Courage the Cowardly Dog-Season 2 (1999)

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	Main Menu Audio Bonus Episode-Pilot
Rating
Year Of Production	1999
Running Time	284:18 (Case: 286)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	John Dilworth
Studio Distributor	Cartoon Network Madman Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	?	Music	Andy Ezrin Jody Gray Tom Kartelias

The Cartoon Network strikes again with this more than slightly off kilter animated show, Courage the Cowardly Dog. Four seasons were made from 1999 to 2002 which encompass 52 double episodes in total. When I say double episodes, I mean that generally there are two stories in the approximately 22 minute runtime.

The show focuses on a small pink dog who was taken in by an old lady, Muriel. She names him Courage. Unfortunately, this is not a particularly apt name as Courage is scared of even the most mundane things. Muriel's husband, Eustace, is an old curmudgeon who constantly refers to Courage as 'stupid dog' and generally spends his whole time complaining. Muriel on the other hand is loving and gentle. The three of them live in the 'Middle of Nowhere' which is actually what the area is called, right near The City of Nowhere.

The action in each episode is driven by some outside force coming to threaten Courage and his home. These can be natural disasters, monsters, aliens, evil geniuses or many other different things. Each time Courage must fight the creature while also fighting Eustace's apathy and grumpiness. His priority is always to save Muriel. One of the standout components of this show is the music which is extremely well used adding greatly to the show.

This two disc set contains all 13 double episodes of Season 2 from 2000/01 totalling over 280 minutes of content.

This show is funny, somewhat weird and occasionally scary for younger audiences but is certainly an enjoyable ride.

Video

    The feature is presented in 1.33:1 non 16x9 enhanced. I believe this would be the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout.

    The colour was excellent, bold and vibrant.

    There were no noticeable artefacts.

    There are no subtitle streams.

    The layer changes were not noticeable during playback.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio is very good.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand.

    The music is suitably dramatic and/or silly depending on the placement. It sounds very good on this transfer.

    The surround speakers were not used.

    The subwoofer was not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu is still and simple but includes music.

Pilot Episode - The Chicken from Outer Space (7:30)

    This Oscar nominated short was originally made as a one-off and based on its success a show was commissioned, although that was not the original plan. The plot involves a chicken arriving in the middle of nowhere in a UFO. He takes control by turning Eustace into an evil chicken. Courage, of course, must save the day.

Other Trailers

    The local release seems to be the only choice currently.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    One quality extra.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall