If you were a big fan of Courage the Cowardly Dog, you might also want to check out these other programs. You may discover something else to binge on! Courage the Cowardly Dog, a cult favorite on Cartoon Network, provided a distinctive reimagining of horror on television. Although it was billed as a children’s show, Courage’s series of odd encounters with terrifying ghosts & ghouls of all kinds appealed to mature viewers.
The program is still regarded as a unique horror classic years later. The program made great use of atmosphere tension, and several types of villains featured their share of unsettling backstories and uncanny voice acting rather than depending on jump scares or gore. There are other shows to watch, though.
Invader Zim
Despite only having two seasons, Invader Zim stood out from other Nickelodeon originals thanks to its sci-fi and dark humor fusion. The television show’s central character is the titular Zim, an extraterrestrial from Irk. Zim plans to conquer Earth and enslave every person who lives there during the entire series run.
Invader Zim and Courage broke the boundaries of kid-friendly television. The cartoon presented the protagonists with morally ambiguous choices rather than sugarcoating every circumstance. Furthermore, it occasionally featured avant-garde visual features like sticky violence and deformed pimples. Despite being prematurely canceled, Invader Zim created a market for animated series aimed at older kids, like Adventure Time, thanks to its “edgy” themes.
Rick & Morty
While Rick & Morty is undoubtedly not a children’s program, its characters exhibit a tiny sense of silliness beneath its deep-seated philosophical and scientific analysis. For example, the many monsters & creatures that the main characters run through are absurd.
However, beneath the absurdity is ingenuity, including self-aware humor & parodies of the sci-fi genre itself. In a word, Rick and Morty use the standard conventions of an overexposed genre while attempting to defy them utterly.
Animals
Animals is a highly underappreciated HBO original series that is just about…animals. The anthology series has recurring themes, yet each episode also has unique suburban creatures, varying from poultry at a butcher shop to pets like dogs.
The storylines for each animal emphasize how most human actions & ideals are “wild” and “uncivilized,” as the book’s title already suggests. Even though the show occasionally contains incredibly bizarre moments, most viewers adore it for its insightful and humorous writing.
Castlevania
The Netflix adaptation of the Castlevania video game is the most gritty and realistic horror animated series to date. While Castlevania has well-known characters like Dracula & has a traditional anime aesthetic, its hyperviolent plot helps the show stand out from the crowd.
Although some viewers may find the bloodshed overwhelming, the show also depends on multi-layered characters to strike a balance between style and substance. It occurred in medieval Europe, ruled by obstinate monks and ferocious vampires. To bring about an equilibrium between the two forces, a monster hunter, a vampire prince & a wizard go off on adventures.
Kid vs. Kat
Although Kid vs. Kat isn’t a heart-pounding horror program, the protagonist’s annoyance is similar to that of many other characters. When Courage notices early warning signals of peril, he tries to alert Eustace and Muriel to the impending danger, but his efforts are unsuccessful.
Similar to Coop Burtonburger in Kid Vs. Kat feels helpless in the face of his sister’s “alien” cat. The cat appears innocent out in front of everyone, but it transforms into a raving lunatic when it sees Coop. The Canadian cartoon series was a throwback to more recent programs on the same networks, including Kick Buttowski, when it first aired on Jetix & Disney XD.
Adventure Time
Cartoon Network has greatly influenced PG-13 television shows like Regular Show and Adventure Time. Adventure Time saw the emergence of early teens as a significant market for cartoons with its fair share of innuendos & fart jokes. However, the show’s characters don’t emphasize morality and don’t follow the urge to be role models for other people.
Even if Finn, Jake, and the rest of the cast have emotional sides, they are all blatantly authentic. Adventure Time was undoubtedly a pop culture phenomenon by itself, running for a staggering ten seasons.
Ben 10
In 2005, Ben 10 premiered on Cartoon Network. Since then, the program has given rise to numerous TV movies, spinoffs, & even a reboot. None, though, seem to compare to the original’s youthfulness. Ben Tennyson & his cousin Gwen encounter extraterrestrial lifeforms and other terrifying things as they drive in their grandfather’s RV in the show’s early episodes, primarily about a road trip.
Ben can transform into ten distinct aliens, each with its abilities, thanks to a mysterious “alien watch” that sticks to his wrist during their excursions. The ten aliens and other extraterrestrial creatures offered some fantastic family-friendly sci-fi with a decent balance of comedy and drama.
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
Mystery Incorporated, the eleventh Scooby-Doo TV series, virtually serves as a prequel because it explores the beginnings of the traditional paranormal investigators. The simplicity of the show, which is primarily set in their city & infrequently relies on outlandish villainy & crossovers with other well-known allies, is what makes it so compelling.
The show, which has a tone akin to Batman: Brave and the Bold, uses self-parodying humor to lampoon the clichés in its source material. Mystery Incorporated has dark and moving moments and frequently alludes to iconic horror films and television shows like Saw and Twin Peaks.
Ugly American
The universe where humans and “non-humans” coexist is the setting of the adult animated comedy Ugly Americans. For many of these creatures, beginning a new existence in a city like New York can seem impossible. The show’s main characters, a group of social workers, aid in acclimating humans and monsters to New York City. Ugly Americans is a funny film with vital elements of black comedy & bizarre fiction that will appeal to fans of gory animation and dry humor.
Gravity Falls
Gravity Falls may appear to be a straightforward adventure comedy, but its episodes encompass a variety of subgenres, from coming-of-age stories to surreal horror. Dipper and Mabel, two siblings, spend the summer with their eccentric uncle in the peaceful town of Gravity Falls at the center of the narrative.
While managing their uncle’s “tourist trap” of a business, the twins come into contact with a number of both known and unknown paranormal entities. Alex Hirsch’s sitcom, which was purposefully planned for a two-season run, is hilarious and endearing. Although the idea may appear cliche, there are enough jokes and character arcs to lift the program to a higher level.
ParaNorman
Norman Babcock, in the community of Blithe Hollow, has the power to communicate with the dead, but nobody else, including his eccentric new acquaintance, is convinced of this. Then, one day, Norman’s eccentric uncle informs him of a rite he needs to carry out to shield the town from a centuries-old curse.
Norman embarrasses himself and gets into a heated dispute with his estranged & paranoid father, Perry. The latter subsequently grounds him during the official presentation of the school play, in which he is chased through the woods by citizens on a witch hunt. His mother, Sandra, explains that his father’s severe demeanor results from his fear for him.
Flapjack’s Marvelous Misadventures
The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, often known as The Misadventures of Flapjack or Flapjack, is a Cartoon Network-produced American animated television program. The US premiere took place on June 5, 2008.
Van Orman voices Flapjack, a naive young kid who was reared by a whale named Bubbie and is guided by a grizzled old pirate called Captain K’nuckles in the animated film. In Stormalong Harbor, where most of the episode is set, the trio spends their days together while getting into mischief while looking for the mysterious Candied Island.
The Amazing World Of Gumball
The day-to-day activities of 12-year-old cat Gumball Watterson, who attend middle school in Elmore. He constantly gets involved in mischief around the city, where he meets with various family members, including Anais, Richard, & Nicole Watterson, as well as other residents, followed by his pet, adoptive brother, & closest buddy Darwin Watterson.
Gumball is well known for its deliberate stylistic discord, with characters created, captured on film, and animated using various styles and methods, frequently within the same scene. However, critics have praised the series for its numerous references to popular culture & Internet culture, subtle innuendos, dark humor, and meta humor.
Scooby-Doo And The Ghoul School
Having been hired as gym instructors at Miss Grimwood’s Finishing School for Girls, Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, and Scrappy-Doo are en route there. Once there, though, they learn that it’s a school for the daughters of supernatural beings.
Sibella, the daughter of Count Dracula; Elsa Frankenstein, the daughter of Frankenstein Sr., Winnie, the daughter of the Wolfman. Phantasma (often abbreviated to Phanty), the ghostly daughter of a phantom, & Tanis, the daughter of the Mummy, are just a few of the students who were inspired by Universal Monsters from the 1930s and 1940s. Other inhabitants include:
- Legs.
- An octopus butler.
- A two-headed shark in the school’s moat.
- A floating white hand.
Beetlejuice
Camp Lakebottom
The Canadian animated television program Camp Lakebottom, created by 9 Story Media Group, debuted on Teletoon in Canada on July 4 and Disney XD in the US on July 13, 2013. The show is broadcast on Disney Channels worldwide and ABC in Australia, and Biggs and RTP2 in Portugal (where it is instead broadcast). McGee, Gretchen, and Squirt, three 12-year-old children, are taken to the incorrect summer camp bus and have a variety of adventures at Camp Lakebottom while attempting to defend the camp from McGee’s arch-enemy Jordan Buttsquat at Camp Sunny Smiles.
Garfield Gets Real
A 2007 American computer-animated comedy movie based on the Garfield comic strip called Garfield Gets Real (sometimes referred to as Garfield 3D in some areas). Paws, Inc. created it with the help of Davis Entertainment, The Animation Picture Company, and The Animation Picture Company. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment handled the distribution.
Jim Davis, the man behind the character Garfield, wrote it. He began his work on it in the fall of 1996. Since Garfield Gets a Life and the season finale of Garfield & Friends in 1991, this was the character’s first animated production. On November 20, 2007, the DVD was sent to shops. Odie is again played by Gregg Berger, an actor from the first season.
Pumbaa & Timon
Pumbaa’s name is derived from the Swahili language of East Africa, like the names of many other characters in The Lion King. Pumbaa (v.) is a verb that implies “to be foolish, silly, careless, or neglectful” in Swahili. Timon is an ancient Greek name translated to mean “one who respects,” making him one of the rare characters whose name has no Swahili equivalent.
Timon’s name might be a nod to Shakespeare’s tragedy, another Shakespeare allusion to a movie with a Hamlet-inspired premise. The tragedy is based on the real-life narrative of Timon of Athens, a notorious misanthrope during the Peloponnesian War who rejected the life of seclusion in Athens. Another argument is that he was given the name Timon in honor of the Greek philosopher.
Monsters Inc
Monsters, Inc., commonly known as Monsters, Incorporated, is a 2001 computer-animated monster comedy movie made by Pixar Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. In his feature directorial debut, Pete Docter directed the animated film, which also starred the voices of John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Billy Crystal, James Coburn, Mary Gibbs, and Jennifer Tilly.
Andrew Stanton & Daniel Gerson wrote the screenplay. The two monsters that work at the energy-producing factory Monsters, Inc., which produces power by frightening human children, are the movie’s main characters: the hairy James P. “Sulley” Sullivan & his one-eyed collaborator and closest friend Mike Wazowski. As a result, when a little human girl enters the factory undetected, the monster world understands the kids are poisonous.
The Sword of Light: Niko’s Adventure
The American streaming television program Niko and the Sword of Light is a collaboration between Titmouse, Inc. and Amazon Studios. The pilot for the series, which had its debut on Amazon Prime Video on January 15, 2015, was inspired by an animated comics book of the same name.
Later on, the entire series was picked up. The news that the show would return for a second & final season was made public on August 4, 2017. On December 27, 2018, the first episode of season 2 aired. On September 6, 2019, the show was over.
