Dexter's Laboratory vs. Johnny Test

Hello cartoon lovers, today I will be critiquing Dexter's Laboratory (1996) and Johnny Test (2005). Dexter's Laboratory is cartoon show about a young boy genius who stays tucked away in his lab, testing experiments and creating new inventions. Dexter's sister,Dee-Dee, isn't very smart, yet always manages to get into Dexter's lab and out-wit him. Coincidence, I think not. Dexter's mom takes care of house and home and his dad is the bread winner. Dexter's companion is a test monkey, who happens to be a super hero. This cartoon centers around Dexter, but also includes interesting inserts about other characters within Dexter's world.

Johnny Test is a cartoon show about a young boy who is the test subject for his older twin sisters' scientific projects, Susan and Mary Test. Johnny's mom is the bread winner and his dad takes care of house and home. Oh, and he has a lovable, animal side-kick, Dukey.—Does anyone else see the pattern here?—Dukey is the only member of the family who has any common sense and is usually Johnny's conscience and voice of reason. The cartoon center's around Johnny's experiences as the test subject, and shows possible ways a thirteen year-old boy can get into trouble. At times, Johnny might come up with an idea for an experiment, and his sisters' are crazy enough to make it happen. At the end of the cartoon, Johnny learns a valuable lesson and his sisters are off to chase the golden haired, stud, Gil and continue on with the their ever so normal suburban lives. 

Dexter's Lab Critique

 What makes this cartoon great is the classic retro style bleshed with the sci-fi futuristic feel. The character's and environment is simple, but the color choices, layout and animation is well done. The visuals were created simple enough for a child of any age to comprehend, but crafted for an adult audience to appreciate. The cartoons retro style is very similar to 1950-60s cartoons such as: Hong Kong Fuey, Yogi Bear and Snagglepuss.The vibrant colors are appealing and are used to draw the audiences eye from one image to the next. The colors also add an interesting take on the retro environments and backgrounds. The cell shading of the characters and environments is very mediocre, but the overall design of the visuals make up for it. The animation is pretty good. It sticks to the fundamental principles of "squash and stretch", "ease-in" and "ease out", but it still seems a little stiff. The animation still olds its own and the movements express the characters thoughts, feelings and personality clearly.

I particularly enjoy the use of onomatopoeia within the cartoon. It stays true to the classics and adds humor. As a kid, I would just laugh and not pay attention to what was going on, but know that I am older, I can pick up the subtle hints of humor. Excerpts of Major Glory and the Justice Friends are a perfect example. I can't help but laugh at the over-exaggeration of the characters' reactions and the classic "BOOM" and "KA-POW" text flash across the screen. The humor can get a little corny at times, but the show has its moments. An episode that I find humorous is episode 65, season 2, where Dexter is followed by a labrador retriever and the episode where Mandark first met Dee Dee. Mandark's laugh is another element of comedic relief. Just when things between Dexter and Mandark begin to get intense, Mandark breaks out with the evil laugh!

The updated retro style definitely works for this cartoon. Overall, it's an eye catching and well executed cartoon. [1]

Johnny Test Critique

The visual style and plot of Johnny Test is somewhat similar to Dexter's Lab. The Character's don't share the same physical characteristics, but the line, shape and color qualities do. Johnny Test has a little bit more shape definition with sharper corners. The architecture of the characters are well built and designed. The design of each character clearly portrays the their individual characteristics, but still comes across as boring. The colors are bold and vibrant, but the cell shading is minimal. There's barely any shades at all, just hues and tints, which makes the cartoon look very flat and dull. It's like watching paper puppets on a screen; which segues me into the next element, animation. 

The basic flash animation is extremely stiff and poorly executes the "squash and stretch" principles. Episode iJohnny, is an example of the flash puppet animation. The characters don't have fluid movements, but I do enjoy the flamboyant outbursts Johnny has every know and then. The only animation that I find adequate is the first few seconds of the season 2 intro. The humor is funny in an idiotic sort of way, rather than smart and witty. Johnny's outbursts can be quite funny, especially when he and Dukey are having a conversation. In iJohnny, Johnny is trying to convince his dad to get him a a cell phone. It's not humorous, only annoying. [2] 

My Opinion

It's funny how the style and plot of Johnny Test is strangely similar to Dexter's Lab. I honestly feel that Johnny Test is just a reverse knock-off of Dexter's Lab. I don't see Johnny Test as an original cartoon and I don't see very much creativity behind it. I honestly don't find Johnny Test enjoyable to watch. It's perfect for children to watch and learn from, but I wouldn't watch this show if I was bored out of my mind. 



[1] Dexter's Laboratory. (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2012, from 
         http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115157/

[2] Johnny Test. (n.d.). Retrieved December 5, 2012, from 
         http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454349/