| “ | Bravo! Very touching indeed. From now on, we'll just call you Captain Sappy!! | „ |
| ~ Dr. Slicer (openly mocking T.J. simply for saying goodbye to Principal Prickly). |
Dr. Slicer is the main antagonist of the Recess episode, "Prickly Is Leaving". Despite appearing in only one episode, he is arguably one of the most openly evil antagonists in the animated show, even much more evil than Ms. Finster and Principal Prickly (the major antagonists of the show) combined, as he was shown to be a man who is downright evil in nature.
He was voiced by Tim Curry.
Personality
| “ | I believe I read your dossier. Yes, Detweiller, Theodore J., the trouble-making 'funny boy'. You do consider yourself a 'funny boy', don't you, Detweiller? Well, I don't like 'funny boys', Detweiller. It was a 'funny boy' who gave me this scar. How you ask? Let's just say electromagnets were involved. Gilda, pen and paper! For your information, Theodore Detweiller, my name's not Slicey, it's Dr. Slicer. I have a PhD in discipline with a minor in punishment. Do NOT forget it! | „ |
| ~ Dr. Slicer revealing his true nature to T.J. Detweiller |
Being the strictest, meanest and most dangerous administrator in the school district, Dr. Slicer employed tactics that would be considered cruel and unusual, such a public humiliation and inflexible adherence to rules - he also saw any form of emotion as weakness and sought to transform the school into a strict authoritarian institution that would doubtless cause great distress to those under his "care".
Indeed even though he had not gained proper control over the school during his first and final appearance he treated it as though it was his own and subjected the students and staff to excessive cruelty and contempt.
Most surprising of all, given the family-friendly nature of the series, was that Dr. Slicer was clearly inspired by a Nazi general both in appearance and mannerism - a fact backed up by his arrival in a black car of old fashioned design, his contempt for "weakness" of any kind and his general outlook on life.
Role
Upon learning that Prickly is about to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming the new principal of a middle school, the students cheer at this. However, T.J. and the gang soon learns from Menlo that their new principal, Dr. Slicer, is far worse than Prickly, and that he is coming for an inspection in the school tomorrow.
At first, T.J. and the gang scoff at this, but as Dr. Slicer and his assistant Gilda arrived to make 'special notes' the next day, Dr. Slicer has Gilda to write down his plans for the school: applying new cover paint for the main compound building, creating up a school uniform and regulation haircut code, tearing down all tether ball poles, and turning the jungle gym into a guard tower. He even planned to have the retired cannonballs lodged in front of the school to be cleaned out and made operational. Worse, once T.J. had to introduce himself, Dr. Slicer strikes fear into the boy's heart by calling him 'Funny Boy' and that he has a major in Discipline and a minor in Punishment. Slicer then makes a newspaper hat written with the name 'Funny Boy' and puts it on T.J., reminding that this will be the hat he'll be wearing when Slicer becomes the new principal. Even Ms. Finster, who is outright cruel but well-meaning in nature, is not happy to be working for Slicer.
Realizing that Menlo was right about Slicer being far more worse than Prickly, T.J. and the gang plan to make Prickly stay, but they soon learn that they can't get in the way of his lifelong dream of running a middle school, as Ms. Finster once stated that for a person who cares about someone else, sometimes it's best for forget what's best for oneself to give support of what's best for others. As Prickly is about to leave with his remaining stuff, T.J. decides to express everyone's feelings for Prickly, admitting that he has been a good principal to them and that they will definitely miss him. Just before a touched Prickly is about to respond to this, Dr. Slicer arrives to mock T.J. for his honesty towards Prickly by giving him another newspaper hat with the name 'Captain Sappy', much to T.J.'s dismay. This angers Ms. Finster, who attempted to defend T.J.'s actions, but Dr. Slicer rudely interrupts by appointing Gilda as the new school groundskeeper and demoting Finster to being Gilda's assistant, much to Finster's distraught.
The next day, as school is about to begin, all the students are awaiting for Dr. Slicer's arrival, as they are now down in the dumps, even Ms. Finster is sulking over this. However, when Slicer's car arrives, Prickly steps out instead, having changed his mind and decided to stay. Prickly claimed he did so because the superintendent couldn't cash up on his paycheck on his new job, but it is implied that Prickly actually gave up his new position after seeing how badly Dr. Slicer was treating Ms. Finster and the students, thus decided to ensure that Dr. Slicer would not get the school; this was proven when Prickly enters back into his school, he makes a secret smile as he hears the students cheering for his return.
Dr. Slicer's final words to Principal Prickly was that he was making a big mistake before driving away.
Trivia
- Dr. Slicer bares resemblance to German war criminal Heinrich Himmler in terms of appearance and personality.
- It is unknown if Slicer has ever been the principal in other schools, or what actually happened in those schools... or is it better not to know?
- Despite appearing in one episode, Dr. Slicer is possibly the cruelst and meanest character in the entire series, surpassing all other Recess antagonists and making all students (including T.J.) scared of him. Even Ms. Finster and the staff find Slicer to be very descipable because of his cruel methods.