Courage the Cowardly Dog is an American animated television series created and directed by John R. Dilworth. The pilot episode, "The Chicken from Outer Space", originally aired as part of What a Cartoon! on February 18, 1996. The series officially premiered on Cartoon Network on November 12, 1999, and ended on November 22, 2002, with a total of 52 episodes over the course of four seasons. A CGI special titled "The Fog of Courage" was broadcast on Cartoon Network in Southeast Asia on October 31, 2014. The series is about an anthropomorphic dog named Courage, who lives with an elderly couple in Nowhere, Kansas. In each episode, the trio are thrown into bizarre and frequently disturbing misadventures, often involving the paranormal or supernatural.
The 2021 direct-to-DVD film Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog is the only official Courage project in which Dilworth has no involvement.
Series overview
editEpisodes
editPilot (1996)
editTitle | Written by | Original air date [1] | |
---|---|---|---|
"The Chicken from Outer Space" | John R. Dilworth | February 18, 1996 | |
A cowardly pink dog named Courage tries to stop an alien chicken's plans to invade Earth while on his owners' farm. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, this short was featured on Cartoon Network's animation showcase program What a Cartoon! from 1995 to 1997 and shown as a bonus episode at the end of the home video release of Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost. |
Season 1 (1999–2000)
editAccording to the credits and sneak peek of the first episode,[a] the entirety of this season was produced between mid-August to late December 1999, while most of this season aired in early 2000.
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Storyboarded by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1a | 1a | "A Night at the Katz Motel" | John R. Dilworth and Irvin S. Bauer | John R. Dilworth | November 12, 1999[b] | |
1b | 1b | "Cajun Granny Stew" | John R. Dilworth and Irvin S. Bauer | John R. Dilworth | November 12, 1999 | |
2a | 2a | "The Shadow of Courage" | John R. Dilworth and Irvin S. Bauer | John R. Dilworth | November 19, 1999 | |
A wealthy miser dies alone in his observatory, releasing his playful shadow, who plays tricks and pranks aplenty on the denizens of Nowhere. | ||||||
2b | 2b | "Dr. Le Quack, Amnesia Specialist" | Irvin S. Bauer | Allan Neuwirth | November 19, 1999 | |
While repairing the roof of the farmhouse, Eustace accidentally hits a loose board, which flies down on Muriel, striking her in the head. She ends up suffering from amnesia, and Eustace uses this opportunity to throw Courage out of the house and convince her that she is a "slave woman" that has to do whatever he wants. Courage calls in the help of Dr. Le Quack, but realizes too late that the latter is a French duck impersonating a doctor and things escalate further from there. | ||||||
3a | 3a | "Courage Meets Bigfoot" | Irvin S. Bauer | Kevin Brownie | November 26, 1999 | |
A reward is offered for a Bigfoot's capture, filling Eustace with a greedy bloodlust. Courage, who eventually befriends the creature after at first being terrified, prepares to defend him from his avaricious master. | ||||||
3b | 3b | "Hothead" | David Steven Cohen | David Watchtenheim, Bob Miller and J.P. Dillard | November 26, 1999 | |
Tired of being bald, Eustace obtains an experimental hair tonic advertisement from the newspaper, which Courage finds has an explosive side effect. | ||||||
4a | 4a | "The Demon in the Mattress" | Irvin S. Bauer | Stephen DeStefano | December 3, 1999 | |
Unable to sleep on her old lumpy mattress, Muriel orders a new one. But as soon as it arrives, it is revealed that it apparently harbors an evil spirit, which proceeds to possess her as she sleeps. | ||||||
4b | 4b | "Freaky Fred" | David Steven Cohen and Bill Marsilii | John Flagg and Chad Hicks | December 3, 1999 | |
Muriel's unsettling nephew, Fred, a barber by trade, visits the farmhouse. Courage learns the hard way of how much Fred enjoys his profession. | ||||||
5a | 5a | "Night of the Weremole" | David Steven Cohen | Tom Nesbitt and Michael Wetterhahn | December 17, 1999 | |
Bitten by a vicious "weremole", Muriel transforms into a similar creature under the light of a full moon. As Courage finds the original monster in hopes of a cure, Eustace faces his deranged wife (whom he has mistaken for mice) with his brittle wit and trusty mallet. | ||||||
5b | 5b | "Mother's Day" | Irvin S. Bauer | David Watchtenheim and Otis Brayboy | December 17, 1999 | |
Eustace visits his mother for Mother's Day with Courage. Though Eustace tries to win his mother's love, she would rather dote on Courage, much to the master's envy and the pet's dismay. | ||||||
6a | 6a | "The Duck Brothers" | Craig Shemin | Dave Simons | December 10, 1999 | |
Controlled by a pair of alien duck siblings, Muriel attempts to break into a military compound to rescue the ducks' third brother. Having freed her from their grasp, Courage confronts the aliens and offers them another solution. | ||||||
6b | 6b | "Shirley the Medium" | Craig Shemin | Luc Latulippe, David Watchtenheim, and Michael Wetterhahn | December 10, 1999 | |
A locked box left behind by Eustace's late brother, Horst, defies Eustace's every attempt to open it. Through Shirley the Medium, a Gypsy chihuahua, Eustace contacts his brother for the key, despite Horst's warnings. As the cursed box releases a grabby terror, Courage pleads with the medium for assistance. | ||||||
7a | 7a | "King Ramses' Curse" | Bill Marsilii | Bob Miller, J.P. Dillard, and Brian Clark | January 7, 2000 | |
A pair of "cat burglars" heist a precious, ancient slab, and are confronted with the ghost of its Egyptian owner, King Ramses. Torn from their hands by Ramses' curse, the slab happens upon the farmhouse. When Eustace is greedily unwilling to part with such a valuable treasure as informed by Professor Frith, the Pharaoh's ghost constantly demands "Return the slab" and ravages the farmhouse with a triad of plagues. | ||||||
7b | 7b | "The Clutching Foot" | David Steven Cohen | Curtis Cim | January 7, 2000 | |
A fungus on Eustace's foot gains sentience and consumes him whole, becoming a quintet of old-fashioned mobsters. With his beloved Muriel threatened by the crushing extortion of the infections gangsters, Courage races for a cure. | ||||||
8a | 8a | "The Hunchback of Nowhere" | Irvin S. Bauer | Dave Simons | January 14, 2000 | |
A hideous yet kind-hearted hunchback seeks refuge from the cold, rainy night. Spurned by Eustace, he hides away in the barn, where Courage finds and befriends him. Eustace, jealous of the attention that his family gives the guest, berates and belittles him, until the hunchback shows Eustace what true ugliness is. | ||||||
8b | 8b | "The Gods Must Be Goosey" | David Steven Cohen | Michael Wetterhahn, John Flagg, J.P. Dillard, and Pilar Newton | January 14, 2000 | |
A divine goose falls in love with the portly Muriel. As he beckons her to a paradise above, Courage battles the heavenly gander for his irreplaceable owner. | ||||||
9a | 9a | "Queen of the Black Puddle" | Bill Marsilii | Chad Hicks | January 21, 2000 | |
A single puddle remains eerily behind after a dark rainstorm, hiding a terrible secret. After its quiet queen steals Eustace away, Courage dives into her world to rescue him. | ||||||
9b | 9b | "Everyone Wants to Direct" | Craig Shemin | Antonio Zurera, Luiz de Velasco, Javier Jerez, Jesus Alonso, and Rodrigo Cubillo | January 21, 2000 | |
Dazzled by "famous director" Benton Tarantella's guile and wit, Courage's owners grant the grisly director their basement for his movie. Learning the director's dark intent, the dog scrambles to prevent a ravenous resurrection. | ||||||
10a | 10a | "The Snowman Cometh" | Irvin S. Bauer | David Watchtenheim | January 28, 2000 | |
Faced with an inevitable, melting demise, the Last of the Snowmen laments his fate. But when he spies Courage and his owners, inexplicably on vacation in the Arctic, he plots to sap them of their anti-melting gene to stave off his own destruction. | ||||||
10b | 10b | "The Precious, Wonderful, Adorable, Lovable Duckling" | Irvin S. Bauer | Curtis Cim | January 28, 2000 | |
Inadvertently hatched by Eustace, a tiny duckling mistakes him for its mother and quickly grows fiercely protective. The duckling soon becomes jealous of Muriel. Sensing its fatally intentions upon her, Courage battles the duckling for the safety of his owner. | ||||||
11a | 11a | "Heads of Beef" | Irvin S. Bauer | Keith Tucker, Bob Miller, and J.P. Dillard | February 18, 2000 | |
While a sick Muriel stays home on the couch, Eustace takes Courage with him and they go out for hamburgers at a local diner run by a seemingly friendly couple of pigs. Wandering into their basement, however, Courage begins to think that it may not be cow's meat being served there. | ||||||
11b | 11b | "Klub Katz" | David Steven Cohen | Tom Nesbitt and David Watchtenheim | February 18, 2000 | |
Marooned during a cruise, Courage and his owners once again run afoul of Katz. Transformed at his spa into machines designed to fight for Katz's amusement, Muriel places her hope of rescue on Courage. | ||||||
12a | 12a | "The Revenge of the Chicken from Outer Space" | John R. Dilworth and Irvin S. Bauer | John R. Dilworth | June 9, 2000 | |
Now fried and headless, Courage's first nemesis, the alien chicken, returns to Earth for a belated retaliation. It attempts to gain Muriel's head, but gains Eustace's instead and attempts to take Courage down, but fails and ends up being blasted by a rocket ship. | ||||||
12b | 12b | "Journey to the Center of Nowhere" | Craig Shemin | John Flagg and Michael Wetterhahn | June 9, 2000 | |
Angered both by a drought and Muriel's use of eggplants in cooking, a humanized troupe of eggplants plot her downfall deep underground. | ||||||
13a | 13a | "Little Muriel" | David Steven Cohen | Mauro Casalese and Michael Wetterhahn | July 14, 2000 | |
Muriel is sucked into a tornado and returns as a 3½-year-old. Courage must find a way to get her back to her correct age. | ||||||
13b | 13b | "The Great Fusilli" | Irvin S. Bauer | Tom Nesbitt, Eduardo Soriano, David Watchtenheim, and Michael Wetterhahn | July 14, 2000 | |
An alligator named the Great Fusilli arrives at the farmhouse, offering Courage and his owners a chance to perform with him and become rich. As his dark intentions unfold, he turns Muriel and Eustace into puppets. Courage must use Fusilli's own thespian vanity to best him. |
Season 2 (2000–2002)
editNote: All episodes in this season (except episodes 1 and 13) were written by David Steven Cohen.
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Storyboarded by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
14a | 1a | "The Magic Tree of Nowhere" | John R. Dilworth | David Watchtenheim | October 31, 2000 | |
A wish-granting tree grows by the farmhouse. Envious of all the attention it gets from his family, Eustace decides to chop it down. | ||||||
14b | 1b | "Robot Randy"[c] | John R. Dilworth | Michael Wetterhahn | October 31, 2000 | |
Conforming to his race's whims, a giant robot named Randy reluctantly travels to Earth and enslaves Courage and his owners in order to prove to his people that he is not a failure. | ||||||
15a | 2a | "The Curse of Shirley" | David Steven Cohen | David Watchtenheim | December 8, 2000 | |
As a result of Eustace's cruelty, an angry Shirley lays a rain/thunder cloud curse upon him. | ||||||
15b | 2b | "Courage in the Big Stinkin' City" | David Steven Cohen | David Watchtenheim | December 8, 2000 | |
Courage and his owners go to New York City for Muriel to perform at Radio City Music Hall in Rockefeller Center. A giant cockroach named Schwick (short for "Buschwick") offers to let them stay at his place until the show. Schwick forces Courage to fetch an "evil package" for him, or he will release his deadly pet to devour Muriel. | ||||||
16a | 3a | "Family Business" | David Steven Cohen | Bradley C. Rader | December 29, 2000 | |
A burglar breaks into the farmhouse and attacks Courage and his owners, gaining their complicity against their will. However, he suffers from multiple personality disorder, claims to be a relative, and his attitude towards them changes. | ||||||
16b | 3b | "1000 Years of Courage" | David Steven Cohen | Eddy Houchins and Dave Simons | December 29, 2000 | |
Due to a meteor impacting the planet, Courage and his owners are hurled a thousand years into a future inhabited by banana people. They follow the banana people to a castle called Bananahalla, where supposedly everyone's question is answered. Unknown to them, the castle is a trap in which a Giant Gorilla feeds on the unsuspecting banana people entering it. Courage must save his owners and the banana people from the Giant Gorilla. | ||||||
17a | 4a | "Courage Meets the Mummy" | David Steven Cohen | Mauro Casalese and Alex Leung | January 19, 2001 | |
After being accidentally summoned by archaeologist Professor Frith, the mummy of a Mayan baker seeks revenge for the injustice that was done to him thousands of years earlier. Courage manages to hypnotize his owners to be identified respectively as the historical Mayan princess and poohbah for their personal protection. After the mummy feels satisfied of being innocent from his historical accusation, he decides to go home to his tomb in Chichen Itza. Muriel generously gives him a polka-dotted bed sheet as his new entombment, but it originally belonged to Eustace. Eustace pursues the Mayan mummy and cleverly disguises himself as a mummy inside the Mayan baker's tomb. He angrily shouts at him to return the bed sheet. | ||||||
17b | 4b | "Invisible Muriel" | David Steven Cohen | Jason So | January 19, 2001 | |
Muriel becomes invisible when she wears a magical gem given to her by Courage, unknowingly. When she is soon captured by the government, Courage and Eustace, with the help of Dr. Vindaloo, set out to rescue her. | ||||||
18a | 5a | "Human Habitrail" | David Steven Cohen | John T. Miller | February 16, 2001 | |
A gerbil doctor, pretending to sell vacuums, shrinks Muriel and Eustace, planning on using them for an experiment of his abstract products. Courage sets out to win his owners back. | ||||||
18b | 5b | "Mission to the Sun" | David Steven Cohen | Dave Simons | February 16, 2001 | |
The sun is about to go out, so Courage and his owners go to outer space to fix it. Meanwhile, a tiny space-dwelling creature named Mustafa al Bacterius goes inside Muriel's brain and starts making her go insane so that their mission ends up disastrous. He wants them to fail because he along with all the other aliens see all Earthlings abusing their planets, and that all aliens like the dark. | ||||||
19a | 6a | "Courage the Fly" | David Steven Cohen | Chris Rutkowski | March 16, 2001 | |
Di Lung, a young Chinese American inventor who is experimenting, turns Courage into a fly. Courage soon must figure out how to save the farmhouse while still in fly-form before a giant satellite falls on it. | ||||||
19b | 6b | "Katz Kandy" | David Steven Cohen | Jordan Oliwa and Alex Leung | March 16, 2001 | |
Katz is determined on winning the Nowhere Sweet-Stuff contest and kidnaps Muriel in order to get her secret recipe. Meanwhile, Courage must defeat Katz in a staring contest. It will take a surprising hero to come to both Courage and Muriel's rescue and save the day. | ||||||
20a | 7a | "Nowhere TV" | David Steven Cohen | Jesus Alonso, Javier Jerez, Luis de Velasco, and Antonio Zurera | April 13, 2001 | |
Le Quack hypnotizes Muriel and Eustace through television so they can be transformed into slaves and steal a large amount of lottery money to bring to him. | ||||||
20b | 7b | "Mega Muriel the Magnificent" | David Steven Cohen | Bruce Morris | April 13, 2001 | |
A thunderstorm causes Courage's computer to come to life. It downloads itself into Muriel's body to prove how daring and death-defying it can be. | ||||||
21a | 8a | "Bad Hair Day" | David Steven Cohen | Curtis Cim | May 18, 2001 | |
Dr. Vindaloo is bribed into telling the Growth Industries that Muriel has a rare blood type, ABXYZ. Courage must rescue Muriel from the Growth Industries and Eustace's mother, Ma. | ||||||
21b | 8b | "Forbidden Hat of Gold" | David Steven Cohen | Bob Foster | May 18, 2001 | |
Eustace finds Horst's map leading to a hat made of gold. He reluctantly takes Muriel and Courage along, and his greed eventually leads them all into danger. | ||||||
22a | 9a | "Serpent of Evil River" | David Steven Cohen | Mauro Casalese and Alex Leung | June 1, 2001 | |
Courage and his owners are suckered into a free cruise, only to be tricked into assisting the captain in capturing an opera-loving sea serpent named Carmen. | ||||||
22b | 9b | "The Transplant" | David Steven Cohen | Trevor Hierons | June 1, 2001 | |
Courage finds the bones of a giant kangaroo monster. When Eustace attempts to auction them to discoverers, he ends up twisting his spine. Dr. Vindaloo does a disc-transplant on Eustace, causing him to transform into a kangaroo monster himself. | ||||||
23a | 10a | "Car Broke, Phone Yes" | David Steven Cohen | Jesus Alonso, Javier Jerez, Luis de Velasco, and Antonio Zurera | October 26, 2001 | |
A floating alien brain steals Muriel's kindness and takes it back to its master, leaving Courage under two angry owners until he can retrieve it. | ||||||
23b | 10b | "Cowboy Courage" | David Steven Cohen | Dave Simons | October 26, 2001 | |
Courage dreams that he and his owners were in the Old West, with Courage playing the sheriff, Muriel as the bartender, and Eustace as the outlaw. | ||||||
24a | 11a | "Evil Weevil" | David Steven Cohen | David Watchtenheim | November 2, 2001 | |
Eustace accidentally hits a human-sized boll weevil named Jeeves with his truck, and Muriel invites him to spend the night. Unfortunately, Jeeves soon begins sucking Eustace and Muriel's lives away. | ||||||
24b | 11b | "McPhearson Phantom" | David Steven Cohen | Bruce Morris | November 2, 2001 | |
Muriel and Eustace's marriage is tested when they are manipulated into turning against each other by a crafty phantom and an unlikely accomplice, Eustace's mother, Ma. | ||||||
25a | 12a | "The House of Discontent" | David Steven Cohen | Jesus Alonso, Javier Jerez, Luis de Velasco, and Antonio Zurera | November 9, 2001 | |
The spirit of the harvest moon appears one night, demanding that Courage and his owners leave since Eustace cannot seem to grow anything on their land. | ||||||
25b | 12b | "The Sand Whale Strikes"[d] | David Steven Cohen | Glenn Lovett | November 9, 2001 | |
A sand whale arrives at the farmhouse and mistakes Eustace for his deceased father, Ickett, demanding the return of his accordion he swindled from him. Eustace tries to explain that his mother, Ma, has it but the sand whale does not believe him. The whale devours Muriel and Eustace and heads off. Courage must convince stubborn old Ma to give the whale back his accordion in order to win Muriel and Eustace back. | ||||||
26 | 13 | "The Tower of Dr. Zalost"[e] | John R. Dilworth | David Watchtenheim | January 11, 2002 | |
An extremely depressed and misunderstood professor named Dr. Zalost is incapable of dealing with his sorrowful condition by himself. Overcome by his jealousy of other people's happiness, he lashes out at Nowhere, firing unhappy cannonballs out of his walking tower and plummets the entire town into a state of depression. To gain happiness, he seeks economic elements from the representatives of Nowhere, but when he does not experience relief, he refuses to undo what he has inflicted. With Muriel befalling the effects of the unhappy cannon balls, Courage ventures into the tower of Dr. Zalost to undo the sorrow of Nowhere and the malevolent professor. |
Season 3 (2001–2002)
editNo. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
27a | 1a | "Muriel Meets Her Match" | Katy McLaughlin and David Steven Cohen | November 16, 2001 | |
A pair of married criminals are on the run and they camp next to the farmhouse, with one of them eventually assuming Muriel's identity, which leads to Muriel being framed and arrested. Courage must clear Muriel's name. | |||||
27b | 1b | "Courage vs. Mecha-Courage" | Jeff Kunkin and Bruce Wilpon | November 16, 2001 | |
Di Lung feels that Courage is not a good enough dog and builds a mechanical version of him as a replacement. Courage decides to stop him by a fight. | |||||
28a | 2a | "Campsite of Terror" | Craig Shemin and David Steven Cohen | February 8, 2002 | |
Courage and his owners go to a campsite for the weekend. All seems well until Courage and Muriel encounter two orphaned lonely raccoons, who beat Courage up and tie him to a tree before they kidnap Muriel so that she can be their mother while also taking all of Courage's owners' personal belongings in the process. After Courage frees himself and saves Eustace, who was attacked by the raccoons earlier, they begin searching for Muriel, their belongings, and the raccoons. Along the way, they see a poster of a $50,000 reward offer for the raccoons' capture. Courage must choose which side to root for. | |||||
28b | 2b | "Record Deal" | Susan Kim | February 8, 2002 | |
While spring cleaning, Shirley finds a mystic Velvet Vic record. When she throws it out, Eustace finds it. But when he listens to it, the actual Velvet Vic comes out of the player and traps Muriel in the record. Courage must get help from Shirley who can tell him how to get Muriel out of the record. | |||||
29a | 3a | "Stormy Weather" | Billy Aronson | March 15, 2002 | |
A storm goddess mistakes Courage for her own dog Duncan and decides to take him, making Muriel furious. However, the goddess's rage causes violent storms to occur. Courage must find Duncan before it is too late. | |||||
29b | 3b | "The Sandman Sleeps" | David Steven Cohen | March 15, 2002 | |
Muriel develops insomnia after the Sandman steals her sleep. After several failed attempts to get Muriel back to sleep, Courage must find the Sandman in order to get her sleep back. | |||||
30a | 4a | "Hard Drive Courage" | Susan Kim | June 7, 2002 | |
Courage's computer develops a virus and it traps Muriel inside. Courage must go into the digital world to bring her back. | |||||
30b | 4b | "The Ride of the Valkyries" | Billy Aronson | June 7, 2002 | |
While Courage and his owners are on holiday in Norway, three Valkyries mistake Muriel as their sister and carry her off into the sky where they will fight against the trolls on the next day. Courage sets out to win Muriel back. | |||||
31a | 5a | "Scuba Scuba Doo" | Lori Lazarus | June 14, 2002 | |
While on a tropical island, Courage and Muriel discover an underwater city made of coral. There, they befriend the citizens. Meanwhile, Eustace informs his mother that there are small creatures living in the coral. She decides that the coral there can make fine wigs and sets off to destroy the coral city and evict the creatures of their coral for her wig factory. | |||||
31b | 5b | "Conway the Contaminationist" | Craig Shemin | June 14, 2002 | |
A strange elderly man named Conway moves in with Courage and his owners. He changes their lives when he assists them to live in a life of filth, causing a potential bio-hazard. | |||||
32a | 6a | "Katz Under the Sea" | David Steven Cohen | June 21, 2002 | |
Displeased by Eustace, Muriel takes Courage with her and they go on a submarine vacation. They realize too late that it is being run by one of their old enemies, Katz. | |||||
32b | 6b | "Curtain of Cruelty" | David Steven Cohen, Mike Samonek and John Reynolds | June 21, 2002 | |
When a strange pink curtain is going through Nowhere making the citizens cruel and mean, Courage finds out that all of this is caused by Professor Mean, who is also cruel and unhappy, and wants everyone else to be cruel and unhappy too. | |||||
33a | 7a | "Feast of the Bullfrogs" | Lory Lazarus | June 28, 2002 | |
A group of bullfrogs, who have had all the water in their pond dried up, start to invade the farmhouse for water. There, they enslave Courage and his owners, forcing them to act like frogs. | |||||
33b | 7b | "Tulip's Worm" | David Steven Cohen | June 28, 2002 | |
Two alien teddy bears blast the citizens out of sight when they are looking for a giant worm. Courage discovers the worm outside of the farmhouse, and it reacts whenever he plays a tuba. The space bears come to the scene, and reveal that the little worm is actually a space worm owned by an intergalactic childish human girl named Tulip. As Muriel and the two teddy bears are swallowed by the beast, Courage must take the worm to outer space before Muriel and the bears are digested. | |||||
34a | 8a | "So in Louvre Are We Two" | Billy Aronson | July 5, 2002 | |
While Courage and his owners are visiting the Louvre, Muriel is convinced that the Mona Lisa looks just like her, and they are like sisters. After the guard is convinced that it looks nothing like Muriel, he locks the museum, expecting everyone to be out. Little does he know that Courage and his owners are trapped inside, and the paintings come to life. | |||||
34b | 8b | "Night of the Scarecrow" | Susan Kim | July 5, 2002 | |
After leaving a county fair, Courage and his owners get lost through a cornfield and crash into a scarecrow. They take him home where Muriel fixes him up and makes him a mouth so he can talk. He soon becomes depressed when he is not scary enough to frighten away Muriel's attackers, so he decides to train himself to be a much stronger and scarier scarecrow to protect Muriel. | |||||
35a | 9a | "Mondo Magic" | Craig Shemin | July 12, 2002 | |
Muriel feels she is being watched by someone. Courage discovers a magic kit on the porch. After doing tricks with it, a magician named Mondo comes out and shows off his magic. He is soon discovered to be a hideous creature who traps Eustace in the TV and making Muriel his bride by turning her into the same creature. | |||||
35b | 9b | "Watch the Birdies" | Allan Neuwirth and Gary Cooper | July 12, 2002 | |
When Muriel gets abducted by a giant mother vulture, it tells her to look after its three babies while it flies off to find a new mate or she will be eaten. Courage must aid Muriel in keeping the babies safe. | |||||
36a | 10a | "Fishy Business" | Bruce Wilpon and David Steven Cohen | July 19, 2002 | |
A fish missionary arrives at the farmhouse, believing that Courage and his owners are unfit to live on the land. The fish court forces them to live in a fish bowl with gills. | |||||
36b | 10b | "Angry Nasty People" | David Steven Cohen | July 19, 2002 | |
Benton Tarantella, the zombie director, returns to convince Courage and his owners to star in his latest sitcom Angry Nasty People. | |||||
37a | 11a | "Dome of Doom" | Lory Lazarus | July 26, 2002 | |
After a drought, Courage and his owners are unable to grow food. But when they read an advertisement of free food, they order it. However, the plant fruits and vegetables are carnivorous and attempt to eat them. | |||||
37b | 11b | "Snowman's Revenge" | Billy Aronson | July 26, 2002 | |
After the North Pole faces heat and everything melts, the snowman creates a mechanical mitten that allows the user to produce snow at will. He moves into the farmhouse and freezes it, causing extreme coldness upon Courage and his owners. | |||||
38a | 12a | "The Quilt Club" | Bill Marsilii | August 2, 2002 | |
Muriel and Courage go to a quilt shop and meet conjoined twin sisters. Muriel wants to be a part of their quilt club, so she goes to an extreme quilt-making test to join them. But Courage smells something fishy. | |||||
38b | 12b | "Swindlin' Wind" | Billy Aronson | August 2, 2002 | |
Courage and his owners go to Shirley's shop, where Muriel sees a necklace she wants. Eustace gives Shirley an oil deed for the necklace, but she realizes that it's an oil bill. Angry that Eustace ripped her off, Shirley casts a spell on both him and Muriel that causes them to swindle each other. It is now up to Courage to break the spell. | |||||
39a | 13a | "King of Flan" | David Steven Cohen | August 9, 2002 | |
The King of Flan uses television to hypnotize everyone in Nowhere to eat as much flan as possible. As the citizens of Nowhere become addicted to flan (and become horribly overweight), Courage must stop the King before he leads the city to a path of obesity and doom. | |||||
39b | 13b | "Courage Under the Volcano" | David Steven Cohen | August 9, 2002 | |
Courage and his owners crash down on an island, and are welcomed by a native chief. The citizens dress Muriel in their special native clothing so she can be sacrificed to the Volcano God, who is causing the island to shake. Courage must go inside the volcano and talk to the god before the natives drop Muriel in the volcano. |
Season 4 (2002)
editNo. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
40a | 1a | "A Beaver's Tale" | David Steven Cohen | September 6, 2002 | |
When the local river floods Nowhere, Courage must locate the source of the disaster. When it turns out that a beaver's dam is causing it, Courage helps the beaver follow his dreams rather than build dams. | |||||
40b | 1b | "The Nutcracker" | Billy Aronson | September 6, 2002 | |
Courage and his owners go to the junkyard to hunt for useful trash, and Courage finds a nutcracker. Two man-eating rats want to feast on Muriel and Eustace. After Eustace is captured, Courage must get Muriel away from the rats. | |||||
41a | 2a | "Rumpledkiltskin" | Allan Neuwirth and Gary Cooper | September 13, 2002 | |
Muriel's "Uncle Angus" invites her to Scotland, where he imprisons her and demands that she makes thousands of kilts. Courage must learn Angus's real name and free Muriel. | |||||
41b | 2b | "House Calls" | Lori Lazarus | September 13, 2002 | |
A lonely scientist named Dr. Gerhart wants neighbors, but his sentient house, who is very old and envious, fends them away. He brings the farmhouse next to his house with music, but Gerhart's house intends on destroying the farmhouse out of sheer jealousy and wants Gerhart all to itself. Courage has to find a way to make Gerhart's house happy and save the farmhouse. | |||||
42a | 3a | "Le Quack Balloon" | David Steven Cohen | September 20, 2002 | |
Le Quack kidnaps Muriel and puts her on a hot air balloon. He teaches her to bungee-jump from the balloon so she can grab a Swedish ingredient for her food, but he is tricking her so he can rob the Swedish national piggy bank instead. | |||||
42b | 3b | "Windmill Vandals" | Bill Marsilii | September 20, 2002 | |
If the windmill stops turning, the ghosts of terrifying dead vandals will return to attack everyone at the homestead. Courage and Muriel must keep the windmill moving while Eustace tries to fix it. | |||||
43a | 4a | "The Uncommon Cold" | David Steven Cohen | September 27, 2002 | |
Courage seeks a cure for Muriel's unusual cold among some swamp-slugs enslaved by a snake named Big Bayou from Yoruba Mythology. The cure lies in Big Bayou's book, which Courage must steal in order to heal Muriel and free the slugs. | |||||
43b | 4b | "Farmer-Hunter, Farmer-Hunted" | Billy Aronson | September 27, 2002 | |
Eustace tries to prove that he can hunt like his deceased brother, Horst. But the deer families are tired of being hunted and the father deer decides to hunt Eustace instead. Courage hosts a game show to see who gets to shoot whom. | |||||
44a | 5a | "Bride of Swamp Monster" | David Steven Cohen | October 4, 2002 | |
Muriel buys a necklace and puts her picture inside, but she loses the pendant in a local swamp. The Swamp Monster finds it and believes Muriel is his long-lost bride. Courage must locate the real bride of the Swamp Monster, and reconcile the long-lost lovers in order to get Muriel back. | |||||
44b | 5b | "Goat Pain" | Lory Lazarus | October 4, 2002 | |
Muriel sprains her back and the only cure is a hot spring on top of Mt. Nowhere. The peak is guarded by a super-powerful goat angry at people for clogging the spring with trash. Courage has to get past the goat and somehow restore the spring. | |||||
45a | 6a | "Muriel Blows Up" | David Steven Cohen | October 11, 2002 | |
A missile strikes the farm, mutating a carrot in the garden. When Muriel eats it, she begins to grow. Courage must figure out a way to get to the general and disarm the device before time runs out. | |||||
45b | 6b | "Profiles in Courage" | Bill Marsilii | October 11, 2002 | |
Courage and his owners go to a county fair and have their silhouettes drawn. When the silhouettes come to life later that night and replace Muriel and Eustace, Courage must convince the creatures it is more fun to be paper than people. | |||||
46 | 7 | "The Mask" | John R. Dilworth | October 18, 2002 | |
A strange, dog-hating woman named Kitty, wearing a mask and a white robe, appears at the farm. She recklessly starts beating Courage with various items. Thinking that Kitty is just Courage's friend playing around with him, Muriel invites her over to the farmhouse. Kitty explains that her best friend Bunny is being held hostage and treated as a slave by a gangster named Mad Dog, who wants them to be kept apart for good. Courage decides to rescue Bunny from Mad Dog in hopes that Kitty can leave to reunite with her so that he can return to his normal life at home. | |||||
47a | 8a | "Squatting Tiger, Hidden Dog" | Billy Aronson | October 25, 2002 | |
A Chinese empress wants to grind up Muriel's bones. Courage wants to save Muriel, but he must pass through a series of strange deadly tests first. | |||||
47b | 8b | "Muted Muriel" | David Steven Cohen | October 25, 2002 | |
Eustace berates Muriel, who has had enough of him for not listening to her, and she decides not to talk ever again. Courage visits Shirley and asks her if she can make her talk again. | |||||
48a | 9a | "Aqua-Farmer" | Gary Cooper and Allan Neuwirth | October 25, 2002 | |
Unimpressed by Jojo the Dolphin's performance at a local aquarium, Eustace challenges the sea mammal to a race, losing pathetically. He demands a rematch, staking his wife as the prize of the race. | |||||
48b | 9b | "Food of the Dragon" | David Steven Cohen | October 25, 2002 | |
A seafood dinner attracts a dragon who has not learned to fly. He is determined to eat Muriel and Eustace unless Courage can teach him to fly. | |||||
49a | 10a | "Last of the Starmakers" | David Steven Cohen | November 1, 2002 | |
A pregnant space-faring squid who creates stars lands on the farm. Eustace plans to sell her eggs to the military for research. Courage has to save the eggs and the mother squid to keep the heavens twinkling. | |||||
49b | 10b | "Son of the Chicken from Outer Space" | Michelle Belly Dilworth | November 1, 2002 | |
The three-headed son of Courage's first nemesis shows up, trying to fulfill a vow to kill him, but Courage is far more resourceful than the chicken anticipated. | |||||
50a | 11a | "Courageous Cure" | David Steven Cohen | November 8, 2002 | |
A race of multi-limbed aliens arrive on Earth, seeking a cure for a virus which causes them to keep punching themselves. They experiment on Muriel and Eustace by letting them grow more hands. | |||||
50b | 11b | "Ball of Revenge" | Michelle Belly Dilworth | November 8, 2002 | |
Fed up with Muriel's doting on Courage, Eustace invites Katz, Le Quack, the weremole, the Cajun fox, the Giant Foot, and the Puddle Queen to the house to kill Courage in a game of dodgeball. | |||||
51a | 12a | "Cabaret Courage" | David Steven Cohen | November 15, 2002 | |
Courage and his owners come to "Hollowood". But after falling inside a manhole, they encounter a giant fetus-like being who demands entertainment. He explains to them that if he likes their performances, he will give out glamorous prizes. Courage must find the beast's true self through his heart. | |||||
51b | 12b | "Wrath of the Librarian" | David Steven Cohen | November 15, 2002 | |
Courage finds a two-year overdue book. When he decides to return it, he does not have enough money for the $10,000 fee. Courage rushes back home to seek the help of his owners. However, he realizes too late that the librarian has deliberately cast a spell on the book, which Muriel and Eustace unknowingly touch, turning them into its characters until Courage finds enough money to pay the fee. | |||||
52a | 13a | "Remembrance of Courage Past" | Michael Sporn | November 22, 2002 | |
Courage's mysterious past comes to light when his parents were forcibly sent to space by a cruel veterinarian. When Muriel and Eustace notice he is not responding, still haunted by that traumatic event, they take him to the same vet that sent his parents into space, unaware that the vet is now going to send Courage off to space as well. When Muriel and Eustace discover this, the vet attempts to send them off along with him as well to keep them from interfering with his evil space research plans. Courage must save his owners after realizing that Muriel has become a major person in his life, besides his parents. | |||||
52b | 13b | "Perfect" | Billy Aronson | November 22, 2002 | |
When Courage cannot do anything correctly, he is approached by the "teacher", who is the manifestation of Courage's own doubts and insecurities that have plagued him. She starts training him strictly into becoming a perfect dog, until Courage learns that even with his own flaws and imperfections, he can do anything and embraces that he is fine the way he is. |
Special (2014)
editIn February 2012, BuzzFeed reported that a CGI special of Courage the Cowardly Dog was in development.[2] The 7-minute special, titled The Fog of Courage, aired in 2014. Dilworth uploaded the special on his StretchFilms YouTube channel on March 14, 2024, before the video later became privated.[3]
Title | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|
"The Fog of Courage" | John R. Dilworth | October 31, 2014 |
Crossover film (2021)
editIn 2021, a 76-minute straight-to-video movie crossing over with Scooby-Doo was released, titled Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog. The film was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios, but without involvement of Courage creator John R. Dilworth. The movie was released to DVD and digital on September 14, 2021.
Title | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|
Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog | Michael F. Ryan | September 14, 2021 | |
When Mystery Incorporated comes to the middle of Nowhere, Kansas, the backwoods hometown of Courage and his owners Muriel and Eustace Bagge, they find a strange object linked to a giant cicada monster and her wacky winged warriors. |
Notes
edit- ^ This episode was sneak-previewed on August 21, 1999, during Cartoon Network's Cartoon Cartoon Weekend marathon.
- ^ This episode was sneak-previewed on August 21, 1999, during Cartoon Network's Cartoon Cartoon Weekend marathon.
- ^ Airings after July 15, 2010, show a memorial before the credits saying "In memory of Peter Fernandez (who voiced Robot Randy), Go Speed Racer Go!". Fernandez aired Speed Racer in the U.S. and voiced Speed himself.
- ^ This episode was dedicated to Jim P. Dilworth, the older brother of creator John R. Dilworth.
- ^ The name "Zalost" taken from the Croatian word Žalost meaning sorrowfulness.
References
edit- ^ a b Mendoza, N. F. (February 18, 1996). "Shows for Youngsters and Their Parents Too: Cartoon Network Stars a Hen from Outer Space; 'Human Animal' Explores Our Needs on TLC". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
- ^ "Courage The Cowardly Dog Is Returning To TV". BuzzFeed. February 10, 2012. Archived from the original on 2016-01-16. Retrieved 2016-11-06.
- ^ Dilworth, John R. (March 14, 2024). The Fog of Courage – via YouTube.