Dexter's Laboratory

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

* 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, not to mention proportions). Her catch-phrase is "Ooooooo. What does this button do?".
* 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.
* 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-nemesis. 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 an evil laugh, but it stutters: Ha-haha! Ha-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. In one episode, a malfunction causes the computer to express a different voice, each time Dexter attempts to fix it, and Dexter cannot cope with it, 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. 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. Windbear may be a parody of John Lennon.
* 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

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. His secret identity is concealed by several masks instead of just one.
* 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.

The Justice Friends are part of a larger superhero organization, whose members seem to be a parodic nod to the later seasons of Super Friends where multicultural heroes were created for the sake of political correctness, as all of the original Justice League members starring in Super Friends were white. The individual members are mostly parodies of the Avengers.

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 1990s animated series and Spider-Man persona merged)
* Tiki Torch (Human Torch)
* Miss Pell (Scarlet Witch)
* Capital G (Black Goliath or Apache Chief because of his ability to grow/his multiculturalness)
* E-Male (The Flash)

This organization sometimes battles equally parodic enemies such as:
* 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 and using a glider similar to those of the Green Goblin and Hobgoblin)
* The Disgrunted Postman (parody of The Joker)
* Mental Mouse (a parody of MODOK)

The Justice Friends make an appearance in the episode of The Powerpuff Girls ("Members Only"), with Major Glory as head of the "Association of World Super Men," which includes a different set of superheroes also caricaturing national stereotypes. The organization, however, forbids female superheroes from membership.

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

A poster for the first What a Cartoon! episode of Dexter's Laboratory.

*References to various science-fiction films, including Star Wars, Tron, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Trek, are made in this series.
* 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 (such as Mandark being a hippie.) Tartakovsky had very little to do with the last two seasons, as he was busy working on Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars.
* 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 Codename: Kids Next Door 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