Submitted for the approval of ’90s kids, I call this review… “The Tale of a Reboot Getting It Right”.
There are so many films and television series that nurtured my love and passion for spooky things. The most prominent was Are You Afraid of the Dark. I remember fondly, running inside to catch episodes after school… and then being scared for hours afterwards. But I loved it!
The series first aired on Nickelodeon in 1991, delivering frightening tales to kids for the remainder of the decade. A fixture for many, AYAotD never held back for its young audience, with many episodes still holding up as we aged into adulthood — “Dead Man’s Float” anyone?
The beloved show went off the air, just a few years after the Goosebumps series ended, leaving a big void in children’s horror anthology. While there have been some shows recently aiming to fill those shoes, the world really needed The Midnight Society in it once again. So enter this rebooted version, ready to share scary stories in the bask of a glowing campfire.
This incarnation will be comprised of three episodes and follows Rachel, the new girl, who joins classmates Akiko, Louise, Gavin, and Graham (IT‘s Jeremy Ray Taylor) as the new Midnight Society. For her initiation, Rachel tells the tale of the “Carnival of Doom”, which is anything but fun at the hands of the evil ringmaster Mr. Tophat (Rafael Casal). However, it seems her tale will take on a life of its own and thrust the kids into the twisted carnival world.
Despite a 19-year gap, this new series really stays true to the look and feel of the original. With the gloomy atmosphere and creepy tone, these three episodes are sure to please original fans. Some who can possibly even enjoy with their own kids now.
I really do hope they continue to make more episodes past this mini-series. Kids deserve to have these fond spooky memories, just as my generation did. I’m certainly excited to see more of Mr. Tophat, Casal’s unnerving villain.
The first episode airs October 11th, with the others following on October 18th and October 25th.
It is plain to everyone that remakes and reboots are all the rage right now, so it is pretty surprising some of the popular older properties that do not get used anymore. With cartoons, we have seen multiple attempts to revitalize shows like The Powerpuff Girls and Teen Titans, but one of the most popular cartoons of the ‘90s has been sitting dormant ever since it ended. Any ‘90s kid remembers Courage the Cowardly Dog and it is baffling why this excellent children’s horror cartoon has not been rebooted for modern generations.
To be fair, Courage the Cowardly Dog did have some creepy and unsettling episodes. Parents might worry that a horror cartoon aimed at children would be too much in today’s world. But to that I say, just look at how popular something like Five Nights at Freddy’s is among kids. If anything, I think modern kids would love a reboot of Courage for how macabre it could be even within its TV rating standards.
It is not like Courage the Cowardly Dog was ever being dark just for the sake of trying to be edgy, like Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey could be accused of. Beyond the creepiness of the characters and monsters Courage encountered, it all came back to him trying to protect his family at all costs. The cartoon actually has some very heartwarming moments.
Nineties kids have fond memories of shows and movies that were not afraid to scare them. That is why Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is looking to be one of the year’s most popular movies as it tries to recapture the magic of the original. Courage the Cowardly Dog straddled that same line of a Tim Burton film, sprinkling in just enough bizarre or unsettling moments but stopping short of anything that would give kids nightmares.
Even people who have not watched the show since their childhood can vividly remember many of the episodes. Plenty of people can recall Freaky Fred, the creepy barber who stayed with Courage’s family and was obsessed with shaving Courage against his will. Or King Ramses, the creepy CGI spirit who demanded the return of his slab lest Courage’s family be subjected to three plagues throughout the night. Courage the Cowardly Dog was filled with memorable, quirky characters.
And the impressive thing is, for how much of an impression Courage the Cowardly Dog left on viewers, you might assume it aired for a long time and had tons of episodes. But in truth, it was only on air for three years and had 52 episodes. It is hard to imagine any cartoon having that much of an impact nowadays, but it is remembered as one of the best shows on Cartoon Network in the ‘90s.
Some other ‘90s cartoon reboots have failed at pleasing old fans, like the 2016 version of The Powerpuff Girls. But it is hard to imagine screwing up a reboot of Courage the Cowardly Dog. Since the cartoon originally aired, there have been so many great new horror movies to draw inspiration from. I could easily see a reboot being a huge hit with both old fans and new if it is made by people who loved the original. It worked for X-Men ’97, so why not Courage?
Source: source names
