Invader Zim
Invader Zim is an American animated science fiction horror comedy television series created by comic book writer and cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the titular character, an extraterrestrial from the planet Irk. His mission is to conquer Earth and enslave the human race along with his malfunctioning robot servant GIR. However, Zim is antagonized by Dib Membrane, a young paranormal investigator who is determined to stop Zim from succeeding.
Nickelodeon contacted Jhonen Vasquez about pitching ideas for an animated series for their older demographic and Invader Zim was the first thing he pitched. In Vasquez's words "it went from pitch to series without hardly any waiting". As the series went on, ratings declined and budgetary issues became more frequent. Before the second season was completed, Nickelodeon cancelled the series, leaving several episodes unfinished. The series originally aired on Nickelodeon from 2001 to 2002, with six of the completed second-season episodes initially going unreleased. These episodes were first made available on DVD in 2004 and later made their debut on the Nicktoons Network in 2006.
Invader Zim received positive reviews from critics and audiences, with praise primarily directed at its humor, writing, animation, art-style and the way it pushed the boundaries of what was considered acceptable on children's television. In the years after its cancellation, Invader Zim has often been listed as one of Nickelodeon's best shows. The series won an Annie Award, an Emmy Award and a World Animation Celebration Award, as well as receiving nominations for seven additional Annie Awards and a pair of Golden Reel Awards. Invader Zim has spawned its own fan convention called InvaderCON and a plethora of official merchandise, including video games, toys, clothing and accessories, among many other products. Despite its early cancellation and short run, due to increasing popularity and above-average merchandise sales it has been widely regarded as a cult classic.
A monthly comic book series of the same name was released on July 8, 2015, as a continuation of the television series and published by Oni Press until August 4, 2021. A film based on the television and comic series titled Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, premiered on Netflix on August 16, 2019.
Plot
The series centers on Zim, a member of the extraterrestrial Irken species and the Irken Empire from the planet Irk. The empire's goal is universal conquest and has a social hierarchy based solely on physical height. The empire's leader is called The Almighty Tallest, though throughout the series the position is jointly held by a pair of equally tall individuals, one color-coded red and the other purple. Though he serves the empire faithfully, Zim is obliviously an outcast due to being delusional, very short, overzealous, egocentric, and megalomaniacal.An absentminded Zim nearly destroyed Irk and the Irkens during the empire's first invasion, Operation Impending Doom I. He was punished by exile to the Irken food court planet Foodcourtia, although he failed to recognize the reason for his banishment. After learning that Operation Impending Doom II was being planned, Zim unilaterally "quits being banished" to attend the Great Assigning on the convention center planet Conventia. At the Great Assigning, The Tallest appoint Irkens as Invaders, advance scouts tasked with infiltrating and preparing target planets for conquest by the Irken Armada. Zim successfully pleads to be made an Invader and receives a "secret mission" intended to prevent interference with the invasion; the target "mystery planet" is on the outskirts of the known universe and is not confirmed to exist. He is issued GIR, an ineffective and erratic Standard Issue Information Retrieval unit hastily made from spare parts found in a trash can.
After a six-month journey across the universe, Zim arrives at the "mystery planet" which turns out to be a dark, dystopian and satirical version of Earth with rampant mindless consumerism. A delighted Zim quickly goes to work and sets up his base in a random suburb; The Tallest are dismayed by his success. The short-statured Zim disguises himself as a human child with a green complexion. The show follows his attempts to conduct espionage by attending a local school and planning to conquer and enslave the world at his base. Opposing Zim is his classmate Dib, a paranoid young boy who is obsessed with the paranormal and supernatural and the only human who sees through Zim's disguise. Dib is determined to expose and thwart Zim, despite the hostility and mockery he receives from his oblivious peers for doing so.
Supporting characters include Dib's cynical and apathetic sister Gaz ; Zim and Dib's demonic teacher Ms. Bitters ; and Dib and Gaz's famous, but neglectful father Professor Membrane. Later in the series, other alien characters begin to appear, including Tak, a fellow Irken seeking revenge against Zim; Lard Nar, the leader of a resistance group called The Resisty who wants to overthrow the Irken Empire; and Sizz-Lorr, Zim's former employer from Foodcourtia who attempts to recapture him.
Episodes
Production
Conception and early development
Prior to the creation of Invader Zim, Nickelodeon desired a series to suit its 11–15 year old demographic. Nickelodeon producer Mary Harrington was searching for something that had a similar "edge" to The Ren & Stimpy Show, when she came across a comic book called Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and was impressed with the art-style and character designs in the series. Harrington contacted the creator of JtHM, then-22-year-old Jhonen Vasquez, who had zero experience in animation at the time, and asked him if he would like to pitch an animated series to Nickelodeon. Vasquez accepted the offer.Vasquez knew from the start that his previous works were definitely not suitable for Nickelodeon, so instead of adapting something he had already done, he decided to make something new. Since he was creating a show for a children's network, Vasquez compiled together many things he loved during his own childhood, including robots, monsters, horror films, science fiction films, paranormal investigators, Monty Python, the works of Douglas Adams, and aliens. Before settling on the darker concept of an alien invader, Vasquez briefly considered doing a more light-hearted show along the lines of Mork & Mindy, with a zany alien misunderstanding Earth customs and ultimately, learning a lesson at the end. Vasquez said that while this idea probably would have found more success on Nickelodeon, he quickly dropped the idea, believing it would not fit his style of writing. Vasquez came up with the entire premise for Invader Zim in about an hour, while sitting in bed when he could not sleep. He was inspired by the idea of an alien who came from an incredibly advanced race and has access to such powerful and advanced technology that he could easily take over or destroy the Earth single-handedly, but instead he decides to stay in school all day, never even thinking to sneak out.
A pilot for Invader Zim was pitched to Nickelodeon in 1999, which led to the series being green-lit. Vasquez indicated that very little of his writing style was changed over the course of Invader Zim, other than restricting certain language and visuals that may not be suitable for children. Vasquez cited that the biggest change for himself was going from working alone on a comic to working with thousands of people at Nickelodeon, saying "it's an absolute misery". However, he said the experience of working on Invader Zim was "incredibly gratifying", but also "fiendishly frustrating".
Animation
Invader Zim was produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, California with Nick Digital providing the CGI animation services and Sunwoo Entertainment in South Korea providing the 2D animation services. Salami Studios provided the post-production and sound services for most episodes of the series, and Encore and Hollywood Digital provided the post-production services for a few episodes in season one. In season two, the animation style became slightly more stylized and pronounced in motion than in season one. Invader Zims art style is stylized with sharp edges, thick black outlines, big heads, small or elongated bodies, and big eyes for the characters. Invader Zim's art-style was initially difficult for the animators to learn. Director Steve Ressel even admitted that it was the hardest style he had ever worked on, citing the characters' heads as the most complicated aspect of their designs.Invader Zim was one of the first animated television shows to merge 2D animation with CGI animation. When the development on Invader Zim was first getting started, Steve Ressel consulted with the crew of Futurama to figure out how to integrate 2D animation with CGI animation, as Futurama was one of the first animated television shows that merged the two mediums. When the Futurama crew saw the show they were very impressed by how seamlessly the Invader Zim crew integrated both mediums, specifically in the episode "The Wettening".
While the average episode of an eleven-minute animated television show usually has around 80–120 pages of storyboards per episode, Invader Zims storyboards were around 250–350 pages per episode. This is because Invader Zim had a very dedicated attention to detail outlining every ounce of a character's movements and method of acting, which is something Nickelodeon was very impressed by.
The episode "Zim Eats Waffles" was originally supposed to be one long shot, panning between Dib's reaction and his computer screen. This was because the animators wanted to try to have the longest single shot in animation history.
However, this idea was scrapped, due to it limiting the episode's storytelling capabilities and it being too difficult to animate. Despite this decision, the majority of "Zim Eats Waffles" still ended up being one continual scene.