Nostalgia Journey: A Cartoon Hell

You are in a desert. It's supposed to be a town, but only one shack occupies endless, fruitless acres. The cracked ground screams for an unlikely downpour. As you approach a nearly dilapidated house, the wind spits sand in your face. You knock at the door, and minutes drag on with no one in sight. Just as a creeeeak is heard from the other side of the door, a small lilac colored dog approaches. The color of its fur isn't what makes your eyes widen: the dog is standing and holding a gun ray to your face.

      Where do you think you are? "This is Hell" is probably what you're thinking. Well, it is, figuratively. You have just been in the town of Nowhere. Those who grew up during the 1990s probably remember the children's cartoon Courage the Cowardly Dog. The main character is the aforementioned dog. As the title suggests, it is easily afraid, but it nonetheless saves its owners from peril in nearly every episode.

        Despite the title of the show, Courage represents Cerberus, the mythological hellhound. Nowhere is arid and only the greediest and most prideful people enter. Courage guards the home of Eustace and Muriel Bagge. Instead of contending with living heros, Courage must fight off Le Quack, King Ramses, Queen of the Black Puddle, Katz, and numerous other avaricious villians who threaten the balance of the home.

        Regardless of how many times Courage saves the Bagges, his owner, Eustace, constantly yells at him. Also, Eustace usually tries to find a short cut or two in order to get rich. Why is this? Because in this cartoon Hell, Eustace is Hades. In Greek mythology, Hades is outshined by Zeus in the eyes of their parents, Cronus and Rhea; Eustace's dead brother outshines Eustace in the eyes of Ma Bagge. Like Hades, this parental preference turns Eustace into an irascible character.

    Muriel is the person that Courage adores the most in the series. She is a cheerful Scottish wife and homemaker of Eustace, and her optimism in perilous situations borders on oblivion. She is the only maternal figure that Courage has, and in this town, she represents Traditionalism. Muriel is the only woman in the show who cooks, cleans, sews, and other light tasks. She is in Nowhere because traditionalism is presumed to be dead, but not gone. For instance, every villian tries to reap something out of her by trying to cook her or sell her in some way. This suggests the idea that conventional manners are constantly on the brink of being taken advantage of by Greed (the villians).

          The show Courage the Cowardly Dog uses the characters of Courage, Eustace and Muriel in order to convey the idea that traditional methods are always in danger. Courage, the little Cerberus, guards them in the continuously advancing town.

For more information about the show feel free to visit the Courage the Cowardly Dog Wikia.   

Image of Desert courtesy of & Beyond Travel Blog
Black and White Image of Courage the Cowardly Dog courtesty of ssgba1380 at Deviantart.org.