The animated short was shown as one of the episodes of Cartoon Network 's '' World Premiere Toons '' in 1996 , a Hanna-Barbera Cartoons innovation by then-president Fred Seibert . The short served as a '' de facto '' pilot for the future series . The original animated short had no dialogue except for one line spoken by Courage , who had a more authoritative voice than in the series . It was uttered by voice actor Howard Hoffman who also provided all the other vocal sounds and effects for the short . An alien chicken was the villain in this short , who later reappears in the series to seek revenge . His sons also attempt to seek revenge too in a later episode . The short was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 68th Academy Awards
68th Academy Awards
68th Academy Awards
Courage the Cowardly Dog