Smart Talk with Raisin

Smart Talk with Raisin is an animated short, produced by John R. Dilworth, that appeared on MTV's Liquid Television in Season 3, episode 1. It had similarities with the Cartoon Network series Courage the Cowardly Dog. It featured a proto-Courage character named Hamilton as well as what can be considered a proto-Muriel, the titular Raisin, and a proto-Eustace, named Malcolm (who in this case is Raisin's misanthropic brother).
Premise
The premise of the short is that a young girl named Raisin has her own primetime show the format of which is unspecified but the implication is that it is a variety show. In the short, Raisin is encouraging her dog Hamilton to perform a magic trick for the show that involves him pulling a Malade from a hat. It is not explained until the end that the term 'Malade' refers to a teacher from Raisin and Malcolm's school whose surname is Malade.
The majority of the short involves Malcolm verbally abusing Hamilton and Raisin. Several stylistic features are seen in this short that mark it as Dilworth's work, and several characteristics of Courage are seen in Hamilton. For example, Hamilton does not speak, and is timid and non-confrontational in the face of Malcolm's overt hostility. Their appearance is also similar although a key difference is that Hamilton's left eye is drawn elongated in a style similar to some secondary characters in the Courage series. This short appears on Wet Shorts: The Best of Liquid Television DVD, and is not listed in Dilworth's filmography on IMDB. However, it is currently viewable on Dilworth's Stretch Films Studios site.

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