Jun 24, 2021

"Cowardly Dog Courage" creator John Dilworth is not involved in the "Scooby Doo" crossover

Courage the Cowardly Dog is back, in a new crossover with Scooby-Doo - but it appears his creator John Dilworth has nothing to do with the project.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has announced Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog, a home release set to hit digital and DVD on September 14. Responding to a tweet about the DVD's cover art, Dilworth wrote: “I had no involvement with this product.”

Dilworth created the character for the Oscar-nominated 1996 short The Chicken from Outer Space, part of the Cartoon Network showcase What a Cartoon!. The easily distressed dog, who lives with his owners near a Kansas town named Nowhere, then received his own Cartoon Network series, which aired from 1999 to 2002. Episodes are now on HBO Max.

In 2018, Dilworth announced on Facebook that he was “expecting to begin development on a potential prequel” to the show for Cartoon Network's sister network Boomerang. That project is on ice, according to Dilworth. Replying this week to a separate tweet that expressed hope for a Courage movie, he wrote, “Agree! Prequel in turnaround and no feature. CCD not a priority with new Cn management.”

Straight Outta Nowhere sees Scooby-Doo and Courage team up to investigate mysteries in Nowhere. The Warner Bros. Animation film was produced and directed by Cecilia Aranovich, written by Mike Ryan, and executive-produced by Sam Register.