Invader Zim

ZIM wishes to take over the world, whilst GIR merely enjoys holding stuffed pigs.
ZIM wishes to take over the world, whilst GIR merely enjoys holding stuffed pigs.

Invader Zim was an 2001 animated television series created by comic book writer/artist Jhonen Vasquez and aired on Nickelodeon. Its sophisticated, anime-influenced animation, quirky humour, and a dark, cynical style combined to give it a small but devoted cult following, particularly among relatively older viewers outside of the normal Nickelodeon viewer base. Disappointed that its relatively poor ratings did not justify high production costs, Nickelodeon initially cancelled the show. Production was reinstated after intense pressure from fans, and then cancelled, resumed and cancelled once more. In all, one and a half seasons of Invader Zim were made (the second being incomplete). It was first transmitted in March 2001. It currently airs only on Nickelodeon's digital cable-only channel, Nicktoons TV. Invader Zim DVD compilations have been released by Media Blasters after much request by fans.

: Plot or ending details follow.

Zim is a member of the mighty Irken race, a species of aliens whose social hierarchy is based on height. The Irken head of state is The Almighty Tallest (during the course of the show leadership of the Irken state is shared by two beings, The Almighty Tallest, who are exactly the same height). Zim was banished to the planet Foodcourtia to fry things for the remainder of his life for destroying a sizeable portion of an Irken city with a giant robot. The robot was part of Operation Impending Doom I, a major galactic conquest venture by the Irkens. Zim was overeager and activated his robot before leaving his home planet.

Upon hearing of Operation Impending Doom II, Zim "quits" being banished and races to the Great Assigning where Irken Elite soldiers are chosen to become Invaders whose mission it is to blend in with the indigenous life forms of their assigned planet and collect intelligence. Zim pleads with the Tallest to assign him a planet, and in a desperate act to get ZIM out of their hair (used figuratively—Irkens have no visible hair), assign him to a Mystery Planet (or alternatively a random point in space), which turns out to be Earth.

The show features the exploits of Zim trying to conquer the Earth while his arch-nemesis Dib tries to stop him.

Even though this show had a large cult following, it was cancelled in 2003 for similar reasons to the cancellation of The Angry Beavers in 2000, controversy.

Contents

Characters and notable groups

Zim

A short, green alien from the planet Irk. He is trying to conquer the Earth, and is generally unsuccesful. He has a penchant for being over-dramatic, and uses ridiculously excessive and elaborate plans to conquer the planet when he obviously has the resources to do so much more efficiently. ZIM's usual disguise consists of some contact lenses and a wig, leaving his green skin clearly visible. He's been known to wear other costumes as well, including an old man disguise and a bear suit. He also owns a high-tech back pack which contains his life support systems and brain. Should it be removed he would die in about half an hour. An episode was meant to be made showing this, and would have been the last episode aired, but Nickelodeon didn't allow this, just in case they wanted to bring the series back.

GIR

A psychotic, stupid robot slave belonging to Zim. He is easily influenced and impossible to fully control. He is a modified SIR (Standard Information Retrieval) unit, although not even he is aware of what the "G" in GIR stands for. Occasionally he reverts to behaviour expected of a normal SIR unit (during which time his eyes change color to red), but this is normally short-lived. He is incapable of focusing his attention on important things for long periods of time and often speaks with no relevant coherent thought in mind. He is often the reason Zim fails in his attempts. His normal disguise is a green dog suit. He is infatuated with Earth culture and is a very popular character.

GIR is essentially a hedonist, whose main interests in life are sleeping, dancing, watching TV (in particular, the Angry Monkey show) and eating. He cooks on occasion (goodies like mashed potatoes, or waffles with soap), but usually only for himself as Zim finds human food to be disgusting and will probably not eat it. He appears to eat for the sheer pleasure of doing so as he is a robot and likely does not need food. GIR gets along well with others and his best friend is a pig who is seen on occasion visiting GIR at Zim's house.

In several episodes, you will find GIR singing his "doom song". This is merely a song in which he repeats the word doom over and over again, in various tunes. Zim seems really to hate it when GIR does this, yet it is quite an enjoyable part of the show.

Dib

A member of ZIM's class at the school Zim attends to maintain his cover. Obsessed with the paranormal and supernatural since an early age, Dib is often criticized by his classmates for being crazy or mentally unstable for his outlandish theories. He is the only person capable of seeing through Zim's disguise and makes it clear since his introduction that he will live to stop Zim at every turn.

Gaz

Dib's creepy, antisocial sister. She has a penchant for video games, pizza, and striking terror into the hearts of her enemies. She knows ZIM is an alien, but doesn't care about his trying to take over the world because "...he's so bad at it."

Professor Membrane

World's smartest man, inventor of Super-Toast, and father of Dib and Gaz. He does not believe in aliens or "parascience", and considers his son to be insane, but loves him anyway. He possesses incredible technology and has his own TV show, Probing the Membrane of Science. He hates Santa Claus, and apparently provides the whole planet with electricity, from his base.

Ms. Bitters

Teacher of Dib and ZIM's class. Devoid of any compassionate emotion, she is a tall, slender aged woman of unknown origin. She displays dark powers, such as the ability to materialize from the shadows. Also seen in Vasquez's earlier Squee! as Tod's teacher. She also seems to transform from a snake-like body, to a normal one, on many occasions.

Old Kid

A minor character introduced in episode 1 and rarely seen again. He is a child with the head of a 60-something year old man. Voiced by series creator Jhonen Vasquez under the name "Mr. Scolex," as was Zim's computer.

Angry Monkey

Another minor character who is shown thoughout the series, mostly as the focus of the Angry Monkey TV show, but shown in person during a few episodes, the longest stint in one episode where he was locked in a cage with Dib and went on to beat him senseless for one year. Nothing else is known about the Angry Monkey.

The Swollen Eyeball

A group of conspiracy theorists who have an astonishingly high burden of proof, at least as far as grade-school alien invaders are concerned. Dib is, of course, a member (albeit a junior one). Dib spends a fair amount of his time trying to convince the membership of the threat posed by Zim. Dib, for the majority of the series, communicates with them via video-conferencing, where their identities are hidden by poor lighting. Instead, they appear as solid-black figures with somewhat-thick white outlines and solid-red oval discs for eyes. The backgrounds are always dull-blue. No masking is done for their voices, and their mouths are never seen. Motion is limited to simple actions like shrugs. (Possible anonymity protocols?)

The Almighty Tallest

Leaders of the Irken Empire, currently held by two individuals, Red and Purple. They are little more than "figureheads" introduced to give the Irken populace something to identify with in the imperium. They travel around in the Massive, the largest and most powerful ship in the Irken Armada. Its armor is so well-developed that it has survived plunging through the outer layer of a star, repeated meteor impacts and multiple laser strikes without compromising its critical systems. The Tallest stand in a central dais located in the bow of the ship, surrounded by crew operating at computer terminals (though their systems also have a solid voice interface), with a large panoramic glass screen spanning a good portion of the wall in front of the dias. The only armament ever displayed was a wide laser pulse that fired out of the bow. The side pods contain food and snacks, with the power core located in the central pod. It is capable of teleporting objects, and there is no visible propulsion system of any sort.

Tak

The only other military-caste Irken to have visited Earth. Tak's examination on the planet Devastis that would grant her the coveted rank and title of Invader was postponed. Zim, by using the energy cannon of a Maim Bot (a giant assault mech) on a stubborn snack-dispenser, overloaded the power grid for half of the planet, trapping Tak behind an automated door that refused to open.

As her examination venue was one of the areas still receiving power, the tests continued unabated. The Control Brain that handled testing could only find an open slot for Tak for 70 years later, owing to the massive backlog the blackout caused. She was later transferred to a janitorial squad on the planet Dirt. She possesses a customized Irken personal cruiser, a customized SIR unit, and a mad plan to accelerate her acquisition of the Invader title involving Earth.

She has purple eyes and a cape of sorts. Her human disguise is a holographic projection upon herself.In this state she has blue hair, earings and a beauty spot. Note that even in her disguise she still has only two fingers and a thumb.

The Irken Empire

A large interstellar empire that apparently spends its time subjugating lesser races. Height determines rank in their social hierarchy. The empire is run from their home planet of Irk, and they have a policy of centralizing all major departments on conquered (or possibly uninhabited) planets. For example, planet Devastis is marked as the prime venue for elite training. Another recently conqured planet was decided to be flattened and reformed into a parking structure.

The leaders are leaders in name mostly. The emotionless Control Brains (sentient supercomputers that are the combined intellect, wisdom and consciousness of all Irken ancestors), are the actual movers and shakers of their nation.

Invader Skoodge

Invader Skoodge, a small Irken invader sent to conquer Blorch, home of the slaughtering rat people, was to be a very big influence on seasons two and three (if it wasn't cancelled). Skoodge was to be hiding from the Tallest in Zim's basement and was later to be in many future episodes such as "Day of Da Spookies".

Evil Dog

A small, chihuahua-like dog with stitches and a strange right eyeball, somehow appears in every episode created. Everybody, especially ZIM, seems to greatly fear this dog and shriek in horror when it is spotted.

The Dog would seem to be a indirect reference to Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, as Johnny remarks that he encountered a Chihuahua and had a similar reaction to it as Zim.

Mini Moose

A tiny, rounded moose figure, present as Zim's second helper (apart from Gir) in one episode only. Zim explains that Mini Moose is his sidekick, and that he's always been there.

References and "inside jokes"

Fans of Vasquez's pre-Zim comic books will instantly identify Zim as "his" work; the show is suffused with the same highly-developed visual style and unique sense of humor that are showcased in series like Squee! and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. Furthermore, some characters—such as schoolteacher Miss Bitters—are direct adaptations of similar characters seen in those two series, and even some of Vasquez's lesser known characters (like Filler Bunny) have cameo appearances. Also appearing in cameos are Vasquez himself and many members of the show's cast/crew (e.g. director/producer Steve Ressel).

Recurring gags include frequent references to meat (of various types), pigs, squirrels, moose, and doom. The show also makes occasional references to classic works of horror or science fiction, ranging from Dawn of the Dead to Fantastic Voyage.

Other notes

Due to September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, several episodes were edited to remove material which, at the time, might have been considered in poor taste. Those episodes include "Walk For Your Lives", "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars", "The Girl Who Cried Gnome" and the majority of season 2.


Episodes

First Season

  • The Nightmare Begins
  • Parent Teacher Night / Walk of Doom
  • Bestest Friend / NanoZim
  • Germs / Dark Harvest
  • Attack of the Saucer Morons / The Wettening
  • Career Day / Battle-Dib
  • A Room With a Moose / Hamstergeddon
  • Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain / Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy
  • Planet Jackers / Rise of the Zitboy
  • Plague of Babies / Bloaty's Pizza Hog
  • Bolognius Maximus / Game Slave 2
  • Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom
  • Mysterious Mysteries / Future Dib
  • Door to Door / FBI Warning of Doom
  • Battle of the Planets
  • Abducted / The Sad, Sad Tale of Chickenfoot
  • Megadoomer / Lice
  • Tak: The Hideous New Girl
  • Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom / GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff
  • HOBO 13 / Walk for Your Lives

Note: "Mysterious Mysteries / Future Dib" to "HOBO 13 / Walk For Your Lives" were produced as part of season 1, therefore, they are listed as part of season 1, not 2. In Season 2, the animation style is slightly different than season 1.

Second season

  • Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars
  • Mortos Der Soulstealer / Zim Eats Waffles
  • The Frycook What Came from All that Space
  • Girl Who Cried Gnome / Vindicated
  • Voting of the Doomed / Dibship Rising
  • Gaz, Taster of Pork
  • The Most Horrible X-mas Ever

Unfinished episodes

  • Roboparents Gone Wild
  • Simon Sez Doom
  • Invader Poonchy
  • Nubs of Doom
  • Top of the Line
  • Return of Keef
  • GIR's Big Day
  • Mopiness of Doom
  • Those!
  • The Trial
  • Day of Da Spookies
  • Ten Minutes to Doom
  • It Feeds on Noodles
  • Pants!
  • Squishy: Hugger of Worlds

Four more episode outlines exist, but in such an unadvanced state that the titles were never decided on by the time the series was cancelled. These include a two-part finale in which Dib was to fight the Irken Armarda by going to the aid of the planet Meekrob (assigned to Invader Tenn).

There were also plans for a TV movie special, Invader Dib, which would carry on from the finale.

DVD collection

In May 2004 Nickelodeon and Media Blasters finally released the first volume of an official Invader Zim DVD collection. Titled "Volume 1: Doom Doom Doom", the two disc set includes nine half-hour episodes (most of which are comprised of 2 quarter-hour sub-episodes):

  • 1. The Nightmare Begins
  • 2A. Bestest Friend; 2B. NanoZim
  • 3A. Parent Teacher Night; 3B. Walk of Doom
  • 4A. Germs; 4B. Dark Harvest
  • 5A. Attack of the Saucer Morons; 5B. The Wettening
  • 6A. Career Day; 6B. Battle-Dib
  • 7A. Planet Jackers; 7B. Rise of the Zitboy
  • 8A. Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain; 8B. Bad, bad Rubber Piggy
  • 9A. A Room with a Moose; 9B. Hamstergeddon

Note on episode numbers/order: the information above was obtained from the DVD itself and does not necessarily reflect the original order of airing. If you can reconcile or positively identify discrepencies, consider merging the DVD episode list with the full episode listing above.

The DVD collection includes numerous "extras" such as the Zim pilot episode and alternate audio tracks with commentary by series creater Vasquez and various cast/crew.

Within weeks of its initial availability, Invader Zim Volume 1 became one of the top 100 currently selling items on popular online retailer Amazon.com, giving fans hope that Volume 2 will be released with minimal delay.

Attempts to put Zim back in production

If the DVDs sell well enough, Zim very well could be put back into production. However, key staff members such as Steve Ressel and Jhonen Vasquez have stated that they no longer wish to work on the show.

An attempt to recreate Zim is being done by fans at the IZFAS, or the Invader ZIM Fan Animated Series.

External links


This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia article. Browse Wikipedia for more information.