Courage the Cowardly Dog returning?

[Schfifty]

So, it's only six days until Halloween, when the new short is allegedly supposed to air. However, if you look at Cartoon Network's schedule for the next six days, they have the schedule for October 31st, but...

...

...the short's not there!

Was this all a big lie, or is it too early to assume it will or won't air? I really would like to see the new short in its entirety.

 

[D'Snowth]

I didn't think to look; did CN show THE FOG OF COURAGE yesterday?

 

[Schfifty]

Cartoon Network did show the new short yesterday. However...it wasn't shown in the United States. I should have checked the schedule yesterday, although I saw the schedule a few days ago, and TFoC wasn't listed, so I kind of forgot about it.

A quick search on Google from the last week shows which areas it was shown in, which I don't think includes the US, unfortunately. And if you look at Cartoon Network's US schedule for this week, the short isn't there.

 

[D'Snowth]

Not too surprising. I can still remember when the show was still on, people over in the U.K. would be seeing the new episodes months before we would, thus talk about spoilers.

 

[Drtooth]

Okay. While he may not make a major TV return, I have news that Courage the Cowardly Dog is returning to the comic book pages for one glorious issue.

According to these IDW solicitations for February a second series of Classic CN crossover comics has been announced by IDW, this one more Powerpuff-centric. And the second issue will feature a PPG X Courage storyline.

The Powerpuff Girls' inter-dimesional search for Dexter's mutated sister Dee Dee has brought them to the doorstep of Courage the Cowardly Dog! But when they are mistaken for dog sitters, the Girls find themselves thrust into the disturbing nightmare that is Courage's life. Plus, a Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends story—Bloo starts a "Small Club" while Wilt starts a "Tall Club" in response...

Off topic, while I have enjoyed the Super Secret Crisis War, I have some issues with it and it's really not as great as it could have been. And the writers really had no business putting the Eds in there since they clearly haven't seen an episode and Ed doesn't exactly talk like Ed would. (heh... Ed Wood) But the side comics (Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, Fosters, KND, and Billy and Mandy one shots) were all really well done. Johnny Bravo was done perfectly first season style. I suggest checking the whole thing out, but if you want to skip the main series (and risk missing context) I'd just check out the one shots.

 

[Schfifty]

Somebody posted the short on YouTube a few days ago. Check it out here!

 

[D'Snowth]

I'm downloading this before it gets yanked!

Boy it did me good to have a dose of Courage again! Getting Season Two of the series for Christmas, and now finally getting to see FOG has put me in my happy place, lol.

That said, to share my thoughts on the short without spoiling it for everybody else, it was seven minutes of pure Courage awesomeness! As much as I like Wallace Shawn, he's just not quite Eustace: in fact, his characterization of Eustace is more akin to his character from THE INCREDIBLES. Similarly, I was surprised to hear Paul Schoeffler (Katz, LeQuack, Dr. Vindaloo, among others) voicing the Computer instead of Simon Prebble - at least Schoeffler was able to recapture Computer's stuffiness and sarcasm very well. Having Thea White as Muriel again was one of the highlights of the short, Muriel was still her sweet, yet clueless self. I was a little disappointed that Courage hardly talked outside screaming Muriel's name (and dropping his signature, "The things I do for love," catchphrase), but it's only a quibble. I had this short come at the time the series was still on, the CGI would be more impressive, especially since we've had our taste of CGI on the show before, such as King Ramses... in fact, the fog would have been excellent in CGI on the show in the same vain as Ramses... however, since all animation is CGI now, that makes the animation for the short as a whole far less spectacular and impressive. Lastly, I just adored hearing a lot of Jody Gray's original music cues from the show, and seeing the original end title design as well (albeit 16:9 now).

In the various different interviews I've listened to, I'm glad that John has been so enthusiastic about possibly continuing Courage, but I guess it's not going to happen at this point.

 

[mr3urious]

This wasn't a bad short at all, but it works better as a one-off thing. It's best for Courage to just move on at this point.

And I agree w/ D'Snowth that one of the charms of Courage was its use of medium blending: 2D animation with the occasional bit of CGI and stop motion for an extra creepy effect. Plus, Eustace sounds way too much like Rex from Toy Story.

But gosh darn if that fog isn't unsettling!

 

[Drtooth]

I'll agree with everyone else, Wallace Shawn has a neurotic quality to his voice that doesn't fit the raspy, gruff, aged character. Not to mention the subtle rural accent is missing as well. And I also agree the beauty of the show was the medium blending, but I think the look of the 2-D characters were given great care and detail and work nicely without looking like... well... you know how Mickey Mouse looks completely awkward in CGI? Not so much here. The designs manage to work well in CGI.

Other than that, it's a wonderful short. I don't see it working as a series due to the fact that when fans demand that a show be brought back, they're the ones who complain about it being back the most. You either get something different that raises their hackles (or is it haggles) because it is different, or it's exactly the same but somehow not as good because the show usually ends on a high enough note. I'd love to see more of these shorts, but not as a series because of that possibility that it will turn into a retread.

 

[D'Snowth]

While goofing off on TV Tropes, I noticed on the YMMV page for Courage that it says Seasons Three and Four suffer from Seasonal Rot... I kind of disagree.

If you ask me, Season Two was perhaps the rockiest season of the show, mainly because of the sudden and abrupt cut in Courage's dialogue - that took a long time to adjust to. I don't deny that both S3 and S4 have their share of dry spells, but they both also have their share of excellent episodes as well: for S3, the midseason episodes just before Lionel Wilson retired were really good, and as for S4, once we got "The Mask," the entire otherwise average season greatly improved from that point on. Not only that, but in the last two seasons, the show's style really improved as well, they really took better advantage of lighting and color schemes, which gave the show a much richer and surrealistic look as opposed to the characters retaining their same color schemes irregardless of what their surroundings are.