Dexter's Laboratory, a very fondly remembered show from Cartoon Network... that I've never really seen before until now. I don't know why, but it just never appealed to me when I had Foxtel the first time. It may just be that it was never on at a good time for me. But, I have finally been able to sit down and watch it (it was why I wanted to do it for the marathon, the site was founded on trying new things after all). So in the midst of a busy week, how did Dexter hold up?
The story is basic, as it is mostly shorts focused comedy. Dexter is a mad scientist waiting to happen (probably already has, but that's where a potential spin off comes into play), and idolizes his brain, and the very nature of Science itself. Only problem is that this is meant to be a comedy, so a lot of Dexter's science goes wrong in some way, shape or form, most of the time thanks to Dede (who for some reason I keep thinking her name is Dedede) who gives credit to the idea of "Chaos is the constant". The set ups themselves do lead to some great jokes, a lot of the time with the overarching message of "it will not solve all your problems". Best example of this being Dexter wanting to make himself older, and goes from a young kid to an old man, all for the sake of watching a movie that starts at 8 pm... wait, how young is Dexter meant to be? Movies around then went for about 90 minutes, so the movie would end at 9:30 at most. In the episodes I saw, there were three shorts, two revolving around Dexter, and then a third being a Superhero parody about a monkey and... they're kind of mediocre at best. Nothing against superhero parodies, its just that I'd rather it have been its own dedicated thing rather then tact onto another show. Unlike Dial M for Monkey (the name of the shorts), I can't talk about The Justice Friends mostly due to time restraints.
Especially when said show is as good as this show is. I've been genuinely enjoying the show thanks to the characters themselves. Dexter is a surprisingly good character in this as, and I'll openly admit this, I honestly thought he would come off as an overly arrogant and unlikable character. Granted, he is extremely arrogant, but nothing about him comes off as annoying, like its dancing that fine edge of good to bad. Dede and Mandark Astronomonov (oh Arceus I hope that's how you spell it) also work great off of Dexter with Dede's carefree and oblivious personality acting as a great contrast to Dexter's arrogance ant intellect, and Mandark acting as a great evil villain to a already borderline evil character.
The soundtrack and animation is about average for the time in terms of 2D animation, which is right up my ally as it means high paced and smooth, hand drawn animation with unique designs, and an orchestral sounding (I'm not sure if its real or not) soundtrack. Basically, this ticks all the boxes for me in terms of presentation (can you tell that I miss traditional 2D animation in the public eye?). There's just something so enjoyable about seeing what they do with the premise and the style. I can definitely see why people like the show, and its definitely one I need to catch up on. Next week though (and I will try to get it on time this time), Fosters home for imaginary friends, as we move into the shows I did watch. See you then
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