September 4th, 2002 marked the fourth season debut of John R. Dilworth's innovative animated series, "Courage the Cowardly Dog," on Cartoon Network.

Jody Gray and Andy Ezrin's much-acclaimed music for "Courage" is scored in an unusual way. Traditionally, due to the time constraints inherent in hectic, TV post-production schedules, a library of reusable music cues is created for a series. The composer(s) can then choose from a wealth of material: suspense cues, action cues, etc., to add to the palette as needed. In contrast, each "Courage" episode is scored from 'scratch,' only 10-15% of the cues are recycled. Even repeated themes are often completely
re-orchestrated or turned inside out, keeping each episode musically fresh and unique, more akin to film scoring than series TV. The results are extraordinary and quite unlike anything else on television.

In addition, the music often dramatically underscores the opposite of what's going on visually, contributing even more to the cinematic quality of the show. Very little "Mickey Mouse-ing" (i.e., hitting every bit of action with corresponding musical stings) is employed. Styles run the gamut as well, from orchestral to salsa, techno to Broadway to bluegrass and beyond.

There will be 104 original scores in total for "Courage" upon completion of the 4th season.

Contact for more information

Courage Mixing Team: L to R Jon Smith,
Jody Gray, Paul Grassini and Frank DiMinno