Dexter’s Laboratory was originally premiered on Cartoon Network as part of World Premiere Toons aka What a Cartoon Show. The best cartoons were turned into series, and Dexter was one of them. Dexter is a small kid with a secret lab hidden inside his room. His jobs are usually disturbed by his older sister Dee Dee, a girl that loves ballet and candy. Unaware of the existence of Dexter’s lab, Mom and Dad are the classic parents stereotypes. She loves cleaning and cooking, while he loves sports and specially bowling. Mandark is Dexter’s rival, he has a laboratory as well, and he is apparently smarter than Dexter, but he is in love with Dee Dee. “Dexter’s Laboratory” was created by Genndy Tartakovsky as a student film during his second year at California Institute of Arts in 1991. The short featured the tall dancing, free-spirited, little girl named Dee Dee, and her short, temperamental, scientific-minded little brother, Dexter.

Dexter’s Laboratory is the story of a boy genius that lives with his parents and wild sister in suburbia. Hiding a secret lab underneath his house is only half of his secret. In his efforts to save the world, delve into science, and just being a little boy, Dexter’s Laboratory is a light-spirited adventure into the mind of a child with super intelligence and an imagination with no limits. European accent named Dexter who has a secret laboratory connected to his bedroom. He is almost constantly in conflict with his ditzy older sister, Dee Dee. His arch-nemesis is Mandark, another child genius with an irritating laugh. Often Mandark, through trickery or by coincidence, gets credit for Dexter’s achievements. Also appearing regularly in the series are Dexter’s father and mother. The endings are usually very strange, and there is little sense of continuity between episodes. In addition to the series there is an hour-long special episode entitled Dexter’s Laboratory: Ego Trip, in which Dexter travels through time and meets several of his future selves.

Characters

Dexter: The central protagonist, creator and owner of the laboratory. He speaks with an Eastern European accent which is not explained, as none of the other members of his family do. Dee Dee: Dexter’s older sister. Loves ballet, dolls, ponies and wrecking Dexter’s laboratory. She is two to three times taller than Dexter and has peculiar body proportions; a miniscule torso with a large head and gangly limbs. Dexter once compared her to a stick and subsequently threw her to entertain a dog. Mom: Dexter and Dee Dee’s mother; a mysophobe who has trouble being around the rest of the family without her rubber gloves.

Dad: Dexter and Dee Dee’s father. Loves bowling, golf, fishing, and has an unnatural affinity for his wife’s muffins.

Mandark: (also known as Susan or Astronomonov), Dexter’s mind-reading arch-nemesis. Possibly equal in intelligence to Dexter, he too possesses his own laboratory. He is in love with Dee Dee. He has a characteristic evil laugh. Mr Levinski: Dexter’s schoolteacher whom Dexter is eager to impress. Douglas Mordechai: Possibly Dexter’s only friend apart from his computer. He attends school with Dexter and is similarly geeky. Quadraplex T-3000 computer: Dexter’s computer that oversees the running of the lab and has a (female) personality of its own. Dexter refers to his computer as “my love”. Robots: A number of unnamed robots assist Dexter in the laboratory. Lee Lee and Mee Mee: Dee Dee’s friends.

Pony Puff Princess: Dee Dee’s idol. Koosalagoopagoop: A multi-colored dinosaur-like creature that originates from Dee Dee’s imagination. Monkey: Dexter’s caged monkey which secretly has superpowers, unbeknownst to Dexter. Quackor: Mandark’s caged duck which also has superpowers that Mandark is unaware of. Windbear and Oceanbird: Mandark’s hippy parents, who don’t understand Mandark’s love for evil and science.