"Invader ZIM" Series Talkback

J

Juliet L

New member
And what perfect timing too, as today's the day I finally watched a full episode. And guess what, I liked it.

Okay, I'm sure most of you know that when I first saw Invader Zim, I was very, very, very creeped out and couldn't make it through so much as 24 seconds, much less 24 minutes, and a certain former classmate only made it even worse for me. Well, guess what. That's all changed now that I've finally given that crazy little green Irken and his robot a second chance.

I'm totally serious, I can't really find much of anything bad to say about this series now that I've finally taken another look at it. Obviously, I started with "The Nightmare Begins", and I plan to continue in linear fashion until I've seen every episode. Yeah, yeah, you all knew all about this series back when it first aired and I bet most of you own the DVDs (you people, with all this discretionary income). Still, I'd like to share a bit of commentary on the series:

LIKES:
*I really like the color scheme. Light green, purple, gray, pink, black. Ooh, and more purple.
*Is that an actual string section? In a 21st century cartoon? And in a series with a techno-based opening/closing theme?
*Lots and lots of random, unexpected jokes. And son of a gun, most of them are actually making me laugh.
*The cynical, misanthropic overtones kind of remind me of Pearls Before Swine at times.
*Great voice cast in general. Zim's voice kind of grew on me once I caught the subtleties that made it more than just a higher-pitched Daggett.
*Dang, they use a lot of green and purple. I'm having flashbacks to the early days of MacAddict magazine.
*The character design is actually kind of cute in a creepy way. Or is that creepy in a cute way?

DISLIKES:
None so far.

QUESTIONS:
*Why does Zim's "house" have so many underground tubes?
*Where the heck can I find the DVDs? My local stores are insanely low in their stock of cartoon DVDs in general.

Trying something new and re-trying something that I didn't like the first time around have always been big challenges for me, so in a way, finally re-watching Invader Zim may actually be a bit of a life lesson. And to think that I overcame one of my biggest hurdles with the help of a crazy, green cartoon alien.

Yes, we've had a zillion Zim threads, but I can't say that I've seen one where anyone explained why they liked the show, so I thought it was time for a talkback.
 
See, I knew you'd like it!
Anyway, you can find the whole series in one box at places like Borders, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy or FYE. Borders stacks it in the Anime section (cause the DVD is produced by Anime Works). Also, if you're brave enough, try looking in Hot Topic...
Anyway, yes, I also liked the color scheme, as well as the cel-shaded CGI animation for some action shots. That reminds me of Futurama, one of my other favorites. And the sheer scale the show ascends sometimes, like dogfighting with entire planets, is amazing.
 
As for the DVDs, I've seen all three volumes bundled together for no more than 20 bucks. They're pretty much everywhere that has a pretty large DVD section [Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.] will carry it.

I loved this show as a kid, and when I saw the set come out [And for 15 bucks!!], I HAD to get it. Luckily, the show is even better now that I'm older. I love the random humor and, like you said, the color scheme is fantastic. The 3-D scenes really remind me how ahead of its time the show was-- in fact, "ahead of its time" is the best description for this show, and in a good way!
 
Oh man I was obsessed with this show when it was actually on TV. It's hard for me to watch it even now because, since I watched it so often back then, I still remember every episode line by line.

But that's only because it truly is an amazing show. Art wise, it's one of the most beautiful cartoons ever made. The voice acting was superb. And the writing... this show had some amazing writers. Season 2 especially started to get pretty epic in scale, it's a real shame the show had to be canceled midway through it. "The Trial" would have been one of the best things ever broadcast on Nick.
 
I love the show as well, but man Jhonen Vasquez really harshes on my mellow in the words of Jude.

I mean I was so happy to finally get the show on DVD. You get lots of commentary and hearing the voice of Gir and Zim is really cool. But Vasquez really brings it all down with his negativity. I mean man, these guys are sitting there talking about how hard they worked on it. You created something that was sort of twisted and unique but still fun for a Nicklelodeon cartoon and you kind of harsh everything out.

Favorite Zim quote:

"Your assistance will be noted!"
​
 
I forget specifically, but he seems to constantly say "I didn't like this, this, or this part. Don't really care for this."

I mean he is most definitely the creator of Johnny the Homocidal Maniac.

He really just sounded bitter and annoyingly negative. I liked hearing the rest of the crew because they all really sounded proud of their work.

The first DVD set is great besides the commentary their are quality interviews with Richard Horvitz(?) and my dream girl, Melissa Fahn. There's also the original pilot of Zim with Billy West as the voice of Zim.
 
That's pretty much par for the course for most people in entertainment that make stuff that becomes a cult hit. They always have that attitude, hence their stuff becoming "cult" I guess.
 
With that in mind, what exactly is Jhonen like in real life? I somehow imagined him as being really creepy, reclusive and antisocial, but that's apparently not the case.
 
I know that he really hates a majority of his fans. (I can understand to be honest...)
But yeah, he does seem like someone who would be antisocial. Probabaly because hes so bitter now about his fans.

but hey, I don't know the guy so who knows...
 
"Invader ZIM" Series Talkback

The lady at f.y.e. the other day told me that they did have the complete set just before Christmas and someone bought it? for themselves.
 
I liked it for its grim outlook on humanity. The show was dark both aesthetically and in its humor. The adults are idiots and the children are usually cruel or insane.
I don't think there was a single intelligent character on the show. They were all idiots! But that's why it was so funny.

That and I loved when it made small moments seem really important (Zim eating waffles for a whole episode comes to mind).
 
Gaz seemed pretty intelligent. She seemed to have shunned humanity because of all the stupidity. Other than that, I can't think of anyone else.

Also, I think this show was a bit ahead of its time. I honestly believe if it was created today, it would have lasted and would have become Nickelodeon's biggest hit since Spongebob. Think about it. More and more kids are trying to be "edgy", shopping at Hot Topic in order to look cool, etc.... kids in that crowd loved this show, and more of them are emerging all the time. You know this show would have been a huge hit today.
 
I'm not sure about that. It does seem to more fit the mold of something that might've popped on Adult Swim afterward though.

The show still has a fanbase. I see adolescents buying the merchandise and wearing the shirts all the time.

The show was just different and not like most of what was on Nickelodeon at the time. And I wouldn't say it was that edgy, considering Nickelodeon had already been showing stuff like Ren and Stimpy for years. I think Zim's sort of dark tone and grimness is probably what put off the execs.
 
Well Zim wasn't edgy in the sense that R&S was. R&S relied on gross-out gags. Zim was just something a lot darker and more cynical than anything they'd ever put on the air. Of course the execs hated it. But I think it would have been a lot more successful on the air if it was made today because there are more kids now that would buy into it than there were back then.

They could bring it back now and it'd probably be a huge commercial success. I think it got a bigger fanbase after its cancellation through word of mouth and reruns on Nicktoons Network. They could make a killing off it today. Obviously they're making profit off the show years after its cancellation because Hot Topic still sells merchandise for it. They could be making more though.

But I don't wanna turn this into another "bring back Zim" thread. It'll never happen. I do think this was the best Nicktoon ever aired though.
 
Zim got pretty nasty at times as well. Not quite the level of toilet humor as Ren and Stimpy, but it was there. I mean, the germ episode, YUCK.
 
Yeah but it wasn't being disgusting for the sake of being disgusting like R&S. Zim had more story-based writing.

And "Germs" wasn't that bad. I'd say the grossest episode was "Dark Harvest" or "Lice."
 
"Invader ZIM" Series Talkback

That "Dark Harvest" episode sounds kind of?well, gross, but I'm sure I could tolerate it if it's not bloody or anything. I didn't cringe when Zim yanked out the one kid's eyeballs in "Bestest Friend", for example, because they didn't show the optic nerves or anything. Visceral gags like this are fine in my opinion if they're not explicit.

I can't help but wonder what might have been for this series. Sure, putting it on Adult Swim might have made sense in theory, but I have a feeling that Jhonen et al. would've pushed the cartoon all the way into TV-MA territory just because they would've had the freedom to do so. I don't think I'd have gotten into the cartoon at all had it gone that far.
 
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