We interrupt this program to bring you ...Courage the Cowardly Dog Show....John R. 'Dilly' Dilworth is best known as the producer, director and creator of the Courage the Cowardly Dog series that ran on Cartoon Network from 1999-2002 a total of 52 episodes, each featuring 2 stories, all involving the supernatural.
Dilworth was nominated for an Academy Award in 1995 for the animated short The Chicken From Outer Space. Dilworth was commissioned by Cartoon Network to turn the short into a series, which eventually became the popular Courage the Cowardly Dog Show.
Dilworth's breakout film was The Dirdy Bird (1994) winning numerous prizes including a place in the permanent archive of the Venice Film Festival.
After making a purchase from Dilly's website Stretch Films, I received an e-mail from Dilly stating that one of the items I had purchased was out of stock, would I be interested in something else. Of course I directed him to this site and explained I would really like to get a sketch of Courage. He agreed, I was astonished. At first I did not tell my boys. after the second e-mail I mentioned Dilworth and he immediately asked if that was the creator of Courage. I let them read the e-mails and they finished reading with one word, "Cool".
I sent the cover and we waited impatiently...I had chosen a Universal Monsters Mummy stamp first day cover for the Courage sketch. One of the first Courage cartoons I saw was King Ramses' Curse. In this cartoon Courage finds a rare slab stolen from a mummy's tomb, Eustace's (Courage's owner) greed causes the mummy's ghost to bring forth his ancient curse along with the spooky disembodied voice saying "Return the slab!" A classic cartoon.
When the cover arrived I was speechless. It was as if my tongue was ripped from my head. The sketch of Courage was awesome, better than expected!
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