Dexter's Laboratory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dexter's Laboratory (1996) | |
|---|---|
 Dexter's Laboratory original title card |
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| Genre | Animated television series, Comedy, Science fiction |
| Creator(s) | Genndy Tartakovsky |
| Starring | Christine Cavanaugh Candi Milo Allison Moore (1996) Kathryn Cressida (1997 - 1998) Eddie Deezen Kath Soucie Jeff Bennett |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 78 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Cartoon Network |
| Original run | April 28, 1996 – September 26, 2003 |
| Links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Dexter's Laboratory (Dexter's Lab for short) was an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons for Cartoon Network from 1996 to 1999, and by Cartoon Network Studios from 2001 to 2002. 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.
Contents |
[edit] Premise
The premise of the series involves a boy genius named Dexter, who is approximately 8 years old, born sometime in March. 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 playing in her brother's lab, often destroying his creations - many of the episodes revolve around this point.
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.
The show breaks the time-honored TV rule of returning the characters and situation to the status quo at the end of each episode; most episodes end in an unresolved state with no easy solution offered for returning the characters to normal-- i.e. Dexter is a mutated mass of protoplasm, a large tentacled monster attacks the house (this monster appears in a Cartoon Network bumper), there are multiple clones of Dexter and Dee Dee running around, the entire lab self-destructs and is completely gone, Dexter destroys the lab and is later turned into a sandwich, etc. However, each episode always begins from the accepted "normal" premise of the program.
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.
[edit] Characters
[edit] 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 a very strange accent (very hard to classify, though it is reminiscent of Peter Lorre) which is not explained. Whenever he walks, his feet make a quick "shuffling" noise (his sister and mother also have unique "walking" sound effects). The only other two people in Dexter's family that have unusual accents are his mom (kind of a Minnesota accent) and his Uncle O' Riley (Irish accent). 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. Actually Dexter is based off Craig McCracken's chemistry teacher in High School who had the same accent. 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. Ironically, despite his genius mind, Dexter seems to be superstitious and gullible, and does not know certain things (he could not recognize the clown in "The Laughing", and for most of "Chicken Scratch" had no idea what chickenpox was). It was revealed in the episode "A Hard Day's Day" that Dexter is a Capricorn. In the episode "DD & D" despite his genius Dexter is not above cheating in his own fantasy game when he wants to win. He was voiced by Christine Cavanaugh and Candi Milo.
- Dee Dee
Dexter's extremely ditzy, simple-minded blonde 11-year-old sister. Loves ballet, dolls, ponies, unicorns, messing around in Dexter's laboratory, and generally depicts all the stereotypes concerning young girls. 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 create 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 being able to beat Dexter on a test and therefore driving him insane), 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 who are 10 years old her age who share her interests (and fashion sense, not to mention proportions although both are noticebly smarter)). Her catch-phrase is "Ooooooo. What does this button do?". She wears her full length of hair down on rare occasions, mostly when sleeping. Her night clothing is a pink nightgown with long sleeves for warmth. She also has a multitude of stuffed animals and she has a canopy bed. It was revealed in the episode "A Hard Day's Day" that Dee-Dee is a Cancer. She was voiced by Kathryn Cressida and Allison Moore.
- "Mom"
Dexter and Dee Dee's red-haired mother; a mysophobe 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 (he also seems to have inherited her red hair). She speaks in a kind of Minnesotan accent. It is revealed in a flashback episode that she used to be a Valley Girl type in the 1980s, which may also be the basis for her accent. She is always seen walking on her tiptoes and her feet make a very dainty, clicking sound whenever she walks around. Her real name has never been revealed, and her husband only refers to her as "honey", "dear", etc. She was voiced by Kath Soucie.
- "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 (according to him, the muffins are the reason he married Mom). Dee Dee gets most of her traits from Dad. In order to impress Dexter's classmates during "Bring Your Dad to School" day, he pretended that his career was that of an Evel Knievel-esque motorcycle stuntsman, mentioning in passing that they wouldn't be too impressed if they found out he was a "boring old scientist". Like his wife, his real name has not been revealed and he is referred to as "dear", "honey", etc. He was voiced by Jeff Bennett.
- Susan "Mandark" Astronomonov
Dexter's arch-nemesis. Approximately equal in intelligence to Dexter, he too possesses his own laboratory, which has a very red-and-black color scheme and may be organic-based. 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, who initially resented the attention, but developed an easier relationship with him in the later series. He was originally referred to as 'Astronomonov' (possibly his last name) though his "true" name was revealed to be 'Susan' (a reference to A Boy Named Sue) after becoming a recurring character. In one episode called Dee Dee's Rival, it is revealed that he has a sister named Olga Astronomonov, who seems to have total control over him. 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. It can also be assumed that it caused Mandark to become evil, as he appears to be simple and peace-loving before the encounter, a sharp contrast to his evil personality later on. It is also revealed that his name "Mandark" is actually a short for "monarch of darkness." Mandark has a noticeable, strange laugh which evolves to always have the same pattern ("MWA-HA-HA! MWA-HA-HA! MWA-HA-HA, HA-HA-HA-HA!" – It is later revealed he does everything in the same way. In earlier episodes, Mandark's laboratory has a high-tech and more advance appearance. In later episodes, his lab starts to have a more gothic and crude look. Mandark was voiced by Eddie Deezen.
[edit] Recurring minor characters
- Mr. Lazinsky: Dexter's default teacher, though he is often interchanged with other teachers depending on the story. Mr. Lazinsky seems to be a generally upright and knowledgeable teacher. He could be seen as a parody of a stereotypical British professor. He was voiced by Frank Welker.
- 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 both listen to a science recording, naturally giggling at "Chapter 6: Reproduction". It's unknown if he knows about Dexter's laboratory since he was never seen in the laboratory. Judging by his name, we know for a fact he's Jewish. He was voiced by Tom Kenny.
- 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 (by Kath Soucie) and personality is female. In one episode, a malfunction causes the computer to express a different voice each time Dexter attempts to fix it. Dexter cannot cope with this, and it eventually gives him laryngitis.
- 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, but most frequently the Giant Dexo-Robo (a parody of various giant robot anime). 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 African American, and Lee Lee is Asian. They are smarter than Dee Dee, as in one episode Dee Dee took care of a turtle thinking it was a bird and her friends tried to correct her and even asked if Dexter had been doing experiments on Dee Dee. Mee Mee's mother is identical to Dee Dee's mother, even wearing the same clothes. Lee Lee seems to have a crush on Dexter.
- 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 Snuffleupagus.
- Windbear and Oceanbird: Mandark's hippie 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. The pair may be a parody of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. In Japanese, Yoko means Oceanbird. Windbear and Oceanbird were voiced by Jeff Bennett and Kath Soucie who also voiced Dexter's dad and mom.
- 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. He has an impenetrable beard, which he uses to deflect various projectiles such as bullets and knives.
- Monkey: Dexter's caged monkey which secretly has superpowers, unbeknownst to Dexter. He stars in the back-up Dial M for Monkey cartoons. Rarely appears outside of those cartoons. He was voiced by Frank Welker. Monkey has the ability to fly, super strength, and laser shooting abilities, among other strengths. Working for a secret global agency, Monkey protects the world from intergalactic villains, large monsters, and natural disasters. He is often paired with Secret Agent Honeydew on his missions.
- Mr. Fuzzums: Dee Dee's teddy bear, who, while not an active character per se, does play a pivotal role in several episodes. He was thrown out by Dexter in one episode, which caused Dee Dee to go catatonic and only able to mutter variants of his name ("Wuzzums, Uzzums", etc.) As a result, Dexter took Dee Dee to the City Dump to retrieve the prized bear.
[edit] History
Dexter's Laboratory was inspired by one of Genndy Tartakovsky's drawings of a ballerina. In 1991, he made his first "Dexter" short. In 1993, he made another. On February 20th, 1995, Dexter's Laboratory made its first run on the "What a Cartoon!" show. In March 1996, the first season sparked off. The first series of the show had Dial M for Monkey segments in between two Dexter episodes. The next series included The Justice Friends segments in between the two Dexter episodes. 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, altered background designs, storyline and character backgrounds, different sound effects (which were mostly all classic Hanna-Barbera sound effects) and changing character personalities. Tartakovsky had very little to do with the last two seasons, as he was busy working on Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars. Also, there was very little to no appearance of The Justice Friends and Dial M For Monkey spin-offs.
[edit] Innuendos
In the show, there have been a couple of cases of foul language being written into the script. One episode was created as a gag for the crew on the show called "Dexter's Rude Removal". It was never meant to air on Cartoon Network, and contained foul language. It was shown only once at a comic convention.
In the episode "Dexter Dodgeball", the word "crap" was used 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.
Yet another crude word is given in the episode Decode of Honor. In the part where Dexter and Dee-Dee are arguing about each other's fan club, Dee-Dee mentions a group of letters to be decoded. She stated the letters I, D, K, S, and C (Dee-Dee: Oh Dexter, your club is for big I D K S C!), which is an anagram for "dicks". Also, in this same episode, when Dee-Dee is getting her tattoo there is a middle finger being held in the background.
Another is in the episode "Dexter is Dirty." After he is laminated, he begins to slide out of control towards a tank with the words "Waste Spooge" reflected in his glasses. Spooge is a slang term for semen.
[edit] Cultural references
There have been various cultural references involving the appearance of Dexter's Laboratory. An anime music video for this series was created by They Might Be Giants. It showed the characters in 1960s anime form. In the movie Signs, Graham Hess's daughter Bo was watching Dexter's Laboratory on TV. The episode shown was Don't Be a Hero.
The most common appearances of Dexter's Laboratory was a short cameo of Dexter himself in various cartoons (a very often seen style of the station). Dexter made cameo appearances in The Powerpuff Girls, I Am Weasel, Time Squad, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, and has also been seen as a balloon in Codename: Kids Next Door. A thinly disguised version of Dexter appears in the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends episode "Eddie Monster" alongside the Eds from Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy and Pikachu from Pokémon. In the hour-long episode "Good Wilt Hunting" there are two characters (adults) who seem to be crafted after Mandark and Dexter.
In the Episode STAR CHECK: UNCONVENTIONAL, many references to Star Trek are obvious. For example, Mom hums the Star Trek Theme music, Dexter, Doug, and another kid are dressed as Captain Irk, Science officer Spork, and Doctor McRoy (parodies of Kirk, Spock, ands McCoy. Also referenced are the Existence of the Ruthless Hangon Empire(Klingon empire)", the prescence of an Elder at the Convention (based on the Talosians), and a parody of the classic Kirk vs. Spock Duel from Amok Time.
In the cartoon series, the most common cultural reference seen are common references to the band The Beatles.
The NFL on CBS theme song, Posthumus Zone, is a knock-off of the Dexter's Laboratory opening song.[citation needed]
In one episode Dexter and Dee Dee travel to a fictional Latin American nation in search of the mysterious Chupacabra. The Chupacabra was an unknown creature possibly of extraterrestrial origin that supposedly attacked livestock, mainly goats (the name "chupacabra" literally translates to "goatsucker") throughout the region, mainly in Puerto Rico and Mexico.
[edit] Trivia
- 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 here.
- Some of the main characters appear in a video game called Cartoon Network Racing.
- In one episode Dexter turns out to be a Star Trek fan, when in another he uses "Star Wars" as password to the laboratory.
- In The Justice Friends: Valhallen's Room, when Krunk wonders if Valhallen's ax is in one of the statues, the first one he looks in is a figure of John Lennon, hence his first name below.
[edit] Voice cast
- Christine Cavanaugh - Dexter (Seasons 1 and 2, Episodes 53, 54, 55, and 57C)
- Kath Soucie - Dexter's Mom, Computer Voice, Agent Honeydew, Oceanbird, Lee Lee
- Candi Milo - Dexter (Episodes 56, 57A, 57B, and Above)
- 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
- 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
[edit] Titles in other languages
- Arabic: مختبر ديكستر literally: "Dexter's Laboratory"
- Bulgarian: Лабораторията на Декстър
- Chinese
- Croatian: Dexterov Laboratorij
- Danish: Dexter's Laboratorie
- Dutch: Dexter's Laboratorium
- Estonian: Dexteri laboratoorium
- French: Le Laboratoire de Dexter
- German: Dexters Labor
- Greek: Ντέξτερ" (Dexter)
- Hebrew: המעבדה של דקסטר; Hama'abada Shel Dekster
- Hungarian: Dexter laboratóriuma
- Italian: Il Laboratorio di Dexter
- Japanese: デクスターズラボ (dekusutāzurabo) (Dexter's Lab)
- Korean: 덱스터의 실험실 (R.R.: dekseuteoui silheomsil)
- Latin: Laboratorium Dextri
- Latvian: Dekstera Laboratorija
- Lithuanian: Deksterio Laboratorija
- Macedonian: Лабораторијата на Декстер
- Norwegian: Dexters Laboratorium
- Portuguese: O Laboratório de Dexter
- Polish: Laboratorium Dextera
- Romanian:Laboratorul lui Dexter
- Russian: Лаборатория Декстера (Laboratoriya Dekstera)
- Serbian: Deksterova Laboratorija
- Slovenian: Deksterjev laboratorij
- Spanish: El Laboratorio de Dexter
- Swedish: Dexters Laboratorium
- Thai: ห้องทดลองของเด็กซ์เตอร์ (Hongtodlong Kong Dexter)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with large trivia sections | Shows on Cartoon Cartoons | YTV shows | Television spin-offs | 1996 television program debuts | 1990s American television series | 2000s American television series | Dexter's Laboratory | Animated television series | Mad science | DC Comics titles | Television shows set in California
