Oh yeah, we’re going down this rabbit hole folks. Netflix may have under-marketed this, but I’m sure as hell not letting it slip under the radar.
But first, a bit of background!
Invader Zim was a Nickelodeon cartoon which aired from 2001 to 2002. It showcased our titular protagonist coming up with ridiculous scheme after ridiculous scheme to conquer planet Earth and spectacularly failing every time since he’s not very good at his job. The show was well-received among teens and young adults for its dark, edgy humor and grotesque animation which most cartoons at the time wouldn’t dare attempt. However, it wasn’t giving Nickelodeon the best ratings among younger audiences, especially compared to other shows like Spongebob Squarepants and The Fairly Odd Parents.
On top of which, it was plagued with constant production hell from budgetary issues to back-and-forth between the network and creative team on what content was definitely pushing it for children’s media– seriously, look up some of the original ideas they had for certain scenes of the show; it’s pretty fucking disturbing. And so, sadly, Invader Zim was cancelled before the second season finished, leaving multiple episodes unaired. But Invader Zim found a new life in 2006 on the channel NickToons, which was dedicated to reruns of Nickelodeon’s retro shows. From there, it grew a hell of a cult following and a plethora of Hot Topic merchandise, and those unreleased episodes were finally aired.
I got into Invader Zim when it began airing on NickToons, and it became the shit through my middle school years. I always loved freaky shows like The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and Courage the Cowardly Dog, so this was right up my alley. I was drawn into the bizarre imagery, the outrageous situations and characters, the fast-paced animation, and the overall dark comedy which I rarely saw in children’s cartoons. As an adult, I pick up on the little details of world-building and thematic commentary which make the show better with each viewing. Invader Zim is still one of my absolute favorite television cartoons of all time. So when I heard a film was in the works, I was freaking ecstatic and couldn’t wait to see this team return and what new madness they would deliver after so many years away. And Enter the Florpus did not disappoint for a fraction of a second.
Zim mysteriously vanished without a trace, leaving Dib in obsessive paranoia on what his next plan may be for planetary conquest. As it turns out, making Dib a paranoid recluse to the point of disregarding self-care was just Phase 1 of Zim’s latest plan. Phase 2? Well… he hasn’t figured that out entirely just yet. Itching to please the Almighty Tallest (and still oblivious that they want nothing to do with him), Zim has to act fast to come up with a brilliant Phase 2 before Dib gets back into shape to stop him. But Zim’s latest plan goes too far in the most ludicrous way when he accidentally opens up a Florpus, a space wormhole capable of swallowing planets and colliding alternate realities before tearing them apart. As usual, Dib remains the Earth’s only hope to save all of humanity before it’s completely destroyed from Zim’s recklessness.
The overall aesthetics are a lot softer in the shapes, lines and color palettes, giving the character designs a chibi-fied look. This film heavily favors shadowing in a blend of blues, reds and purples, and the grotesque imagery is toned back by a million. It’s a bit odd to see at first as a fan who loved the original art style and was so used to some of the disturbing imagery, but the new aesthetics grew on me after a while. Even though it’s not as grotesque, the animation still loves the over-the-top exaggerations to the nth degree from the alien designs to the fluid facial expressions to the bizarre situations, and some of the CGI far better blends into the 2D environment. You can tell this team loved the extra budget to play with action scenes and animation styles, which creates one of the trippiest climaxes in any cartoon you have to see to experience the pure insanity.
The entire original voice cast reprises their roles, and they dived right like no time passed at all. Zim is still equal parts ambitious and insane in his plans for planetary conquest and proving himself to his leaders and with amazingly outrageous voice work by Richard Horvitz. Dib, voiced by Andy Berman, awesomely parallels Zim’s ambition, only with his goals to save the Earth and hopefully get his father’s attention. Rikki Simons is delightfully unhinged as GIR; he always has the best line deliveries. Melissa Fahn as Gaz is as cynical and irritable as ever, but when shit gets real, she becomes a great player to motivate her brother and help save the Earth. Professor Membrane, voiced by Rodger Bumpass, also gets a hell of a spotlight in his excitable love for science and helping his kids any way he can. He even gets some heartfelt scenes with Dib, who just wants his dad to support his interests. I honestly never expected that from something so zany and wild like Invader Zim. While not too prominently highlighted, those tender moments of Dib’s desperate longing for validation are done so well to meld into the overall absurd environment. I always enjoyed this show incorporating just enough juicy bits of character development and world-building to boost the experience while maintaining tone, and it’s excellent here too.
The animation, voice acting, and sound editing are perfectly in-sync for the comedic timing just like the television series. Some of these scenes definitely got me laughing out loud— particularly any of GIR’s insane antics—, and the creativity of these worlds, technologies, and actions scenes is neverending. It’s a movie to watch at least twice to pick up all the little details and throwbacks. Everyone on this team was on their A-game to deliver the best after so many years away. They never lost their touch on all the details which made Invader Zim great, and that love shines brilliantly in Enter the Florpus. It’s the kind of continuation that future reboots, remakes and/or long-awaited sequels need to take notes from on how to maintain the spirit of their project which made audiences fall in love in the first place.
It brought me back to my pre-teen years of binging the whole show at least once a month on DVD and the sheer delight of watching these characters get in and out of the craziest shit. Some say Enter the Florpus is akin to a series finale with all the upped stakes and situations, and it definitely has the energy of such. Part of me hopes this won’t be the last we’ll see of Invader Zim because the dedication and end results are too damn amazing to pass up for potential story expansion. But if the intent really was to wrap it all up, then this was a hell of a way to do so. I definitely see another few rewatches in my near future, and if you haven’t hopped back on this train, now is the best time to do so.
Eliza Vs. The World 