Omg, where do I start?
Truthfully, I could've made this shrine dedicated to Vasquez's works leading up to and incuding Invader Zim, but I decided to just focus on IZ because, as I'm sure you've been able to tell, it's all over my website.
I discovered Invader Zim on Netflix when I was 10 or 11. I had a Wii, and Netflix had this deal with Nintendo where Netflix would send you a special disk to play along when using its services on the Wii. I binged the entirety of it in a few days. The random humor and the sci-fi setting really took to me, and it quickly became my special interest. And it's still a special interest of mine! The intensity has varied over the years, but it's always been there.
Invader Zim is about an Irken alien named Zim. Him and his robot companion Gir are banished to Earth, and Zim is hellbent on conquering Earth once they find the planet. Three things: 1) His mission is a joke played by his leaders the Tallest, 2) He is very, very bad at his only job, 3) The only thing standing in his way is his massive ego and a 12 year old named Dib Membrane.
I never really cared for Dib. I always liked Zim. I think it's because ultimately it's about someone (Zim) trying to fit in. To conquer Earth, sure, but nonetheless. It made me feel seen when I was a weird girl
It was also pretty creepy too! I've loved creepy things from a young age, I think it's fun to engage in morbid subject manner. The first season was totally more creepy than the second season. That's because there was concern that post 9/11, parents wouldn't want their kids watching morbid and otherwise violent subject matter. Which, fair, I guess.
A lot of people like to point to a lot of other factors as the sole reason that the show was cancelled, but the main reason was the most obvious: It wasn't making enough money to justify the show being continued. The budget was just too high. There was talks about reviving the show around 2011, but the proposed budget didn't meet the needs of the show, and, I'm assuming, that included the crew not being paid fairly.
And I agree! If you can't afford to pay workers what their rates are, or give them a livable wage, then the show should remain in the ground. I don't care how much I love the show: If the people behind it are not being paid fairly, then I don't want it. All your favorite things have people behind it that deserve to be paid fairly!
But eventually, there was enough for a movie! Which I think was really fun. It's a little jarring though, if you watch the movie immediately after completing the series. The animation between the two is just so different! Which would make sense, there was a large gap between the movie and the show. Additionally, there was an Invader Zim comic series between those too, and even after the movie. The movie drew heeeaavvyy inspo from the comics. The way that art trends too influenced the movie. The character design and movements in the movement were more bouncy, as opposed to the show, which was heavily inspired that angular style popular back at the turn of the millinia.
If I had to rank the movies, comics, and show in order from favorites to least favorites, I wouldn't. The core theme, the tone, and the silliness are all shown throughout many iterations of the characters and plots. It's pretty consistant, is what I'm trying to say!
This series is the reason I wanted to get into animation in the first place and is the reason I majored in it. I was and still continue to be incredibly inspired by Invader Zim. The humor is funny, the characters work well together, and I love the simple but effective character design, regrdless of how they're drawn. And like, honestly, at the end of the day, it's about an idiotic adult having beef with a 12 year old, which is extremely funny by itself. Because what do you mean you can't outsmart a child? Like be so for real.