Product Details

• Actors: Thea White, Marty Grabstein, Simon Prebble, Lionel G. Wilson, Billie Lou Watt
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Cartoon Network
• DVD Release Date: July 20, 2010
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003G9IT32
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,339 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season One (Cartoon Network Hall of Fame)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

John R. Dilworth's Courage the Cowardly Dog had an auspicious start as the pick of the litter of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons. The pilot short "The Chicken from Outer Space" (lamentably missing from this set) was nominated for an Academy Award®, and a series was born. Courage is a teeth-chattering pooch who howls pathetically like Harvey Keitel in Bad Lieutenant at any sign of danger. He literally lives in the middle of Nowhere with his adoptive family, the goodhearted Muriel and the cruel Eustace, who delights in tormenting the "stupid dog." Courage recalls those classic Chuck Jones cartoons that paired Porky Pig with scaredy cat Sylvester, who had to overcome his fears to save an oblivious Porky from homicidal mice, alien invaders, and other menaces. Courage's series opener sets the stage for frighteningly funny things to come. In "A Night at the Katz Motel," Courage and company must fight off cannibalistic spiders. In another short, Muriel is the missing ingredient in a fox's "Cajun Granny Stew." Another memorable short is "King Ramses' Curse," in which Eustace refuses to give up a stolen antiquity and brings a series of plagues upon his house. "The Hunchback of Nowhere" is one of the season's sweeter stories in which Courage is befriended by a Quasimodo-like outcast who defends him against Eustace. "Freaky Fred," also a cut above, is about a deranged barber who delights in being "naughteee." Though roughly 72 in dog years, Courage holds up well. Rich bold colors and stylized character design gives the show a distinctive look. Visual humor and slapstick gags abound without any stale pop-culture references that would date the show, making Courage as eerily funny as when it first creeped out kids in 1999. Fetch! --Donald Liebenson

Product Description

The things he does for love! Welcome to the middle of Nowhere, Kansas. Population: one kind old lady, one crabby old man, one timid dog and all sorts of creepy creatures, scary monsters and crazed villains! It’s a living nightmare for poor Courage, who faces these unthinkable dangers with his body shaking and his tail between his legs. But Courage loves his sweet Muriel and grumpy Eustace, so he digs deep to find the strength to save his beloved family from deadly weremoles, dark shadows and other sinister elements that pop up all over this terrifying town. With clever nods to classic horror films, this action-packed animated series keeps laughs and scares coming as Courage outwits evil with his singular brand of bravery. Get your spook on with the 13 episodes of this 2-Disc Complete Season One Collection!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of the Cartoon Cartoons, April 29, 2010

By 

John McGuirk (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season One (Cartoon Network Hall of Fame) (DVD)

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. Courage was the kind of hero you could relate to. He didn't wanna be the hero, and if you had to go up against some of the crazy stuff he did, you wouldn't wanna be either. But there was something about the dog's anxious disposition and terrified personality that made him a likeable character. He didn't talk much, but what he said mattered. "I know I'm not gonna like this" was his battle cry when it came time for action. Then he would pull out some off-the-wall prop or devise some master plan to save the day, and things would go back to normal again, except for the fact that most of the time, the family house was destroyed by the end of the episode.

This is one of the best cartoon series ever made. It's timeless and truly fun to watch. I'm ordering a copy, and so should everyone else who enjoys good storytelling.

P.S.- It's too bad all the negative reviews for a DIFFERENT DVD release are showing up here. Those are for the Australian release, not this one.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterful Animated Series, July 28, 2010

By 

D-Rich - See all my reviews

This review is from: Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season One (Cartoon Network Hall of Fame) (DVD)

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 show.

Taking a close look at this show, you can tell the care that went into each episode. The animation itself is so simple and colorful, but done in such a unique way. They always knew how to shade everything perfectly to fit the mood. The music was spot on as well. They just happened to have a crew of people working on every aspect of the show that all really "got" what John R. Dilworth was aiming for. It was like a tight band. I'd also like to point out that episodes like "The Shadow of Courage" and "The Hunchback of Nowhere" are some of the most brilliantly written, touching pieces of animation I've ever seen. Not many shows can get away with being borderline gruesome one minute, and almost have you shedding a tear the next. This was a masterful series.

I'm not one to buy a TV show on DVD simply because I watched it when I was a kid. Nostalgia is not a selling point to someone who cares about quality. I watched Ninja Turtles as a kid, but I know that that show was just filler. Great for kids, but there was no such thing as a standout episode in a series like that. Might be cool to see it once again online to say "hey, remember this!?", but no reason to drop money on it. This show, however, really should be purchased by anyone who is a fan of art, comedy, or animation. If I was teaching a film class, a stage writing class, or an animation class, I would show some of this stuff to my students. I really hope the other seasons get DVD releases too. This was a fantastic piece of animation, and it really stood the test of time. There's a reason it still gets shown in reruns occasionally, almost 10 years after the final episode aired. It was never the fad, never the highest rated, but it was always there. And always appreciated. And it still is. I won't be surprised if this DVD sells more than Johnny Bravo or Dexter, despite the fact that those shows were much more popular when they were in production. Most kids of that generation who are adults arent going to buy those. I'm willing to bet the Courage fans, the true ones, have grown up to appreciate what the show really was, and will want to have it on hand. I know I do. This was one of the best things to come out of the animation field in recent times, and it's a shame that it gets overlooked in that sense by the general public.

I personally could care less about extras. I just want the episodes. This is all I need. King of the Hill only got released up to season 6 due to low DVD sales, which was awful, seeing as how it was also a really great animated show. Do yourself a favor and make sure not to ignore this series. Support this DVD. Support QUALITY

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars About time!, May 5, 2010

By 

MoonLiteStar88 (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season One (Cartoon Network Hall of Fame) (DVD)

Us Courage fans have been waiting a long time for the show to finally come out on DVD and it's finally here! I won't be able to write much about the features and such until I have the set in my hands but here's what I know so far.

Features: Presented in it's original full screen (1:33:1) aspect ratio. Contains all 13 episodes from season 1 and episodes are listed in its original airdate order. There will be No Pilot episode or extras included in this set.

Episode List;

Disc 1:
1. A Night at the Katz Motel/Cajun Granny Stew (Nov. 1999)
2. The Shadow of Courage/Dr. Le Quack, Amnesia Specialist
3. Courage Meets Bigfoot/Hothead
4. The Demon in the Mattress/Freaky Fred
5. Night of the Weremole/Mother's Day
6. The Duck Brothers/Shirley the Medium (Jan. 2000)
7. King Ramses' Curse/The Clutching Foot
8. The Hunchback of Nowhere/The Gods Must Be Goosey

Disc 2
9. Queen of the Black Puddle/Everyone Wants to Direct
10. The Snowman Cometh/The Precious, Wonderful, Adorable, Loveable Duckling
11. Heads of Beaf/Klub Katz
12. The Revenge of the Chicken from Outer Space/Journey to the Center of Nowhere
13. Little Muriel/The Great Fusilli [END of season 1]



I'm so glad Courage will be getting a region 1 release. Would be nice if this were a 2 disc thinpak release instead of a single case release. My hopes aren't high for that, but I'm just glad it's finally getting some attention. Let's also hope that these releases will be consistant so we can all have the show in its entirety. I'll edit this review a bit more as soon as I pick up this release.