The best of the Cartoon Cartoons
Back in the day, when Cartoon Network was in their prime, they had a killer lineup every Friday night. This included Dexter's Lab, Powerpuff Girls, Cow and Chicken, Johnny Bravo, and my personal favorite, a show about a cowardly dog named Courage. I was hooked from the first episode I ever watched, which featured the little black duckling. This show had it all. Great stories were first and foremost. They were like mini-films. The stories were ridiculous, but it didn't matter because they were treated in such an epic way. The animation was great, and the backgrounds were out of this world. As much as I liked Dexter and Powerpuff Girls, their backgrounds were VERY simplistic. It was refreshing to see the style used for Courage, where the backgrounds displayed so much detail and atmosphere, which drew you in to the story all the more. As for Courage himself, true, he was a coward, but in each episode, he had to find a way to put that all aside to save his owners, Muriel and Eustace...
A Masterful Animated Series
Cartoon Network had a lot going for it in the late 90's/early 00's. Shows like Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Ed Edd n Eddy, and The Powerpuff girls were all top quality children's cartoons that could also appeal to adults. They were aimed at kids, for sure, but they were very, very clever (especially PPG.) This show, however, was not so much aimed at children. It was pretty kid friendly, but overall this was an artistic show that was just plain and simple really good. I was 14 when it was popular, and now being 23, I understand why i got into it at a somewhat "older kid" age. The type of comedy was so original, and the show was so incredibly artistic. I find myself very influenced by shows like The Mighty Boosh these days, and Courage was in the same category. Odd, humorous dark stories that were presented in a unqiue and captivating way filled this show with so much to offer. You won't find me buying Johnny Bravo at 23, but Courage? I'm not ashamed to say yes. It was just a good...
Finally, a US release for our favorite fraidy dog.
I just received my DVD set yesterday and am watching it now. It's great to finally own a little bit of Courage. First, note that this item, the Cartoon Network Hall of Fame set, is the US, Region 1 release, NOT the PAL release (some reviews for the Australian DVDs got combined with this; disregard those reviews as they do not apply), so it will play on American DVD players with no trouble. I can confirm that there are no special features; the DVDs are pretty no frills, sporting only the episodes and the option to turn closed captioning (English only) on or off. Nonetheless, it is nicely presented, and although I'm no expert in picture quality, the video looks great to me. Both discs are packaged in one standard plastic case, and this case comes inside a shiny cardboard sleeve.
Onto the meat: the episodes. This is the full first season, 13 full episodes (so 26 sub-episodes) on 2 discs. The playtime is listed at 286 minutes. Again, there are no extras. It would have been nice...
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