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Dexter's Laboratory
File:Dexter'sLaboratory.jpgDexter's Laboratory original title card
Created by	Genndy Tartakovsky
Voices of	Christine Cavanaugh (Episodes 1-57) Candi Milo(Episodes 58-78) Allison Moore (Seasons 1 and 3) Kathryn Cressida (Seasons 2 and 4) Eddie Deezen Kath Soucie Jeff Bennett Kevin Michael Richardson
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	78 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	Cartoon Network Boomerang
Release	March 16 1996 – November 20 2003

Dexter's Laboratory (Dexter's Lab for short and also the name for the mini series which involved his robot dog) is 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. The show aired in the United Kingdom in the spring of 1997, and half-hour compilations began to appear on Cartoon Network TOO, a Cartoon Network 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 series involves a boy genius named Dexter, who has a secret laboratory filled with highly advanced equipment, hidden behind a bookshelf in his bedroom. Access to this never-ending laboratory is achieved by saying various passwords or by activating hidden switches on the bookcase. 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 inventions and creations.

Dexter has an arch-nemesis, a boy named Susan Astronominov, who goes by the considerably more sinister name of Mandark. Oftentimes 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 and spiky (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. A lot of absurdist and surrealist humour is used as well.

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.

Characters

History

Dexter's Laboratory was inspired by one of Genndy Tartakovsky's drawings of a ballerina. In 1991, he made his first "Dexter" short. 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 episodes of the first half of Season 1 of the show had a Dial M for Monkey segment in between two Dexter shorts. The last half of Season 1 included a Justice Friends segment in between the two Dexter shorts. Dexter's Laboratory ended its initial run in 1999, 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, and there was very little to no appearance of The Justice Friends and Dial M For Monkey spin-offs. Also, some characters sounded different due to different voice actors being hired (most noticeably Dexter, who was voiced by Candi Milo instead of Christine Cavanaugh).

Genndy Tartakovsky had very little to do with the last two seasons, as he was busy working on Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars.

• The show currently airs on Cartoon Network's sister channel, Boomerang at 6:30 PST.

Cultural references

• There have been various cultural references involving the appearance of Dexter's Laboratory. A mock-anime music video for this series was created for a They Might Be Giants song about the series, "Dee Dee and Dexter", in 2002. It showed the characters in 1960s anime form, and aired on Cartoon Network in between shows from time to time.
• In the movie Signs, Graham Hess's daughter Bo can be seen watching the episode "Don't Be a Hero" on TV.
• 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 a parody of 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.
• The Episode Star Check: Unconventional contains many (obvious) references to Star Trek. For example, Mom hums the Star Trek Theme music, Dexter and two of his friends are dressed as Captain Irk, Science officer Spork, and Doctor McBoy (parodies of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, respectively). Also referenced are the ruthless "Hangon Empire" (Klingon empire), the presence 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 episode "Got your goat" 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 but it turns out that it was Dexter's pet Charlie.
• In the episode The Way of the Dee Dee, there is a parody of Disney's animated classic Pocahontas. Dressed in a similarly cut dress to Pocahontas, Dee Dee runs through her backyard with a sunflower background strikingly similar to the one seen in the movie and says to Dexter, "But can you see it? Can you smell it? Can you feel it? Can you sing with all the colors of the rain?", a brief spoof of the film's anthem, Colors of the Wind. There is another reference to a famous Disney moment when in the episode "Ocean Commotion" Dee Dee's black silhouette rises out of the water, sparkling with golden sunset rays, swinging her head backwards so her wet hair falls on her back, much like Ariel did in "The Little Mermaid".
• In the episode "The Muffin King" Dad is seen stepping out of the darkness towards Dexter and says "Dexter, I am your father.". Dexter then gasps "That is not possible! No, wait, you're right". This is a parody of the climax of the 1980 Star Wars film "The Empire Strikes Back".
• In the episode "Maternal Combat" (an obvious pun of Mortal Kombat), Dexter builds a robot Mom, and while he does it he pays homage to the Iron Man cartoon beginning. (Dexter hits a mask with a hammer, with his torso naked).
• In "Dial M for Monkey" episode "Huntor" (based off of the short story, The Most Dangerous Game) the villain has the heads of the comic characters Cyborg and Wolverine as trophies.
• The recurring "Justice Friends" shorts are a parody of "Super Friends", "Justice League", and "Marvel Superheroes". Major Glory is a parody of Captain America, Val Hallen, who is a parody of Thor (His name comes from a mix of the word Valhalla (the afterlife for Vikings) and legendary metal band Van Halen), and the Infraggable Krunk is a rather obvious parody of the the Incredible Hulk (Krunk is purple-skinned and wears torn-up green pants, a reversal of Hulk's classic look of green skin and torn-up purple pants).
• In the episode "2 Geniuses + 2 Gether = 4 Ever" there is a Samurai Jack action figure on one of the rows on his closet.
• In one episode, the password to get into the lab is 'Star Wars'.

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 Infraggable 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

Inside Jokes

• In the episode "Now That's A Stretch", Dexter walks into the livingroom where Dee Dee is watching TV. She is actually watching the Justice Friends episode "Things That Go Bonk in the Night".

See also

• List of Dexter's Laboratory episodes
• Dial M for Monkey segment

External links

• Official UK website
• Super Cartoon Network
• Dexter's Laboratory at IMDb
• Dexter's Laboratory at the Big Cartoon DataBase

• 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
• Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network Studios superheroes