Rosearik Rikki Simons

Premise

The series centers on Zim (voiced by Billy West in the pilot; Richard Steven Horvitz in the series) a member of the extraterrestrial Irken species and the Irken Empire from the planet Irk. The empire's goal is universal conquest, and its social hierarchy is based solely on physical height. An overzealous, absent-minded Zim nearly destroyed Irk and the Irkens during the empire's first galaxy-conquering plan, Operation Impending Doom I, prior to the beginning of the series. As punishment he was exiled to food court planet Foodcourtia, but unilaterally "quit being banished" after receiving word of Operation Impending Doom II.

Zim attends the Great Assigning on the convention center planet Conventia, where he meets Almighty Tallests Red (Wally Wingert) and Purple (Kevin McDonald). 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. In an attempt to get rid of Zim, the Tallest assign him to a presumably non-existent "mystery planet" on the outskirts of the known universe. He is issued GIR (Rosearik Rikki Simons), an ineffective, malfunctioning, and erratic Standard Issue Information Retrieval (SIR) 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 dystopian, futuristic, and satirical version of Earth with a mindless populace. A delighted Zim quickly goes to work and sets up his base in a city neighborhood; the Tallest are dismayed by his success. The short-statured Zim disguises himself as a human child with a green complexion (which he claims is caused by a "skin condition"), conducting espionage by attending a local school (spelled "Skool") while planning at home to conquer and enslave the world. Opposing Zim is his classmate Dib Membrane (Andy Berman), a paranoid paranormal investigator who is obsessed with the paranormal and supernatural and the only human (besides his sister) 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, Gazelene "Gaz" Membrane (Melissa Fahn); Zim and Dib's demonic teacher, Ms. Bitters (Lucille Bliss); and Dib and Gaz's caring, but neglectful scientist father, Professor Membrane (Rodger Bumpass). Later in the series, other alien characters begin to appear, including Tak (Olivia d'Abo), a fellow Irken seeking revenge against Zim; Lard Nar (Fred Tatasciore), the leader of a resistance group called The Resisty who wants to overthrow the Irken Empire; and Sizz-Lorr (Jim Wise), Zim's former employer from Foodcourtia who attempts to recapture him.

Production

Conception and early development

Prior to the creation of Invader Zim, Nickelodeon sought a series to suit its 11- to 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 no animation experience at the time, and asked him to pitch an animated series to Nickelodeon. Vasquez accepted the offer.

Vasquez knew from the start that his previous works were 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 it, believing it would not fit his writing style. 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 from an incredibly advanced race, with access to such powerful technology that he could easily take over or destroy the Earth single-handedly, but instead, he decides to stay in school all day, never 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 post-production and sound services for most episodes of the series, while Encore and Hollywood Digital provided 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 Zim's 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. During early development, Invader Zim director Steve Ressel consulted the Futurama crew to learn how to seamlessly integrate 2D and CGI animation. 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".

Unlike standard eleven-minute animated series, which typically average 80–120 storyboard pages per episode, Invader Zim utilized 250–350 pages to document precise character movement and performance—a level of detail that garnered significant praise from Nickelodeon.

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 attempt the longest single shot in animation history. However, this idea was scrapped due to its limiting the episode's storytelling and its difficulty to animate. Despite this decision, the majority of "Zim Eats Waffles" still ended up as a single continuous scene.

Voice acting

When casting voice actors for Invader Zim, Vasquez did not want actors who were just capable of doing zany voices because it sounded less natural to him. He made a point to cast people with speaking voices that were naturally distinct and out of the ordinary so that the cast did not have to do unnatural voices, but could instead just speak naturally.

Mark Hamill was originally hired to do the voice of Zim for the pilot episode, but was replaced before the pilot was shown to Nickelodeon executives because Vasquez felt his voice did not feel right for the character. Hamill was replaced by voice acting professional Billy West, who remained the voice of Zim for the pilot. After the show was picked up for a full series, Vasquez decided to replace West with Richard Steven Horvitz (who was already voicing the character of Daggett on fellow Nickelodeon series, The Angry Beavers), saying that West was "too well known" and that he wanted all of the voices for the main characters to be unique and not voices people had heard before. Also, because Futurama was still on the air at the time, Vasquez did not want the same voice actor to be the lead in two concurrent sci-fi comedies.

Vasquez wanted someone with no experience in voice acting to play the part of GIR, as a reflection of how broken and messed up GIR really is. Vasquez wanted someone who sounded unprofessional, but all of the actors who auditioned for GIR were "good actors" who just did a "stock crazy robot voice", which he found dissatisfying. Vasquez then asked his friend, Rosearik Rikki Simons, who was working with him on his comic called I Feel Sick at the time, to try to audition for GIR, saying he "couldn't screw it up anymore than anyone else". Simons did a few different voices for his audition for GIR, including one where he was trying to imitate his mother-in-law, but decided it was too "shrieky". He then remembered when he used to play with hand puppets with his father as a kid, and tried to do one of those voices. Simons was also a colorist on Invader Zim, and in November 1998, the same month he auditioned for GIR, he also helped color the pilot episode. Vasquez said he gave Simons the part of GIR because he was "bad at it" and that fit the character. When voicing GIR, Simons' voice was edited to make it sound higher-pitched and metallic. While Simons eventually learned to perform the voice without the high-pitched editing, the metallic quality still had to be added. Unedited versions of Simons' voice-overs can be heard in voice recordings for the unfinished episodes.

Music

Vasquez asked his friend Mark Tortorici to come up with the theme music for Invader Zim. Vasquez said all he really wanted for the theme music was military music representing Zim, mixed with futuristic, electric orchestral music. Once the direction for the music was settled, Tortorici produced the theme music on an Alesis QS8 very quickly. It did not go through many changes, but they did reorchestrate it for the TV series and stuck with it from that point on.

Vasquez's team selected Michael Tavera, who was known for composing the music for The Land Before Time and An American Tail, to compose the music for the pilot episode of Invader Zim. Vasquez said he asked for several of Tavera's tracks to be discarded, and ultimately, the team had fewer than half the tracks they had planned to submit. According to Vasquez, he and Tavera were not "a great fit" for one another creatively. Vasquez described the pilot music as having a "more 'children's television' sound," with a "much more traditional and not as surprising" theme as he wanted, but added that the music "worked for the pilot." Tavera's cover version of Tortorici's theme music did not appear in the pilot as there was no opening credits sequence. Vasquez said that members of the Invader Zim crew laughed at Tavera's version of the theme because it was "cheesy," adding that the reaction was not mean-spirited and that Tavera had received little information about the series before submitting the music.

Tavera did not become a part of the regular Invader Zim crew, and was replaced with Kevin Manthei, who was known for composing additional music for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scream 2, Scary Movie 2, and Resident Evil,, to compose the series' music. Manthei's music for the series is industrial and techno in nature. According to Jhonen Vasquez, Manthei's music "wasn't just an addition to the show, it was crucial for the show to be what it was." Vasquez went on to say that "Without his intense sounds lending a sense of urgency and seriousness to the ridiculous proceedings within Zim, I could never have given the good little children of the Earth as many nightmares as I did."

In 2002, the anime Internet radio station Anime Stuff R produced a radio broadcast special titled "The Kevin Manthei Invader Zim-phony Special", which featured a majority of the music Kevin Manthei composed for Invader Zim. The broadcast was extremely popular, so Anime Stuff R (temporarily renamed "Anime Stuff Z" for the special) decided to release a limited-run CD of the broadcast, with 100 copies made.

Challenges and censorship

Invader Zim would frequently come into conflict with network censorship. In The Medium-Sized Book of Zim Scripts Vol. 1, series writer Eric Trueheart would characterize the relationship between the Zim staff and the executives at Nickelodeon as "a little dysfunctional", and that "the executive assigned by Nickelodeon to oversee our show – who was, and still is, a decent guy, by the way – probably felt like he had to keep a lid on an inexperienced show creator, and as a result clamped down harder than he should have." Trueheart also speculated that the channel's other programming also had an effect on how the executives treated the show, stating that "Nickelodeon probably looked to Rugrats as the model of what a cartoon should be ... Invader Zim was none of these things." Ultimately, "There was a just a conflict in personalities, intentions, and modus operandi ... The reality was just not a great fit, and yes, it was a problem."

In some episodes, it was originally intended for certain characters (such as Keef and Iggins) to be killed off at the end of an episode, but Nickelodeon would not allow any characters to be killed off and demanded the crew add certain details suggesting that they survived or, in some cases, rewrite the episodes so that they would not die. They complied but did so in an intentionally forced and sarcastic way to purposely convey their disagreement and reluctance toward the decision, such as the sarcastic "No animated characters were harmed in the filming of this production" end-card message at the end of the episode "Hamstergeddon", where many background characters "died" onscreen.

In the DVD commentary for the episode "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy", Jhonen Vasquez reveals that the original idea for the episode was for Zim to kill Dib off permanently, and for Dib to be replaced with a new kid named Louie. But once again, Nickelodeon would not allow any characters to be killed off permanently, so this did not happen. However, the episode's writer, Eric Trueheart, has stated that this was only meant to be taken as a joke, and that "Jhonen at no point thought he would actually kill off one of the lead characters in the series."

In "Door to Door", the virtual reality world that Zim shows people was originally going to feature a demolished city resembling New York, but Nickelodeon demanded that this be changed due to its similarities to 9/11. On reflection, Vasquez said that he prefers the new virtual reality world to the old one, since he does not like the idea of a real-life city existing in Invader Zim. The original version of this scene can be found online. Additionally, the episode "Hamstergeddon" had only aired once prior to the attacks on the World Trade Center, and would shortly thereafter be temporarily withheld from rotation as "[executives] thought the sight of falling buildings would not go over well with sensitive viewers".

Bloody GIR

"Bloody GIR" was created when Jhonen Vasquez drew GIR covered in blood and wanted to insert a scene with said drawing into an episode of Invader Zim. Illustrator Chris Graham snuck the picture into a single frame of the episode "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy", as confirmed by post-production supervisor Jason Stiff and Steve Ressel. "Bloody GIR" was reportedly scattered throughout the last fourteen episodes and can be seen the most clearly during the intro to the episode "Mortos der Soulstealer".

Jhonen Vasquez has stated that Nickelodeon did not learn of the image's inclusion until after the show's cancellation, and that when the executives learned, they were not offended, as younger viewers would not notice anyway.

Cancellation

On January 18, 2002, Nickelodeon issued a statement announcing the show's cancellation after completing 27 episodes, instead of fulfilling the original 40-episode order. On this subject, creator of the show Jhonen Vasquez said, "I could go on and on with variations of the most fantastic reasons for why the show was cancelled, but in the end, even I couldn't give you the whole and accurate truth for why the show got pulled," he wrote in a lengthy post on his website in 2010, nearly eight years after the show wrapped. "The most likely culprits are simply ratings and the sheer expense of the show, which was monstrously expensive at the time, especially when compared to more modern, flash-based savings fests."

Nearly nine years later, in 2019, Vasquez was interviewed by Syfy and said:

I never point to any one particular thing [as the reason for why Invader Zim was cancelled.] The show could've come out at any point in history and I don't think it would ever really be appropriate... I think there's always horrible things happening in the world and genuine comedy comes from horrible things. At the time, it just happened to be things like Columbine and 9/11 and then people freak out because they don't want to offend anyone's sensibilities. It's a justified response to a certain extent; there's people who have been affected and they don't want to be reminded of this awful stuff... I just think that it did not live well with Nickelodeon's image.

In an interview with Syfy in 2018, Richard Horvitz, the voice of Zim, was questioned about why the show got canceled; he responded:

There's been a lot of rumors that have abounded for years about why Invader Zim was canceled. People think it's the Bloody GIR episode, because there's a quick subliminal shot of GIR all bloodied, but that's not it at all. Nickelodeon knew about that shot and they didn't seem to mind. But what [the cancellation really was] is this plain simple fact: We had horrible ratings. There were two things that were going on in 2001. Our ratings were not doing well, our demographic at the time was not The Fairly OddParents demographic, which is what we premiered with, and we premiered to really, really good critical acclaim. But ratings-wise, the only real barometer [was the] target audience, 6- to 10-year-olds, and I think that it was a little too much for that [demographic], and the parents also might have thought it was a little graphic for them. Our ratings never really got off the ground. One other thing that people often forget, is that the show premiered in March of 2001. By September of 2001, we had the horrible downing of the Twin Towers. Given the mood of the country at the time, I don't think people wanted to see shows that were about any kind of destruction or anything that had to do with someone trying to conquer the Earth.

Broadcast history

When Invader Zim was green-lit, Nickelodeon had desired a block of "mature, action-oriented" programming for an older demographic to compete with what Cartoon Network was doing at the time. But for unknown reasons, Invader Zim was the only series green-lit as a part of this experiment, and so the block of "mature, action-oriented" shows never materialized. By the time the show was made, Nickelodeon had decided that they were no longer interested in trying to reach an older audience, which left Invader Zim hard to place in an appropriate time slot suitable for its originally intended demographic. Invader Zim ultimately ended up being sandwiched between The Fairly OddParents and Rocket Power, which did not feel like a suitable time slot for the show, according to the creator. Invader Zim was originally intended for 11–15 year olds, but due to its poor time slot placement, it ended up being viewed primarily by 6–10 year olds, many of whom were turned off by the show's dark and disturbing nature, resulting in the show receiving poor ratings and viewership.

Even though Invader Zim usually aired late at night, the show never found a time slot the creators thought was suitable for it, and it consistently suffered in ratings among 6- to 10-year-olds, Nickelodeon's core demographic.

In an interview with IGN in 2004, Jhonen Vasquez said that when it became apparent that Nickelodeon was the "place for kids" but not "kids who want their eyes ripped out", they had asked for Invader Zim to be transferred to MTV or a more "adult network" similar to what Nickelodeon had previously done with The Ren & Stimpy Show, as the series did not feel right on Nickelodeon and would have likely found greater success elsewhere. This never happened, and instead Nickelodeon buried the show with ever-changing time slots, which further hurt its ratings.

Invader Zim premiered on March 30, 2001, and contains 20 episodes in its first season. At the beginning of the series, new episodes of Invader Zim were aired on Friday nights usually at 9:00PM (ET/PT). In August 2001, Nickelodeon officially renewed the series for a second season, which was originally planned to consist of 20 episodes.

Invader Zim's Friday night time slot ceased with the episode "Door to Door", which was originally scheduled to premiere on September 14, 2001. But after the attacks of 9/11, three days prior, "Door to Door" and its paired episode "FBI Warning of Doom" ended up getting abruptly pulled from Nickelodeon's schedule and pushed back over six months to March 2002. This was partly because "Door to Door" contained a violent scene which resembled the attacks of 9/11, which now needed to be cut and re-done, but also due to the "blanket fears that anything remotely violent would be received as being in poor taste", given the atmosphere and condition of the country at the time. Invader Zim suffered creatively after 9/11, and Nickelodeon began frequently and inconveniently changing the show's time slots, with little promotion for new episodes, which led to an even further drop in ratings and viewership.

Reception and legacy

Critical reception

Screen Rant's Spencer Coriaty wrote: "Backed by some of the most cutting-edge animation at the time, and still breathtaking by today's standards, Invader Zim is like a Mystery Science Theater fan's dream come true. It seamlessly blends sci-fi, action, and comedy into one twisted and hilarious cartoon with superb voice acting and visionary direction." Kristy Punchko from Nerdist praised the series' satirical themes and how it "relished in weird, pushed boundaries, and dared to be unapologetically stupid". Punchko also offered praise for the humor in Invader Zim, saying: "Colliding the sublimely silly with the cerebral, Invader Zim played as seminal precursor to subversive sci-fi shows like Rick and Morty." Becca James, writing for The A.V. Club said, "Invader Zim was destined for a cult following. From its seemingly bizarre nature to its too-early demise, [Invader Zim] brought a darker form of entertainment to [Nickelodeon and] welcomed critical acclaim for straddling the line between child and adult entertainment [and the] constant depiction of Earth as a complete [expletive] only adds to this dingy, but delightful program."

Allegra Frank from Polygon said: [The series is laid out] in a story-focused half-hour unlike anything ever aired on Nickelodeon previously. Invader Zim had a villain at its center, years before Breaking Bad and Mad Men popularized that dramatic convention for adult audiences. As a character, Zim was mostly unlikable; the show's color palette was narrow and unfriendly, and the entire design of the series — interiors covered in grime, streets covered in garbage, on-screen televisions full of screaming ads — dared viewers to be turned off. While jokes could easily revolve around the high-pitched screams of Zim's useless robot companion, GIR, the comedy was also often derived from much darker places, like harvesting organs from living children and lice outbreaks and characters slowly turning into a sentient [bologna]. Dib wanted to kill Zim, after all; that's not usually the subject of children's TV. Sam Thielman from The Guardian said, "[Invader Zim]'s sense of humor is somehow dark without being bleak; even when the show takes its cues from horror movies it's often quite scary, but it's somehow never too much. [...] Invader Zim didn't last nearly long enough, but it did spawn a cult following almost immediately and became a password for alienated millennials and teenagers everywhere." Alex Bedder, from NYU Local, said, "Essentially the black sheep of the animated Nickelodeon family, Invader Zim never quite stuck its landing, but it became a beloved and off-kilter fan favorite. [...] There are random, twitchy characters, the word 'doom' is overused, and there are countless other illogical outbursts. But the common thread weaving all of the madness together is its original, sick, and sometimes oddly-intelligent sense of humor." In an article he wrote for Cartoon Brew, animation historian Jerry Beck said: "I always thought highly of [Invader Zim], but watching it again this weekend reminded me how good it truly was. [...] I laugh long and hard at incidents, situations and visuals on [Invader Zim], and if there is any justice it should be ranked alongside the likes of South Park and The Simpsons."

Ratings

Invader Zim garnered decent ratings for its premiere episode, with a 6.0 rating/17 share (about 1.8 million views) among kids ages 2–11. As the show went on, ratings and viewership began to decline amongst Nickelodeon's target audience of 2–11 year olds.

While Invader Zim was popular during its original run, Nickelodeon did not think the show was doing well because it was focusing only on a certain age group: 2–11-year-olds. Even though Invader Zim was praised by critics and popular with viewers ages 14–18, the ratings amongst Nickelodeon's core demographic were just not high enough for the network to justify the expenses being put into the show, as Invader Zim was the most expensive show they were producing at the time. When Nickelodeon saw that some of their other shows with half the budget of Invader Zim were getting double the desired ratings amongst the 2–11 year old demographic, canceling the show just seemed to be the logical thing to do from a business perspective.

Despite the poor ratings the show received during its original run, reruns of Invader Zim tend to receive average to above-average views and ratings. In March through July 2010, reruns of Invader Zim were aired on Nicktoons. These reruns became the second highest-rated show on the network, behind Avatar: The Last Airbender.

InvaderCON

Invader Zim has its own fan convention known as InvaderCON, run by Wasabi Anime (also known as "Green Mustard Entertainment"). The initial event was created to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of Invader Zim and took place in Atlanta, Georgia on March 26–27, 2011. (The convention's date was set exactly ten years, to the weekend, from when the show first premiered: March 30, 2001.) Special guests included cast members Richard Steven Horvitz, Melissa Fahn, Rosearik Rikki Simons, Andy Berman and writer Eric Trueheart. The convention had over a thousand in attendance and featured many Invader Zim-related panels and activities; including a panel where the voice cast read the scripts for the unfinished episodes "Mopiness of Doom" and "Day of da Spookies". One dollar of each ticket purchased for InvaderCON was donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). The choice of charity was selected by Richard Horvitz, who was one of the first guests to be booked. In the end, InvaderCON raised almost $2,000 for JDRF. InvaderCON was not endorsed, sanctioned or in any other way supported, directly or indirectly, by Viacom International, Inc. or Nickelodeon. But it was confirmed that a few representatives of Nickelodeon attended to observe the turnout and were quoted as being "overwhelmed".

InvaderCON was originally intended to be a one time event, but due to the success of the first InvaderCON and demand from fans, an encore presentation of the convention, InvaderCON II: DOOMCON, took place on July 28–29, 2012, in Los Angeles, California, featuring all of the previous year's guests (except for Andy Berman) with the addition of series creator Jhonen Vasquez, character designer Aaron Alexovich, voice of Professor Membrane Rodger Bumpass, post-production supervisor Jason Stiff, storyboard artist Ian Graham and a surprise appearance from voice of Almighty Tallest Red Wally Wingert. During this convention there was a panel where the voice cast read the script for the unfinished episode "The Trial".

According to InvaderCON's official website:

Since the first InvaderCON was on the East Coast (Atlanta) and due to travel requests on Jhonen's part, we opted to host InvaderCON II: DOOMCON in California. This was a MASSIVE undertaking on our part since our production team is based in Florida and Georgia. We made it happen, though. Over 1,000 fans from 42 different states and 7 countries showed up near Los Angeles for two days of Invader ZIM fandom goodness. The show was an expensive risk and a major stress on the Green Mustard Entertainment team – but it was worth it for us to see the fans and families that all appeared to share in the experience. Autographs, panels, breakfast, dinner, puppets, surprise guests, and more added up to a once in a lifetime weekend for the cast, crew, and attendees.

Influence

Bryan Konietzko, the co-creator of the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, was a storyboard artist and art director on Invader Zim. Konietzko has said that the character of Aang was inspired by a drawing of an adult character he had originally designed while working on Invader Zim. When Konietzko first redesigned the character as Aang for Avatar: The Last Airbender he left visible "traces of Jhonen Vasquez's idiosyncratic style in the character's poses."

Rebecca Sugar, the creator of the Cartoon Network animated series Steven Universe, is a fan of Invader Zim and has admitted to reading and writing fan fiction and drawing fan art for Invader Zim when she was a teenager. Sugar has said, "I owe a whole lot to Jhonen Vasquez. His show Invader Zim was my gateway drug to the independent comic world. [...] Someday I hope to meet [Jhonen Vasquez] and thank him for changing my life." Additionally, Sugar provided the foreword for The Art of Invader Zim, in which she further discussed the positive impact the show has had on her life and career.

Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano, the creator of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss, is a fan of Invader Zim and has gone on to say that Invader Zim had a "huge influence" on her and her work.

In 2018, Wally Wingert, the voice of Almighty Tallest Red, noted during an interview with Den of Geek that "[T]he reason other shows like Adventure Time are [able to do some pretty intense stuff] is because the trail was blazed by [Jhonen Vasquez]. When Invader Zim came out, [the intense stuff we did on the show] was the new barometer by which you could get away with something. Up until then, all the other cartoons were relatively tame, but now you're seeing way darker stuff [in cartoons] than we ever did on Zim."

In 2019, Screen Rant's Maddy Cohen observed that "[A]rguably, Invader Zim is one of the most influential animated shows to come out of [the early 2000s], with echoes of its humor and tone present in Adventure Time, Regular Show, Gravity Falls, and Steven Universe." That same year, Eric Vilas-Boas from Thrillist wrote "[Invader Zim] remained an influential cult classic, informing future cartoons like Avatar: The Last Airbender all the way up to Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty, and beyond."

Controversy

Invader Zim became a controversial series when the show was mentioned at Scott Dyleski's murder trial in 2006. Dyleski, who was 17 at the time of the trial, was convicted of murdering his neighbor, and cited the Invader Zim episode "Dark Harvest" as his motivation for committing the murder. Dyleski said that after watching "Dark Harvest", he became fascinated with collecting body parts and curious as to how the human body would function without certain organs, which inspired the murder—although the people who defended Dyleski said these comments were made in jest.

Related media

Netflix film

On November 8, 2016, Harvey Beaks and Chowder creator C. H. Greenblatt was asked by a fan on Tumblr if he would work with Jhonen Vasquez on an hypothetical Invader Zim movie, and Greenblatt responded, "Jhonen IS making an Invader Zim movie for Nick. I'm not a part of it, but I'm excited." However, Vasquez initially denied this on his Twitter, most likely because he was under contract to not say anything at the time and was forced to dismiss it as a rumor.

On April 4, 2017, over sixteen years since the series' debut and eleven years since the last unaired episode premiered in the United States, Nickelodeon officially announced that they had green-lit a 71-minute television film based on the series with three teaser trailers being released in a span of the following four days. Vasquez returned as executive producer and as the voice of Zim's computer, along with Kevin Manthei as the composer and Jenny Goldberg, who worked on the Invader Zim comic book series, as the art director for the movie. Most of the cast members from the television series reprised their roles in the movie including: Richard Steven Horvitz as Zim, Rosearik Rikki Simons as GIR, Andy Berman as Dib, Melissa Fahn as Gaz, Wally Wingert as Almighty Tallest Red, Kevin McDonald as Almighty Tallest Purple, Rodger Bumpass as Professor Membrane, Olivia d'Abo as Tak and Paul Greenberg as Poonchy.

At San Diego Comic-Con 2018, Jhonen Vasquez explained that Nickelodeon had been asking him about doing more Invader Zim for years but he had to decline their offers, either because he was busy working on something else or unable to come to an agreement with Nickelodeon on a budget for an Invader Zim revival. But being completely miserable with the other things he was working on at the time, Vasquez accepted Nickelodeon's latest offer to do more Invader Zim. Nickelodeon initially wanted a new Invader Zim television series, but Vasquez suggested a six-episode miniseries instead. He soon changed his mind to a television movie, since doing a movie would be "infinitely less stressful".

Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus had a panel at San Diego Comic-Con on July 20, 2018. During the panel, some never before seen production art such as backgrounds and turn-around charts for the movie were revealed. A trailer put together out of unedited first take animation for the movie was also shown at the panel accompanied by some original music composed for the trailer by Kevin Manthei. During the panel, Vasquez explained that he put the trailer together out of some random animated footage he had for the movie that he thought looked presentable enough to show people and that most of the shots used in the trailer were going to be sent back overseas to be re-animated. Vasquez also revealed that they had written the movie in 2015 and that at the time of the panel, they were currently in the process of getting first take animation back from their overseas animation team, Maven Animation Studios, in South Korea.

Video games

Invader Zim has yet to have a stand-alone video game release, but has been featured in several Nickelodeon-related video games.

The 2002 game Nickelodeon Party Blast includes Zim as a playable character in every version of the game. There are also multiple Invader Zim-themed stages in Nickelodeon Party Blast, including a level in which the player competes against Dib and Gaz. Although they are not playable characters, GIR can be seen in the background of several levels and Almighty Tallest Purple is shown in the background of the level where the player competes against Dib and Gaz.

In the 2004 Game Boy Advance-exclusive game Nicktoons: Freeze Frame Frenzy, the final stage of the game takes place on Zim's ship and Zim and GIR are the final boss of the game, but Zim becomes a playable character once the photo album is complete. Additionally, GIR, Dib, Gaz, Keef, Dirge, Ms. Bitters (mistakenly called "Mr. Bitters") and Bill the Paranormal Investigator (mistakenly called "Prof. Membrane") appear in the photo album as well as in the background of various levels throughout the game.

Zim's Voot Cruiser and house can be seen briefly in different worlds in the console versions of the 2006 game Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island.

In the console versions of the 2007 game Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots, the EvilToyCo Factory, Zone 3 (Part 2) and the Master Model Chamber are Irken-themed. Additionally, GIR appears in the game as a Master Model (unlockable) and becomes a playable character once he is rescued. Both Zim and GIR are unlockable and playable characters in the Nintendo DS version of Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots, although there are no Invader Zim-themed levels in this version of the game.

Both Zim and Dib are playable characters in every version of the 2008 game, SpongeBob SquarePants Featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom. In the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions of the game, the second world is modeled after and called Zim's Town, and the boss battle of the world takes place inside Zim's house and is against GIR. In the Nintendo DS version of the game, the fifth world takes place on Zim's space station and the boss battle of the world is against The Almighty Tallest.

Podcasts

There are two episodes of the Nickelodeon Animation Podcast that primarily discuss Invader Zim. The first one is season one episode fourteen, an interview with series creator Jhonen Vasquez, which was released on August 12, 2016. The second one is season two episode twenty-seven, an interview with the Invader Zim cast, which was released on January 6, 2017. Both episodes are available on YouTube, iTunes and SoundCloud.

The complete Invader Zim series was covered on "Wizard and the Bruiser" on February 21, 2019.

Comic book series

On February 20, 2015, American publishing company Oni Press announced that they would be releasing an official comic book series based on Invader Zim, in collaboration with Jhonen Vasquez and Nickelodeon. A pre-issue 0 was released on May 23, 2015, as a zine and foreshadow to the comic book series. The first issue was released on July 8, 2015, and since then most issues were released on a monthly basis.

On February 11, 2020, it was announced that the monthly Invader Zim comic would end with issue #50, which was released in March 2020, and a new comic series titled Invader Zim Quarterly would begin in June 2020, releasing on a quarterly schedule. Additionally, in July 2020, Oni Press launched a new "Best of..." trade paperback collections, which collected a selection of stories from Oni Press's monthly Invader Zim comic series.

On June 27, 2026, it was announced that Boom! Studios had acquired the license to Invader Zim comics. Boom Studios will also reprint the Oni Press comics.

Other literature

Invader Zim made appearances in Nickelodeon Magazine between 2001 and 2008, which include Invader Zim trivia, exclusive interviews, and an official four-page comic titled Invader Zim: Quick! Run While You Still Have Your Insides!!! by Jhonen Vasquez.

A book titled Not Just Cartoons: Nicktoons! was published on October 29, 2007, and written by animation historian Jerry Beck. The book collects more than five hundred illustrations, images, storyboards, concept art, quotes, interviews and anecdotes, among other special behind-the-scenes content for Nickelodeon's first thirty-one cartoons. Not Just Cartoons: Nicktoons! contains a short chapter about Invader Zim, featuring some storyboards, images, illustrations, turn-around charts, character model sheets and short, exclusive interviews with series creator Jhonen Vasquez, executive producer Mary Harrington and head writer Frank Conniff.

An official art book titled The Art of Invader Zim was released on July 28, 2020. Published by Abrams Books and written and designed by Chris McDonnell, The Art of Invader Zim contains the production history of the original Invader Zim television series, the Invader Zim comic book series, and the television movie Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus. It offers a compendium of never-before-published production art, storyboards, behind-the-scenes photos, and ephemera. The art book also features exclusive interviews with Jhonen Vasquez and other key crewmembers that show the origins, art, and ideas behind the Invader Zim franchise.

Series writer Eric Trueheart wrote a book titled The Medium-Sized Book of Zim Scripts, Vol. 1: Pigs 'n' Waffles – The Stories, and the Stories Behind the Stories of your Favorite Invader, which was released digitally on April 2, 2020, and a paperback version was released on July 27, 2020. The book collects the original scripts from the episodes "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy", "Hamstergeddon", "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff", "Zim Eats Waffles", "Mortos der Soulstealer" and the unfinished episode "Pants!", which was later adapted into an issue of the Invader Zim comic book series. The book also contains commentary on the writing process of Invader Zim.

Theme park ride

There is an Invader Zim theme park ride at American Dream's Nickelodeon Universe called Invader Zim's Flip & Spin... OF DOOM! which opened on October 25, 2019, along with the park. The ride is a bumper cars style attraction made by Amusement Products LLC where riders can spin and flip upside down on impact. The official summary of the ride states "You've been recruited for battle onboard Irk's latest militarized spacecraft. Help Zim's invasion as you flip, spin and bump into poor, unsuspecting humans."

References in other media

Zim and GIR flying in the Voot Cruiser made a cameo appearance in the now-defunct simulator ride Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast at Universal Studios Florida.

In the 2013 animated feature film Escape from Planet Earth, the word "Zim" can be seen written on the floor in graffiti in one brief scene, along with the names of multiple other aliens from various different movies and television shows.

Invader Zim was featured as a clue on the July 29, 2013, episode of Jeopardy!. The clue was for $2000 under the category "What a Character!" and it read "Irk is the home planet of this title 'invader.'" None of the contestants were able to answer the question correctly.

Ms. Bitters made a cameo appearance in the Nickelodeon animated series The Loud House during the episode "Linc or Swim", alongside several other elderly characters from other Nicktoons series.

In the 2016 short film TMNT: Don vs Raph, which was written by Jhonen Vasquez, a picture of Zim is seen on the side of a building. A poster for "Bloaty's Pizza Hog" can also be seen on the wall during the cooking segment.

Questions about Invader Zim have been featured in several episodes of the 2021 game show Tooned In.

Invader Zim comic books and cardboard cutouts were shown in the background of the 2022 Nickelodeon series Warped!.

Childish Gambino references Invader Zim in his 2011 song "Bonfire".

Merchandise

Home video

On October 13, 2003, Media Blasters announced that they were planning on releasing DVD collections of Invader Zim through their Anime Works imprint. They released the first volume titled Doom Doom Doom on May 11, 2004. On August 31, 2004, volume two titled Progressive Stupidity was released and on October 12, 2004, volume three titled Horrible Holiday Cheer was released, completing the series' initial DVD release. All three volumes contain animatics, Irken subtitles and digitally restored and remastered picture and sound. They also include audio commentaries for the majority of episodes, exclusive interviews with the voice actors, writers, and the post production staff and the series pilot. A box set shaped like Zim's house, known as the House Box Set has also been released, which includes all three volumes, plus an extra disc for bonus features, which includes the uncut version of "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever", voice recordings for seven of the unfinished episodes, interviews with Kevin Manthei on the sound design and music of Invader Zim, and a soundtrack of Kevin Manthei's main compositions for the show. Originally, this set included a duty-mode "GIR" figurine in the roof compartment of the box set, but Media Blasters silently stopped including it with the termination of Palisades Toys, the company that had been producing Invader Zim figurines. Another DVD box set for Invader Zim called the Complete Invasion Box Set was released in 2006, featuring all three of the DVD volumes boxed together, with the art of Volume One on the cover. This box set does not contain an extra disc for bonus features like the House Box Set included. In 2004, Media Blasters also released two Invader Zim MiniDVDs, each containing one episode.

On May 4, 2010, the complete Season 1 of Invader Zim was released on DVD via manufacture on demand in a DVD-R format. A Season 2 DVD was released in that same format on April 2, 2010. Neither of these DVDs contain audio commentaries or special features.

On February 22, 2011, an Invader Zim DVD was released called Operation Doom. This DVD contains the eight highest-rated episodes that reran on the Nicktoons Network throughout 2010.

Episodes of Invader Zim have been featured in several Nickelodeon compilation DVDs. This includes Nickstravaganza! 2, which was released on September 2, 2003, and contains the episode "The Nightmare Begins". (Nickstravaganza! 2 was also released in a VHS format which contains the exact same contents as the DVD version.) A DVD titled Classic Nickelodeon Halloween Specials, which was released on October 1, 2015, contains the episode "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom". The episode "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever" was featured in a DVD called A Very Nickelodeon Christmas, which was released on November 4, 2015.

Figurines and toys

Two series of collectible Invader Zim articulated figurines were produced by the company Palisades Toys and released from 2004 to 2006. A third series was planned, but was not made because Palisades Toys, the manufacturer, ceased operations in early 2006. A multitude of other collectible Invader Zim figurines were produced before the termination of Palisades Toys.

Multiple official Plushies were made to promote the Invader Zim series.

Funko has released many Pop! Vinyl figures of GIR in several variations. These are usually sold as Hot Topic exclusives. A Pop! Vinyl figure of Zim with Minimoose was released as a San Diego Comic-Con 2020 exclusive.

In 2015, a company called Ikon Collectables released an officially licensed 9-inch tall limited edition statue of GIR on the pig.

In 2016, Zag Toys released some officially licensed Invader Zim Original Minis and Plush Clip-Ons.

In 2017, Vision Toys released some officially licensed laser cut 3D keychains of some Invader Zim characters.

In 2018, Diamond Select Toys released some Vinimates figurines. All four of these figurines were released as Hot Topic exclusives and limited to 1,000 units each. Another set of Invader Zim Vinimates called Extra Doom Edition was released as a San Diego Comic-Con 2019 exclusive and limited to 250 units.

FOCO released some Eekeez figurines that were exclusively available at New York Comic Con in 2018. FOCO also released some Eekeez figurines variants that were exclusively available at San Diego Comic Con in 2018. An Eekeez figurine metallic variant of GIR was released as an WonderCon 2019 exclusive. An Eekeez figurine metallic variant of Zim was released as an Emerald City Comic Con 2019 exclusive and limited to 300 units.

In 2020, Hot Topic released some officially licensed rubber Bend-Ems figures of Zim and Dib.

Other merchandise

Nickelodeon has licensed a multitude of official Invader Zim products including: a wide variety of clothing, fashion accessories, makeup, jewelry, tabletop games, backpacks, bags, home accessories and decorations, office supplies, car accessories, household appliances, novelty items, holiday decorations, hygiene items and more, all commonly sold at stores like Hot Topic, Newbury Comics, Spencer's and other speciality retailers.

Invader Zim merchandise has been included in subscription boxes such as Loot Crate in September 2017 and The Nick Box in fall 2020.

Revival attempts

In March–July 2010, reruns of Invader Zim were aired on Nicktoons. The reruns were the second highest-rated show on the network, and according to Jhonen Vasquez, were part of a plan by the network to see if a revival of the series would be feasible. However, the budget Nickelodeon proposed was not quite big enough for what the crew wanted to do, so they respectfully declined the offer. Vasquez also asserted that, despite the widespread rumor suggesting otherwise, he would have returned to the show again had Nickelodeon not deemed the revival "too expensive" for what the crew wanted to do with it.

In 2011, Nickelodeon approached Rikki Simons, the voice of GIR, about returning to voice GIR for a series of animated shorts. While Simons was open to reprising his role, the shorts were never made. During an Invader Zim panel at Long Beach Comic Con 2019, Simons stated that "It's kinda weird to do GIR by himself. I don't know what that would be."

In May 2026, Jorge R. Gutierrez, the creator of El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, revealed that he was in talks with Paramount about a potential revival of the aforementioned series for Paramount+ and expressed interest in having it be a crossover with Invader Zim as well as My Life as a Teenage Robot.