Dexter's Laboratory
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Dexter's Laboratory (Dexter's Lab for short) is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons for Cartoon Network from 1996 to 1998, and by Cartoon Network Studios from 2001 to 2003. The original pilot episode appeared as the second of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons (later called The What a Cartoon Show), the series was the first spin-off from that anthology program and Cartoon Network's first all-original program. Half-hour compilations appear in Britain on Cartoon Network TOO, a Cartoon Network's spin-off channel.It began airing on Boomerang in 2006.
Directors and writers on the series included Genndy Tartakovsky, Rumen Petkov, Craig McCracken, Seth MacFarlane, Butch Hartman, Rob Renzetti, Paul Rudish, John McIntyre and Chris Savino.
Premise
The premise of the series involves a boy genius named Dexter, who is approximately 8 years old. He has a secret laboratory filled with highly advanced equipment behind a bookshelf in his bedroom. Access to this neverending laboratory is achieved by saying various passwords to or activating hidden switches on a bookcase which is actually a door. Dexter is almost always in conflict with his obnoxious older sister, Dee Dee, who delights in invading her brother's lab and destroying his creations - many of the episodes revolve around this point. He once exposed his secret to his mom and dad to save the eastern part of the world (mainly Japan) but Dexter erased their memories of the events after the incident.Dexter has an arch-nemesis named Mandark, another child genius with an unusual evil laugh. Often Mandark, through fraud or (rarely) by coincidence, attempts to take credit for Dexter's achievements. Mandark is also "secretly" in love with Dee Dee. In the later seasons, after the revamp, Mandark becomes significantly more evil, his laboratory dark-looking (instead of the bright, cartoony lab featuring the Death Star from earlier seasons) and his plans more diabolical and nasty.
The show's humor derives in part from Dexter's essentially one-sided and intense rivalry with his sister and from exaggerated stereotyping of his high intelligence and social awkwardness.
An hour-long special, Ego Trip, aired on Cartoon Network in 1999, in which Dexter travels through time and meets several of his future selves. Ego Trip was originally supposed to conclude the series, but two additional seasons followed.
Characters
Main characters
- Dexter: The central protagonist, creator and owner of the laboratory, and a junior mad scientist; red-haired, 8 years old. He speaks with an Eastern European or German accent which is not explained; none of the other members of his family have distinctive accents, except for his Uncle O' Riley. Some believe that his accent is a play on Albert Einstein while others consider his accent to be an homage to the "mad scientists" of cinema from about 1930 to 1960, many of which had vaguely Eastern European or German accents. He considers his sister Dee Dee to be stupid and inferior, not to mention clumsy. He also makes up a superhero alter-ego for himself to gain Major Glory's respect: Dexstar. He has a peculiar quirk of wrenching a nut into a piece of metal for no apparent reason. This tends to begin an episode- Dexter is "working", wrenching the nut, when his sister comes in and ruins everything. This motion is addressed as what could be a "genetic defect" in the Blackfoot episode.
- Dee Dee: Dexter's simple-minded blonde 11-year-old sister. Loves ballet, dolls, ponies, unicorns and messing around in Dexter's laboratory. She is two to three times taller than Dexter and has peculiar body proportions; a minuscule torso with a large head and gangly limbs, similar to a ballerina's. To complete the ballet look, she wears a small pink tutu and ballet shoes, which usually creates a "squishy" noise while walking. Dexter once compared her to a stick and subsequently threw her to entertain a dog. She occasionally reveals a deep depth of hidden knowledge, and once functioned as a guru for Dexter, teaching him "The Way of the Dee Dee". Her best friends in the series are Mee Mee and Lee Lee, two girls her age who share her interests (and fashion sense, and proportions). Her catch-phrase is "Ooooooo. What does this button do?".
- Mom: Dexter and Dee Dee's red-haired mother; a who has trouble being around the rest of the family without her rubber gloves. Although a stereotypical housewife, a few episodes imply most of Dexter's personality comes from her, including their perfectionist streaks.
- Dad: Dexter and Dee Dee's blond-haired father. Is the stereotypical husband and head of the household, falling directly above his wife in authority. Loves bowling, golf, fishing, and has an unnatural affinity for his wife's muffins (as one episode suggests). Dee Dee gets most of her traits from Dad. It was revealed in a later episode that his career was that of an Evel Knievel-esque motorcycle stuntman.
- Mandark: Dexter's arch-. Approximately equal in intelligence to Dexter, he too possesses his own laboratory. In his original appearance, his technology and knowledge far exceeded even Dexter's, and he ordered Dexter to shut his laboratory down since it was taking away valuable power from Mandark's lab. However, after Dexter tricked Dee Dee into destroying Mandark's lab, he has been forced into playing catch-up with Dexter, being eternally one step behind his rival. Despite her role in his setbacks, Mandark has a crush on Dee Dee. Much like Dexter, he has a characteristic evil laugh, but one that stutters: "Haa-haha, Haa-haha-haha-haha! ha ha ha" - the stuttering manner of the laugh was made fun in an episode, which consisted of Mandark and his family going about their day while actions would be set to the tune of the laugh, such as when Mandark eats cereal (while actually saying the word "chew" with every chew) - "Chew-chew-chew! Chew! Chew-chew-chew Chew Chew Chew!". He was originally referred to as 'Astronomonov' (possibly his last name) though his "true" name was revealed to be 'Susan' (due to his parents being hippies) after becoming a recurring character. In one episode called Dee Dee's Rival, it is revealed that he has a sister named Olga Astronomonov, but prefers to be called "La-la Vava". Despite it being her only appearance in the show, it reveals that she can exert control over her older brother if need be. Curiously, while Mandark has a body structure vaguely similar to Dee Dee's, his sister somewhat resembles Dexter. Though during his first appearance Dexter is thought to have seen Mandark for the first time, it is revealed in one episode that Mandark first met Dexter when Dexter was making fun of the former's real name, and this encounter triggered Mandark's hatred of Dexter.
Recurring minor characters
- Mr. Lazinsky: Dexter's school teacher whom Dexter is eager to impress.
- Douglas E. Mordechai III: Possibly Dexter's only friend apart from his computer. He attends school with Dexter and is similarly geeky. In one episode, they each giggle at a reproduction tape.
- Quadraplex T-3000 computer: Dexter's computer that oversees the running of the lab and has a personality of its own. Dexter refers to his computer as "my love" or "my dear", given that the computer's voice and personality is female.
- Robots: A number of mostly unnamed robots assist Dexter in the laboratory. The most consistently appearing is the Robotron, also known as the Robo-Dexo 2000. It is a several-stories-tall combat robot used for fighting Mandark, aliens, and natural disasters and its appearance mimics Dexter's somewhat in build. Entrance is through one of the feet, and its weaponry includes lasers, missiles and its rocket-powered detachable fists.
- Lee Lee and Mee Mee: Dee Dee's best friends. Nearly identical to Dee Dee, except that Mee Mee is of African descent, and Lee Lee is Asian.
- Pony Puff Princess: Dee Dee's idol (A horse or a unicorn, parody of My Little Pony).
- Koosalagoopagoop: A multi-colored dinosaur-like creature (voiced by Dom DeLuise) that originates from Dee Dee's imagination. Among imaginary friends, only Dee Dee and Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls actually like him. The character is a combined parody of H.R. Pufnstuf and Barney the Dinosaur.
- Windbear and Oceanbird: Mandark's hippy parents, who don't understand Mandark's love for evil and science, not to mention his affections for Dee Dee. Windbear has been known to engage in rivalry with Dexter's father because of their conflicting beliefs, and it is unclear whether Oceanbird does the same with Dexter's mother.
- Action Hank: A television action hero; essentially a combined parody of Mr. T, G.I. Joe, and Shaft. The name may be a pun on Action Man, a doll/character very similar to G.I. Joe. Along with Major Glory and Albert Einstein, he is idolized by Dexter.
- Monkey: Dexter's caged monkey which secretly has superpowers, unbeknownst to Dexter. He stars in the back-up Dial M for Monkey cartoons.
Back-up segments
Dial \"M\" for Monkey
Early seasons of Dexter's Laboratory featured a back-up segment entitled Dial "M" For Monkey. The Dial "M" for Monkey shorts feature Dexter's lab monkey, Monkey, who (unknown to his master) secretly has superpowers, fights evil, and has human partners; the Commander (who seems to exist only inside display monitors), and Agent Honeydew, a character inspired by The Avengers' Emma Peel.
She also seems to be romantically involved with Monkey. Monkey seems to be on call to save mankind at any time and has battled enemies Quackor the Foul (the duck, named "Ducky" belonging to Dexter's nemesis, Mandark), Rasslor (voiced by Randy "Macho Man" Savage and inspired by Champion of the Universe), Huntor (a character inspired by Predator), Simion (a highly-evolved chimpanzee voiced by Maurice LaMarche), Magmanamus (a lava monster voiced by Brad Garrett), Barbequor (a parody of Galactus voiced by Frank Welker), Orgon Grindor (voiced by Jim Cummings), and Peltra among others. The character has also appeared in the What-A-Cartoon! short "Dial "M" For Monkey. The title of the segment derives from a DC comic Dial H for Hero or the Alfred Hitchcock movie "Dial M for Murder".
In a 2001 episode (again, made after the revamp), Monkey and Quackor make up their differences and fall in love. Mandark and Dexter enter, arguing over whether Ducky is in Dexter's possession, and both promptly faint upon seeing Monkey and Ducky sitting on top of a large egg.
The Justice Friends
Later seasons featured The Justice Friends as a back-up segment. These shorts featured the comical misadventures of the superheroes Major Glory, Val Hallen, and the Infraggable Krunk as they attempted to live together peacefully as roommates.This segment is a spoof of the superhero and sitcom genres. The title Justice Friends recalls the Justice League and Super Friends.
- Major Glory, a semieffective caped stars-and-stripes hero given to overdramatic patriotic dialogue, is an obvious combined parody of Captain America and Superman. His love for publicity and of the paparazzi can often present more harm than good.
- Val Hallen (Valhalla + Van Halen + Thor), an axe(guitar)-wielding Viking god of rock with Southern Californian mannerisms, is a melding of the Mighty Thor and rock and roll guitarist Eddie Van Halen.
- The Infraggable Krunk (Krunk for short), an overgrown muscle-man with arrested mental development, caricatures the Incredible Hulk. He wears green shorts and has purple skin -- a parody on Hulk's purple shorts and green skin.
These other Justice Friends include:
- White Tiger (Black Panther)
- Sam-R-I (Silver Samurai)
- Living Bullet (Iron Man)
- Phan Tone (Vision)
- Silver Spooner (Silver Surfer)
- Ratman (Batman; especially the and Spider-Man persona merged)
- Tiki Torch (Human Torch)
- Miss Spell (Scarlet Witch)
- ''Capital G ( Black Goliath or Apache Chief because of his ability to grow/his multiculturalness)
- E-Male (The Flash)
- among others
- Comrade Red (a Communist stereotype, a parody of Red Skull or Baron Zemo, maybe Loki as well)
- She-Thing (a parody of Ogress and She-Hulk in the episode where she and Krunk fall in love)
- Rasslor
- Heckhound
- Barbequor (a parody of Galactus)
- Dr. Diablos (fused Dr. Doom and Diablo with less powers)
- The Disgrunted Postman (parody of The Joker)
- Mental Mouse (a parody of MODOK)
Krunk's favorite show was the Sesame Street-like Puppet Pals show; "Puppet Pal Mitch" and "Puppet Pal Clem" appeared irregularly in their own vignette segments during the latter part of Dexter's Laboratory's original run. The segments consisted of only a single running gag that Krunk, and at least one other child, found delightfully funny. It involved any variety of questions or jokes Puppet Pal Mitch would pose to Puppet Pal Clem, but no matter what the question or answer, it would always involve the word "bonk" and Clem getting hit on the head with a rubber mallet by Mitch.
In their various appearances throughout the show, the Puppet Pals have been actual live-action puppets, while other times they have been animated characters just as the rest of the Justice Friends. The Puppet Pals made occasional appearances on The Powerpuff Girls as well, parodizing their own joke.
Trivia
- Dexter's Laboratory ended its initial run in 1998, but re-entered production in 2001. The new episodes which ran for two more seasons, had a different production team than the originals. The last two seasons were criticized by many fans for sporting altered character designs, changing character names and personalities, and for plot holes in the stories. Tartakovsky had very little to do with the last two seasons, as he was busy working on Samurai Jack and .
- Dexter's T-3000 has nothing to do with The Terminator
- In the Japanese language version of the series, Ayumi Kida provides the voice of Dexter, even during the revamp. She would later go on to do the voice of Dib in Japanese version of Invader Zim.
- In the episode Dad Is Disturbed, Betty Rubble is shown to be one of Dexter's mother's close friends. Her husband Barney is Dexter's father's friend.
- Cartoon Network refused to air the episode "Dexter's Rude Removal" because it contained coarse language. It has been shown only in animation conventions. The word "crap" was used in the episode "Dexter Dodgeball", when Dexter submits his excuse letter from gym to his coach. The episode has aired on Cartoon Network in United Kingdom several times, but in later showings of the episode the word "crap" was simply removed. The episode is frequently shown in the UK during the nightly "Cartoon Cartoons" hour, in which the word is not censored.
- Dexter has already made cameo appearances in The Powerpuff Girls, I Am Weasel, Time Squad, and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. He has also been seen as a balloon in and he was also shown with Ed, Edd, n Eddy in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
- The episode "Golden Diskette" is a parody, musical numbers included, of the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The Professor Hawk character is a play on Stephen Hawking.
- Likewise, the episode "Game Over" parodies TRON heavily, along with several video game archetypes, such as Tetris and Pac-Man. In the episode, Dexter is digitized after an evil video game named "Master Computer" (parodying the Master Control Program) gains control over his laboratory.
- Posthumus Zone is a song that sounded something like the Dexter's Laboratory opening theme song.
- The episode "Road Rash" compares Dexter and Dee Dee's rivalry to that of Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons.
- Tartakovsky and colleagues such as Craig McCracken and Rob Renzetti often caricature themselves into the series.
- Dexter's exclamation "Where are the clones??? Send in the clones!!!" in the episode Double Trouble is a pun on the famous song "Send in the Clowns" from the musical A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim.
- An anime music video for this series was created by They Might Be Giants, and it showed the characters in 1960s anime form.
- In the episode "An Old Fashioned Lab Song", Dexter was being taught piano lessons, against his will, by a teacher with similar stature. His blonde maned, bespectacled appearance, and how he plays the piano, implies he is a parody of Paul Williams, who, among other things, wrote "(Just An) Old Fashioned Love Song". The teacher is even called Professor Williams and voiced by Williams himself.
- The episode "DD & D" is a parody of the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy game in which Dee-Dee plays a princess while Dexter and three friends play the roles of knight, magician, archer, and troll (played by Dexter}. (This episode shows Dexter is not above cheating even when playing his own game). At the end Dee-Dee has the boys play her version of The Dating Game.
- The Episode "Mock 5" is a parody of Speed Racer.
- Yanni, the janitor from "Trapped With A Vengeance" is a blue colored version of Luigi from Super Mario Bros.
- Dexter's Dad is a motorcycle daredevil.
- In the movie Signs, Graham Hess's daughter Bo was watching an episode of Dexter's Laboratory on TV.
- In "Last But Not Beast" Dexter must save Japan from Badextra so he shows his lab to his parents and tells them they have to help him pilot his best robot ever which turns out being a parody of Voltron or Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue.
- A complex and contrived joke is in a short when Dexter goes up to his sister laughing, and says "A physics professor and his assistant are working on liberating negatively charged hydroxyl ions, when all of a sudden, the assistant says, "Wait, Professor! What if the salicylic acids do not accept the hydroxyl ions?" And the professor responds, "That's no hydroxyl ion! That's my wife!"" An interpretation can be found at [link] at the fourth major post.
Voice cast
- Christine Cavanaugh - Dexter (Seasons 1 - 3)
- Kath Soucie - Dexter's Mom, Computer Voice, Agent Honeydew, Oceanbird, Lee Lee
- Candi Milo - Dexter (Season 3 onward), Aunt Gertrude
- Allison Moore - Dee Dee (Seasons 1 and 3)
- Kathryn Cressida - Dee Dee (Seasons 2 and 4)
- Kimberly Brooks - Mee Mee
- Jeff Bennett - Dexter's Dad, Windbear, Additional Voices
- Eddie Deezen - Mandark, Dexter's Grandpa
- Frank Welker - Monkey, Mr. Luzinsky, The Infraggible Krunk
- Rob Paulsen - Major Glory, Puppet Pal Mitch, Additional Voices
- Tom Kenny - Val Hallen, Narrator, Puppet Pal Clem, Additional Voices
- Sirena Irwin - Dexter's Grandpa
Titles in other languages
- Bulgarian: Лабораторията на Декстър
- Chinese
- * Hong Kong: 怪物實驗室 literally: "Monster's Lab"
- * Taiwan: 德克斯特的實驗室; dé kè sī tè de shí yàn shì; literally: "Dexter's Lab"
- German: Dexters Labor
- Estonian: Dexteri laboratoorium
- French: Le Laboratoire de Dexter
- Hebrew: המעבדה של דקסטר; Hama'abada Shel Dexter
- Hungarian: Dexter laboratóriuma
- Italian: Il Laboratorio di Dexter
- Latvian: Dekstera Laboratorija
- Lithuanian: Deksterio Laboratorija
- Japanese: デクスターズラボ (dekusutāzurabo) (Dexter's Lab)
- Korean: 덱스터의 실험실 (R.R.: dekseuteoui silheomsil)
- Macedonian: Лабораторијата на Декстер
- Portuguese: O Laboratório de Dexter
- Spanish: El Laboratorio de Dexter
- Swedish: Dexters Laboratorium
- Polish: Laboratorium Dextera
- Romanian:Laboratorul lui Dexter
- Russian: Лаборатория Декстера (Laboratoriia Dekstera)
- Greek: ''Ντέξτερ" (Dexter)
- Danish: Dexter's Laboratorie
See also
External links
- [Official site] at Cartoon Network (USA)
- [Dexter's Laboratory] at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- [The Dex Files] - large list of facts and trivia for almost every episode of Dexter's Laboratory.
- [Dexter's Laboratory at TV.com]
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