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Dexter's Laboratory is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network as the first Cartoon Cartoon. The series follows Dexter, an enthusiastic boy-genius with a hidden science laboratory in his room full of inventions, which he keeps secret from his clueless parents, who are only referred to as "Mom" and "Dad". Dexter is at constant odds with his older and more extroverted sister Dee Dee, who always gains access to the lab and inadvertently foils his experiments. Dexter has a bitter rivalry with his neighbor and classmate Mandark, a nefarious boy-genius who attempts to undermine Dexter at every opportunity. Prominently featured in the first and second seasons are other segments focusing on superhero-based characters Monkey, Dexter's pet lab-monkey/superhero, and the Justice Friends, 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 at the California Institute of the Arts. Four pilots aired on Cartoon Network and TNT from 1995 to 1996. 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. On December 10, 1999, a television film titled Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip aired as the intended series finale, and Tartakovsky left to begin working on Samurai Jack. In November 2000, the series was renewed for two seasons containing 26 total episodes, which began airing on November 18, 2001, and concluded on November 20, 2003. Due to Tartakovsky's departure, the last two seasons featured Chris Savino as showrunner along with a new production team at Cartoon Network Studios with changes made to the visual art style and character designs. Dexter's Laboratory won three Annie Awards, with nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Reel Awards, and nine other Annie Awards. The series is notable for helping launch the careers of animators Craig McCracken, Seth MacFarlane, Butch Hartman, Paul Rudish, and Rob Renzetti. Spin-off media include children's books, comic books, DVD and VHS releases, music albums, toys, and video games. Premise Characters Dexter (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh in seasons 1–3; Candi Milo in seasons 3–4) is a bespectacled boy-genius who, behind a bookcase in his bedroom, conceals a secret laboratory, which can be accessed by spoken passwords or hidden switches on his bookshelf. Though highly intelligent, Dexter often fails to achieve his goals when he becomes overexcited and careless. Although he comes from a typical American family, Dexter speaks with an accent of indeterminate origin. Christine Cavanaugh described it as "an affectation, [a] 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 [a] kind of accent." Genndy Tartakovsky explained, "he's a scientist. All scientists are foreign and have accents...It's not really a German accent. It's just Eastern European." Tartakovsky later declared Cavanaugh's input for Dexter to be irreplaceable as he acknowledged her legacy. Dexter conceals his lab from his clueless parents, addressed only as Mom (voiced by Kath Soucie) and Dad (voiced by Jeff Bennett), who never take notice of it. His hyperactive, good-hearted, older sister Dee Dee (voiced by Allison Moore in seasons 1 and 3 and by Kat Cressida in seasons 2 and 4) delights in playing haphazardly in the lab, wreaking havoc with Dexter's inventions. Though seemingly dim-witted, Dee Dee, who is also a talented ballet dancer, can outsmart her brother and even give 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 rival classmate Mandark Astronomonov (voiced by Eddie Deezen). Like Dexter, Mandark is a boy genius with his own laboratory, but his schemes are generally evil and designed to gain power or downplay or destroy Dexter's accomplishments. In revival seasons, Mandark becomes significantly more evil, becoming Dexter's enemy rather than his rival, and Mandark's laboratory changes from brightly lit with rounded features to gothic-looking, industrial, and angular. Dexter's inventions are objectively better than his, and Mandark tries to compensate for this by stealing Dexter's plans. Mandark's weakness is his unrequited love for Dee Dee. Recurring segments Every Dexter's Laboratory episode, with the exception of "Last But Not Beast", is divided into different stories or segments, each being 7–12 minutes long. Occasionally, a segment centers on characters other than Dexter and his family. Two segments are shown primarily during season one: Dial M for Monkey and The Justice Friends. Dial M for Monkey is the middle segment for six episodes of season one, and The Justice Friends takes its place until season one's end. Dial M for Monkey Dial M for Monkey shorts feature Dexter's pet laboratory monkey named Monkey (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker), whom Dexter believes is an ordinary monkey and nothing more. However, Monkey secretly has superpowers and fights evil as a superhero named Monkey. Monkey is joined by his partner Agent Honeydew (voiced by Kath Soucie) of Global Security, Commander General (voiced by Robert Ridgely in season 1, Earl Boen in season 2), and a team of assembled superheroes. Dial M for Monkey was created by Genndy Tartakovsky, Craig McCracken, and Paul Rudish. Monkey's superpowers include super-strength, telekinesis, flight, and super speed, among others. The Justice Friends The Justice Friends consists of Major Glory (voiced by Rob Paulsen) of whom Dexter himself is revealed to be a fan and collects Major Glory action-figures, Valhallen (voiced by Tom Kenny), and the Infraggable Krunk (voiced by Frank Welker), a trio of superhero roommates residing in an apartment called Muscular Arms. Their adventures deal less with superhero life and more with an inability to agree with each other; it is presented much like a sitcom, including a laugh track. Genndy Tartakovsky's inspiration for The Justice Friends came from reading Marvel Comics when learning how to speak English. Tartakovsky stated in a 2001 IGN interview that he was disappointed with how The Justice Friends turned out, saying, "it could have been funnier and the characters could have been fleshed out more." Mini-segments Between the three main segments in seasons one and two are brief mini-segments, which often feature only Dexter and Dee Dee. Other characters that star in these include "The Puppet Pals" - two live-action puppets named Puppet Pal Mitch (voiced by Rob Paulsen) and Puppet Pal Clem (voiced by Tom Kenny). Production Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of Dexter's Laboratory, was born in Moscow, where his father, a dentist, served in the government.... Discover the Meg Belviso Pam Pollack popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Meg Belviso Pam Pollack books.