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i just realized that Kitty left the mask like a way to say that she finally faced her reality and Eustace takes it and wears it not facing the reality that he can't fix everything.
It's the Don Bluth/Walt Disney philosophy when it comes to family/children entertainment; you can show any dark thing you want as long as the main characters have a happy ending (or at the very least a bittersweet ending).
Rogue the L.I-Princess Thus why my children’s tv show will cause a revolution and an uproar. While also getting banned after one season thus getting picked up on Netflix for a 6 episode Season 2 wrap up.
In Courage's favor, The last cat he met was evil but the first thing this cat did was beat him with a sink. So Courage may not have an anti-cat bias it's just that both cats he has met has caused him harm.
@@lloyddragon2036 I don't know, if he assumes she has nefarious intentions toward his owners because she beat him, is that really a bias? Katz may not even factor into it. He may just be thinking "of course she's dangerous, she's assaulted me twice now!" I think most of us would think all bets are off about someone being a bad person if that person bashed our heads in. That's not bias so much as common sense.
The thing here I think is that there is a difference between bias and prejudice. Courage has a reason to be afraid of cats because both times he has encountered them they have hurt him. His judgement is based on experience rather than opinions formed before he ever met one. So yes, he is biased, but not necessarily prejudiced.
Anyone else notice how much of a badass Courage is in this episode? I mean he beats up Mad Dog’s thugs, he chases after the guy’s car, _and jumps through the rear window to grab the wheel!_
well like doug was saying he couldn't figure out what the mask monster was that kept coming up- i always thought it was a way to help give courage motivation- either he moved forward or he loses those who he loves
This is also the only time he actively attacks someone and *wins* even though Mad Dog's guys were easily twice his size and clearly dangerous. It's our only instance of Courage just beating the absolute shit out of someone.
That is actually pretty common in the show and why I love the concept. Courage always is terrified by the monster of the week and the monster always seems far more powerful than him. He screams his lungs out and wants to run away but then he imagines what will happen to his owners if he runs. And since that is far more terrifying, he decides to stand his ground and either outsmarts the monster or finds that the monster is just misunderstood and brings it back to the good side. In the end it shows what real courage means. Not that you are not scared or know no fear. But that you stand and fight despite the fear because you are more afraid of what will happen if you don't.
"I'd be surprised if the creators didn't know that painting." There's literally an episode that takes place in an art museum where they art comes to life and they do a scene IN that painting. So they've done homage to it twice.
"Aw come on Bunny. Dont I make you happy no more? Or maybe you're still thinking about Kitty. I told you to forget her! I take you from a two bit joint and make you a class act and you wanna make me second rate?! If I even smell Kitty...I'll bury the two of you!" Definitely abusive
I think the flower pot is supposed to hint that Bunny was raped or, "de-flowered". The line before that, after Mad Dog's henchmen arrive is, "hold her down" then Bunny screams, "let go of me! You dogs are all the same, animals! Animals!" It's really dark yet a very creative way of getting past the censors
Bruce Timm said in his commentary on Robin's Reckoning that sometimes they were glad in the long run that the censors told him and the crew "no" because it made them think of creative ways around them.
Another facet of this that I would notice when I was little was how Bunny was wearing an obviously expansive coat and jewelry, but how dead her eyes were in contrast. It made me think of like the wives of mobsters or brutal gang members who enter relationships with the men expecting something totally different to the harsh reality of the situation. How they can be wrapped in the most expensive of clothes and dripping diamonds, but their eyes betray how dead they are inside.
Also notice the gangsters are pretty poor and can barely live in a house, the dog is miserable and wants to buy bunny love with jewels he's so desperate for her attention he can't think of the idea that love is one sided, so he tries to buy her out and then physically and psychologically torment her. This is how obsessive relationships work, when worshipping doesn't work, torment comes.
Such individuals, want the status , & appearance of wealth, & they willing paid The Devil's due. In return they got what they paid for, & what they deserved for their naivetity, vanity, narcissism, & idealistic views, instead of facing, & accepting reality for what it is, & for all of its cruelties. They are not victims. They "played" themselves, all for the illusion of a lifestyle of a reality they wanted for themselves; all to satisfy their selfish arrogance, & entitled ego.
@@yusukeelric He's just your typical simp, who has resources she wants, trying to be her "number one," on her OnlyFans account. While the "Good One," is left in the shadow, forever pining, as an orbiter, & wet blanket for those brief intervals of when times get too "rough." It's really a sad observation of the majority of relationships in modern society. Where both parties are abusive, & neglectful of one another, & will use the other to fulfill their own desires of selfishness. Told, through art.
Something I wanted to point out as interesting was Eustace in this episode. When his wife asks if he thinks she eats too much he immediately says no. Granted, you could argue he was too absorbed in what Kitty said about him, but I feel if that was the case he'd have just mumbled something or ignored it. Additionally, when she discovers they're locked in the bedroom and he fails to get the door open, he doesn't say anything until after she brings up that Kitty was right and he can't fix anything. Lastly, when she apologizes he immediately says that it's okay. As much as we're supposed to hate Eustace and think he only cares about himself, I feel this episode reminded us that he does love his wife.
while Eustace is really mean towards Courage, there are a ton of episodes where he is worried about Murice, even to the point that he does nothing to Courage and takes care of her
Like the bed episode he wore a dress to help her, then when the passed Muriel attacked him he came back in a different suit to save her. Freaky episode for me
Eustace has always shown to care about Muriel in his own unique way. He may not show it the usual way but he does panic and get concerned whenever his wife is in danger to the point he will even help Courage resolve the issue.
I think the main reason why he's scared of her is that he's used to monsters showing up at his house...often. Sometimes he learns that they aren't a threat, but his first exposure to her was her beating the shit out of him, so his fears are somewhat justified. He's not sure if he's doing the right thing by helping someone he hasn't been given a reason to trust.
@@manuelalbertoromero9528 Yeah, Katz is a recurring villain. Also, I think we're supposed to be surprised at the reveal that she's a cat. It's sort of a "she's already hiding something important, so what else is she hiding" situation.
i agree and to add a bit more to this to comment, it's my personal theory that courage usually to evaluates anything unfamiliar as potentially negative until proven otherwise because of his previous encounters and skittish nature. He can jump to conclusions pretty easily but typically because of that he's able to entertain a solution even if that solution ends up helping the current threat. i do like the interpretation that the monster is secretly of a representation of the evolving situation that's a neat perspective i hadn't considered. when i was a kid, i just assumed courage viewed kitty as the monster the whole time and that if he didn't try to help her it would end poorly for him.
@@Trimead I think that, as a kid, I didn't think about it too much. I think, initially, it's just him expressing his fear that, while he's away, something terrible might happen. However, as the episode goes on, it does seem to reflect the danger of the situation in his mind. I doubt that the creators imagined people would be thinking this deeply about it.
I want to touch on something: look at the two women in the cartoon and remember Courage and Katz, his arch enemy. I think you got it right about Courage fearing Kitty because he knows Katz. The episode kind of contrasts Bunny and Kitty with Courage and Katz but as opposites.
I don't know I'm not really sure that's it personally, they do have similar visual designs but Courage was never big on continuity... I always just saw it as him being freaked out by this gangly stranger staying in the shadowy parts of their house, like a kid would be when a parent's friend comes over.
@@expendableindigo9639 Yep kind of thought the same thing even as a kid. However, I can see the idea of Courage thinking it was Katz, although usually when they have a character return they would have Courage do some visual gag of him remembering the villain.
@@CLDJ227 In all fairness Katz shows up multiple times (he and Le Quack are the only ones to my knowledge) and Courage usually recognizes them fairly quickly.
Kitty’s Head is also very different from the other cats seen in Courage. It is still triangular in shape but her chin and ears are slightly rounded as if the animators were hinting that Kitty is rough around the edges but there is still a softer side to her.
I always thought the white masked monster was a representation of racism and prejudices (mainly because it mimicks the KKKs costumes) and as the situation gets worse it appears racism gets stronger and more entrenched in our lives to the point where it consumes us. Only through working together (a dog working with a bunny to help a cat) can we ever hope to overcome racism.
As a kid, I interpreted Courage’s imaginations as him thinking Muriel and Eustace were in increasing danger being alone with Kitty the longer he was away, and saving her “best friend” got her away from them I really like your interpretation and think it’s a strong one
To me, what makes Mad Dog so scary is that unlike other villains like Freaky Fred or King Ramses, is that he's a realistic kind of scary. Like an abusive boyfriend or an angry drunk father.
Good point, but one could argue that Fred was also realistic-- He knows that his obession is wrong and causes harm to others and to himself, yet he still does it; granted, shaving hair is rather harmless, but others have *slightly* less innocent (but just as terrifying) obsessions their brains feel pleasure from
The mask of the “beautiful woman” for some reason made me think of the film, “Eyes Without a Face” from 1960. The film is about a deranged doctor kidnapping women in order to steal their faces for his disfigured daughter. The daughter often wears a blank white mask that looks like it is supposed to be beautiful, but comes off has a blank maniquin face.
Kyle Shiflet hey good to meet a fellow horror enthusiast! 😁 I’ll be honest, I haven’t seen the full movie, just clips. But that mask is super unnerving. Wonder if John Carpenter and his crew got inspiration for Michael Myers’ mask from that movie?
@@CinematicInsanity You're totally right, it does look similar to the mask in that film which happens to be one of my personal favorites. And I believe you're correct that John Carpenter did take some inspiration from it as well for the original Halloween mask.
Nerd alert -- I once wrote a Wold Newton article connecting, however tenuously, that movie with FACE OF ANOTHER, a Japanese psycho thriller from the '60s, as well as some comic strip/comic books characters such as The Blank from DICK TRACY and the Chameleon and the Question by Steve Ditko.
John Pelt that’s so cool!!! Chameleon is one of my favorite underated Spider-Man villain! And I have a theory he is going to be the villain in MCU’s Spider-Man 3. Would totally work to have a villain tied to identity face off against the identity exposed Peter Parker.
One thing I always liked about Courage the Cowardly Dog is that more psychological dark tones rather that outright scaring you all the time. This show was genius
Yup. Nothing more to it. He is imagining Kitty as a monster and what horrible things she is doing as he is getting bunny for her so that she will leave.
yeah tbh while courage is a good person/dog, he wouldn’t typically put himself in danger like this to save anyone but Muriel and to a lesser extent Eustace. The main reason he went to save Bunny wasn’t bc she was being abused but bc he wanted Kitty to leave his house lol good thing he succeeded
@@robertharris6092 well yeah but venture to a place where he could very easily get killed? Courage wouldn't do that for just a random bunny, he thought he had to to save his family. Like I said he's still p kind, just aware of his limits y'know
One thing I noticed rewatching this is when Bunny is about to leave Mad Dog, she hesitates. I like that they put that in there because victims of domestic abuse often have trouble knowing if they should leave or not.
I think Courage knew how Kitty would fall more and more mentally, taking it out of Muriel and Eustace. Him seeing the imaginary monster that way to me feels like a time bomb, trying to defuse it by rescuing bunny and calming Kitty so it would leave his family alone.
Yes I feel like he comes to realize he’s not afraid of kitty but he’s afraid of what she’ll become if she doesn’t get bunny back that she’ll just get more angry and sad thus making her more violent and hateful
For another great Courage episode, "The Tower of Dr. Zalost" - the orchaestral score is *haunting* and atmospheric (though you may have to mind copyright strikes with it), and the villain has a very sympathetic motivation - he's just deeply unhappy. That's it. He's unhappy, and is convinced that everyone else should be as miserable as he is.
I was actually just going to suggest this episode! Also not sure if he should review it or not, but what about the episode where that man's house was alive?
Apparently the creator confirmed that Kitty and her "friend" are indeed a lesbian couple. Doesn't surprise me. It's a kids show from the late 90s and early 2000s, but they make it fairly obvious.
Is this the one with the girl on the swing? Because if it is, I still have nightmares about it, so of course it was one of my favorite episodes as a kid!
@@briandaaranda9735 You mean the girl with the violin? That was from the big city episode, the one with the cockroach guy and the mysterious package. I'm talking about the episode where they go to an art museum in Paris.
"Do you think I eat too much?" "Nah. It's cat lady. I can fix anything!" Shifting the blame aside, it was nice to see Eustace tried to reassure Muriel and he didn't insult her, considering he's Eustace
@@pundertalefan4391 Those two are one of my favorite "probably shouldn't be togethor couples" They have a lot of problems but in the end the work well togethor.
If you end up reviewing another Courage the Cowardly Dog episode you should DEFINITELY review the episode with The Great Fuscili. That ending was dark as hell even for Courage.
@@knottyorchid1212 There is a theory that after season 1, everything is made up in Courage's mind while playing with the puppets of his owners (which I personally believe work as their dead bodies).
courage screams when he sees the cat, not because he has his own prejudice, but because courage will literally scream at everything unexpected or abnormal.
He has no prejudice, he's just surprised to see it was a cat. Only the cat has violent prejudice against all dogs just because of her encounter with a few bad ones
@@drabnail777 nah he doesn't even know she's a cat Before he peek in the doorknob he literally saw a mask with a white cloth that's it definitely would freak out
Courage while is still the easily scared dog is he it needs to be pointed out that he was a HERO in this episode. While he was scared of the masked cat girl he still went out of his way to find her bunny friend who’s a slave to gangsters, he knew he is in over he’s head like always but he still went to do the right thing at Great risk to his life (while kicking most of the gang out with a shovel like OG) and got into a chase with mad dog hit with a train(funny as hell). And it ends with kitty reunited with bunny. With a dark episode like this I love it ends with a happy ending.
the scenes where courage is picturing kitty's mask as the monster while he's thinking about rescuing bunny. I see it as him conflicted as.. "why am I helping this monster?" Kind of thing. But like. He has a good heart he needs to help because he's there. But he's conflicted because he thinks he's helping someone bad.
I think it’s Courage rationalizing the situation like any other episode. He thinks this is a good versus evil situation, but this episode is deeper than Courage can probably comprehend.
I saw it as a cognitive dissonance in Courage that he's helping the monster to save his family. He sees Kitty as a threat to his humans and wants to help save them from the monster, but he can't just outright attack Kitty and kick her out, so the only other recourse is to help her reunite with Bunny so she'll leave of her own accord. To Courage's mind, it's a hostage situation and the only good way out is to negotiate with the hostage taker and do what she wants.
I agree a bit with dragon but I saw it mor as that courage is thinking that kitty is a monster and as he learns more of the situation his thoughts change to wanting to help the monster kind of like how moana gave back the heart also I saw the thing where courage was biting the monster more so as a dragging kitty back to the right side of the tracks so that she could be happy
i saw it as both that and what Doug said at the same time. like to courage it meant that but it was also hinting to the audience as symbolism for the situation.
Episodes like this elevate Courage the Cowardly Dog above other shows of its time. It was open and ambiguous enough to be about a plethora of possible adult subjects, but ultimately tackles the root cause of a majority of those subjects. I feel like your interpretation of the fantasy monster is a pretty fitting one honestly. Personally, I interpreted the monster as a manifestation of what Courage fears will happen should he fail, like, in a comedic sense it could be that he thinks that's what Kitty will do if he isn't able to save Bunny.
You were pretty spot on with Courage, although when it came to him imagining the cat girl to be the monster eating people, that was just his norm. Whenever he was freaked out about something his brain would exaggerate the issue and lead him to panic. Just normal Courage behavior.
Exactly! Courage always thought about insane scenarios whenever his loved ones were in danger. Sometimes, it actually turned out to be a fairly innocent misunderstanding such as in "Heads of Beef" where the pigs simply made burgers in the shape of their customers or "Campsite of Terror" where the raccoons kidnap Muriel because they want a mother. There's actually a fan theory where Courage doesn't actually live in the middle of Nowhere. Everything seen is simply from Courage's point of view because he's a dog and doesn't know much about the outside world.
To be fair to Courage, Kitty was literally beating him senseless unprovoked and it can't help his own growing PTSD that she looks like the same cat that tried to feed him and his family to giant man-eating spiders. I think he's earned the right to demonize her in his mind. Also I think Courage thinking about the monster eating his owners may be a callback to what the last cat he met tried to do to him and his family.
Courage and Kitty had their own personal prejudices that they needed to address on their own and see how wrong they were for having them even if they both had their own reasons to distrust each other’s species. Courage thinks all cats are evil because Katz keeps antagonizing and does horrible things to him and Kitty thinks all dogs are evil because Mad Dog is abusing someone she cares about and can’t find a way to save her friend.
I heard that their relationship was a metaphor for a lesbian relationship, and rewatching again as an adult, I can totally see it. The way they talk to and act around each other really made it seem they were romantically involved
It's funny that Doug mentions the creators of this show must love art with that homage to Night Hawks, but almost everything in Courage has some inspiration from classic art. Even Eustace and Muriel are a reference to "American Gothic". All this is made a lot clearer after the museum episode though
I take the dream sequences with the monster as time running out for courage. Like the longer he takes the more horrible things kitty could be doing back home. At this time he’s still not sure of kitty but is pretty sure bunny’s good and that she needs help and if he can get her out and back to kitty she won’t go crazy like the monster in his thoughts.
@@lunabearsong2043 Abra Cadaver didn't really get to the darker imagery until the end with the Iron Maiden...But it was NOWHERE NEAR as heavy as Speed Demon was....If there ever truly was an episode that told you that Him was the devil, it would be that episode
Oh gods, I remember this one almost as a fever dream. I remember it just being so... scary and this sense of wrongness throughout... it really shows you how scary HIM can be.
Courage's anxiety causes him to catastrophize everything he perceives as a threat and his "fantasies" tend to be an amalgam of who-/whatever the immediate threat it while progressively incorporating other threats and conflicts into it as the episode progresses. I don't remember, but due to the length and seriousness of this ep's plot, his catastrophizing might just be more exaggerated.
There were a few things in this episode that touch on some dark ideas. Bunny in the coat being dragged by the arm seems to reference prostitution along with building being full of red lights. And the flower pot scene I interpreted as an implied case of sexual abuse. Maybe Mad Dog and his goons "deflowered" her. (although the bury line interpretation also makes sense)
I just realized that Eustice wears the mask at the end because he's still hiding himself from the truth of not being able to fix everything and also, based on other episodes, just hiding alot of pain and insecurities behind his mean nature.
@@ericasutton3147 ok it's about the Windmill breaking down and revealed if that I'd the Windmill ever stops turn ing the vengeful spirits of vandals will kill those who poses the windmill
According to my memory, “A Night at the Katz Motel” to me is the scariest episode. Unlike most of the episodes, as an adult it still freaks me out. I believe this episode is what factored into my borderline arachnophobia. Edit- I forgot to mention something: the scenario is based on “the legend of the hotel that no one checks out of”. There are many other shows with episodes based on that legend. I think stories based on this legend started when people found out that a serial killer, H.H. Holmes, killed people in secret in his own hotel in 1893.
I don't have arachnophobia and my skin still crawls watching those spiders. I don't even rank it as one of the more scary episodes in this show. But anytime I hear Cat's them it's like hearing the whistle in Kill Bill you know something about to happen.
Fun fact: In the Spanish dub, the cats are most definitely a lesbian couple. They literally say “now we can love each other forever” when translated to English.
I have a recommendation: Nasty Patty from SpongeBob Squarepants. SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs think they kill the health inspector and try to bury the body.
@@adiebernhardt2027 Sponge Bob had A LOT of things that miraculously got past the censors. Like when Patric says Sponge Bob and him should make another baby and he thrust his pelvis in a sexual manner.
Wished Mad Dog looked more like Donald Trump. He wouldn't be president if an entire generation of kids knew what he was like and voted Democrat Trump is awful to women in his own way
Does this narratively remind anyone of the film “Bound” a little? The story of an abused wife of a gangster trying to escape with the help of her girlfriend...
I like how he tries to pin Courage’s fear of Kitty on just being prejudice because of a bad experience with another cat, but, in reality, it was also because he was, literally, beaten by her multiple times earlier in the episode, justifying his fears now that he has a face to associate it with.
I think it is a combination of Courage having very bad experiences with Katz and then Kitty beating him up for absolutely no reason at all other than he was a dog. Kitty was just re-enforcing that cats were all evil in Courage’s mind. But after hearing about Mad Dog’s abusive behavior, Courage realizes that Kitty isn’t bad by default and that she only did bad things to him because she was miserable and thought all dogs were evil just like Courage thought Kitty was evil because she was a cat.
@@kenthuang436 I think saying she was scared of Courage would have been better. Saying that she did because she miserable makes it sound pathetic. There is a connection between anger and anxiety if you google it. It least with fear it can be seen as the person protecting themselves.
I always assumed the reason Mad Dog didn’t like Bunny being “so friendly-like” with Kitty was bc she’s a cat. Though the fact the rat guy described him as “jealous” calls that into question
@@tiablue9106 Well it's not just a species thing, I think it's both Mad Dog hates cats and he's jealous because he thinks Kitty will try to run away with Bunny. It doesn't have to be exclusive, his hatred of cats intensifies his jealousy. If it were another dog maybe he'd just rough them up, but because Kitty is a cat and getting to close to "his" girl he would "bury" BOTH of them because how dare Bunny "his" girl leave him for a cat.
abusers do that, they isolate you from everyone, or maybe he is jealous because he saw Bunny and Kitty kissing, I feel like the mouse toy represents that, as Kitty is playing with it as in a memory, and later on it appears again when they are on the train
I always thought when Courage imagined the Mask it was his interpretation of "the problem". I guess it's pretty unclear, but the Mask he imagined was the manifestation of his situation. By the end I think he realizes Mad Dog is really the source of the current predicament, and he takes the place of the mask....I might be stretching here, but that's how I used to rationalize it.
I think the funniest thing in this episode is that in Courage's thoughts with the monster, Eustace stays dead. First there's the part at 10:34 where he's still half-eaten, and then at 18:07 where it only shows him saving Muriel. I just love that he's being treated equally in the nightmare scenarios, but then in the happy scenarios, part of the happiness is apparently that he didn't make it. As an aside, notice that Kitty is drawn a lot softer than other cats in the show. The lines are more curved and the mouth area is rounded. Meanwhile, Katz and even one-off characters like the thieves in King Ramses' Curse are drawn very sharply. In fact, usually the cats don't even GET the mouth/nose area filled in, it's mostly just a point. Likely a way of illustrating that she's redeemable. Even though she DOES spend a good chunk of the episode mercilessly beating Courage. But when she does that, she has her mask on to show the separation between who she is due to her experiences, and who she is when she overcomes them. I do wish she would've kept the mask on a little longer, just to emphasize that contrast. For an episode called "The Mask", it's discarded pretty fast.
I think this is one of the deepest Courage episodes because of how realistic the problem is. It's not Courage against a monster, an alien or a chicken. It's about a cruel person and two people in a sad, disturbing situation. For all the scary villains the show has come up with, Mad Dog still gives them a run for their money because of what sort of guy (well, dog) he is. It's pretty heartwarming as well, seeing Courage going out of his way to help Bunny while Bunny and Kitten learn that not everyone is like Mad Dog. And yeah, Bunny and Kitten are lovers and all, but you can still relate to it. Imagine how it would be if your best friend, your sister, your brother or basically anyone you're close to ended up in an abusive relationship and the abuser threatened to kill you if you tried to help them.
This was my favorite Courage Episode. I was so young I never even realized that relationship between Kitty and Bunny. Now that I've grown and figured this stuff out for myself, I have a brand new respect for this show and a newfound love for this episode. Thank you so much for this episode and I absolutely love this show!
I know the perfect episode for you, Phineas and Ferb Get Busted! Season 1, Episode 45. Its where Phineas and Ferb go to military school and it has alot of real elements to it. So in a normal P a F episode they are normal happy kids but in this it starts out with them being happy but as they go through military school you see the joy get slowly sucked out of them. But as it turns out its just there sisters dream. This episode scared me as a kid.
@@EGeorgev Nope, that one was "Tastes Like Chicken." "Wishbones" was the episode where Billy and Mandy discover a talking skull that grants wishes until he can leave his imprisonment.He has nine more left, but whoever wishes for something gets it granted in a twisted manner.
Nah, it's a joke on bury others. Going beyond the joke misdirection is trying to find a deeper meaning. This is why when courage fights the other dogs they end up "buried" too.
I just saw it as Courage's mental image of the cat in general. He thinks cats are dangerous and will hurt his owners. I think he went to help Bunny thinking maybe if he rescues Bunny the Cat will leave and not hurt owners. I think it cuts back to that image because he is thinking of not helping Bunny because scared but if he doesn't do it then that mental image of hurting owners might happen. Basically, him convincing himself to do it anyway.
Yeah but at that point he knows her backstory. My only guess is that he does care and is only thinking of the worst case scenario if this problem doesn’t get resolved.
The reason I think Courage keeps thinking of the monster while he's at Mad Dog's place is because he's empathizing Bunny's situation to himself. What he sees happening to her he thinks of something terrible happening to his own life and it drives him harder to help.
I was so glad I requested this episode on your Freaky Fred reaction. This one was always one of the most darkest episode of Courage to me mainly because it wasn't some monster that the characters had to deal with, but the darkness that comes with an abusive relationship which...for a kids show, is pretty damn dark.
I remember watching this episode as a kid and being genuinely unnerved by it. I didn't find it "scary" per say, but it definitely disturbed me and left a lifelong impact on me. What makes this episode so unnerving is the reality of it. Even with the cartoony logic of Courage's world, the domestic abuse element makes this episode feel eerily realistic.
Another one I'd recommend is the episode of Ed, Edd, and Eddy that introduces the Kanker sisters. The episode itself isn't that dark, but when the Ed's are running through the forest with the sisters chanting creepily, it always creeped me out as a kid
I think it’s everyone’s favorite episode, and worthy of the title. Also, the episode’s theme of depression and misery hits clearer and more subtle here than with The Mask’s toxic relationship theme.
He said "kids cartoon". Haunted, while a dark episode (I'm assuming it's the Slade mask episode) compared to the other episodes, it's still from a show aimed more towards teenagers than little kids
@@winnietheboogaloo4584 Doesn't change the fact that Teen Titans isn't for little kids. Doug says every week in the intro that he's not looking for stuff like Batman or stuff for older kids. Most superhero cartoons fall into that category.
16:34 huh, I hadn't thought of it _that_ way. Kitty's pain multiplying to Eustace and Muriel, turning them into "monsters." The creature itself, originally being a clear metaphor for how Courage perceives Kitty, has become a metaphor for trauma/abuse cycles, PTSD, or a similar/related concept.
I remember watching this. I was creeped out by the white gown and mask. That's like a mask you don't want to see. I took kitty and bunny as a couple in this. Even more lesbian couple, which wasnt really talked about or touched on at the time. It was almost a taboo subject. I never really thought about Corage freaking out when she removes her mask and he sees her as a cat. I didnt think about it at the time. It is a weird freak out but, yeah considering how he came close to death due to his encounter with Katz, it makes more sense. One other thing about this episode, I felt it did subtly tall about abuse and the after effect it has on the psyche.
When I saw this episode I was still in elementary school. At that time I came to the understanding that I liked girls just as much as I liked guys (bisexual, even tho I didn't know that was a thing at the time of 2008)😂 When I saw this episode and saw how much bunny made kitty happy and how courage fought for their love it gave me hope that how I felt inside wasn't a terrible thing after all❤ If they meant to or not I love that they made this episode and of all things this episode made me embrace who I am and love who I want💗💖
I know this is an old comment, but as someone who had the same experience when I first saw the episode (literally when it aired - I'm showing my age lmao)...it still meant something to me when I found out its confirmed they were indeed meant to be in a relationship. So I thought I would share lol The writer said that they couldn't say Kitty and Bunny were in love at the time so they heavily implied it. But they were. 💕
I honestly hope Doug keeps looking at this show. Not only because the humor and storytelling is right up his alley, but because Courage himself kinda reminds me of one of his favorite animated characters, Mrs. Brisby. In fact, Courage is kinda like her in reverse: instead of being a timid mother willing to face her fears and delve into the horrors of the unknown to save her child, Courage is a timid child willing to face his fears and delve into the horrors of the unknown to save his mother (I know he's a pet and Murial is his owner, but when you think of it, Murial acts more like a mother and Courage is very much like a real human child, at least 10 or 11). I agree that this is a very admiral trait to have, and I love characters who are like that, especially in family entertainment.
Yeah, this episode was one of those episodes from my childhood that as I look back I go “Oh damn... that episode was a lot darker than I remembered...”
When I was little and watched this episode, I didnt know what being gay at the time was. All I knew was that Mad Dog was not a good partner and that Bunny and Kitty obviously love each other and I was happy they got away from him.
By the time you hear the dog say he'll bury the two of them if he sees Kitty again, that tips it off that this is 100% about a romantic relationship between Kitty and Bunny. But if you wanted even more, the mask itself. Why would Kitty have to wear a mask? She left the place where anyone knew her. The mask is a metaphor for her concealing her sexuality in order to survive in society. The dogs are men. Kitty inappropriately transfers her hatred and fear of those bad men onto Courage. Bunny does the same. Kitty leaves the mask because she's decided to live openly no matter the consequences. She was on the train maskless before she even knew Bunny was there. So in the end they both showed they were ready to commit to be with each other.
The mask is literally a metaphoer of not facing your faults. She is not facing she failed herself and her friend. And instead of facing the facts and doing whats right, she takes her scorn and throws it on Courage and his family. This is also why Eustance has the mask later, He still refuses to face the fact he isn't good at fixing anything so he will keep pretending , keep using the mask. That's where the mask monster analogy comes out with courage imagination. He feared that not fixing things would make kitty create even more scorn in the family and literally tear it apart and consume it. The monster he was thinking of was literally the "mask" of Kitty, what Kitty was becoming for not facing her fears. She doesn't have the mask at the end because the show kinda implies that, thanks to courage determination, She faced her fears going after bunny and trampling anything in her way. Like her boyfriend. The mask is all about not being able to face adversity in life.
I just don't think that she is hiding her sexuality as she is hiding her being entirely. What was that being under the mask wasn't kitty. was a creature that hid from her past and was left only with hate.
I remembered rewatching it at age 7 and, unfortunately understood a lot of it. The lesbian aspect completely flew over my head but I actually though Mad Dog had some type of physical control over Bunny, like almost pimp vibes.
It took me a while but I just noticed the Cowboy Bebop artwork in the top right corner. Thats pretty awesome. Oh and I still remember this episode as a kid too.
Oh I remember watching this episode although to be honest I wasn't really bothered by it probably cuz I didn't understand what was happening being too young at all but I love it 💖
When I watched this episode as a child, it definitely left a quiet impact on me. But one of the reasons I liked it was because I felt like the creators weren't talking down to me. And I also respect it because it was one of my first introductions to ideas like domestic violence. It was like John R Dillworth was doing his part to prepare kids for real world situations, the idea that the world isn't always the nice friendly happy place in cartoons. Scary things happen, but if you face your fears and the reality of the situation, and do your part to reach out to people you care about who need help, you can get out of it and still have a happily ever after. That's a hell of a message for a kids show, but that's why it's an important episode that stuck with me all these years later.