Courage the Cowardly Dog returning?

[D'Snowth]

My point exactly.

 

[Any Del]

Did anyone here watched the Courage and Scooby Doo crossover film? I have a lot to say and I'm curious to hear others' thoughts.

 

[D'Snowth]

I still can't find a copy anywhere.

 

[Any Del]

If you want I could send it to you.

 

[D'Snowth]

It's okay; I finally found a copy, and it was the last one this particular Walmart had, so I'll be watching it tonight.

 

[Any Del]

It's okay; I finally found a copy, and it was the last one this particular Walmart had, so I'll be watching it tonight.

Cool! Let me know what you think of it!

 

[D'Snowth]

Now that I've finally had a chance to watch the movie, here are my thoughts on in (in the form of spoilers, in case anybody else has yet to see it). . . .

Spoiler

As a whole, I would say that the movie was actually pretty solid and decent . . . far from perfect though, there were some things that I felt worked rather well, some things that felt a little off but weren't completely bad, and some things that I just did not like at all, and I will address these things in that order.

The Good

• I feel like if this movie came out back in my days when I was so obsessed with this show, the amount of references and Easter eggs throughout the movie would've been like pron to me, and it certainly merits multiple viewings in order to really absorb it all.
• The surprise twist that certain prominent Courage characters actually played a plot in the story all along was, perhaps, the icing on the cake, such as the team-up of Katz and LeQuack being the ones behind the cicada queen while masquerading as the Mayor of Nowhere all along, plus The General and The Lieutenant pursuing them while masquerading as the Mayor's butler and his wife all along.
• The fact that series composers Jody Gray & Andy Ezrin provided the music scoring - it was so amazing to hear so many of those original Courage music cues, it was almost like an ASMR experience to some degree, but even some of the newer music that was scored for the movie was also really wonderful as well.
• Speaking of references, some of the references to other Warner Bros. properties were also nice little touches, like the running gag to utter the name Frau Glockenspiel prompting scary sound effects as a nod to the similar running gag from YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN whenever the name Frau Blucher was uttered and horses would neigh in fear.
• The underlying theme that to have courage is to face your fears feels very much in the spirit of the series, since such little messages were common in most episodes.
• The running gag with Muriel being a riddle master and always stumping the supposed genius who is Velma, but still managing to say some encouraging words to her regardless felt very much in-character with the elderly lady.
• Considering this was a crossover movie, it managed to utilize a balance of the kind of tone, style, and humor from both sources rather well, for the most part, but it didn't always work, which leads me to. . . .

The Meh

• As I said, there's a balance with the kind of things you expect from Scooby-Doo, and from Courage, but they didn't always mesh very well. For example, the songs . . . Scooby-Doo has a history of using (bubblegum) pop songs during chase scenes and the like, and if you're a Scooby-Doo fan, it works . . . but, if you're a Courage fan, it doesn't. While I have no issue with the songs themselves, they ruined whatever intense and thrilling moments they were going for, such as the scene in which Courage and the Mystery Inc. gang try to procure the dark matter meteor while fending off the cicada army: the song just ruined it. Speaking of which. . . .
• EUSTACE RAPPING!! It was absolutely hilarious . . . but, it was also totally ridiculous, and quite out of character for him. Speaking of which. . . .
• The voice acting. Now, I think it was great that they got many of the original voice actors from the show to reprise their respective roles: Marty Grabstein as Courage, Thea White as Muriel, Paul Schoeffler as Katz and LeQuack, even Chuck Montgomery as The Lieutenant. Jeff Bergman offered an interesting take on Eustace - at times, he sounded a lot like Lionel Wilson's Eustace, but perhaps a little deeper and gruffer. Jeff Bennett also did a pretty decent job voicing The General, he sounded quite similar to the late Ron McLarty. Not sure why they couldn't get Simon Prebble to reprise The Computer . . . but then again, he didn't reprise The Computer in THE FOG OF COURAGE either - for some reason, Paul Schoeffler voiced The Computer in that. On the Scooby side of things, Kate Micucci is a terrible Velma . . . she sounds more like she's trying to impersonate Kristen Schaal.
• I do kind of wish Courage could have talked a little bit more, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. The few lines of dialogue he did have were a treat though, such as, "Courage! That's me! Courage!"
• The overall art style was great, but not perfect. It was nice to see Courage characters be given some shading and depth, which we saw very little of in the original series (though, as the seasons progressed, they did make more use of lighting and color schemes to help set moods and atmosphere), but the overall character designs were quite inconsistent, and even off-model at times . . . I remember somebody on this very forum complaining about how Miss Piggy has been given long "kangaroo ears" in recent years, well, Katz's unusually longer ears is a good example of this as well. Otherwise, the colors, textured backgrounds, surreal atmospheres, and the blending of obvious CGI with traditional animation were very much accomplished in true Courage fashion.
• Michael Ryan was the writer, and you could tell he slipped in certain kinds of jokes from other projects he's worked on into the mix - like the "walk this way" joke (which also is an homage to YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN), which Red Guy used quite frequently on COW AND CHICKEN.

The Bad

• The biggest flaw I have is the fact that all of the spooky and paranormal activity that's even gone on in Nowhere all this time was actually revealed when Katz explained that the dark matter contained within the meteor that rested beneath the surface of the Bagge farmhouse was the source of such activity . . . it ruins the mystery and mystique of Nowhere, and I feel like it's a direction that John R. Dilworth would never go into - especially since he liked to encourage fans to come up with their own theories of how and why such bizarre and strange things happen in Nowhere; like he always says, it's left open to interpretation.
• The cicadas could've been a lot better if they actually sounded like actual cicadas - that would've made them all the more menacing.
• When Muriel was baking those batches of Scottish Dream Cookies for everyone, there was totally a missed opportunity for her to reveal the special, secret ingredient of which was . . . vinegar, thus, prompting everyone to run off and puke in disgust - it was practically one of the few running gags from the original show.
• Dance party endings haven't been cool since SHREK; sorry.

So, overall, I would say it's a really good movie, but it could have been better and gone in different directions, especially if Dilly had been involved.

 

[Any Del]

Now that I've finally had a chance to watch the movie, here are my thoughts on in (in the form of spoilers, in case anybody else has yet to see it). . . .

Spoiler

As a whole, I would say that the movie was actually pretty solid and decent . . . far from perfect though, there were some things that I felt worked rather well, some things that felt a little off but weren't completely bad, and some things that I just did not like at all, and I will address these things in that order.

The Good

• I feel like if this movie came out back in my days when I was so obsessed with this show, the amount of references and Easter eggs throughout the movie would've been like pron to me, and it certainly merits multiple viewings in order to really absorb it all.
• The surprise twist that certain prominent Courage characters actually played a plot in the story all along was, perhaps, the icing on the cake, such as the team-up of Katz and LeQuack being the ones behind the cicada queen while masquerading as the Mayor of Nowhere all along, plus The General and The Lieutenant pursuing them while masquerading as the Mayor's butler and his wife all along.
• The fact that series composers Jody Gray & Andy Ezrin provided the music scoring - it was so amazing to hear so many of those original Courage music cues, it was almost like an ASMR experience to some degree, but even some of the newer music that was scored for the movie was also really wonderful as well.
• Speaking of references, some of the references to other Warner Bros. properties were also nice little touches, like the running gag to utter the name Frau Glockenspiel prompting scary sound effects as a nod to the similar running gag from YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN whenever the name Frau Blucher was uttered and horses would neigh in fear.
• The underlying theme that to have courage is to face your fears feels very much in the spirit of the series, since such little messages were common in most episodes.
• The running gag with Muriel being a riddle master and always stumping the supposed genius who is Velma, but still managing to say some encouraging words to her regardless felt very much in-character with the elderly lady.
• Considering this was a crossover movie, it managed to utilize a balance of the kind of tone, style, and humor from both sources rather well, for the most part, but it didn't always work, which leads me to. . . .

The Meh

• As I said, there's a balance with the kind of things you expect from Scooby-Doo, and from Courage, but they didn't always mesh very well. For example, the songs . . . Scooby-Doo has a history of using (bubblegum) pop songs during chase scenes and the like, and if you're a Scooby-Doo fan, it works . . . but, if you're a Courage fan, it doesn't. While I have no issue with the songs themselves, they ruined whatever intense and thrilling moments they were going for, such as the scene in which Courage and the Mystery Inc. gang try to procure the dark matter meteor while fending off the cicada army: the song just ruined it. Speaking of which. . . .
• EUSTACE RAPPING!! It was absolutely hilarious . . . but, it was also totally ridiculous, and quite out of character for him. Speaking of which. . . .
• The voice acting. Now, I think it was great that they got many of the original voice actors from the show to reprise their respective roles: Marty Grabstein as Courage, Thea White as Muriel, Paul Schoeffler as Katz and LeQuack, even Chuck Montgomery as The Lieutenant. Jeff Bergman offered an interesting take on Eustace - at times, he sounded a lot like Lionel Wilson's Eustace, but perhaps a little deeper and gruffer. Jeff Bennett also did a pretty decent job voicing The General, he sounded quite similar to the late Ron McLarty. Not sure why they couldn't get Simon Prebble to reprise The Computer . . . but then again, he didn't reprise The Computer in THE FOG OF COURAGE either - for some reason, Paul Schoeffler voiced The Computer in that. On the Scooby side of things, Kate Micucci is a terrible Velma . . . she sounds more like she's trying to impersonate Kristen Schaal.
• I do kind of wish Courage could have talked a little bit more, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. The few lines of dialogue he did have were a treat though, such as, "Courage! That's me! Courage!"
• The overall art style was great, but not perfect. It was nice to see Courage characters be given some shading and depth, which we saw very little of in the original series (though, as the seasons progressed, they did make more use of lighting and color schemes to help set moods and atmosphere), but the overall character designs were quite inconsistent, and even off-model at times . . . I remember somebody on this very forum complaining about how Miss Piggy has been given long "kangaroo ears" in recent years, well, Katz's unusually longer ears is a good example of this as well. Otherwise, the colors, textured backgrounds, surreal atmospheres, and the blending of obvious CGI with traditional animation were very much accomplished in true Courage fashion.
• Michael Ryan was the writer, and you could tell he slipped in certain kinds of jokes from other projects he's worked on into the mix - like the "walk this way" joke (which also is an homage to YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN), which Red Guy used quite frequently on COW AND CHICKEN.

The Bad

• The biggest flaw I have is the fact that all of the spooky and paranormal activity that's even gone on in Nowhere all this time was actually revealed when Katz explained that the dark matter contained within the meteor that rested beneath the surface of the Bagge farmhouse was the source of such activity . . . it ruins the mystery and mystique of Nowhere, and I feel like it's a direction that John R. Dilworth would never go into - especially since he liked to encourage fans to come up with their own theories of how and why such bizarre and strange things happen in Nowhere; like he always says, it's left open to interpretation.
• The cicadas could've been a lot better if they actually sounded like actual cicadas - that would've made them all the more menacing.
• When Muriel was baking those batches of Scottish Dream Cookies for everyone, there was totally a missed opportunity for her to reveal the special, secret ingredient of which was . . . vinegar, thus, prompting everyone to run off and puke in disgust - it was practically one of the few running gags from the original show.
• Dance party endings haven't been cool since SHREK; sorry.

So, overall, I would say it's a really good movie, but it could have been better and gone in different directions, especially if Dilly had been involved.

My thoughts exactly Snowth! However if I may add on there are some stuff in the film that made me cringe.

Spoiler

The part where Shaggy was giving that speech about facing his fears at the corn crops, that should've been COURAGE giving that. Especially for Courage fans who have seen what the dog has been through during the series would have be holy grail if he gave that speech.

I seriously wish Courage would've talked more as well, especially the interactions he had with Scooby. Courage sounded more like a parrot mimicking what Shaggy and Scooby were saying.

But yeah the movie wasn't bad although it couls have been much better.

 

[D'Snowth]

I will say this though, I thought it was interesting that Marty got to voice another character besides Courage, since he has said before that Dilly was apprehensive about doing so for whatever reason - I think he thought his voicing the lead character would jeopardize his credibility of voicing any other additional character, even on occasion.

In a way, I can kind of understand that . . . I can think of at least two occasions where Lionel Wilson clearly voiced another character, because they sounded like variations of Eustace, like Bigfoot's mother, and that one cowboy in the saloon who says, "Better call the undertaker."

Having said that, it never would've occured to me that all this time, Paul Schoeffler was the voice of the Nowhere Newsman, but now that I realize it, I can totally hear it! Remember how we hear Katz letting out really high-pitched screaming as Eustace the wrecking ball destroys his coliseum in "Katz Island"? That was pretty much the same pitch as the Newsman's voice. Man that guy is so diverse; no wonder Dilly used him for so many voices: Katz, LeQuack, Dr. Vindaloo, Dr. Zalost, Cajun Fox, Big Toe, etc.

 

[Any Del]

I will say this though, I thought it was interesting that Marty got to voice another character besides Courage, since he has said before that Dilly was apprehensive about doing so for whatever reason - I think he thought his voicing the lead character would jeopardize his credibility of voicing any other additional character, even on occasion.

In a way, I can kind of understand that . . . I can think of at least two occasions where Lionel Wilson clearly voiced another character, because they sounded like variations of Eustace, like Bigfoot's mother, and that one cowboy in the saloon who says, "Better call the undertaker."

Having said that, it never would've occured to me that all this time, Paul Schoeffler was the voice of the Nowhere Newsman, but now that I realize it, I can totally hear it! Remember how we hear Katz letting out really high-pitched screaming as Eustace the wrecking ball destroys his coliseum in "Katz Island"? That was pretty much the same pitch as the Newsman's voice. Man that guy is so diverse; no wonder Dilly used him for so many voices: Katz, LeQuack, Dr. Vindaloo, Dr. Zalost, Cajun Fox, Big Toe, etc.

Right?