Dexter's Laboratory: Difference between revisions

** In a real-life example, a kid named Tyler Samuel Lee won a contest that aired an [http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/?episodeID=8a250ab02926f4b501299488c7270590 episode] he wrote, entitled "[[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|Dexter And Computress Get Mandark]]"

* [[Affectionate Parody]]: The episodes ''[[Speed Racer (Anime)|Mock 5]]'', ''[[Die Hard (Film)|Trapped With a Vengeance]]'', ''[[Apocalypse Now|Dee Dee's Room]]'', ''[[Tron|Game Over]]'', [[Charlie and The Chocolate Factory|The Golden Diskette]], [[Charlies Angels|G.I.R.L. Squad]]... there are a few. Then there are the [[G.I. Joe|Action Hank]] and [[My Little Pony|Pony Puff Princess]] [[Show Within a Show|franchises]], and the entire [[Marvel Comics|Justice]] [[Super Friends|Friends]] cast.

* [[All Work vs. All Play]]: Played with with Dexter and Dee Dee (respectively All Work and All Play), where there would be episodes where Dexter would be more relaxed like DeeDee, or DeeDee more work-minded like Dexter only to turn back at the end. [[Status Quo Is God]] or an [[Aesop]] of being yourself?

** Sometimes averted in certain episodes, as Dexter frequently worries about normal things for a boy his age, such as his favorite television heroes, and being liked by the neighborhood kids.

* [[Creepy Child]]: One falls in love with Dexter in "Aye, Aye, Eye".

* [[Crisis Crossover]]: ''Last But Not Beast'' had the Dexter and Monkey segments connected via the giant monster destroying Japan. The Monkey segment even skips its usual opening credits to continue the story.

** In Mexican Spanish, German, and Danish; Dexter is voiced by a man.

* [[Crossover]]: Dexter, Justice Friends and Monkey with each other, but also one episode with ''[[Dynomutt Dog Wonder]]''.

* [[Fantastic Time Management]]: There's an episode where Dexter has only 1 minute before the school bus arrives and he hasn't done his homework yet, so he use a time extending helmet to make it 30 minutes for him get everything done. {{spoiler|...it turns out to be a snow day.}}

* [[Fartillery]]: This happens in Episode 25/Part 1: "Critical Gas"

* [[Fetish Fuel Future]]: "Ego Trip" shows a world where a CEO has a harem in his office and strips his employees to their underwear for a whipping when they're not productive.

* [[Flanderization]]: Mandark in the post-finale seasons was pretty much ''defined'' by his hamminess and crush on Dee-Dee.

* [[Greasy Spoon]]: In an episode with a truck stop.

* [[Groin Attack]]: Dexter in "Dexter Dodgeball". Guess what was used.

* [[Hanna-Barbera]]

* [[Hartman Hips]]: Dexter's mom and the Touchy-Feely Neighbor Lady from "Nuclear Confusion" have the biggest butts in the whole series.

* [[Herr Doktor]]: Dexter has the obligatory German accent required by the Mad Scientist Code.

** It's more of a Russian accent, as the creator himself is Russian. It can even be argued that Dexter is a cartoon version of [[Author Avatar|Tartakovsky himself]]

** One episode featured none other than [[Paul Williams]], performing an uplifting song about [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0wfawLYjjQ the glorious union of music and science]!

** Martin Mull and Fred Willard are two of Dexter's robots that are [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc8hzAp11bg ridin' that hog!!]

* [[Incredibly Lame Fun]]: At an Amish community, when Dexter tries to explain "fun," [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|the closest thing they can think of is churning butter.]]

* [[Innocently Insensitive]]: Dee is usually just a playful Keet who wants to play with her little brother. However her notions of fun include playing around with his pretty looking (and somewhat delicate) toys, and no amount of ranting at her to leave him alone ever seems to faze her.

* [[In the Future We Still Have Roombas]]: Dozens of helper robots working for Dexter. Two of them even get [[A Day in The Spotlight]].

** And four become the villains in "[[Land of the Lost (TV)|Lab of the Lost]]".

* [[Man On Fire]]: "My hair is on fire! My hair is on fire!"

* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: Dexter's dad is this when he wants to be in "The Muffin King" and "Snowdown".

* [[Missing Episode]]: ''Dos Boot'' (the name being [[A Worldwide Punomenon]] on [[Das Boot]]) sometimes goes missing due to complaints about it [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]] (the [[Creepy Crossdresser]] ending involving a Photoshop [[Expy]] and accusations the episode was a full-on criticism of the IT world).

** It is still available as [[Keep Circulating the Tapes]] via [[YouTube]] and Eastern European video sites.

* [[No Name Given]]: Dexter's parents.

* [[Non Standard Character Design]]: Dexter travels back in time to the discovery of fire in one episode. The caveman he meets and brings back is drawn in the semi-realistic style that some Hanna-Barbara cartoons used to use. (Think [[Jonny Quest]] or [[The Herculoids]], not [[The Flintstones]]) Another episode guest-stars [[Dynomutt Dog Wonder|Dynomutt]] and the Blue Falcon, but their character designs actually fit in pretty well with everyone else.

* [[Noodle People]]: Dee Dee. The fact that her eyes are larger than her torso contributes to it.

* [[Not a Morning Person]]: Dexter's parents, again.

* [[One-Scene Wonder]]: Lisa the Babysitter from the episode, Babysitter Blues.

** Lalavava.

* [[Overly Long Gag]]

* [[The Other Darrin]]: Dexter's VA went from Christine Cavanaugh to Candi Milo when the former retired from voice acting early on in the last two seasons.

* [[Perspective Reversal]]: Dee Dee crushes a bunch of ants, because she thinks they're filthy. Dexter, who find ants interesting, shrinks them both down to ant size so Dee Dee can get a better idea of their society. After some adventures, they return to normal size, at which point Dee Dee happily thanks Dexter show showing her just how cool ants really are - while Dexter is squashing them.

* [[Pink Girl, Blue Boy]]: So much so that they did an [[Whole-Plot Reference]] to the ''[[Pink Panther]]'' with Dee-Dee as the eponymous and vexing feline.

** He ran a test to see what the cramps would do to him. [[No Control Group|On a balloon]].

* [[Played for Laughs]]

* [[Science Hero]]: Dexter, though he causes at least as many problems as he solves. Or more.

* [[The Scottish Trope]]: Saying Mandark and Lalavava.

* [[Secret Keeper]]

* [[Selective Obliviousness]]: In 'Mock 5' Dexter's dad mentions Dexter's sister, 'Racer D' dying in a tragic soap box derby racing accident...when she's sitting right next to him, alive and well, trying to get his attention.

* [[Shadow Discretion Shot]]: Inverted in "Picture Day" when Dexter goes out of his way to make himself gorgeous for school photos.

* [[Shapeshifter Showdown]]: The pilot episode, with [[Transformation Ray|"The Button"]].

** There's a shout out to the theater doors sequence from [[Mystery Science Theater 3000|MST3K]]. This shot was also used in the ending credits

** [[Power Rangers|"It's morphing time!"]]

* [[William Telling]]: Subverted when Dexter and Dee Dee go on a sibling vs. sibling game show. Dexter's just there for the prize, and starts one of the challenges before the host finishes explaining the rules, knocking an apple off of Dee Dee's head with a cream puff. He loses, as the host reveals that the challenge was to hit your sibling without making the apple fall.

* [[Wraparound Background]]: Lampshaded and then subverted during the [[Wacky Racing]] episode. Dee-Dee notices the background repeating after the racers come out of a tunnel, and Koosie [[No Fourth Wall|describes the animating technique in detail]], referring to it as a "Repeat Pan". Then it turns out they're still inside the tunnel, in a trap set up by Mandark.

* [[You Are Grounded]]: Episode 42 Part 2 "The Old Switcharooms"

* [[Younger Than They Look]]: Mandark's the same age as Dexter, but he's as tall (if not taller) as Dee-Dee.

* [[Rob Paulsen]]: Major Glory

* "When I say '[[Secret Identity]]', I ''mean'' '[[Secret Identity]]'!" (Major Glory after having his mask removed eight times, each one revealing another copy of the same mask)

{{quote| '''Major Glory:''' ''[[The Flintstones|Wiiiiiiiilllmaaaaaaa!!!]]'' I mean, ''KRUUUUUUNK!!!''}}

** And two seconds later, Krunk walks out [[Crowning Moment of Funny|dressed as Wilma]]. With the Flinstones theme playing in the background.