"Klub Katz" is part two of the eleventh episode in Season One of Courage the Cowardly Dog, written by David Steven Cohen.
The episode was produced in 1999 and premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on February 18, 2000.[2]
Plot
After reading an ad for a cruise line, Muriel decides the family should go on vacation. While Courage is enthused by the idea, Eustace refuses to leave his chair, so he takes it with him. On the boat, Courage gets sea sick and vomits into a pipe that leads directly to the engines. This happens to clog them just as the ship ends up en route to an iceberg. The passengers panic, but the ship sustains no damage. However, the incident is immediately followed by a massive tidal wave that overtakes the vessel, sending it underwater. The Bagges find themselves shipwrecked on a tropical island. Eustace is angered by the loss of his chair in the crash, but Muriel thoroughly enjoys the atmosphere of the beach. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure watches them from the bushes.
Unable to sleep due to horrific mechanical noises coming from the jungle, Courage stays up all night carving coconuts. The next morning, Katz, revealed to be the mysterious figure from the night before, shows up on the shore and introduces himself to the Bagges as the owner of a five star resort, "Klub Katz". The couple falls for the charade, but Courage is suspicious. Falsely sympathetic of their accident, Katz offers to bring the family to his spa to relax. On the way to the spa, Courage stops at a soda machine that turns out to be the Captain of their wrecked cruise boat, who warns the dog to leave the island.
Captain
Courage attempts to convey the warning he just heard to Muriel as she and Eustace approach Katz's spa, but panics and expresses the warning in gibberish, which Muriel cannot understand. Denied entry to the spa by a reminiscent "No Dogs Allowed" policy, Eustace ties him to a tree outside, and the two enter. Within seconds, screams are heard from the inside. The dog frees himself, but only in time to see Eustace, in the form of a wrecking ball, and Muriel, in the form of a washing machine, being taken away by Katz to a colosseum. He follows, and witnesses his two now-mechanized owners being pitted against each other for Katz's amusement.
Eustace and Muriel fight
Courage then rushes back to the spa and transforms himself into a helicopter. He intrudes on the brawl and rescues Muriel. Seeing that Katz is in his chair, Eustace sweeps his ball at him, destroying his beloved seat, as Katz dives out of the way. As Muriel and Courage escape, Eustace chases Katz and wrecks his Klub, along with the entire island, in a heated rage.
Characters
Trivia
- The second appearance of Katz.
- The scene where the ship is crashing into an iceberg is a reference to the Sinking of the Titanic.
- This episode is a parody of the novel The Island of Doctor Moreau.
- This is the second instance when the entire Bagges household, including Courage, has been affected by the antagonist's plot, even at the ending. The first time this happened was in "The Great Fusilli".
- When drinking his root beer, Courage gulps to the beat of the show's "crisis" music.
- Eustace refusing to get off of his chair has become a popular Internet meme.
- This is the second time the camera shows Katz's legs as he walks, the first time being in "A Night at the Katz Motel". This has proven to be a case of early installment weirdness, as this does not happen in any other Katz episodes outside of those in the first season, which happen to be both the after-mentioned episode and this one.
Goofs
Continuity
- When Courage first tries to enter the spa after being tied up and freeing himself, it's clearly locked. But when he tries the door again before turning into a helicopter, it's somehow open.
- When Courage sneaks into the spa and turns himself into a helicopter, we can see clearly that his eyes are sky blue, but near the end of this episode, Courage's eyes are mysteriously white again, as they always are in his normal dog form.
Factual errors
- On the cruise, the Bingo announcer says "B-22", but Muriel marks an "N" space on her board.