The Big Sister

The Big Sister
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Network	Cartoon Network
Premiere date	March 10, 1996
Run time	7:33
Starring	Christine Cavanaugh; Allison Moore; Kath Soucie; Jeff Bennett; Frank Welker
Music composed by	Thomas Chase; Steve Rucker
Writer(s)	Genndy Tartakovsky
Director(s)	Genndy Tartakovsky
Art director(s)	Craig McCracken; Paul Rudish
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"The Big Sister" is the twenty-eighth episode of What a Cartoon! It aired on March 10, 1996 on Cartoon Network. It was written and directed by the creator, Genndy Tartakovsky. This episode, along with "Changes," was a back door pilot to what led to Dexter's Laboratory being commissioned as a fully realized series in 1996. "The Big Sister" short was then integrated as the third segment of the sixth episode, which aired June 1, 1996.

Detailed summary

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Memorable quotes

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Dexter	Christine Cavanaugh
Dee Dee	Allison Moore
Man #1	Jeff Bennett
Man #2	Frank Welker
Cop	Jeff Bennett
Professor	Jeff Bennett
Anchorman	Jeff Bennett
General guy	Frank Welker
Bill Clinton (voice only)	Frank Welker
Albert Einstein	Frank Welker
Ms. Physics	Kath Soucie
Mom	Kath Soucie
Dexter robot	Christine Cavanaugh
General (voice only)	Frank Welker
Computer (voice only)	Kath Soucie

Locations

Earth
- United States
  - Dexter's residence
    - Dexter's lab
  - Washington, D.C. (mentioned)
The Sun

Objects

Vehicles

Tanks
Fighter jet

Production

Development

Filming

It was copyrighted in 1995.

Music

The What a Cartoon! theme song was performed by Gary Lionelli. The episode's main music was composed by Thomas Chase and Steve Rucker. The director of music production was Bodie Chandler.

Crew credits

Art directors: Craig McCracken, Paul Rudish
Background designer: Mike Moon
Executive producer: Buzz Potamkin
Supervising producer: Larry Huber
Line producer: Bob Onorato
Production supervisor: Sylvia Edwards
Overseas animation director: John Rice
Clean up artists: Barbara Krueger, Dana Jo Granger
Casting director: Kris Zimmerman
Talent coordinator: Cindi Lyn Peltier
Supervising sound engineer: Ed Collins
Recording engineer: Preston Oliver
Background stylist: Martin Ansolabehere
Background supervisor: Al Gmuer
Background artist: Rustico Roca
Xerographists: Star Wirth, Martin Crossley, Catherine Parotino
Ink and paint supervisor: Alison Leopold
Color stylist: Karen Greslie
Final checker: Nelda Ridley
Ink and paint artists: Lori Hanson, Christine Kingsland, Carmen Brooks
Graphics artist: Iraj Paran
Camera operator: Steven Mills
Executive in charge of post-production: John Forrest Niss
Animation checkers: Beth Goodwin, Rob Revell
Track readers: Kay Douglas, Jim Hearn, Kerry Iverson, Carol Iverson
Supervising film editor: Paul Douglas
Post-production supervisor: Gayle Mnookin
Post-production coordinator: Gail D. Silvers
Sound services: 21st Century Sound Design Corp
Negative consultant: William DeBoer, Jr.
Video services: Four Media
Pre-production manager: Debby Hindman
International production coordinator: Brooke Williams
Production assistants: Donna Castricone, Sandra Benenati, Linda Moore, Jeffrey Collins
Production liaison: Heather Kenyon
Executive in charge of production: Joe Mazzuca
Development executive: Dan Smith
Produced in association with: FIL-Cartoons
Senior Vice President of Production: Sherry Gunther

Release

Dates are in order of release:

United States: March 10, 1996 on Cartoon Network
United Kingdom and Ireland:

Behind the scenes

Dee Dee announces the What a Cartoon! logo.
Although the President is not mentioned by name, Frank Welker is doing an impression of then President of the United States Bill Clinton.
Dexter's room is filled with posters of colorful suited characters resembling the Power Rangers from the 1990s TV series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and a spaceship resembling the USS Enterprise from the 1960s TV series Star Trek.
Kath Soucie is uncredited for voicing Dexter's computer.

Errors

Why is Einstein depicted as God?
The drop Dexter took should've killed him.

Critical reception

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning

Home availability

In the United Kingdom and Ireland:
- March 27, 2000: Warner Home Video releases Dexter's Laboratory: Volume 1 on VHS.
In the United States:
- October 12, 2010: Warner Home Video releases Dexter's Laboratory: Season One on DVD.
- June 25, 2024: Warner Home Video releases Dexter's Laboratory: The Complete Series on DVD.
In Australia:
- February 13, 2008: Madman Entertainment releases Dexter's Laboratory: Season 1 on DVD.
- October 25, 2017: Madman Entertainment releases Dexter's Laboratory: Collected Experiments on DVD.

References