Invader Zim
| Invader Zim | |
|---|---|
| Image:Invaderzim-logo.gif The Invader ZIM logo. |
|
| Format | Animated Comedy / Comic science fiction |
| Created by | |
| Starring | Richard Steven Horvitz Andy Berman Rosearik Rikki Simons Melissa Fahn |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 27 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Nickelodeon |
| Original run | First Season-March 30, 2001 – December 10, 2002 Second Season-June 10, 2006 - August 19, 2006 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
| Common rating | |
|---|---|
| Australia | G |
| Canada | C8 |
| New Zealand | G |
| United States | TV-Y7 FV |
Invader Zim is an American animated television series created by comic book
writer/artist
Plot
Zim is a member of the mighty Irken race, a species of alien life forms whose social hierarchy is based on height. The Irken leaders are the Almighty Tallest (during the course of the show, leadership of the Irken Empire is shared by two Tallest, Purple and Red, who are exactly the same height). Zim, who is both very short and very stupid, was banished to the planet Foodcourtia for blowing up the other invaders[3] during Operation Impending Doom I.[4]
Upon hearing of Operation Impending Doom II, Zim escapes from Foodcourtia (or, as he puts it, "quits," as he seems to have thought of it more as a mission than an exile) and arrives at the Great Assigning where Irken soldiers are chosen to become Invaders, special soldiers 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 as far away as possible, they assign him to a "Mystery Planet" on the outskirts of their known universe, which turns out to be Earth.
The show features Zim trying to conquer the Earth while his human arch-nemesis Dib tries to stop him. Technically, the show takes place in a world of its own, with a present-day Earth more technologically advanced than ours (though most of its inhabitants seem to be less intelligent). Because the alternate universe aspect was never emphasized, the result is that the series appears to be set at some point in the near future. [citation needed]
Main characters
Zim is a short, green, almost stereotypical looking alien from the planet Irk. He is also a narcissistic megalomaniac who several times per show engages in histrionic outbursts proclaiming either his normality (for a human that is, while in his human disguise) or his innate personal and Irken superiority. He is trying to conquer the Earth, and is generally unsuccessful. Zim wears a disguise when in public consisting of contact lenses and a wig, claiming that his green skin and noticeable lack of ears are part of a "skin condition". He is aided in his mission by a robot named GIR.
GIR or G.I.R. is a dysfunctional version of the Irken S.I.R. (Standard-issue Information Retrieval) units given to Irken invaders, but the meaning of the "G" is unspecified, in fact not even GIR knows what the "G" stands for. GIR has a seemingly manic personality; he jumps in and out of useful operation and this is noticeable by the color of the lights on his eyes and torso that glow red when he is obeying Zim. The rest of the time they glow a light blue color. He rarely helps, but sometimes assists Zim unintentionally by doing destructive things to Dib. GIR wears a green dog suit as his public disguise. This dog suit has a very prominent and oversized zipper in the front, adding to the implausibility of the disguise.
Dib is Zim's main rival, a member of Zim's class at the "Skool" they both attend. Dib is obsessed with the paranormal and supernatural and is often criticized by his classmates for being "crazy" or mentally unstable due to his outlandish theories. He apparently is the only human to recognize and care that Zim is an alien and makes it clear that he will live to stop Zim at every turn. Seemingly everyone he comes into contact with claims Dib has an unusually large head, even though all the children in the show are drawn with large heads and Dib's is no more abnormally large than any of theirs. He features an undershirt of the same design as Squee's shirt from Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.
Gaz is Dib's little sister who also plays a prominent role in the show, but rarely takes an active part in stopping Zim's schemes. She knows and admits that Zim is an alien, but doesn't care because she thinks he's too stupid to take over the world, and would much rather color pig drawings or play video games. Although she has aided Dib occasionally, she has only done this to fulfill her own agenda. Gaz displays mostly indifference, annoyance with or contempt for her brother, and will threaten him with pain in order to make him comply with her wishes. She has an obsession with pizza and has stated that she's never missed the release of a new pizza at Bloaty's Pizza Hog.
Music
The music for Invader Zim was composed by Kevin Manthei and is in a digital techno style. The title music was composed by Mark Tortoroci, but Manthei arranged it. Manthei, however, did the music for the end credits and all the music for the actual episodes.
In September 2002, 7 months after the cancellation of the series, Anime Stuff-R, an internet radio website, broadcast the Zim-phony, a 5 hour broadcast of all the music from the 26 episodes of Invader Zim composed by Kevin Manthei. This session, presented by DJ Richard Rae is the most popular that Anime Stuff-R has broadcast. Also included in this session was an interview with Kevin Manthei by Richard Rae in August 2002, where Kevin talked mostly about how the music of Invader Zim was composed and inserted in the show.
Because of the popularity of the broadcast, Anime Stuff-R made 100 MP3 CDs with the entire broadcast. They made only 100 because of copyright and financial reasons.
Episodes
Two seasons of Invader Zim aired. In Season 2, the animation style is slightly different from Season 1.[citation needed] The majority of the completed Season 2 episodes were never aired on Nickelodeon, although they were all eventually shown as "new episodes" on the Nicktoons Network in 2006. There were also over 10 partially finished second season episodes and a few which were still in the outline stage when the show was canceled. These unfinished episodes include a two-part finale in which Dib was to fight the Irken Armada by going to the aid of the planet Meekrob.
There were also plans for a TV movie special, "Invader Dib", which would have possibly carried on from the finale.[5]
DVD collection and merchandise
In May 2004, Nickelodeon and Media Blasters released the first volume of an official Invader Zim DVD collection. Within weeks of its initial availability it became one of the top 100 currently selling items on popular online retailer Amazon.com[citation needed]. By late 2004, the other 2 volumes had been released. A boxed set in the shape of Zim's house has also been released which includes an extras disc with interviews and a sample soundtrack. Originally this set included a "GIR" toy but Media Blasters silently stopped including it, without notifying distributors that the package had been altered. The three DVD volumes were re-released in late 2006 as a low-priced box set.
Two series of Invader Zim figures have been produced, including Zim, GIR, Dib, Ms. Bitters, and Almighty Tallest Purple in the first series and Human Disguise Zim, Doggie Disguise GIR, Gaz, Almighty Tallest Red, and the Robo-Parents in the second. A third series was planned with Santa Zim, Elf GIR, Professor Membrane, Tak, and Nightmare Bitters, but the manufacturer, Palisades Toys, ceased operations in early 2006.[6] A multitude of other toys were produced such as the Voot Cruiser and a 12 inch "Mega GIR" with a removable dog disguise. Also, many non-licensed products exist such as iron on transfers, stickers, and keychains.
As of November 25, 2006 both seasons of Invader Zim are available for download on XBOX Live marketplace.[7] In addition, the majority of the show's episodes are available for download on iTunes.[8]
Video Games
There were 2 video games created with Invader Zim as an included character: Nicktoons: Freeze Frame Frenzy and Nickelodeon Party Blast. Zim's spaceship and house were seen briefly in Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island and Gir will be a playable character in Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots.
See also
- List of Invader Zim episodes
- List of planets in Invader Zim
- List of vehicles in Invader Zim
- Invader Zim merchandise
Jhonen Vasquez
References
- ^ Nickelodeon Cans INVADER ZIM (HTML) (18 January, 2002). Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
- ^ Adam Tierney (1 September, 2004). An Interview with Jhonen Vasquez and Rikki Simons (page 2) (HTML). Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
- ^ Zim: "I blew up more than any other Invader" Almighty Tallest Red "You blew up all the other Invaders!" ("The Frycook What Came from All That Space")
- ^ Control Brain: (Sentencing Zim) "No longer an invader, you will be banished to the Irken snacking planet of Foodcourtia" ("The Frycook What Came from All That Space")
- ^ Zim guide with air dates Buzzyworld
- ^ Changes at Palisades Toy (HTML) (1 February, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
- ^ Microsoft (6 November, 2006). Invader ZIM to be on the XBOX Live marketplace. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
- ^ Invader ZIM comes to iTunes (HTML) (20 June, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
External links
- Invader ZIM at the Internet Movie Database
- Invader ZIM at TV.com
- Invader ZIM at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- YTV Invader Zim page
- Invader Zim Wiki
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| Characters | Zim • GIR • Dib • Gaz • Almighty Tallest • Professor Membrane • Tak • Ms. Bitters • Supporting characters |
| Cast & Crew | |
| Other | Planets • Irkens • Vehicles & Weapons • The Resisty • SIR units • Merchandise • List of Invader Zim episodes |
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