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Courage The Cowardly Dog: Doctor Le Quack
All of the Courage The Cowardly Dog episodes including Doctor Le Quack are set in a place called Nowhere. “Be quiet, Eustace,” says Muriel one morning, “you’ll wake the neighbours!” This setting is perfect for western spoofs. Many of the Courage stories are horror spoofs but in Dr Le Quack we have the cartoon, child-friendly version […]
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The Shadow Of Courage, Courage The Cowardly Dog
At first I wondered if the title “The Shadow Of Courage” were a riff on The Red Badge Of Courage but no — apart from the grammatical structure and perhaps some of the themes (of bravery vs cowardice) this plot line borrows little from the classic American novel. Shadows who disentangle themselves from their bodies […]
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Cajun Granny Stew Courage The Cowardly Dog
“Cajun Granny Stew” has influences from: STORY STRUCTURE OF CAJUN GRANNY STEW SHORTCOMING Courage is scared of birds. So how is going to possibly deal with a formidable opponent like a shady fox? Quite often in a comic story there is a main opponent and then there are lesser evils. The birds are actually harmless, […]
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At The Katz Motel (Pilot) Courage The Cowardly Dog: A Night
“The Katz Motel” is the wonderful pilot episode of horror comedy for kids, Courage The Cowardly Dog. If you’re anything like me you can’t stand anything on the Cartoon Network for too long. A lot of those shows seem like ill-conceived, overly chatty, highly-polished but vapid productions designed to sell toys. Courage The Cowardly Dog […]
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Rats In Children’s Literature
I’m reminded of modern children’s literature, in which an underdog, much maligned character has his/her own back. It’s pretty funny until you read the top commenter, pointing out that the rat probably has toxoplasmosis, a disorder of the brain. On the other hand, mice and rats alike aren’t timid at all when you consider how small […]
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Bluebeard Fairy Tale Analysis
“Bluebeard” is a classic fairytale — the O.G. tale of domestic violence. Any story in which a fearsome husband murders his young wife is probably a “Bluebeard” descendent. The husband in this tale is monstrous, and related to the archetype of the ogre. If you’d like to listen to the tale, I recommend the (free) […]
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Drawing Development And Children
The above picture was drawn by my eight-year-old. According to Gaston Bachelard, who quotes psychologists of his era, door knobs are a good sign. The Psychology Behind Drawings By Children Asking a child to draw his house is asking him to reveal the deepest dream shelter he has found for his happiness. If he is happy, […]
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The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Analysis
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a famous psychological horror short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. WHERE TO LISTEN You may be able to unearth the BBC dramatization of this short story somewhere e.g. on YouTube. “The Yellow Broadcast” was broadcast December 1990. Charlotte Perkins Gilman; July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935) was a prominent […]
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Homes and Symbolism In Film and Literature
Homes are an outworking of the characters who live inside. Sometimes, in fiction, the house even seems to come alive in its own right.
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The Rats In The Walls by H.P. Lovecraft Analysis
If you’re a fan of Renovation Rescue or Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and think you’ve seen some good horror stories, you might consider turning brief attention to the story of H.P. Lovecraft, and I don’t actually mean his tragic life story in which he only achieved fame after an early, lonely death; I’m talking about […]
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The Wolves In The Walls by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean Analysis
**UPDATE LATE 2024** Neil Gaiman is an abuser. If this is news to you and you’re skeptical, here is a link roundup. Tortoise was the first (semi) mainstream outlet to give voice to one of Gaiman’s victims. Unfortunately, Tortoise is funded and owned by a notorious anti-trans bigot, so even though I listened to the […]
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Why is the horror genre so popular?
We like to be scared. Rather, fear sends a rush of adrenaline, and we like that. Scratch that. Maybe it’s the relief we feel once the rush of adrenaline is over. For the same reason, social media can be addictive. That rush when we hear a reply coming back from a tweet? That rush is […]
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The Mechanical Behaviour Of Fussbudgets In Comedy
Fussbudgets, sticklers, officious types, whatever you want to call them — comedy gold. An essential component of the fussbudget is mechanical behaviour. We’ve all had run-ins with them, which makes the comedy aspect universal. MECHANICAL BEHAVIOUR ON SCREEN This gag plays out especially well visually, so you’ll see it in many films and TV shows. […]
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Walking, Floating, Creeping Houses
Included in the definition of ‘home’ is the idea of a stable, secure structure… which doesn’t get up and move! The concept of home is especially important in children’s stories, which explains the popularity of the home-away-home structure: Child leaves home, has a little adventure, then returns to security. The young reader falls into slumber, […]
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The Others Film Study
Written by Alejandro Amenábar, The Others is an old-fashioned melodramatic ghost story but done very well. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s one of those films that can be ruined in one fell swoop (like Sixth Sense), so leave the building now!