The animated short was shown as one of the episodes of Cartoon Network's "World Premiere Toons" in 1998, 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 in a later episode. The short was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 68th Academy Awards.