Dexter's Laboratory

Dexter's Laboratory is an American comic science fiction animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network, and the first of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. The series follows Dexter, a boy-genius and inventor with a secret laboratory in the basement of his house, who constantly battles his sister Dee Dee in an attempt to keep her out of the lab. He also engages in a bitter rivalry with his neighbor and fellow-genius Mandark. The first two seasons contained additional segments: Dial M for Monkey, which focuses on Dexter's pet lab-monkey/superhero, and The Justice Friends, about a trio of superheroes who share an apartment.

Tartakovsky pitched the series to Fred Seibert's first animated shorts showcase What a Cartoon! at Hanna-Barbera, basing it on student films he produced while attending the California Institute of the Arts. Three pilots aired on Cartoon Network from 1995 to 1996; viewer approval ratings convinced the network to order a half-hour series, which ran for two initial seasons from 1996 to 1998. In 1999, a television movie titled Ego Trip aired as the intended series finale, and Tartakovsky left to begin work on his new series, Samurai Jack. However, from 2001 to 2003, Cartoon Network revived the series for two more seasons, under Chris Savino and a different production team at Cartoon Network Studios.

Dexter's Laboratory received widespread critical acclaim and high ratings, and became one of Cartoon Network's most popular and successful original series. During its run, the series won three Annie Awards, with nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Reel Awards, and nine additional Annie Awards. The series is notable for helping launch the careers of several cartoonists, such as Craig McCracken, Seth MacFarlane, Butch Hartman, and Rob Renzetti. Spin-off media include comic books, DVD and VHS releases, music albums, collectible toys, and video games.

The series revolves around Dexter (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh in seasons 1–2; Candi Milo in seasons 3–4), a bespectacled boy-genius who possesses a secret laboratory hidden behind a bookcase in his bedroom. The laboratory is filled with Dexter's inventions and can be accessed by speaking various passwords or by activating hidden switches on Dexter's bookshelf (e.g. pulling out a specific book). Though highly intelligent, Dexter often fails at what he has set out to do when he becomes overexcited and makes careless choices. Although he comes from a typical all-American family, Dexter speaks with a thick accent of indeterminate origin. Christine Cavanaugh described it as "an affectation, some kind of accent, we're not quite sure. A small Peter Lorre, but not. Perhaps he's Latino, perhaps he's French. He's a scientist; he knows he needs some kind of accent." Genndy Tartakovsky explained, "He considers himself a very serious scientist, and all well-known scientists have accents."

Dexter manages to keep the lab a secret from his clueless, cheerful Mom (voiced by Kath Soucie) and Dad (voiced by Jeff Bennett), who never take notice of it. However, he is frequently in conflict with his hyperactive older sister, Dee Dee (voiced by Allison Moore in seasons 1 and 3; Kat Cressida in seasons 2 and 4). In spite of Dexter's advanced technology, Dee Dee eludes all manner of security, and once inside her brother's laboratory, she delights in playing haphazardly, often wreaking havoc with his inventions. Though seemingly dim-witted, Dee Dee often outsmarts her brother and even gives him helpful advice. For his part, Dexter, though annoyed by his intrusive sibling, feels a reluctant affection for her and will come to her defense if she is imperiled.

Dexter's nemesis is a rival boy-genius from his school named Susan "Mandark" Astronomonov (voiced by Eddie Deezen). Just like Dexter, Mandark also has his own laboratory, but his schemes are generally evil and designed to gain power while downplaying or destroying Dexter's accomplishments. In the revival seasons, Mandark becomes significantly more evil, becoming Dexter's enemy rather than his rival and his laboratory changing from brightly-lit with rounded features to gothic-looking, industrial, and angular. Because Dexter's inventions are often better than his, Mandark tries to make up for this by stealing Dexter's plans. Mandark's weakness is his love for Dee Dee, though she ignores him and never returns his affections.

Cast

Image	Character	USA	Mex	Mex(2)	Jap	Bra	Ger	Fra	Ita(CineVideoDoppiatori)	Ita	Pol	Neth	Hun	Hun(2)	Swe	Nor	Cro	Den	Gree	Cze	Rom	Spa	Por	Kor	Chin	Turk
	Dexter	ChristineCavanaugh	Yamil Atala	Benjamín Rivera	Ayumi Kida	JoséLuiz Barbeito	Michael Pan	Marc Saez	Ilaria Stagni	Federica Valenti	Joanna Wizmur	Jody Pijper	Bartucz Attila	Tamás Markovics	Gizela Rasch	Lena Meieran		Lars Thiesgaard				Sara Vivas
		Candi Milo	LuisAlfonsoMendoza	Raúl Carballeda
	Dee Dee	AllisonMoore	Isabel Martiñón	Gaby Willer	Aya Yamakawa	Carmen Sheila	Beate "Bea"Tober	Dorothée Pousséo	Gemma Donati	Jasmine Laurenti	Beata Wyrąbkiewicz	Angélique de Boer	Ilona Molnár		Lena Ericsson	Jorunn Torsheim	Sanja Hrenar	Pauline Rehné		Jana Mařasová	AncaSigmirean	Isacha Mengíbar	Cristina Cavalinhos	Yang Jeonghwa	LǚPèiYù	Didem BarışAtlıhan
		Kat Cressida								AlessandraKarpoff											MirelaCorbeanu				Rita Wei
	Dexter's Mom	Kath Soucie	Liza Willert	Olga Hnidey	Kumi Yamakado	Nádia Carvalho	Liane Rudolph		Véronique Picciotto	Elda Olivieri	Kinga Tabor-Szymaniak	Jannemien Cnossen	VennesEmmy	Simon Eszter	Lena Ericsson	Siv Klynderud		Ann Hjort		Jana Mařasová
						Andrea Murucci							Ősi Ildikó
	Dexter's Dad	Jeff Bennett	Herman López		Naohiro Yamamoto	Carlos Seidl		Laurent Morteau		Riccardo Peroni		Edward Reekers	Melis Gábor	Rosta Sándor		Espen Sandvik		Timm Mehrens					JoséJorge Duarte
						Jorge Rosa
	Mandark	Eddie Deezen	Javier Rivero	Yamil Atala	Katsumi Suzuki		Uwe Büschken	Natacha Gerritsen		Cinzia Massironi	Cezary Kwieciński	Dieter Jansen	Vicsek Miklós	Minárovits Péter		Espen Sandvik		Timm Mehrens
			José Gilberto Vilchis	JoséAntonioMacías									Szokol Péter
	Monkey	Frank Welker										Frank Welker
	Quackor	Frank Welker										Frank Welker
	Infraggible Krunk	Frank Welker	Víctor Hugo Aguilar	Yamil Atala	Masayuki Nakata	Sílvio Navas				Graziano Galoforo
			Humberto Vélez			JorgeVasconcellos
	Major Glory	Rob Paulsen	José Gilberto Vilchis	Herman López	Kôsuke Okano	Ricardo Vooght		Roland Timsit		RobertoPedicini	Andrzej Ferenc	Just Meijer
										ClaudioMoneta