Jhonen Vasquez on “Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus!”

Jhonen Vasquez on “Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus!”

August 16th, 2019

Jackson Murphy

Almost 13 years to the day after airing its final episode, “Invader Zim” has returned with a new film “Enter the Florpus!”, now on Netflix. The rivalry between 12-year-old human boy Dib and Irken alien Zim is in full force once again. Zim has returned to Earth looking to take over the planet, while Dib is still out to convince his dad that aliens do exist. If you’re a fan of the series, you’re sure to enjoy the fast-paced, manic, zany nature of the new “Zim” movie.

Show creator Jhonen Vasquez came back for the film. “People talk about nostalgia when they talk about ‘Zim’ and it’s the most annoying tag to me because playing on people’s nostalgia is the last thing I want to do,” Vasquez wrote via email. “I just want to make a cool thing. I get it, though, lots of people grew up on this but to me it’s always there constantly generating and not trapped in any particular time.”

If you’re going into “Enter the Florpus!” watching the “Zim” characters for the first time and feel a little overwhelmed, don’t worry, that’s how you’re supposed to feel. Vasquez recently told Jerry Beck at a post-screening Q&A of “Florpus” that “The whole point of ‘Zim’ is that it’s way too much.”

“We don’t hide our influences,” Vasquez added. “Things that don’t generally inform a kids show, we pull from – and then make stupid.” He revealed that around 2008, a show revival was discussed at Nickelodeon, but the budget was too low. Some of the ideas at that time made it into “Enter the Florpus!”

Vasquez re-teamed with Zim voice actor Richard Steven Horvitz. “He has absolutely no dignity,” Vasquez said, adding that he directed him like a conductor because the “ridiculous” vocal inflections of Zim require a lot of projecting.

Multiple styles of animation are incorporated into the movie. “We had as many artists as we could come in and animate stuff,” Vasquez said. And some of the visuals and action scenes are rather intense. But one of the “Zim” mastermind’s goals: “Scare the s*it out of kids – and they’ll remember it.”

Vasquez believes “Enter the Florpus!”, like the “Zim” series, works for both kids and adults. “‘Zim’ has always been a thing that assumes the viewer knows that these events and the characters are not being presented as role models so much as examples of the ‘DON’T’ column. Don’t be like that, don’t do that, don’t eat that baby, BUT because these things aren’t just wrong but ABSURDLY wrong, it’s pretty clearly meant to laugh at. That kinda thing isn’t for everyone though, and isn’t meant to be.”

Now that the film is complete, Vasquez has been taking a much-needed break with no definitive plans yet for a next chapter. “The movie took over my life,” he said. “I’m still in this difficult phase of getting used to it. And that was the same with the series. I just wanted to see Zim and that world for myself.”

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Jackson Murphy

Jackson Murphy is a movie critic and entertainment columnist. He is the creator of the website Lights-Camera-Jackson.com, and has made numerous appearances on television and radio.

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