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King Ramses’ Curse Courage The Cowardly Dog
In the “King Ramses’ Curse” episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog we have three plagues — since storytelling loves The Rule Of Three — and the plagues comprise a mixture of ancient and comically modern curses. This horror comedy for children takes inspiration from ancient holy texts such as found in the Bible and in the Quran. In the Bible we…
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The Duck Brothers Courage The Cowardly Dog
“The Duck Brothers” episode of Courage The Cowardly Dog features opponents who are revealed to be not really bad, which makes for a comical big struggle scene. The big struggle scene is noteworthy for including a wide variety of small big struggles. STORY STRUCTURE OF “THE DUCK BROTHERS” SHORTCOMING Courage is unable to convince Eustace when Muriel is in danger because…
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Mother’s Day Courage The Cowardly Dog
“Mother’s Day” is an episode from season one of Courage The Cowardly Dog. This is where we get some of Eustace’s back story. Until this point in the series, Eustace Bagge has been a singularly unpleasant character. We haven’t see what made him the way he is. In this episode, for the first time, we learn his ‘psychological wound’, or…
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Night Of The Weremole Courage The Cowardly Dog
The folklore of the werewolf is great fodder for a horror comedy and it was bound to be used sooner or later. Others have made new creatures out of the werewolf story — Wallace and Grommit have The Curse Of The Wererabbit, for instance, in which they take a cute, fluffy animal that can’t (directly) harm humans. Here we have…
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The Demon In The Mattress Courage The Cowardly Dog
In “The Demon In The Mattress” episode of Courage The Cowardly Dog we have the full moon, the midnight ‘witching’ hour and a comic horror story about possession. The idea of an evil mattress is of course horror fantasy, but comes from the real world mistrust we have about sleeping on other people’s beds. Here in Australia it’s not even…
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Hot Head Courage The Cowardly Dog
The “Hot Head” episode of Courage The Cowardly Dog owes much to the Jekyll & Hyde trope. We can probably go back further than that, to Cain and Abel. For more on twins in literature see here. See also: A History Of Other Selves. STORY STRUCTURE OF “HOT HEAD” This is a story in two distinct parts. Courage sees what happens…
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Big Foot Courage The Cowardly Dog
In the “Big Foot” episode of Courage The Cowardly Dog we have a story which makes use of the legend of Big Foot. The great thing about the horror comedy genre is that writers not only have access to a treasure trove of metaphors and symbols — they also have access to urban legends and conspiracy theories. Bigfoot (also known…
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Courage The Cowardly Dog: Doctor Le Quack
All of the Courage The Cowardly Dog episodes including Doctor Le Quack are set in a place called Nowhere. “Be quiet, Eustace,” says Muriel one morning, “you’ll wake the neighbours!” This setting is perfect for western spoofs. Many of the Courage stories are horror spoofs but in Dr Le Quack we have the cartoon, child-friendly version of a wild western caper…
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The Shadow Of Courage, Courage The Cowardly Dog
At first I wondered if the title “The Shadow Of Courage” were a riff on The Red Badge Of Courage but no — apart from the grammatical structure and perhaps some of the themes (of bravery vs cowardice) this plot line borrows little from the classic American novel. Shadows who disentangle themselves from their bodies are a staple of horror,…
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Cajun Granny Stew Courage The Cowardly Dog
“Cajun Granny Stew” has influences from: STORY STRUCTURE OF CAJUN GRANNY STEW SHORTCOMING Courage is scared of birds. So how is going to possibly deal with a formidable opponent like a shady fox? Quite often in a comic story there is a main opponent and then there are lesser evils. The birds are actually harmless, despite their… teeth. DESIRE When…
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At The Katz Motel (Pilot) Courage The Cowardly Dog: A Night
“The Katz Motel” is the wonderful pilot episode of horror comedy for kids, Courage The Cowardly Dog. If you’re anything like me you can’t stand anything on the Cartoon Network for too long. A lot of those shows seem like ill-conceived, overly chatty, highly-polished but vapid productions designed to sell toys. Courage The Cowardly Dog is an exception. My daughter…
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Genius Characters in Fiction
In stories it isn’t always the smartest or the strongest who become heroes — it is often the character who perseveres or works hardest. The villain is often smarter and stronger than the hero. What about really smart characters? Ironically in storytelling, the genius character is often the underdog. Their genius is also their shortcoming, or they have another big shortcoming…
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The Best Quiet Children’s Films
By ‘quiet’ I mean the anti-DreamWorks of yak-yak. The following films will help a child to feel calm rather than revved up. These quiet movies are set close to nature, feature classical soundtracks relatively little (if any) dialogue. (For some reason the mother is usually absent.) Please bear in mind that by ‘quiet’ I don’t necessarily mean ‘appropriate for all kids…
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Gender Inversion As Gags In Children’s Stories
There’s this gag in many humorous children’s stories which almost everyone else finds hilarious and I find really troublesome. It’s when a male character dresses as a female character. This gender inversion in itself is meant to be funny. But why?
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Breaking Bad And The Influence Of Classic Fairytales
Vince Gilligan broke new television ground by writing a series about a good man turned evil. He also borrowed from a long history of storytelling. Walt White is a modern superhero archetype, but Breaking Bad also borrows from classic fairytales. Most modern stories do. PUSS IN BOOTS The unnamed cat in Puss In Boots is determined to make life better for…
