If you grew up in the late 90s, there is a very high chance that David Steven Cohen is responsible for at least one of your recurring nightmares—and probably some of your favorite childhood memories too.
It’s a weird legacy to have. One minute you’re laughing at a talking puppet, and the next, you’re watching a pink dog scream in terror at a floating CGI head in the middle of a Kansas wasteland. Honestly, most people don’t even realize how much of their "core nostalgia" was penned by the same guy. He wasn't just a writer; he was basically the architect of that specific brand of "creepy-but-sweet" animation that defined a generation.
The Big Break: Balto and the Shift to Animation
Before he became the king of animated dread, Cohen was grinding it out in live-action. We're talking 80s and 90s sitcom staples like ALF and Living Single. But things really shifted when he jumped into the screenplay team for the 1995 theatrical feature Balto.
If you haven't seen it lately, Balto is surprisingly heavy. It’s an Amblin production, so it has that Spielbergian "kids in peril" DNA. Cohen, alongside Roger S.H. Schulman, took the real-life 1925 serum run to Nome and turned it into a story about a half-wolf outcast. It’s one of those david steven cohen movies that feels like a bridge. It has the emotional weight of a prestige drama but the accessibility of a family flick.
It wasn't a massive Disney-level hit at the time—Toy Story actually came out the same year and sort of sucked the air out of the room—but it became a massive cult classic on VHS. It proved Cohen could handle high-stakes storytelling where the "monsters" weren't just under the bed, but were actual life-and-death stakes like disease and isolation.
Courage the Cowardly Dog: The "Nowhere" Legend
You can’t talk about his career without talking about the farmhouse in Nowhere. Cohen wasn't just a staffer on Courage the Cowardly Dog; he was the head writer.
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Think about that for a second.
Every time Courage had to face a mummy, a weremole, or that terrifyingly polite barber named Fred, Cohen was the one steering the ship. He helped create a show that was essentially The Twilight Zone for seven-year-olds. It’s rare to find a writer who can balance legitimate body horror with a story about a dog’s unconditional love for an old woman named Muriel.
Why the Writing Worked
Most kids' shows back then were bright, loud, and frankly, a bit shallow. Cohen and the team at Stretch Films did the opposite. They used:
- Quiet moments of tension that stretched on too long.
- Surrealist humor that didn't always have a punchline.
- Multiple animation styles (CGI, stop-motion, and 2D) mixed together to make things feel "wrong" in the best way.
He basically taught a whole generation that being brave doesn't mean you aren't scared. It means you're absolutely terrified, but you do the thing anyway because someone you love is in trouble.
Beyond the Horror: The Seuss and Preschool Years
It’s kinda funny to look at the range here. The same guy writing about cursed slabs and alien chickens was also a major force behind The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss.
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He served as an executive producer and writer for that Jim Henson Company production. It’s a complete 180 from the desert of Nowhere. Instead of cosmic horror, he was playing with the whimsical, rhyming chaos of Cat in the Hat. It earned him two Primetime Emmy nominations. He also won a WGA Award for the episode “The Song of the Zubble-Wump.”
Later in his career, he leaned even further into educational content, working on Arthur and Peg + Cat. He actually shared a Daytime Emmy win for Peg + Cat. It shows a level of versatility that most Hollywood writers would kill for. He could write for a toddler learning to count one day and then write a screenplay about a wolf-dog survivalist the next.
The "Other" David Cohen
There is a bit of a "Who’s Who" confusion that happens on Google all the time. If you search for David Cohen in animation, you often get David X. Cohen, the guy behind Futurama.
Fun fact: David X. Cohen actually had to change his name because David Steven Cohen was already registered with the Writers Guild. When The Simpsons writers unionized in 1998, the "original" David S. Cohen—our Courage writer—already had the rights to the name. So, the Futurama creator added the "X" just to stand out. It’s a weird bit of industry trivia, but it proves just how established David Steven Cohen was in the guild by the late 90s.
David Steven Cohen Movies and TV Credits to Revisit
If you're looking to do a deep dive into his filmography, you shouldn't just stick to the big hits. Some of his smaller projects carry that same unique spark.
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- The Wickedest Witch (1989): A live-action/puppet TV movie starring Rue McClanahan. It’s weird, it’s campy, and it’s very Cohen.
- A Cool Like That Christmas (1993): An early 90s holiday special that is a total time capsule of the era's animation style.
- Clifford's Really Big Movie (2004): He contributed lyrics here. People forget he was a solid lyricist and composer as well as a writer.
- Strangers with Candy: He served as a consulting producer on this cult hit. It shows he had a much "edgier" comedic side than his preschool work would suggest.
The Final Act
Sadly, the industry lost a giant in March 2025. David Steven Cohen passed away at age 66. When the news broke, social media was flooded with people sharing clips of Courage and Balto.
The consensus was pretty clear: the man understood the "strange beauty" of being a kid. He didn't talk down to his audience. Whether he was writing for a talking husky or a purple monster, he treated the emotions as real.
Actionable Takeaways for Fans and Creators
If you're a writer or just a fan of his work, there are a few things you can do to keep that legacy alive:
- Watch "The Fog of Courage": It’s a 2014 special that brought the character into 3D. It’s a great example of how his characters evolved over decades.
- Analyze the "Balto" Script: If you're into screenwriting, look at how he handles the "half-breed" metaphor. It’s a masterclass in using a simple concept to tackle complex themes of identity.
- Check out "Peg + Cat": If you have kids, this is genuinely some of the best-written preschool television out there. It’s smart, rhythmic, and doesn't get annoying after five minutes.
Ultimately, Cohen’s work reminds us that the best stories are the ones that make us feel something—even if that "something" is a little bit of a chill down the spine.
Next Steps for You: Go back and watch the "King Ramses' Curse" episode of Courage. Pay attention to the pacing and the dialogue. It’s the perfect distillation of Cohen’s ability to mix the terrifying with the absurd. Afterward, you might want to compare it to his work on Balto to see how he scales that tension for a feature film.