Creator/Senior Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Executive Producer: Larry Huber
Associate Producer: Debby Hindman
Voice Cast: Dexter: Christine Cavanaugh, Dee-Dee: Alison Moore.
Animation services: Fil-Cartoons, Rough Draft Korea
A lot of people have taken me to task for my previous review of "Dexter's Laboratory." In light of the fact that the show has definitely grown on me and the new level of quality of the second series, I have to concede to my critics that they were indeed right about my need to critically examine the show.
Here's what I said about the show last year:
At its best, the "Dexter's Laboratory" cartoons are based on a very simple formula with seemingly infinite variations: Dexter, the little boy with the Doctor Strangelove accent, creates bizarre inventions that usually work all too well. His bigger (I'm not sure whether she's older or younger) sister Dee-Dee usually throws a monkey wrench into the works, and the invention runs amok. At worst, however, Dee-Dee's mindlessness really grates on the nerves, especially when you consider that there are not many strong female roles in cartoons even now.
In this new season, they seem to have solved all these problems in one fell swoop. Dee-Dee (or DiDi as someone suggested her name was spelled) is a lot more complex of a character. She is less an airhead than in the first season, and occasionally she gets her genius brother out of scrapes. Dexter also shows a lot more dimensionality...his motivations are a little more complex than they were in the beginning.
And the premises on which the cartoons are built are getting stronger too. From a dead-on parody of "Speed Racer" which features a very convincing rendition of the cheap animation and dubbing style, to an arm-wrestling showdown in a truck stop which Dad wins thanks to Dexter's invention prowess, to a fantasia on "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" where a Bill Gates-esque software tycoon learns the joys of dancing and singing from Dee-Dee, (much to Dexter's consternation) to a story where Dexter and his fellow Trekker friends have to escape from the doll convention that they mistook for a Star Trek convention, the writing is getting stronger and funnier.
I miss the "Dial M For Monkey" segments, though. Monkey made a cameo appearance in the season opener, but so far has not been seen since. The "Dial M" shorts could have easily been spun off into their own show, they were so good. But alas, Monkey remains MIA.
Still and all, I have become much more of a "Dexter" fan this season than last. While I still have my gripes about the show even now...a little more development of Mom and Dad would be appreciated, a few more appearances of Dexter's rival Mandark, some further development of Dee-Dee...I find those gripes are being addressed in the evolution of the series. After suffering through disappointing sophomore seasons for shows like "The Twisted Tales of Felix The Cat" it is great to see a show improve over time rather than degrade.
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Page last updated 1/15/1998
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