Dexter's Laboratory

Dexter's Laboratory
Dexter's Laboratory title.jpg
Intertitle since season 2.
Genre Comic science fiction
Adventure
Comedy
Format Animated series
Created by Genndy Tartakovsky
Written by Genndy Tartakovsky
Craig McCracken
Seth MacFarlane
Zeke Mann
Voices of Christine Cavanaugh
Candi Milo
Allison Moore
Kathryn Cressida
Kath Soucie
Jeff Bennett
Eddie Deezen
Tom Kenny
Rob Paulsen
Frank Welker
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 78 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 22 minutes approx.
Production company(s) Hanna-Barbera Studios(Seasons 1-2)(1996-1998)
Cartoon Network Studios(Seasons 3-4)(2001-2003)
Broadcast
Original channel Cartoon Network
Original run April 28, 1996 (1996-04-28) – November 20, 2003 (2003-11-20)
Chronology
Related shows What a Cartoon! Show
External links
Official website

Dexter's Laboratory (commonly abbreviated as Dexter's Lab) is an American animated series created by Genndy Tartakovsky and produced by Cartoon Network Studios (also co-produced with Hanna-Barbera in 1996-2001). It is about a boy named Dexter, who has an enormous secret laboratory, filled with an endless collection of his inventions, which is entered through a tunnel under his rug in his bedroom or behind his bookshelf. The series premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network on April 28, 1996 and ended on November 20, 2003. As of 2010, Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang reruns the show.

The series is based on a short which made its debut on the The Cartoon Cartoon Show, entitled "Changes". Each thirty minute episode of Dexter's Laboratory consists of two to three cartoon shorts, with the exception of the series finale, "Last But Not Beast", which was one longer cartoon. Dexter's Laboratory ended in 1998 and was later revived for a movie and two more seasons.

Dexter's Laboratory is notable for helping launch the careers of several cartoon creators such as Craig McCracken, Seth MacFarlane, Butch Hartman and Rob Renzetti.

Contents

Plot

The series revolves around a nine-year-old boy genius named Dexter, who has a secret laboratory (which he pronounces with a stress on the second syllable) filled with highly advanced equipment hidden behind a bookshelf in his bedroom. Access to this never-ending laboratory is achieved by speaking various passwords or by activating hidden switches on the bookcase (such as pulling out a specific book). Dexter is normally in conflict with his ditzy older sister, Dee Dee, who can always mysteriously gain access to his lab no matter what he does to try and keep her out. Dee Dee eludes all manner of security and, once inside, delights in playing in the lab, often destroying his creations. Dee Dee, despite her hyperactive personality, sometimes makes more logical decisions than Dexter, or gives him helpful advice. Dexter, despite being highly intelligent, often fails at what he has set out to do when he becomes overexcited and makes careless choices. He manages to keep the lab a secret from his clueless, cheerful parents, who humorously never notice evidence of the laboratory, even when it is right before their eyes.

Dexter has an arch-nemesis, a boy from his school who dubs himself "Mandark". Mandark lives down the block from Dexter and has his own secret laboratory. His schemes are generally evil and are designed to gain power for himself while downplaying or destroying Dexter's accomplishments. Dexter often makes better inventions than Mandark, but Mandark tries to make up for this by stealing Dexter's inventions. Mandark is also in love with Dee Dee, though she prefers to ignore him and never returns his affections. From Ego Trip onwards, Mandark's schemes become significantly more evil, his laboratory darker-looking and spiky, instead of the bright, bio-mechanical looking lab featuring a massive spherical structure that strongly resembles the Death Star but this most likely because Dexter had Dee Dee destroy that version of his lab.

While in some episodes Dexter succeeds at what he has set out to do, the show does not generally return the characters and situation to the status quo at the end of each episode, sometimes treating them as self-contained; most episodes end with disaster, because of a flaw in Dexter's logic or his inventions. They may end in a state with no easy solution for returning things to normal; e.g. the entire lab self-destructs and is completely gone, the earth is destroyed, Dexter is turned into a sandwich, etc. Dexter usually fails at what he has set out to do, with Dee Dee often winning.

The show occasionally chronicles the adventures of Dexter's pet monkey, who is, unknown to Dexter, a crime-fighting secret agent with super powers, as well as Dexter's favorite superhero, Major Glory and his sidekicks Valhallen and Krunk.

Style of humor

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 rest of Dexter's family, who is, aside from Dexter, an exaggerated stereotypical American family, also provides much of the humor, with sibling rivalry, Dexter's father's obsession with sports and TV, and his mother's obsessive–compulsive disorder tendencies. Though the family often feuds or argues, especially Dexter and Dee Dee, they always are still shown to love each other.

Much absurdist and surrealist humor is used as well. For instance, Dexter's entire house tipping over so that a spaceship can be launched from beneath, or the fact that the lab is never noticed by his parents; they are completely naive and unable to notice clues to the existence of Dexter's high-tech inventions or his laboratory, even when it is right before their eyes. The show features Dexter's Lab as endless even when it is clearly contained behind the bookshelf in Dexter's bedroom. Many episodes often end with situations that are unfixed, but will return back to normal by the next episode.

Production

Dexter's Laboratory was inspired by one of Genndy Tartakovsky's drawings of a ballerina. After drawing her tall and thin shape, he decided to pair her with a short and blocky opposite, Dexter. In 1991, he made his first Dexter short. On February 20, 1995, Dexter's Laboratory made its first run on the The Cartoon Cartoon Show - it is now known by the episode name "Changes". On April 28, 1996, the first season began airing. Directors and writers on the series included Genndy Tartakovsky, Rumen Petkov, Craig McCracken, Seth MacFarlane, Butch Hartman, Rob Renzetti, Paul Rudish, Mark O'Hare, John McIntyre, and Chris Savino.

Dexter's Laboratory ended its initial run in 1998. The series finale was "Last But Not Beast", which differed from the format of the other episodes in that it was not a collection of cartoon shorts, but was one twenty-five minute episode. It featured Dexter's family, alongside many of the recurring characters from the Dexter universe, in a battle against a monster that Dexter had accidentally released from a volcano as an exchange student in Japan. In this episode Dexter was forced to reveal the lab to his parents, though it did end with their memories being wiped clear of the experience. Dexter's Laboratory would later be revived by a different production team.

The next year, Tartakovsky returned to direct Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip the show's first special episode, which is currently the only Dexter's Laboratory television movie. This was the last Dexter's Laboratory production that Tartakovsky was involved with. Thomas Chase and Steve Rucker, who were known for scoring many cartoons including the Dexter's Laboratory series, provided the musical score, creating several new musical themes exclusively for "Ego Trip." "Ego Trip" was hand-animated, though the character and setting designs were subtly altered. It featured Dexter on a quest through time to find out his future triumphs. The film currently holds a "9.1 - Superb" rating on TV.com.[1] Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip was later released to VHS and VCD.

Despite the fact that Dexter's Laboratory had already had a series finale, due to the show's popularity, Dexter's Laboratory re-entered production in 2001. The new episodes, which ran for two more seasons, had a different production team than the originals, since Genndy Tartakovsky was busy working on Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars and MacFarlane and Hartman had left Time Warner altogether at this point, focusing on Family Guy and The Fairly OddParents, respectively. This second line of episodes featured obviously different visual designs, minor inconsistencies with the original episodes, both in storyline and in visuals, different sound effects, and Christine Cavanaugh, the original voice for Dexter was replaced with Candi Milo for these episodes (as Cavanaugh had retired from voice acting in 2001 for personal reasons). The creators did not attempt to recreate the look and atmosphere of the originals. This second series was not quite as well received as the first, and these new episodes were canceled in their second season, with a series finale. The original episodes of Dexter's Laboratory currently airs on Boomerang.

Characters

Backup segments

In some episodes of Dexter's Laboratory, the middle segment would sometimes center around characters from the Dexter's Laboratory universe other than Dexter's family. There were two kinds of these segments, running during 21-minute slots: Dial M for Monkey and The Justice Friends. Dial M for Monkey appeared in the first half of the first season, while The Justice Friends appeared in the latter half of the first season. Monkey often appeared in the Justice Friends segments and vice versa, teaming with his fellow superheroes, while Dexter and Dee Dee sometimes appeared in the Monkey segments.

Dial M for Monkey

Dial M for Monkey intro card.

The Dial M for Monkey shorts feature Dexter's lab monkey, Monkey (voiced by Frank Welker), who, unbeknownst to Dexter, has superpowers and fights evil with his secret agent and superhero partners. Villains range from a cranky and irritable lava monster that just wants people to be quiet because it needs its sleep, to a woman obsessed with making fur coats from endangered species across the universe, to a bounty hunter obsessed with killing Monkey for use as a hunting trophy. Monkey's true identity was revealed to Dexter in the Hanna-Barbera series finale "Last But Not Beast", although Dexter's memories were erased afterward.

The segment's title derives from Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder and DC Comics' Dial H for Hero.

The Justice Friends

The Justice Friends intro card.

The Justice Friends consist of Major Glory, The Infraggable Krunk, and Valhallen, who are all roommates who live in an apartment complex. Most of the adventures of The Justice Friends deal with the three trying to balance out their superhero adventures while just trying to keep their composure living in the house. Most of these adventures play out like a sitcom along with a laugh track, used in a satirical manner. The segment's title likely derives from the DC Comics superhero organization The Justice League and its sanitized animated cartoon version, Super Friends, though the team itself is clearly a parody of Marvel Comics's Avengers title (itself the Marvel equivalent to the Justice League). The three main characters are based on Marvel Comics characters, Major Glory being based on Captain America (though his powers roughly mirror those of Superman), the Infraggable Krunk being based on Hulk, and Valhallen being based on Thor, each of whom belonged to the original Avengers comic team. Valhallen's name is a portmanteau of Valhalla, the spiritual plane of Norse mythology, and Van Halen, an American rock band. Valhallen frequently refers to himself as the "Viking God of Rock".

Both of these segments crossed over into episodes of Dial M For Monkey. In addition to Agent Honeydew and Monkey, the three superheroes are seen in action along with additional superheroes, similar to the large amount of Justice League members in "Challenge of the Superfriends," though all heroes are still based upon Marvel superheroes (Living Bullet being based on Iron Man, white Tiger being based on Black Panther, Tiki Torch being based on Human Torch, Capital G being based on Antman), with the exception of Ratman being based on Batman (origin and all). The Justice Friends have also appeared on The Powerpuff Girls episode Members Only.

TV Puppet Pals

TV Puppet Pals is a show-within-a-show in Dexter's Laboratory. It is watched by Dee Dee, the Powerpuff Girls, and seen in the Justice Friend's apartment. The Puppet Pals, probably due to its childish content, was never used as a back up episode, but it is seen as a few very small segments between certain episodes, using live-action puppets similar to the Muppets.

Other media

Movie: Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip

Hanna-Barbera (now Cartoon Network Studios), with the assistance of the series creator Tartakovsky, created a one hour television movie based on the series, titled Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip. The movie was first aired in 1999 and won an Annie Award.

Ego Trip's hand-drawn animation closely resembles the animation style of the original episodes. A well-liked Cartoon Network special, it airs occasionally on both Boomerang and Cartoon Network.

Music videos

Four music videos were made in 2002 and had occasional airings between shows on Cartoon Network. One was a mock-anime video sung by They Might Be Giants called "Dee Dee and Dexter".

The other three were rap songs which were released on a compilation album:

CDs

Dexter's Laboratory: The Hip Hop Experiment

Dexter's Laboratory: The Hip Hop Experiment
Compilation album by Various artists
Released August 20, 2002
Genre Hip hop
Label Warner Brothers/Cartoon Network
Professional reviews

Dexter's Laboratory: The Hip Hop Experiment, a compilation album featuring songs by various hip hop artists inspired by the series, was released on August 20, 2002 on Columbia Records. The track listing for the CD are as follows:

  1. "Dexter's Laboratory Opening Theme"
  2. "Secrets" - will.i.am
  3. "Dexter (What's His Name?)" - Coolio
  4. "Love According to Dexter" - Phife Dawg, introducing Slick E. Rose
  5. "Sibling Rivalries" - De La Soul
  6. "Mandark's Plan" - YZ
  7. "Back to the Lab" - Prince Paul

Video games

Four games were released to tie in with the series, Dexter's Laboratory: Robot Rampage for the Nintendo Game Boy Color (a licensed version of Elevator Action), Dexter's Laboratory: Chess Challenge for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Dexter's Laboratory: Deesaster Strikes! for the Game Boy Advance, and Dexter's Laboratory: Mandark's Laboratory? for the Sony PlayStation all developed and produced by the now defunct[2] publisher BAM! Entertainment. Dexter, Mandark, Dee Dee, Dexter's computer, Major Glory along with many Items, Areas and Inventions from the show are in the MMORPG FusionFall.

Home Video Releases

Warner Brothers stated in an interview that they are "...in conversations with Cartoon Network" for DVD collections of various cartoons, among which is Dexter's Laboratory in 2006.[3] The complete first season and the first half of the second season were released in Australia and New Zealand (Region 4) in 2007 and 2008. It is unknown if any more releases are planned.

A Region 1 release of the first season is currently set for October 12, 2010. The release is the third in an official release of several Cartoon Cartoons on DVD, under the "Cartoon Network Hall of Fame" name.[4]

Region 1

Title Release date Episodes Description
Dexter's Laboratory: Season One October 12, 2010[5] 1-13 This two-disc release includes all thirteen episodes from the first season, except for "Dial M for Monkey: Barbequor".

Region 4

Title Release date Episodes Description
The Complete Season 1 February 19, 2008[6] (AUS) 1-13 This two-disc release includes all thirteen episodes from the first season and contains the two pilot episodes "Changes" and "Big Sister", as well as a limited edition door hanger.
Season 2 (Part 1) June 11, 2008[7] (AUS) 14-32 This two-disc release includes the first half of episodes from the second season.

The date of the Australian release of the rest of the second season has yet to be announced. The Cartoon Network Christmas Yuletide Follies DVD contains a Dexter's Laboratory short, Snowdown, from Season 2.

iTunes Release

The complete series became available on iTunes in 2010, except for "Ego Trip."

References

  1. ↑ "Ego Trip Season Episode Guide". TV.com. http://www.tv.com/dexters-laboratory/ego-trip/episode/24651/summary.html. Retrieved 2010-05-03. 
  2. ↑ "IGN Profile of BAM! Entertainment". IGN. http://games.ign.com/objects/027/027195.html. Retrieved June 28, 2007. 
  3. ↑ Lacey, Gord (June 6, 2006). "Home Theatre Forum Warner Bros Chat Transcript - Part 2". TVShowsonDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Site-News/5803. Retrieved August 16, 2010. 
  4. ↑ David Lambert. "Enter Dexter’s Lab at long last…Season 1 DVDs announced". TVShowsOnDVD.com. http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Dexters-Laboratory-Season-1/13993. Retrieved June 6, 2010. 
  5. ↑ Dexter's Laboratory DVD news: Announcement for Dexter's Laboratory - Season 1 | TVShowsOnDVD.com
  6. ↑ Cartoon Network on DVD - Dexter's Laboratory Season 1 (2 Disc Set)
  7. ↑ Cartoon Network on DVD - Dexter's Laboratory Season 2 Part 1 (2 Disc Set)

External links

Genndy Tartakovsky
Dexter's Laboratory
Episodes · Characters
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Episodes · Characters · The Shadow of Aku
The Powerpuff Girls
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