30th Anniversary of "Dexter's Laboratory"

[RoyalRubble]

From the front page of AnimeSuperhero.com.

“Dexter’s Laboratory”: A 30 Year Anniversary Retrospective​

It’s time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Dexter’s Laboratory, the first real Cartoon Network original series, and as such the first so-called “Cartoon Cartoon”. Created by Genndy Tartakovsky, the series originally ran between 1996-1998, but did receive a sort of reboot only a couple of years later, and ran for an additional two seasons between 2001-2003, this time supervised by Chris Savino (Tartakovsky at the time being busy with his next hit show, Samurai Jack). As a whole, Dexter’s Lab still ran for 78 half-hour shows, as well as a special hour long TV movie, and was generally well liked by the audience.

Its pilot episode premiered even earlier, in 1995 as part of the What A Cartoon! project, from where a bunch of other shows were born (including Cow & Chicken, Johnny Bravo, The Powerpuff Girls and Courage the Cowardly Dog), and also where a whole slew of artists got their start in the animation industry (apart from Tartakovsky, another notable name would be Craig McCracken, among others). Dexter’s Lab wasn’t the first What A Cartoon! to air (that honor went to McCracken’s The Powerpuff Girls), but was apparently the most popular one considering it was the first to receive a full series. The Powerpuff Girls instead became the fourth Cartoon Cartoon series on the network.

Dexter’s Lab primarily focuses on the adventures of boy genius Dexter (originally voiced by Christine Cavanaugh, and later by Candi Milo), who has built his own secret laboratory inside his bedroom where he performs all kinds of weird experiments, but still finds himself in awkward situations since he’s just too technical for lack of a better word, and because of his free-spirited big sister, Dee Dee. Dee Dee (voiced by Allison Moore, and by Kat Cressida depending on the season), loves dancing and playing around with all of Dexter’s Inventions, and ultimately destroys them, though it is usually by accident. Their sibling dynamic was seemingly inspired by Genndy Tartakovsky’s own relationship with his brother, and is usually pretty entertaining. They still care for each other, somewhere deep down, and it does come up occasionally in a few episodes. Also present to complete the family dynamic, are their parents – Mom (voiced by Kath Soucie), a clean freak who can be very strict when needed, and Dad (voiced by Jeff Bennett). The parents are usually oblivious to all of the experiments Dexter performs, and don’t have a clue about his secret lab though they do think he is the smarter one of their kids, and are sometimes caught up in whatever mess caused by one of their son’s failed lab experiments.

Click here to continue reading. (Lots more rambles in there)

Does anyone else wish to comment on the show?

 

[RandomMe]

When I was 8, my dream was to become a scientist like Dexter. I never became one, I became a linguist instead.

Dexter was one of my favorite childhood cartoons, and I remember when season 4 came out. I know that the last two seasons were criticized but even as a child there were some episodes that were hit or miss or just plain confusing. (Though to be fair I had the same feeling with 11-minute episodes in season 2 because I was used to the 7-minute ones)

 

[wonderfly]

I have 2 main memories of Cartoon Network in the "Pre-Toonami" era (the Checkerboard era). "Space Ghost: Coast to Coast" and "Dexter's Lab".

Both were welcome treats in 1996. But for me, Cartoon Network doesn't truly begin until Toonami in March of 1997.

 

[Space Cadet]

One of my favorite Cartoon Cartoon shows at the time. Always amazed that it got to 78 episodes, back when kids shows were limited to 52 or 65 episodes. I agree that the last two seasons weren't great but it had its moments here and there. I wonder if Tartakovsky will ever revisit this show.

 

[RandomMe]

One of my favorite Cartoon Cartoon shows at the time. Always amazed that it got to 78 episodes, back when kids shows were limited to 52 or 65 episodes. I agree that the last two seasons weren't great but it had its moments here and there. I wonder if Tartakovsky will ever revisit this show.

One of the things that puzzle me was its over-long second season (39 half-hours, that's half of the entire show). Maybe it was because of its success.

 

[Surreal Kangaroo]

I remember when Dexter first came out, but I didn’t pay a ton of attention to it. It wasn’t until the fall of 2000 I remember catching a random rerun on a weekend afternoon while I was at my grandma’s house and it blew my mind. I don’t even remember what episode I saw but I was hooked. I was pretty much obsessed with Dexter for the rest of that school year. Of course I watched the new seasons when they came out but they just weren’t that good. Overall, it’s one of my favorite CN shows.

 

[the_joker]

This show certainly aged in an interesting way.

Lacking smartphones and the Internet (which was still in its infancy with dial-up during this show's initial run) was particularly noticeable especially with Dexter's interest in technology. I'd still say not featuring social media was a huge boon and not something I would want in my shows anyways since I would think the characters had better things to do than spend (too much) time on the Internet.

The show would also be dated due to references to media that the crew were into during their youth like Die Hard, Dungeons & Dragons, and Tron. I remember an episode also referencing Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with the tickets being floppy disks. What child would know about floppy disks?

On the other hand, some references might be more meaningful today.

Noticeably, the Justice Friends resembling the Avengers would be more relevant to viewers today as superhero media weren't huge during the time. I mean, how many people were familiar with Marvel's Thor during the 90's? Living Bullet also resembled Iron Man, who didn't become popular until just over a decade after this show first aired. I was familiar with Captain America (Major Glory also had Superman's powers) and Hulk during this show's airing, though I don't know how I first learned about the former while the latter happened to have a show on Fox Kids during the 90's. Personally, I didn't know about Thor until the MCU happened. However, Thor did appear in one episode of the Hulk cartoon, but that was probably it outside of comics. There was also a reference to Batman with Ratman, and a Joker-esque villain was featured at one point with Major Glory. The team's name was also noteworthy as Superfriends already aired, and the Justice League didn't get its own actual show until 5 years later. In terms of cartoons, Batman: TAS aired a little earlier, and Superman: TAS was airing concurrently on Kid's WB. There were the Marvel cartoons as well, and Tim Burton's Batman movies also released previously, but comic book superheroes still weren't as prominent back then as today.

The show also referenced Star Wars, and take note that this was before the prequel movies were made.

Mandark was given a weird backstory in the newer season with hippie parents who named him Susan and treated him almost like a female because they didn't care about gender norms resulting in Dexter mocking him during their first meeting, and I'm not sure how this would be received today since there is now a push for queer and transgender representation. The backstory was also weird because Dexter's mockery pushed him to hold a grudge even though this wouldn't match up with the early episode "Dexter's Rival".

I'm also of the opinion that the episodes after season 2 were overall lower in quality due to the cheaper and duller-looking visuals and just being overall less funny and entertaining. The lack of other segments featuring the Justice Friends, Monkey, and the Puppet Pals also didn't help. I didn't think they were bad, but if I were to think of the show, I'd think of the first 2 seasons. I'm not even sure I'd watch seasons 3 and 4 if I were to rewatch the show.

 

[RandomMe]

This show certainly aged in an interesting way.

Lacking smartphones and the Internet (which was still in its infancy with dial-up during this show's initial run) was particularly noticeable especially with Dexter's interest in technology. I'd still say not featuring social media was a huge boon and not something I would want in my shows anyways since I would think the characters had better things to do than spend (too much) time on the Internet.

The show would also be dated due to references to media that the crew were into during their youth like Die Hard, Dungeons & Dragons, and Tron. I remember an episode also referencing Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with the tickets being floppy disks. What child would know about floppy disks?

On the other hand, some references might be more meaningful today.

Noticeably, the Justice Friends resembling the Avengers would be more relevant to viewers today as superhero media weren't huge during the time. I mean, how many people were familiar with Marvel's Thor during the 90's? Living Bullet also resembled Iron Man, who didn't become popular until just over a decade after this show first aired. I was familiar with Captain America (Major Glory also had Superman's powers) and Hulk during this show's airing, though I don't know how I first learned about the former while the latter happened to have a show on Fox Kids during the 90's. Personally, I didn't know about Thor until the MCU happened. However, Thor did appear in one episode of the Hulk cartoon, but that was probably it outside of comics. There was also a reference to Batman with Ratman, and a Joker-esque villain was featured at one point with Major Glory. The team's name was also noteworthy as Superfriends already aired, and the Justice League didn't get its own actual show until 5 years later. In terms of cartoons, Batman: TAS aired a little earlier, and Superman: TAS was airing concurrently on Kid's WB. There were the Marvel cartoons as well, and Tim Burton's Batman movies also released previously, but comic book superheroes still weren't as prominent back then as today.

The show also referenced Star Wars, and take note that this was before the prequel movies were made.

Mandark was given a weird backstory in the newer season with hippie parents who named him Susan and treated him almost like a female because they didn't care about gender norms resulting in Dexter mocking him during their first meeting, and I'm not sure how this would be received today since there is now a push for queer and transgender representation. The backstory was also weird because Dexter's mockery pushed him to hold a grudge even though this wouldn't match up with the early episode "Dexter's Rival".

I'm also of the opinion that the episodes after season 2 were overall lower in quality due to the cheaper and duller-looking visuals and just being overall less funny and entertaining. The lack of other segments featuring the Justice Friends, Monkey, and the Puppet Pals also didn't help. I didn't think they were bad, but if I were to think of the show, I'd think of the first 2 seasons. I'm not even sure I'd watch seasons 3 and 4 if I were to rewatch the show.

As a child who didn't watch a lot of US movies and relied on CN for entertainment (the only reference I got was Townsville's in Trouble! from Tele Trauma), I didn't understand most of the jokes. I never watched the 1973 Chocolate Factory until 2011, so for me it felt like an original experience and Wonka was a chocolate brand that existed in the USA and had games on its site (from accessing ads on the CN one).

Even as a child, seasons 3 and 4 had episodes I didn't like. Some were good, some were meh, some were awful. Remember that season 3 episode involving Koosamagoopagoop in an animesque environment? That was boring to me. And what about the last episode where Dee Dee becomes an ostrich? What a weird way to end the show. But I will admit, I did like some episodes such as the season 3 one where Dexter intercepts TV signals from all over the world (Tele Trauma) only to have his invention consume him at the end of the episode, or Dexter learning from Dee Dee's mistake in a season 4 episode where she takes one of his experiments, makes it a hat, then, after becoming a fashion fad, it causes heads to grow, and after reversing the effects they had to pay for the consequences. Bad Cable Manners is OK, the message plays out flatly, only to have Dexter's dad accessing the pirated satellite channels while in jail (isn't that illegal in jail?), and it represented millions of people who resorted to TV piracy in the 2000s. The Grand Daddy of All Inventions is about "all that expectation for nothing". Oh and that season 4 episode with a miniature of Dexter's home inside his lab, only to end up being studied by live-action scientists

But yes. Seasons 3 and 4 had good episodes in my view, but there were some boring ones. And when I first saw some 11-minutes ones in season 2, I thought they dragged out because, for this show, I was used to the 7-minute format.

Not everything in my childhood shows was great, and I don't apply rosy retrospection to Dexter.

 

[Perla Magica]

I did like some episodes such as the season 3 one where Dexter intercepts TV signals from all over the world (Tele Trauma) only to have his invention consume him at the end of the episode,

That's my favorite episode from this season.

the only reference I got was Townsville's in Trouble! from Tele Trauma

In Polish dub there was a Agent/De Mol reference (Who is the Agent?).

 

[RandomMe]

In Polish dub there was a Agent/De Mol reference (Who is the Agent?).

Shame our dub ended at season 2

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

Always amazed that it got to 78 episodes, back when kids shows were limited to 52 or 65 episodes.

Okay Kids shows even in the 90's weren't limited to 65 episodes. I guess you could argue that there were more limits on kids animations in the 60's and 70's due to only limited money even being put in the shows and needing to cut a lot of corners to even get it out there, but once cartoons were allowed to sell merchandise and have extensive toylines, pretty much the idea was that if a show was doing well even beyond it's initial syndication, they would still make episodes for it. Transfromers, He-Man, She-Ra, GI Joe, The Smurfs etc all had runs over 65 episodes back in the 80s. And even beyond toyetic shows, a lot of Disney cartoons like Ducktales, Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, Aladdin, Gargoyles, Timon and Pumbaa among others also got episodes beyond the original syndicated amount. Heck by the late 90's even Nickelodeon had Rugrats which obviously exploded beyond it's original pick up showing that even the competition could sustain hits which is what CN was trying to bank on with Dexter even if yeah that didn't wind up working. Thus why....

I wonder if Tartakovsky will ever revisit this show.

I don't think Genndy ever will. The thing is unlike most everyone else in the animated industry who manages one beloved cartoon, Tartakovsky has evolved past the point of ever needing to associate in any form with his original hit or have it continue on in any form which he has stated to have no interest in revisiting. And you can tell that by none of his following shows or projects really being well anything that much like Dexter's Lab. Even comedies like Hotel Transylvania or 90's throwbacks like Fixed do not really share that same DNA as Dexter did and I feel like Genndy isn't ever going to personally throw it back at any point so the most you'll see are probably cameos/crossovers like in Jellystone where someone else is behind the whell but Tartakovsky himself isn't.

One of the things that puzzle me was its over-long second season (39 half-hours, that's half of the entire show). Maybe it was because of its success.

Well remember Dexter was the FIRST original Cartoon Network animated series and it's success did broaden CN's general appeal so they could have more animated shows thus not only were they starting on those but wanted to ensure a lot of Dexter came out to entice fans to keep watching the channel to get attached to the other series as well.

Noticeably, the Justice Friends resembling the Avengers would be more relevant to viewers today as superhero media weren't huge during the time. I mean, how many people were familiar with Marvel's Thor during the 90's?

I think I only legit knew Thor was an actual Marvel hero when those Ultimate Avengers DTVs in the 2000s came out. I guess I should have known as though I didn't really watch Avengers United they Stand I did see the intro and technically he did appear in that (which was his only real appearance in the show) but yeah never really connected it but yeah, Thor was NOT a major character in pop culture as a marvel hero until the MCU so having Val Halla appear like that in Justice Friends is pretty ahead of the curve. Like Hulk/Krunk people would get because of the Hulk TV show and I knew Major Glory was Captain America as I did have a Captain America figure as a kid plus he did at least appear in the 90's Spider Man cartoon (as did Iron man who also had his own 90's cartoon I was at least aware of) but Thor was not really that big outside of comic book circles in the 90's... hell even in comic book circles from what I heard there was a lot happening around Thor's mythos anyway that wouldn't make him that popular but that's a whole other topic.


On the subject of Dexter's Lab itself yeah I am also a huge fan. I first really got Cartoon Network like mid 1997 and I do remember Dexter's Lab was one of the first major shows I watched and got into and "Dee Dee Locks And The Ness Monster" was the first episode/segment I watched and it got me into the rest of the series. Honestly a lot of my thoughts are with everyone's; a lot of great comedy and bits and references and you know there were some decent segments in season 3 and 4 even if overall they were a step down from the first two seasons but IMHO Chris Savino did a worse job mismanaging Powerpuff Girls then he did Dexter's Lab. I will say especially having seen bits again after years upon years on Checkered Past some certain elements do bother me like how many times Dee Dee gets one over on Dexter without her even getting reprecussions for her actions but not enough to diminish the series any as it has earned it's legacy and importance as the first full on 100% official CN original series... I still associated the first true original and most important as Space Ghost Coast To Coast (which did house the first clip of Dexter) but I get why CN would consider Dexter as it's true original cartoon cartoon origins.

 

[DBTrilogy100]

It's quite surreal knowing that Dexter's Laboratory has reached its 30 year anniversary as I have many fond memories of the show back in my younger days and I would consider it to be one of my favorite Cartoon Network shows. Like others, I prefer the first half of the series over the Post-Ego Trip Seasons/Revival Seasons, although there were still some episodes from that section that I did find enjoyable just as how there were some episodes from the initial run of the series that I didn't like.

Having been able to (relatively speaking) recently rewatch the show when Cartoon Network/[adult swim] was doing the "Checkered Past" Block, I do find it a shame how there were some characters that felt wasted because I feel there was great potential for them if they had more prevalent roles. Lalavava/Olga Astronomonov, Mandark's sister, is probably the character that I found to be the most prevalent example of this sentiment. I would have liked to have seen more of the friendship Lalavava formed with Dee Dee at the end of her only appearance and would have liked to have seen her interactions with Dexter and some other characters; speaking of Mandark's family, I am also curious about how Mandark's parents would have been portrayed if they had appeared during Genndy Tartakovsky's time on the show since they only ended up appearing in the Post-Ego Trip Seasons/Revival Seasons.

Other characters I would have liked to have seen more of would be Dexter's group of friends, Douglas E. Mordecai III and the group of boys from "D & DD" and/or "Star Check Unconventional". The idea of exploring Dexter's social life has some nice story ideas and it would have been nice to see Douglas interact with the other boys, as well as learning the other boys names.

 

[Yojimbo]

I also look back fondly at this show, too, and watched it in its original run along with PPG and really loved the writing and humor. The Justice Friends always cracked me up, as well.

 

[RoyalRubble]

As promised my next editorial is now up on the front page of AnimeSuperhero.com.

“Dexter’s Laboratory”: A Look Back At The Superhero Parodies!​

As a follow-up to the previous Dexter’s Laboratory retrospective (check it out here!), this article will focus on the times the show parodied or referenced the superhero genre. The show spoofed a lot of things during its run, and superheroes were predominantly featured, both as comic book characters, as well as actual living characters within the series’ setting. Interesting enough, most of these characters – or rather the heroes they were based on – most of them originating from Marvel Comics, weren’t quite as well-known or popular when the show aired, as they are today thanks in part to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the multitude of cartoons that have aired in the last decades.

Justice Friends, Assemble!

Perhaps the first thing many would think of, when the topic of superhero parodies on Dexter’s Laboratory comes up. The Justice Friends segments focused on the trio of Major Glory (voiced by Rob Paulsen), Valhallen (Tom Kenny) and Krunk (Frank Welker), mighty heroes who live together in the same apartment and occasionally fight crime. It’s a sitcom setting but it works pretty well, whether it’s the characters interactions or the wacky situations they find themselves in.

Obviously the main characters are parodies of Captain America, Thor and Hulk, and as such they are also exaggerated quite a bit. Major Glory being a super patriot who has a big ego and keeps rambling on, about pretty much everything. Valhallen being a Viking god of rock who sounds like a surfer dude but also uses the old-timey speech style Thor has at the same time, if that makes any sense. Krunk has purple skin and green pants to swap the colors of the classic Hulk design, and despite his super strength he is rather stupid and childish. Perhaps less obvious, is that the title of the segments is a mix-up of the Justice League and the Super Friends, though most of the characters were based on Marvel Comics properties.

Click here to continue reading.

 

[RandomMe]

Amazing that until 2005, CN EMEA only broadcast one of the Dial M for Monkey segments (Peltra) until the invisible veto was lifted. That's when I got to see other season 2 episodes, the Justice Friends and the remaining Monkey ones.

 

[the_joker]

My favorite Justice Friends segment was definitely "Things That Go Bonk in the Night" due to how hilariously absurd (in a good way) it was.

Spoiler

The ending with the Puppet Pals dreaming after watching a marathon featuring the Justice Friends was icing on the cake. And the segment was able to add yet another layer of icing with Puppet Pal Mitch tricking Clem into bonking himself. One would have to wonder how Clem fit into the lower bunk bed in the first place, but the gag was worth it.

I think it's a tad unfortunate that Monkey never interacted with the Justice Friends. They did cross over twice to my memory with one segment featuring the wrestler Rasslor, and they also appeared in the original series finale, but Monkey didn't interact with the other superheroes in those episodes. I suppose I wonder how the superhero team would feel about a super-powered monkey being stronger than the whole team since the latter has fared better against the villains that both had to deal with. For example, none of the superheroes were able to beat Rasslor, but Monkey was the only one who kept persisting. More than likely, Genndy wanted to keep these segments separate and standalone, and he only wanted to actually bring everyone together for a special episode, which would've been the original finale.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

I think it's a tad unfortunate that Monkey never interacted with the Justice Friends. They did cross over twice to my memory with one segment featuring the wrestler Rasslor, and they also appeared in the original series finale, but Monkey didn't interact with the other superheroes in those episodes. I suppose I wonder how the superhero team would feel about a super-powered monkey being stronger than the whole team since the latter has fared better against the villains that both had to deal with. For example, none of the superheroes were able to beat Rasslor, but Monkey was the only one who kept persisting. More than likely, Genndy wanted to keep these segments separate and standalone, and he only wanted to actually bring everyone together for a special episode, which would've been the original finale.

Well here's the things the_joker

1. The thing was Monkey was the original other idea then Dexter's Lab that Genndy had for his series as obviously was a huge fan of super heroes but wanting things to connect more to Dexter more the idea that he had a lab monkey who was secretly actually a super hero monkey was meant more as the other series. In those segments though (which debuted at the start of season one of DL) for "Rasslor" they created the idea of there being other Justice Friends in order to make the point of "Rasslor thinks this Monkey is cute but nothing to these more macho esque heroes but is won over by his heart" but yeah I don't think they were meant to be anything other then more side characters. However I think Genndy and co realzied the concept of super heroes living together in an apartment as some sort of sitcom (especially when this was literally like when Friends had just taken off as the biggest show around) so you could have these multiple comedic personalities bouncing off one another was funnier so by the mid point of season one phased out Monkey Segments for Justice Friends segments. I feel that well ran dry as well thus why there were only a couple Monkey or Justice Friends segments in season 2 and then yeah after "Last But Not Beast" only a couple of the later seasons really acknowledged that concept (specifically the Quackor short and Wacky Races homage ep) but yeah it wasn't "keep these segment ideas separate" probably more "okay ran out of good material moving on to this funnier idea." Though it should be pointed out that "Rasslor" and "Last But Not Beast" are not the ONLY two segments where those two ideas cross over.

2. As there is one more; a Monkey segment that does not only feature more of the Justice Friends but likely was the push that eventually got them their own segments later on in season one, "Barbequor." Which features the Silver Spooner showing up to say his master Barbequor is going to eat the planet and... you know a lot of the original cartoon cartoons got a LOT of crap past the radar you have to commend them for but sometimes they were too blantant for the network to really justify and this episode was one of them. Like Silver Spooner is this super obviously overly flamboydant parody of Silver Surfer done to a bit of an insulting degree (even for 90's over the top gay humor) and the segment ends with Monkey having to drive Krunk home the later of which is clearly drunk. So yeah though that did air in Latin America countries that didn't really air on US TV and is one of those "you have to search and find the segment to see it" but does show Monkey and the other members of the Justice Friends before the later ironically took over Monkey's segment.

 

[IAmStripped]

Happy 30th Anniversary to a great childhood cartoon of mine.

I have always loved Dexter’s Laboratory. I don’t even mind the 2001-2003 episodes (Seasons 3 and 4) even if a lot of people didn’t like those episodes, I didn’t mind them.