nonsensical, but follows a vague story line with odd animation. Courage the Cowardly Dog could easily be considered on par if not better than Adventure Time. I think it would succeed very well.
 

Bolwing

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Mar 5, 2012
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Arakasi said:
No discussion of Courage the Cowardly Dog is complete without mention of Freaky Fred.
I ADORE that episode. Honestly. The Harvest Moon, the Pharaoh one (that CG was indeed terrifying) and the one with Muriel and Eustace turning into a mime and a clown are on the list of my favourites. There was also one with an alligator and its puppet show. Also awesome. A pity that it runs so late, though. It used to run around 2pm in my home country back in the day (what were they thinking, by the way?)

EDIT: Ah, yes, Fusilli. That was the alligator's name.
 

bigfatcarp93

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Mar 26, 2012
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I remember watching that show when I was really young. Like, before I had turned ten kind of young.

AND IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME.
 

chikusho

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MCerberus said:
chikusho said:
What I love most about it is the thought that everything happening in the show is actually normal life for Muriel and Eustace. The audience sees the world through the eyes of Courage, who is so afraid of everything around him that it turns into giant monsters in his mind.
That theory requires A LOT of mental gymnastics to accomplish though, especially when Eustace and Muriel are actively engaged in the goings-on. Like the hunchback that puts on a music number and then sick-burns Eustace, or the episode that featured Courage going off to end an abusive relationship.

Yah, there was actually an episode with domestic violence as a central point.
edit- ninjas. ninjas everywhere.
Actually, I think it explains a lot of things, like how most of the time Muriel and Eustace seem completely oblivious to all the danger, how Eustace is always fine after something horrible happens to him at the end, and the fact that their house is in the middle of nowhere is just due to that his owners are old and don't really walk him alot, so he only knows what's in the immediate area.
And when they are aware of danger, it's quite easy to think that Courage is simply imagining their cries for help because he feels the need to protect them.
 

Easton Dark

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Jan 2, 2011
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Oh man... King Ramses was the scariest thing ever when I first saw it.

Harvest Moon Spirit was the most unsettling though.

And the mob-boss foot fungus was the dumbest shit ever, I love it.

 

Dragon Zero

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Certainly one of my favorite shows, to this day I'll sometimes say "Yes" like the alien from the episode Car Broke Phone, Yes. One thing to not is that I think it had great music especially for a TV show, like the Cajun Fox, Dr Zalost, or the episode Revenge of the Chicken from Outerspace.
 

SoranMBane

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May 24, 2009
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I absolutely loved this show as a kid. It was one of my favourites, right up there with Invader Zim, Samurai Jack, and Digimon as one of those cartoons that I pretty much lived on as a child. I don't even remember ever getting freaked out by anything that happened in the show either; I just thought the "freaky" bits were cool (but then again, one of my favourite movie scenes back then was the bit in Jurassic Park where the lawyer gets eaten off the toilet, so maybe I was just messed up as a kid).

I can't pick a favourite episode or scene, though. There's just too much deranged goodness there to choose from. I suppose I did enjoy the sequels they made to the original pilot episode, where the space chicken comes back as a living roast chicken, and then later when his sons come looking for revenge.
 

Saxnot

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I really liked Freaky Fred, but my favourite is the one with the Schnownman doing a sean connery accent
 

Drops a Sweet Katana

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I never really liked it. In fact, I avoided it at all costs as a kid. It was just too damn creepy for me and freaked me out. I still can't really watch it with out being kinda disturbed. I can take comically surreal so long as it's not coupled with an oppressive, twisted atmosphere, which I should add was very well done. I respect the show, its creators and Cartoon Network for making and airing it. I couldn't see anything like it being made today, at least not for kids.

That being said, I wouldn't touch that shit in a million years. Just not my shtick.
 

Plasticaprinae

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I was never terrified to the point of crying due to Courage. As a child, I was pretty much scared all the time anyways (parents watched csi and crime stories around me), so having courage was very calming. It was showing me adult things in a safe way. It was a comforting sort of fear, if that makes any sense. It spurred my imagination. My favourite episode as a child was the one with the giant cockroach and the crappy motel. Im not sure if kids would like it today. Depends on the kid. I would probably introduce a child to different shows around that time, like samurai jack. They have a similar feeling. They both have a lot of love for cinematography and quietness.
 

MCerberus

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chikusho said:
Actually, I think it explains a lot of things, like how most of the time Muriel and Eustace seem completely oblivious to all the danger, how Eustace is always fine after something horrible happens to him at the end, and the fact that their house is in the middle of nowhere is just due to that his owners are old and don't really walk him alot, so he only knows what's in the immediate area.
And when they are aware of danger, it's quite easy to think that Courage is simply imagining their cries for help because he feels the need to protect them.
We'll just have to disagree before we're firing salvos at each-other from our head-canons then.
 

DementedSheep

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I use to watch it. It use to creep me out as a kid.

I don?t remember that much from it now. I remember the ?you?re not perfect? guy, the hair obsessed guy, an evil snowman, giant carrot, a cat? Fox? something with a hotel I think and the humans being turned into puppets...yeah that was a fucked up show. I would get my kids to watch it if I had any. :p
 

uchytjes

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Mar 19, 2011
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TizzytheTormentor said:
It was creepy, but I never found it crazy scary like many find it, I found it hilarious!

*finds tree cut down and goes to top of rock and screams so loudly that it causes the moon to shatter like glass*
Yeah. It never was really that creepy or scary unless you read into it. Except for the harvest god. That shit scared me shitless as a kid.
 

Kotaro

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Feb 3, 2009
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Loved this show as a kid, though it gave me nightmares a couple times.
Watching it again recently on Netflix... Yeah, it actually holds up rather well.

I'm going to sum up my thoughts on the show in a way that I suspect will end up being really quotable, so enjoy:
"'Courage the Cowardly Dog' is both disturbingly brilliant and brilliantly disturbing."
 

piinyouri

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Mar 18, 2012
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Fantastic surrealism that basically translates to a cartoon version of "The Twilight Zone".

Yeah it was a good show.