Line #726 WesternAnimation/InvaderZim


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5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/invader_zim_dvd.png]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:INVASION!]]
7	->'''Almighty Tallest Red:''' The universe will be ours for the taking! It's only a matter of time before ''all'' the races of the universe serve... the Irken Empire!\
8	'''Almighty Tallest Purple:''' I'll have them serve me the curly fries.
9	-->-- "[[Recap/InvaderZimS1E1TheNightmareBegins The Nightmare Begins]]"
10
11	''Invader Zim'' is a {{science fiction}} {{black comedy}} AnimatedSeries created by Creator/JhonenVasquez for Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}. This [[Franchise/{{Nicktoons}} Nicktoon]] premiered alongside ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' on March 30, 2001 and is considered one of the bigger [[NetworkRedHeadedStepchild oddballs]] within the channel's cartoon lineup. But considering that Jhonen's previous work before this was an underground comic called ''ComicBook/JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac'', that should come as no surprise.
12
13	Set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, this dark, {{Cyberpunk}}ish show starred the titular Zim (Creator/RichardStevenHorvitz), an alien lifeform who is part of a race called the Irken, which wholly dedicates itself to invading and conquering other planets for reasons both grand and mundane. On assignment day, he's given the most special and important mission of all by the [[LargeAndInCharge Almighty Tallest]]: to take over the planet Earth. And by special and important mission, we mean he was [[ReassignedToAntarctica shipped off here because he screwed up on his last invasion attempt]]. They just want to get rid of him, but Zim doesn't know this, [[SmallNameBigEgo nor is he likely to ever realize this]]. In fact, the Irkens aren't even sure [[InsignificantLittleBluePlanet there's a planet here]]; they just want Zim gone ''that badly'', given that he [[LethalKlutz destroys all that he touches.]] He is ineptly aided in this "mission" by a defective robot assistant named GIR (Rosearik Rikki Simons), poorly disguised as a dog.
14
15	Upon reaching Earth to begin his "alien invasion", Zim immediately attracts the attention of elementary school student Dib (Andy Berman), a self-styled paranormal investigator who has just been itching to expose something strange and weird, and finally prove to everyone around him that he isn't insane. And Zim seems just the alien to expose...
16
17	Early episodes followed a basic format -- Zim would attempt to get rid of Dib and conquer the world, while Dib would attempt to expose Zim, only for both to discover that FailureIsTheOnlyOption. Later episodes would start employing {{Snapback}} to tackle a myriad of bizarre plots, such as the characters turning into bologna, in addition to developing a bit of a StoryArc over time as well. Ultimately, the efforts of Vasquez and head writer Frank Conniff (of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' fame) developed into an idiosyncratic, [[WorldOfHam hammy]], and [[SatireParodyPastiche satirical]] style that highlighted the {{crapsack\|World}}-nature of the show's world even more.
18
19	The show's distinctive dark humor attracted a large number of people [[PeripheryDemographic outside the targeted age range]]: namely high school and college students. The show was also host to a very unique art style, adapting Vasquez's usual look for animation and utilizing a vast color palette: colorist Rikki Simons joked that all the different shades and tones had them going into "fourth-ary" colors, which, mixed with the regular use of CGI animation that was incorporated in ways that other shows like ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' were jealous of, led to the series constantly ''struggling'' against its budget for almost every episode.
20
21	Unfortunately, the show was left as quickly as it came. While the show was quite popular, it was mainly popular ''outside'' of Nickelodeon's core demographic of kids 6-to-11, meaning its ratings did not have far to slip before Nickelodeon deemed the show's budgetary issues no longer worth the hassle: [[CommonKnowledge despite popular belief]], while Nick did have their issues [[ExecutiveMeddling regarding the show's content]], these were absolutely minor in comparison to the actual logistics of the production. Naturally, petitions immediately rose up in attempts to save the show from cancellation, and with this time period having ChannelHop be quite common, many of these urged for Nickelodeon to sell the show to another network. This never happened, much to the dismay of fans, but outcry about the sudden cancellation did accomplish one thing -- Nickelodeon would give Creator/MediaBlasters the rights to sell [=DVDs=] of the show, full of special features such as cast and crew commentary, as well as ''several'' unreleased episodes that wouldn't see American television airings until 2006. One limited edition boxset even included the series' soundtrack and voice recordings for seven unfinished episodes.[[note]]When we say the show was suddenly cancelled, we mean ''suddenly cancelled''. The crew was in the middle of producing a second season of 20 half-hours when the plug was pulled, leaving several episodes in various states of production. Only 7 half-hours were completed.[[/note]] These Media Blasters [=DVDs=] have since gone out of print, with Amazon.com now having their own "manufactured-on-demand" VanillaEdition collections of the show. Nickelodeon has also released a "best of" disc called ''Operation Doom''. [[NoExportForYou All of these home media releases were North America only.]]
22
23	As an interesting aside, the sudden and unexpected unemployment caused by the show's cancellation convinced the show's [[Creator/BryanKonietzko art director]] to try pitching his own cartoon to Nickelodeon executives, teaming up with [[Creator/MichaelDanteDimartino an old college friend]] who was over at Creator/{{Fox}} working on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. And from the ashes of ''Invader Zim'' would emerge the critically-acclaimed ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' franchise.
24
25	In February 2015, Creator/OniPress announced an ''Invader Zim'' [[ComicBook/InvaderZimOni comic book revival]] in collaboration with Nickelodeon, with the first issue of the ongoing monthly series being released on July 8, 2015. The comic is overseen by Jhonen Vasquez himself, with him also writing a handful of issues. Many other issues have been done by Eric Trueheart, a veteran writer of the series. Other series veterans, such as artist Aaron Alexovich and colorist Rikki Simons, would lend their talents to the comic during its early run as well. The monthly series ended with its 50th issue in March 2020, followed by the start of a new quarterly series (simply called ''Invader Zim Quarterly'') later that year, which ended after one cycle in March 2021, which the comic series formally concluding with a special one-shot issue in August.
26
27	In April 2017, Nickelodeon announced that ''Zim'' would return to animation as a 71-minute television movie entitled ''[[WesternAnimation/InvaderZimEnterTheFlorpus Enter the Florpus]]''. Vasquez returned as executive producer and director, with composer Kevin Manthei and most of the voice cast also reprising their roles. The film completed production in January 2019 and was released on Creator/{{Netflix}} on August 16, 2019.
28
29	The first season is available to view for free in some countries on Creator/{{YTV}}'s [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6Zjy9-c3tYMknsIe3xaKbU35P7P2xsgA YouTube channel here.]]
30	----
31	!!''Invader Zim'' provides examples of:
32	[[AC:General examples]]
33	[[index]]
34	* InvaderZim/TropesAToC
35	* InvaderZim/TropesDToF
36	* InvaderZim/TropesGToM
37	* InvaderZim/TropesNToS
38	* InvaderZim/TropesTToZ
39	[[/index]]
40	[[AC:Tropes with their own pages]]
41	[[index]]
42	* [[ShoutOut/InvaderZim Shout-Out]]
43	[[/index]]
44	----
45	-->''Imma sing the Doom Song now! DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOM, DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOM!'' ♪

Context WesternAnimation / InvaderZim