Courage The Cowardly Dog Was A Strange Masterpiece

[Applause] this is absolutely terrifying based on the head rolling exorcism that's about to occur you may not be prepared for the following imagery you've been warned [Music] you can probably count on a single hand the amount of animated horror shows to get primetime slots over the past few decades you can probably count on a single finger the amount of animated horror shows that so consistently subvert nearly every expectation of both the genre and its viewer Courage the Cowardly Dog was that giant middle finger that never did what was expected of it and it was glorious

animated shows seem to fall into three usually distinct categories there's the character driven animated show things like Eddie and Eddie then there's the premise they show where an idea like a talking sponge working as a fry cook builds the show's appeal and there's the pure slapstick nature of animation driven shows like Looney Tunes but to define a show by its genre is to create expectations that uniquely fit the mold of that show with courage that's downright impossible courage hold up spectacularly well and part of this is because courage is a combination of its inspiration and

absolute insanity but most importantly it is a masterclass in subversion this most immediately obvious in its narrative a lot of animation particularly during the hanna-barbera era pander to its audience by providing familiarity throughout the course of its episodes you always knew it was inevitably going to happen in every single episode of scooby-doo and it became comfortable to watch for that reason while the formula of Louie tooms was a heavy inspiration for Courage creator John or do earth narrative Lee it was the polar opposite of the approach the earth would take with courage part of what

makes the show's horror slapstick work is you never know which one you're going to get sometimes cards will stumble upon a monster and it will be well as terrifying as expected but other times it's like this there's no place to run and no place to hide lead to this that is a war villain that attempts to kill courage through a very intense game of handball take the season 1 episode shadow of courage for example in its the house is tormented by the shadow of a deceased old man throughout the course of the episode the shadow

is dead set on killing Eustace and Muriel and when it's finally time for the showdown in the basement between courage in the shadow look at this there was no narrative pattern that Dilworth encouraged follow it was sheer anarchy it was never what you thought it would be and because of that that show managed to combine terror and comedy in a way that was unique and surprising but it's how subversive the visual horror got that really made courage memorable say so consciously there's always an inherent expectation when watching a show like courage that the animation style

you see in the very first frame of the show is what you'll see throughout its entire runtime not here your work in the animation team behind courage found horror and not just creature design but in the shock of animation styles as well a lot of courage was inspired directly by the work of Salvador Dali a painter whose work was rooted firmly in surrealism Ally's work took what you and I know to be reality invented in ways that were both recognizable and bizarre that surrealism is clear encouraged but not just in its 2d designs but more

in its approach to animation the most horrifying thing about King Ramses here is that he looks like he doesn't belong his CG modeling is terrible but disturbing mostly because it's unfamiliar and fear is a human response to that unfamiliarity there's a moment in the episode courage in the big stinking city that exemplifies this perfectly courage has been sent to this condemned building to find a package he checks every door looking forward to finding something stranger and stranger behind each one until he gets here a scare made even more impactful by the total confusion of seeing

it for the first time juxtaposed against a more traditional 2d animation of the rest of the episode the unexpected is key in both good horror and comedy encourages one of the few animated shows that gave its animators the freedom to experiment with styles and technologies and ways other shows of that era never dared there was just one problem for deal Worth and Cartoon Network it all had to remain grounded in comedy to work at all I found strangest about relaunching courage today was just how well the comedy holds up they would look toward the comedic

work of silent film star Charlie Chaplin in the affirmation slapstick of Looney Tunes as inspirations for this work and it's all here but I'm not sure that slapstick or an animation really predates Courage instead of pianos falling from the sky its giant feet instead of courage falling through the ceiling it's an entire subway call the show finds humor in constantly this foot fungus is repulsive it's grotesque and it's also a big Tom say in Italian mobster a mobster the forces courage to drive to a bank so it and the little toes can rabbit but upon

arriving forces courage to do so which leads to this play on the cartoon safe opening trope later in the episode we get Courage's play on the banana peel [Music] throughout all this scares courage remains funny importantly it remains slapstick the soul of Charlie Chaplin and Looney Tunes and this is important because this slapstick humor takes the weight off the whole you know that Muriel courage and Eustace will recover immediately from literally anything that happens to them so the scares remain scary but not too intense which could and would turn off younger viewers being able to

successfully subvert horror expectations using humor is what has made horror comedy such a successful industry in modern Finland but that does not mean that courage did not push boundaries maybe the final and most spectacular thing about courage and its four season run is just how willing it was to challenge what people expected out of a children's Network animated show on one of the big three during the late 90s sure there was the adult humour yes this is courage being examined by a statue in the series 2nd episode but if you talk to people today about

the series so here a lot of the same thing they never watch courage as a kid because it was too scary watching it today it's not hard at all to understand that train of thought what is incredible is Tek Cartoon Network let this show seemingly do whatever it pleased and it was at times disturbing this wasn't particularly pleasant by a Lin girl was downright scarring in this scene from the house of discontent made me question how exactly I got through this as a kid courage never shied away from the fact that it was designed to

scare as a result it was easier for adults to invest themselves in the show as well encouraged held that terror until the very end its final episode titled perfect is a visualization of all of Courage's insecurities the final chance to subvert every expectation placed in front of the series a strange trip through Courage's psyche narrative leaders jointed an animation team knowing it's at the end and throwing every single idea they've ever had into a single chaotic episode the CGI fetus a claymation courage a Wizard of Oz parody in the terror of being flawed all wrapped

into one slapstick nowhere actually exists in New Mexico and it sound called Truth or Consequences there was a couple that once lived there isolated in this real-life nowhere that used to report paranormal activity on a regular basis until one day the couple vanished leaving behind nothing but their dog they were never found courage has been rumored to get a reboot for years I still want to see that happen because no matter how much animation is changed there's always room for more of the unexpected and I am certain that there's a whole lot of people that

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