Courage the Cowardly Dog - King Ramses' Curse (1999)

 RETURN THE SLAB!" 

I'm on a roll here watching cartoons that I never saw before.  That's not quite true with Courage the Cowardly Dog, though, since I'm pretty sure I saw one or two episodes back in the day -- or at least bits of 'em.  This is another cartoon recommended in that video about Halloween cartoons to watch I posted below.  A couple of criminal foxes (at least that's what they look like to me) are being pursued by a police helipcopter after stealing an ancient Egyptian artifact from King Ramses' tomb.  Near Courage's house, they bury the slab in a secret place planning to come back later when the heat is off.  Unfortunately, there is a curse on it and a spooky CGI Ramses ghost mummy appears belowing "Return the slab!" or else. 

The foxes don't and they and their car are devoured by a plague of locusts.  The next morning, Courage digs up the slab and brings it into the house.  Eustace throws it out the window as garbage until he hears on the radio that the artifact is worth a million bucks.  Now he's going to be rich and can buy his dream purchases:  new lawn chairs and a new light bulb in the attic!!!  Of course, Ramses' ghost appears floating outside the house demanding "Return the Slab". 

Eustace refuses and they suffer 3 plagues.  First, it starts raining inside the house and the entire house fills with water.  It's like the underwater scene from ALIEN RESURRECTION . . . only scary.  Courage swims down to the basement and uncorks a stopper letting all the water out.  The 2nd plague is horrible music.  Courage searches and finds an old Victrola playing a cursed record and smashes it.  The last plague is the locusts again who eat their entire house.  Eustace finally relents and throws the slab back to Ramses' ghost -- but then relents again and steals the slab back.  Ramses is not happy and summons back the locusts.  The next thing we know is the slab has been returned to the pyramid of Ramses for all eternity.  And Eustace is trapped in the slab. 

That video is quite right -- the early, primitive CGI Ramses' ghost is really creepy and effective.  Apparently, the cartoon often employed this primitive CGI spliced into the traditional cartoon art to evoke that uncanny feel and I think it works.  After this one episode, I'm still not sure how much of a COURAGE THE COWARDLY DOG fan I am.  Back in the day when it was first on TV, I didn't connect with it and consequently never watched it.  I'll have to check a few more episodes (especially the ones name-checked in that video below) and see if my mind changes.