That episode where Eustace is kidnapped by some woman and Courage doesn't give a fuck because of how Eustace treats him but sees Muriel very sad/suffering as a result so he saves Eustace to make her happy because her happiness means more to him than his own.
Queen of the Black Puddle, when Muriel mistakenly believes Eustace left her for a younger woman.
One of my favorite cartoons for sure. Very smartly done a lot of the time with a lot of subtle humor. If I am remembering this right one of the biggest things was that the show's score was composed to match the episode after the episode was made, not pre-recorded then inserted where convenient.
I actually looked for a long time for some of the a show's music, especially the entire score for the episode "The Tower of Dr. Zalost", but I havnt had any luck. Some of the best music I've heard in a cartoon.
Yes. It was something the team took great pride on. Each episode's music was custom-fit to the specific episode, giving it great atmospheric presence. Easiest to notice is in Stormy Weather, when the music tempo changes as the storm goddess becomes more an more annoyed (eventually going into a full rage, with predictable results) or in Muriel's sitar segments in various other episodes. Also in segments where the Bagges go to South America: the tune's beat tends to follow Courage's running pattern.
Courage the Cowardly Dog was the first show to tackle in a serious, non-punchline-y manner heavy adult themes like spousal abuse, parental neglect, pedophilia, homosexuality, depression, excessive expectations etc. The ultra-absurdist tone of the show made slipping things past the radar extremely easy, and the lessons are easily understood by children and adults alike (albeit in different ways).
It pains me that Dilworth and his Stretch Films team aren't given more recognition for what is a truly revolutionary show (there wasn't anything like it at the time).
