Dexter's Laboratory is an American animated science fiction television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network. The series follows Dexter, an enthusiastic boy-genius with a science laboratory in his bedroom, which he keeps secret from his unsuspecting parents. Dexter is at constant odds with his older and more extraverted sister Dee Dee, who regularly accesses the laboratory and inadvertently foils his experiments. Prominently featured in the first and second seasons are other segments focusing on superhero-based characters Monkey, Dexter's pet lab-monkey with a superhero alter ego, and the Justice Friends, a trio of superheroes who share an apartment.
Tartakovsky pitched the series to Fred Seibert's animated shorts showcase What a Cartoon! at Hanna-Barbera, basing it on student films he produced at the California Institute of the Arts. Four pilots aired on Cartoon Network and TNT from 1995 to 1996. The first pilot "Changes" became Cartoon Network's highest-rated What A Cartoon! short, and viewer approval ratings led to a half-hour series, which consisted of two seasons totaling 52 episodes, airing from April 27, 1996, to June 15, 1998. Dexter's Laboratory was the first original series for the channel under the Cartoon Cartoons moniker. On December 10, 1999, a television film titled Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip aired as the intended series finale, before the series was revived for a second run of episodes. Due to Tartakovsky's departure, Chris Savino served as showrunner for the revival, which aired for two more seasons from November 18, 2001, to November 20, 2003, ending the series at 78 episodes.
Dexter's Laboratory became one of Cartoon Network's most successful original series, which helped increase Cartoon Network's ratings in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It received high viewership in the United States on cable television, becoming Cartoon Network's highest-rated original series in 1996 and 1997. Critics lauded its humor, intelligence, and originality, ranking the series as one of the best cartoons in various lists. It was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour or Less) from 1995 to 1998 and won three Annie Awards. The series spawned various merchandise, including albums, books, home video releases, toys, and video games.
Premise
thumb|left|Dee Dee (left) walks through the laboratory with her brother Dexter (right).
Dexter (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh in seasons 1–3 and Ego Trip; Candi Milo in seasons 3–4) is a bespectacled boy-genius who lives in a suburban neighborhood with his parents, only addressed as Mom (voiced by Kath Soucie) and Dad (voiced by Jeff Bennett), and his hyperactive, carefree, older sister Dee Dee (voiced by Allison Moore in seasons 1 and 3; Kat Cressida in seasons 2 and 4, including Ego Trip). Dexter conceals a vast secret laboratory and solves problems ranging from saving the world to defeating school bullies. Dee Dee delights in playing haphazardly in the laboratory, wreaking havoc with Dexter's inventions.
Recurring segments
Dial M for Monkey
Dial M for Monkey follows Monkey (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker), Dexter's pet laboratory monkey who is secretly a crime-fighting superhero. He is joined by his partner Agent Honeydew (voiced by Kath Soucie) and a team of assembled superheroes.
The Justice Friends
The Justice Friends follows Major Glory (voiced by Rob Paulsen), Valhallen (voiced by Tom Kenny), and the Infraggable Krunk (voiced by Frank Welker) who shared an apartment. Major Glory acts as a patriot; Valhallen wields with his electric guitar and speaks "between [<nowiki/>Old English] and surfer dialect"; and the Infraggable Krunk is a purple monster with the intelligence of a child. Lee's recorded narration is used in the episode.
- The second season episode "Rude Removal" was produced, but not aired. It involves Dexter creating a "rude removal system" to diminish Dee Dee and Dexter's rudeness that instead creates highly rude clones of both siblings. "Rude Removal" was only shown during certain animation festivals and was never aired on television due to the characters swearing. "Rude Removal" became available on Adult Swim's YouTube channel on January 22, 2013.
- "Chicken Scratch" debuted theatrically with The Powerpuff Girls Movie on July 3, 2002, and was later broadcast as a season four episode on November 4, 2003, on Cartoon Network. In later broadcasts and on its Season 1 DVD (Region 1), "Barbequor" has been replaced with "Dexter's Lab: A Story", an episode from season two.
Production
Background
thumb|256x256px|Dexter's Laboratory creator [[Genndy Tartakovsky at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2023.]]
Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of Dexter's Laboratory, was born in Moscow, where his father, a dentist, served in the government of the Soviet Union. Although relatively wealthy and well-connected, his family feared racial persecution due to their Jewish heritage and moved from Russia to Chicago when Tartakovsky was seven. Along with his older brother Alex, Tartakovsky learned English by watching cartoons
Tartakovsky initially went to Columbia College Chicago to study advertising and took an animation class as an elective. A two-and-a-half-minute pencil test produced in 1991–92 as his second student film, "Changes" was included in a university screening for the producers of Batman: The Animated Series, who were impressed and hired Tartakovsky to move to Spain to work on Batman at a studio in Madrid.
After Batman, Tartakovsky moved back to California to work for Hanna-Barbera on the production team of 2 Stupid Dogs. His co-workers on that series, Craig McCracken, Rob Renzetti, and Paul Rudish, had been classmates of his at Cal Arts and went on to collaborate with him on Dexter's Laboratory. Tartakovsky's last job before developing Dexter's Laboratory into a television series was to serve as a sheet timer on The Critic.
Development
During his time on The Critic, Tartakovsky received a phone call from Larry Huber, who had been a producer on 2 Stupid Dogs. Huber had shown Tartakovsky's unfinished student film to a then-nascent Cartoon Network and wanted Tartakovsky to expand the concept into a seven-minute storyboard. Unhappy with his position on The Critic, Tartakovsky accepted Huber's proposal. "Changes" premiered on February 26, 1995, as part of Cartoon Network's animation showcase series World Premiere Toons. After "Changes" premiered, Tartakovsky had no expectations that it would lead to a series. In September 1995, Turner Entertainment Co. announced the series greenlight of Dexter's Laboratory, becoming the first of sixteen shorts to earn the vote of approval based on feedback from focus groups, phone lines, the America Online reaction, the ten-city "Dive-In Theater" tour, and the "Cool Toons Mobile". After Tartakovsky and his former classmates McCracken and Rudish finished "Changes" and The Powerpuff Girls<nowiki/>' debut short "Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins" for World Premiere Toons, they proceeded to work on the second short film for Dexter's Laboratory titled "The Big Sister".
When Dexter's Laboratory received a series greenlight by former Cartoon Network president Betty Cohen and former television producer Mike Lazzo, Tartakovsky became one of the youngest animation directors during the time period at the age of 27. In developing Dexter's Laboratory, he continued the tradition of making "violent cartoons", explaining that "many people like them because they project themselves in the drawings and they laugh," while following the principles of older Hanna-Barbera cartoons. The production process for an episode was unique compared to most animated series at the time. Similar to The Dick Van Dyke Show, the story ideas for the episodes were created during pitch sessions. By August 1996, Dexter's Laboratory was renewed for a second season, premiering on Cartoon Network on July 16, 1997. The television film Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip premiered on December 10, 1999, on Cartoon Network. During a press conference in New York City held on February 21, 2001, Cartoon Network announced that it ordered more than 110 episodes of renewed original series, including Dexter's Laboratory. As Tartakovsky was immersed in launching his next series Samurai Jack, Chris Savino replaced Tartakovsky as creative director. It featured fan-selected episodes of Dexter's Laboratory and culminated by premiering the first two episodes of the third season.