Hello to all you Courageous fans and OOGA BOOGA BOOGA!!!!! This is one of the first quotes that I used to reference out loud as a kid. The show wasn’t suitable for 8-year-olds at the time; it was quite scary. I’ll still remember the quote from Pharaoh Ramses: “Return the slab… Or suffer my curse…”. Freaky Fred was one of the most disturbing cartoon network characters, and his smile will never be forgotten. Nonetheless, I’d like to discuss in this article why this show was so great and what makes it perfect (in my opinion). Finally, we’re going to discuss if this show deserves a sequel and why it doesn’t deserve a reboot. In the end, maybe it just deserves nothing, but let’s focus on the show first, so let’s go.
Analysis and breakdown of Courage the Cowardly Dog show [1999-2002]
The show is set in The Bagge Farmhouse in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas. Courage lives with Muriel Bagge and Eustace Bagge, whom he’s trying to protect. Muriel Bagge is a warm-hearted old Scottish lady who takes care of the dog and her husband, Eustace Bagge. Eustace, on the other hand, is a grumpy old grandpa who is always scaring the dog away. Plus, he’s a cheapskate and not the best husband in the world. Courage the Cowardly Dog explored different themes. For example, in the episode “Mega Muriel the Magnificent,” thunder strikes the house, and the computer comes to life. As the computer is sentient, it downloads itself into Eustace. After that when the computer destroys Eustcae’s, it picks Muriel. The episode “Bad Hair Day” was eye-opening for us as kids, as it shows how the pharmaceutical mafia is bribing doctors.
One of the most famous villains and probably the one that creeped me out the most was Fred, a.k.a. Freaky Fred. Up to this day, he remains the crepeies out of all characters from Cartoon Network up to this day. This guy was obsessed, but in a mentally ill way, with cutting people’s hair. His looks, voice, and the phrase ‘naughty‘ are something that creep me out even today. The most horrific and disgusting episode was probably “Heads Of Beef,” in which two pigs are working at dinner, and the whole episode suggests that human meat is being served to people who eat there. Fortunately, it was disproven by the end of the episode. Courage’s arch-enemy is a red and pinkish Katz, and the second most important villain is Le Quack, a duck with a French accent. These two villains are the most important in Courage the Cowardly Dog, as they’ve been in some of the first episodes until the very end of the show.
Memorable characters from Courage the Cowardly Dog
Good Guys: Murriel, Eustace, The Computer, Dr. Vindaloo, Shirley the Medium, The General and The Lieutenant, The Hunchback of Nowhere, Professor Frith, Mr. Mouse, Carmen the Serpent
Bad Guys: Katz, Le Quack, King Ramses, Freaky Fred, Queen of the Black Puddle, The Demon from the Mattress, Dr. Zalost, The Clutching Foot,Ma Bagge, The Chicken from Outer Space, The Snowman, Schwick, The Stitch Sisters
Does the show need a reboot, a sequel, or none?
We’ll have to go with nothing since Courage the Cowardly Dog had a happy ending, and there were a lot of interesting references throughout the last episode. First of all, the season and the show’s finale were called “Perfect”, and it was the 13th episode. This episode features Courage, who can’t do anything right in the episode, even the simplest tasks such as cracking walnuts with a giant hammer are too hard. All of a sudden The Perfectionist arrives. She’s an old-school teacher who wants her students to be perfect. The Perfectionists then assigned Courage with a series of ridiculous tasks, one of them being building an Eiffel Tower out of toothpicks. After that, the dead fish from the tub full of water tells Courage, “There isn’t such a thing as perfect. You’re as beautiful as you are”. Finally, we’re getting to the Bingle Monster who appeared in his first dream telling Courage, “You’re not perfect…”
What is more perfect than all of this? The season and a show like this got what it deserved, and that was the perfect ending. For a bizarre show that gave us the ’90s generation and early 2000s a lot of nightmares were just about to end, and nobody knew that info at the time. The characters were well-developed, and the show was deeper than most shows. For example, it tackled themes of animal abuse and trauma, like in the episode “Remembrance of Courage Past”. The real world was presented to us in a way that it truly looks like, but let’s not forget that all protagonists were animals in the Courage universe; in ours, it’s all people. Just like Courage and Scooby-Doo taught us, there aren’t any monsters, just people wearing masks. If you somehow missed it, give a chance to the 2021 crossover Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog.
Image Credits: Cartoon Network Studios
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