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Zim declaring his return to Dib
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Invader Zim Episode
Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus
InvaderZimETF2019poster
Chronology
Previous: The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever
Next: N/A
Information
Episode No: Movie
Production No: None
Airdate: August 16, 2019
Credits
Writer(s): Jhonen Vasquez


Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus is a 71-minute web television film based off of the Invader Zim TV series, which premiered on August 16, 2019. The film was released on Netflix, after its distribution rights were sold to the streaming service by Nickelodeon.

Official synopsis[]

When Zim suddenly reappears to begin Phase 2 of his evil alien plan to conquer Earth, his longtime nemesis Dib sets out to unmask him once and for all.[1]

Plot[]

Dib vs The Irken Armada

Dib's Monologue: I'm all that stands between Zim and the annihilation of our world.

The opening has Dib narrating a dramatic recap of his past conflict with Zim, only to reveal that the Irken has since disappeared but still proclaims himself as Earth's last hope against the Invader.

In the present, Professor Membrane tells Gaz to get Dib out of his room, where he's been obsessively monitoring for any sign of Zim's presence, ignoring everything else to the point of becoming a fat slob that has fused to his chair. Just as Gaz is trying to convince Dib to give up, they see that Zim, GIR and Minimoose have reappeared on the lawn of his base.

DibQuestionsZIM

Dib confronts Zim.

Dib leaves his room and makes his way to Zim's base, where Zim reveals that he's been hiding in his toilet this entire time, counting on Dib's obsession leading him to his currently useless, obese state. He then mocks Dib with how this is only Phase 1 of his plan, and that Phase 2 will finally see him conquer Earth, before leaving a despairing Dib outside and entering his base.

Once inside, he has the Computer contact the Almighty Tallest, who are frustrated to find that he's still alive. Zim then tries to brag about his plan, only to realize to his horror that he's forgotten what Phase 2 actually is. He orders the Computer to put the Tallest on hold while he tries to remember his plan, but it doesn't and the Tallest still listen, even telling Zim that they don't care about his plan. When Zim realizes that his leaders have been listening, he terminates the call by destroying the TV.

ZimTallestETF

Zim contacts the Tallest to announce his latest plan.

Zim has a daydream of what he could face if he fails to remember the rest of his plan. Shuddering at the thought of failing, he has GIR go through every experiment in the base, hoping to figure out what Phase 2 was supposed to be, to no avail, while Dib undergoes a workout montage to get back in shape.

Trying to determine how much time he has to conquer Earth until the Tallest arrive, Zim has the Computer calculate where Earth is in relation to the Irken Armada's flight path.

Upon getting back in shape, Dib leaves his house to confront Zim, only to bump into his father, who is experimenting with his Membracelets, a new invention he's created for Peace Day which will harness the energy of children holding hands across the world. Membrane is disappointed that Dib is going back into the paranormal, which he still finds to be a waste of time, even in light of all the evidence that Dib has acquired over the years, such as Tak's Ship. Angry at his father's refusal to believe him, Dib stomps off.

Uarth

Zim realizes the Tallest aren't coming and shows Dib their location.

Arriving at Zim's base, Dib is shocked to find Zim in a despairing slump - having discovered that Earth is nowhere near the Armada's course, he's realized that the Tallest aren't coming, and has completely given up, to the point of not caring when Dib handcuffs him.

Dib, still upset after his argument with his father, is initially disappointed to realize that he's finally won only for no one to notice or care, but upon seeing a commercial for Membrane's Peace Day keynote speech, decides to crash it and use it expose Zim to the whole world.

Scientists Z

Professor Zim.

On Peace Day, Dib ignores Gaz's warning not to interfere with their father's speech, instead, having a still despondent Zim upgrade a Membracelet for him which will let him take over the speech and expose Zim. However, when the time comes, it is instead Zim who takes over the speech, now wearing a new human disguise and in charge of Membrane Labs, having kidnapped Membrane. He then restrains Dib and Gaz with the modified Membracelets while convincing everyone to buy some themselves.

PeaceDayPlan

Zim's plan is almost complete.

Dib wakes up in his bed, hoping that everything was just a nightmare, only to find that his father has been replaced with Clembrane, a failed clone of the Professor created by Zim, who is now holding him and Gaz prisoner in their house. Meanwhile, people all over the world are buying Membracelets, including children who are forming a human chain around the planet.

With encouragement in the form of GIR singing a song for them, the children finish the chain, only for nothing to happen. Dib tries to brag about Zim's failure, but Zim reveals that the plan isn't complete at this point, instead, needing Minimoose to charge the chain with channeled cosmic energy.

ZIMWarpsTheEarth

Zim succeeds in warping the Earth.

The modified Membracelets then pull Earth lightyears across the universe, placing the planet directly into the path of the Armada, Zim intending to give the Tallest no choice but to destroy it. As an unexpected side effect, however, the planetary transportation creates a Florpus Hole, a massive tear in the universe that will suck in everything nearby and merge it with other realities and timelines.

Florpus 1

The Florpus opens due to Zim.

Zim is unconcerned with this, instead mocking Dib by stating that he really was despairing at the failure of his mission until Dib's plan inspired him, as well as the fact that only Membrane, who he's locked away in the space prison Moo-Ping 10, can undo his plan.

Inspired by this, Dib and Gaz trick Clembrane into letting them fix Tak's Ship, which agrees to help them get to Moo-Ping 10 when it's pointed out that helping them hurts Zim. Meanwhile, the Tallest are informed of what's happened, but are more concerned with approaching Zim's location than the threat of the Florpus, deciding to blow up Earth when they reach it.

MembranesInCell

Professor Membrane explains the theoretical space warp to his children.

Dib and Gaz arrive at Moo-Ping 10, where Tak's Ship creates a diversion for them, but they're still almost immediately captured by the guards, who toss them in a cell. Dib despairs at how his misguided attempts to inspire people with the paranormal have instead doomed humanity, only to realize that his father is in the cell with them.

Membrane, who is convinced that everything that's happening is a hallucination he's suffering after being hit on the head, nevertheless quickly deduces that Minimoose can be used to charge the Membracelets again and return Earth to its proper place. Tak's Ship then rescues the three and flies back to Earth, but crashes due to a debris field and separates the Membranes.

A furious Dib lands near Zim, who is celebrating his victory, and chases him to try and take Minimoose from him. Eventually, Zim has the robot soldiers that had previously distributed the Membracelets attack Dib, overwhelming him until Membrane arrives to save him. Despite still thinking the situation is a hallucination, Membrane fights the robots, destroying them all, only to then be confronted by Clembrane, who thinks that the real Membrane is an imposter and fights him.

Then Gaz arrives, and knocks Zim out with a ham, causing him to drop Minimoose, whom Clembrane gets ahold of. Despite Zim's orders, his programmed love for Dib and Gaz causes him to hand over Minimoose to Membrane.

MassiveNowArrives

The Massive corners the Earth into the Florpus, intending to blow it up.

As the Earth is pulled into the Florpus and starts to be torn apart as it keeps merging with random alternate realities, and with the Armada preparing to blow the planet up, Dib and Gaz have all the children form another human chain and Membrane struggles to make Minimoose work.

Finally, he manages to activate Minimoose, triggering the Membracelets and sending Earth back to its proper place. The Tallest are pleased that Zim is gone, still not caring about the Florpus even as they're sucked into it.

TallestInFlorpusHell

Zim contacts the Tallest, who are now suffering in the Florpus hole.

Afterwards, as the damage from the Florpus is being repaired, the Membrane family settle down for dinner, now joined by Clembrane, and with the Professor still believing that everything was a hallucination.

Zim then pops in to claim that his real plan all along was to steal a porcelain doll from the Membranes, before returning to his base to report to the Tallest, who have been turned into puppets surrounded by flames by the Florpus. Zim is then crushed by a dog that GIR had previously launched into space, which he does again as the movie ends.

A post-credits scene shows the dog now floating in space.

End of Spoilers: There are no further spoilers for this section or article. You can breathe now.

Voice cast[]

Voice actor Character(s)
Richard Steven Horvitz Zim
Rosearik Rikki Simons GIR
Bloaty
Andy Berman Dib Membrane
Melissa Fahn Gaz Membrane
Rodger Bumpass Professor Membrane
Wally Wingert Almighty Tallest Red
Kevin McDonald Almighty Tallest Purple
Jhonen Vasquez Clembrane
Minimoose
Computer
Shmoopsy

Bees

Olivia d’Abo Tak's Ship
Paul Greenberg Poonchy

Weird Alien #2

Fred Tatasciore Peace Day Host
Comms Officer
Ham Narrator
Alien Guard
Man
Mo Collins Robomom
Michael McDonald Robodad
Justin Roiland Foodio 3000
Weird Alien #1
Excited Audience Member
Eric Bauza Bracelet Monster
Announcer

Angry Man
Boy

Breehn Burns Neighbor

Hot Dog Guy

Jenny Goldberg Floopsy
Martha

Happy Lady
Weird Alien #3
Girl

Gloinky

Production[]

On April 4, 2017, Nickelodeon officially announced that Invader Zim would be brought back for a made for television original movie. Four of the main voice actors were confirmed to be returning. Richard Horvitz as Zim, Rikki Simons as GIR, Andy Berman as Dib, and Melissa Fahn as Gaz. Nick also announced that series creator Jhonen Vasquez would be involved in the project, serving as an executive producer as well as reprising his role as Computer.[2].

The three announcement trailers can be found here (first), here (second) and here (third) (or down below in the videos section under teasers). A little over a year later on June 26, 2018, the movie's title was announced, along with a statement that the film would have a panel on July 20th at San Diego Comic-Con. Exclusive behind-the-scenes art and sneak preview footage was released immediately after the panel ended.[3]

Release[]

Enter the Florpus was originally created as a television film for Nickelodeon's own network, but on May 10, 2019, Viacom president Robert Bakish announced that the distribution rights to the movie had been sold to Netflix.[4] A day later, Netflix's NX account on Twitter confirmed that the movie would be released in Summer of 2019.

On July 13, 2019, at Atlanta Comic Con, Richard Horvitz announced that the movie would be released at some point in August.[5] Ten days later on July 23, Netflix released a teaser which revealed that the exact release date would be August 16.

On February 1, 2019, Nickelodeon held a cast-and-crew-exclusive screening of Enter the Florpus. On July 24, 2019, the Nickelodeon Animation Studio held an exclusive pre-screening of Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus which was only accessible for ASIFA-Hollywood members.

The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, California held a free theatrical screening of Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus on August 16, 2019, to celebrate the premiere of the film. Series creator Jhonen Vasquez, art director Jenny Goldberg, and voice actors, Richard Horvitz, Rikki Simons and Melissa Fahn attended the screening for an exclusive Q&A.

Facts of Doom[]

Cultural References[]

  • Dib’s dramatic-styled monologue is a spoof of certain portrayals of shounen manga/anime characters, particularly in the likes of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
  • Professor Membrane’s mechanical arm blast at Zim’s robots is an obvious reference to Goku’s Kamehameha from the popular manga/anime franchise Dragon Ball.
  • GIR riding on a donkey and wielding a sword may be a reference to Don Quixote.
  • During the "Peace is Nice" montage, a child can be seen dressed as SpongeBob SquarePants.
  • In Dib's daydream where he exposes Zim to the world, he was seen wearing a lab coat and purple gloves, which may have been a reference to Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory, as that was his signature look. Jhonen has also stated previously that Dib's original design resembled Dexter's quite a lot so he changed it to the one we know now to avoid comparisons.
  • Zim's movable throne may have been a reference to "The Tower of Dr. Zalost", an episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog, as it was also able to move with spider legs.
  • GIR spinning his head to a 180 degree angle could be a reference to the 1973 film The Exorcist.
  • The Space Whales seen by the Membranes when they leave Earth might be a reference to Möbius Dick, a four-dimensional space whale from the cartoon series Futurama, or possibly even Fantasia 2000, as there was a segment with a family of humpback whales who fly and frolic through the clouds to emerge into outer space

Trivia[]

  • Invader Zim is the sixth Nicktoon to get an animated feature film. The first five were RugratsHey Arnold!The Wild ThornberrysSpongeBob SquarePants, and Rocko's Modern Life.
    • This technically makes Invader Zim the seventh Nicktoon to get an animated feature film, if one also counts Doug's 1st Movie, produced by Disney.
    • This is also the first Nickelodeon animated film to be released on Netflix.
  • The current plot synopsis on Netflix is significantly different from the one originally released at SDCC.
    • "Zim falls into a depression after he’s abandoned by his idols, the Almighty Tallest, leaving an opening for his enemy Dib to finally expose him as an alien."[6]
  • The existence of the movie was first revealed by Harvey Beaks creator C.H. Greenblatt on November 8th, 2016. Vasquez initially denied the existence of the film, dismissing it as "a rumor".[7]
    • It is likely that Vasquez was under a non-disclosure contract with Nickelodeon at the time and was forced to dismiss it.
  • Despite the fact that Zim had Gaz on house arrest and almost got her killed (alongside the rest of the human race) and Gaz in turn became very hostile towards Zim after he captured her father and sent him to Moo-Ping 10 (even attempting to knock him out with a ham out of pure rage), ZAGR (Zim And Gaz Romance) fans continue to pair the two as a couple (dismissing the events of the film as taking part in a different continuity or timeline) and that plans were in place in the 1999 pilot to have the two be in a romantic relationship (perhaps akin to Danny Fenton and Sam Manson in Danny Phantom).
    • Adding to this, Professor Membrane's comments at the end about the events being nothing more than a dreamlike hallucination could be a reference to the show’s loose continuity.
  • JR Goldberg of the Invader Zim comic book series confirmed she was also involved in this project. It was later revealed that she would be the Art Director of the film.[8]
  • The movie's storyboards and concept art were outsourced to a South Korea studio named Maven Animation Studio.[9] Previously, animation services for the television series were mainly produced by Sunwoo Entertainment.
  • Olivia D' Abo stated on her Twitter she was excited for the Invader Zim movie. Nickelodeon Press announced on July 20th in an article that she would reprise her role as Tak.[10][11] However, this was misleading, as she was actually voicing Tak's Ship. Although Tak does get mentioned as one of "Zim's alien enemies" by Dib, with only the ship referring to her "rightful owner" by name.
    • However, months after the movie's premiere, Horvitz and Simons claimed at a panel at GalaxyCon Minneapolis 2019 that a deleted scene would have revealed that Tak was imprisoned at Moo-Ping 10 and would have shown her ship freeing her.
    • This turned out to be true as in a podcast to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the show's series premiere, Jhonen Vasquez answered questions by fans and said that in Enter the Florpus, Tak's presence was felt the moment the Ship appeared and that when the Ship heard about Moo-Ping 10, it's excited because it knows Tak is imprisoned there and the explosion we saw in the movie was the Ship freeing Tak. We were meant to see her shadow at that point, but due to an animation error that was not possible.
      • Vasquez also said that there would have been a post credit scene with Tak coming out of her ship, implying she was a stowaway and that she and Dib would team up against Zim in a possible sequel. The reason as to why that scene was cut was because Jhonen believed that if there ever was a sequel he didn't want to force Tak into the movie and the plot would be harder to write if the idea changed with time.
      • This plot point is referenced in the final issue of the comic series. During the montage of all the people across the universe being caught up in the time loop, Tak is shown in cuffs being escorted somewhere by Gellaxis guards.
  • The Irken symbol had been redesigned.
  • Despite overwhelming fan demand, it is unknown if the show will be brought back on the air after the movie's premiere. However, Olivia D'Abo mentioned a "new Invader Zim series" on her Twitter. However, she could just be referring to the comic series.[12]
    • This was likely a reference to the Invader Zim Quarterly comic series replacing the regular monthly series, which was announced several months after the movie's release.
  • The first act of the movie partially adapts the first issue of the comic series.
  • Originally, network executives wanted Zim back as a full-fledged TV series revival when they contacted Vasquez. He took into consideration the amount of time and work doing a TV series again would put on him and crew members, and instead suggested that the series come back as an 6 episode miniseries, which they agreed to. Vasquez later shortened his suggestion to just one long episode (TV movie) when he got back into contact with executives and they obliged once more.[13]
  • At the SDCC panel, Vasquez explained that the teaser they presented only showed completed shots of animation and that some of the teaser scenes were going back to be re-animated.
  • On January 31, 2019, the entire film was completed and was fully screened for the film's entire cast and crew at Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, California.[14]
  • Originally, it was widely known that the runtime was 66 minutes. When its page showed up on Netflix, it was listed with a 70-minute runtime, then updated to 71 minutes sometime after. It is speculated by some that around 4 minutes worth of deleted scenes/content was added back into the movie due to it not having to fit into a TV timeslot anymore.
    • The extra minute added later is Netflix's add-in after credits, shown after the entire movie is finished.
  • In the beginning of the movie, Foodio 3000 made chicken and rice for the Membrane family, a subtle foreshadowing to GIR's song "Peace is Nice".
  • While not confirmed, it's possible that the events of the movie take place during summer as neither Zim, Dib, or Gaz are seen attending the Skool during the story. This is backed up by the appearance of several of the Skoolchildren, such as The Letter "M", Keef, Chunk, Brian, Willy, Poonchy, and Zita, who aren't seen attending the Skool either. This means that, should the series be revived, everyone would be in a different grade or be graduating to middle skool.
  • Gaz's eyes are open and visible significantly more often than usual throughout the movie.
  • The Irken Armada actually does arrive at Earth; this had previously happened in "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom", though that was a result of Zim tricking Dib with an illusion.
  • Dib's monologue foreshadowed the fact that the Irken Armada would arrive at Earth, just like in Dib's illusion in "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom".
  • Professor Membrane is revealed to have robotic arms, his real ones having apparently been lost to sharks he tried to befriend as a child. This is strange, as in the series he was always depicted with real arms, though it could be possible he had realistic cybernetic human arms until he decided to get an upgrade.
  • The Hazmat suit Gaz wears to protect herself from Dib's stink is labeled as "Gazmat", an obvious pun on her name and the name of the suit.
    NOT SCIENTIFICALLY POSSIBLE
  • Professor Membrane yelling "Not scientifically possible!" quickly became an iconic Internet meme.
  • In reality, Peace Day is a United Nations-sanctioned holiday, observed annually on September 21st.
  • Zim telling Dib that an Irken would never become a chair is ironic, given what happens to him in Issue 25.
  • The movie marks the first time that Professor Membrane has ever seen Zim out of his disguise, yet as he believes he's hallucinating at the time, nothing comes of this.
  • The film also marks the second time since "Battle of the Planets" where Dib travels outside of Earth as well as the second for Gaz since "Bloaty's Pizza Hog".
    • In an ironic twist despite having the technology, Zim never left the planet during the duration of the movie.
  • The fact that the Tallest are turned into puppets by the Florpus is ironic, given their love of puppets as previously shown in "Walk for Your Lives" and "Tak: The Hideous New Girl".
  • Several jokes from the series were reused in the movie:
    • Dib yelling at Zim, who only yells "What?!" back at him due to being unable to hear him, which previously happened in "Mortos der Soulstealer".
    • Red says that Zim is so close he can smell him, which Zim once said about Dib's brain in "NanoZIM".
    • The Computer saying "What?" in the same annoyed tone it used in "Tak: The Hideous New Girl".
    • In "Gaz, Taster of Pork" Gaz kicks Dib's door in with a giant spiky boot, Zim does the exact same thing when kicking the Membrane's house open after he teleported the Earth.
    • Additionally, how the Tallest refuse to change course despite being told several times by the Comms Officer that it was a bad idea is similar to how the Computer, Dib, and, more surprisingly, GIR told Zim that accelerating the explosion in "Walk for Your Lives" was a bad idea only for him to refuse to listen to reason.
      • It's possible that the Tallest were so traumatized by the events of "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars" since Zim piloted the Massive and nearly got them killed that they did not want to change course as a way of staying in control of the Irken flagship at all times.
  • Dib's alien-hunting briefcase first appeared in "Battle-Dib" and was taken by Zorphic at the end of the episode, hinting the one shown in the movie is a new one. This might show that Dib got his alien-hunting briefcase back.
  • In one scene, Zim briefly speaks Spanish, a possible hint that he learned the language while he and GIR were in Mexico at the end of "Walk of Doom".
    • Richard Horvitz can also speak Spanish as well.
  • The Computer and Gaz both speak in British accents at different points.
    • Zim even was able to tell it was a British accent as he asked his computer about it, this is curious as he hates everything about Earth at the moment and he wouldn’t care to learn about other cultures on the planet, furthermore he has never been seen going to the United Kingdom in the series or comics, so either it’s a joke for the sake of the plot, or Zim learned of the different accents on Earth or Zim has been in the U.K. off screen. Another Richard Horvitz-voiced character, Orthopox from the Destroy All Humans franchise, is essentially Zim's voice and inflections but with a British accent.
  • Jhonen Vasquez is not credited as Mr. Scolex, like in the series.
  • Despite the Control Brains appearing in Zim's daydream, whoever voiced them was uncredited.
  • Dib's food launcher from the Pilot is among the items in his garage, suggesting that the test episode is possibly canon.
  • The Tallest don't react to seeing Minimoose, implying that they've seen him before or they don't care.
  • GIR gains weight, like in the Halloween special and Issue 36, but unlike in those instances he's not morbidly obese, instead just being round and pudgy from all the pudding he eats.
  • Dib, Gaz, GIR, and Minimoose are the only characters seen eating Clembrane's pudding.
  • The Comms Officer previously appeared in both "Megadoomer" and "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars".
  • Dib growing immensely fat while waiting for Zim's return is similar to how Zim grew fat due to missing his rivalry with Dib in "Mopiness of Doom".
  • Zim appears to have grown more familiar with human technology, at one point using a smartphone, and when he sends the Tallest pictures of Dib, they're marked as JPG files.
  • GIR is shown knowing some basic science, as he knew that a potato could power up a light bulb.
    • He also knows some engineering as he was capable of making Zim a movable throne that shoots both fire and peanuts.
  • Oddly enough, Zim's robot army has human names rather than Irken names. This seems to imply they were manufactured on Earth and since he took over Membrane Labs, its likely they were made by the scientists and engineers who worked there but Professor Membrane was not aware of this as he was in Moo-Ping 10 at the time, which would explain why he said that he didn't hire any of them.
  • It is heavily implied that robots in this version of Earth can get jobs and get paid for their services as Professor Membrane has hired robots in the past whether for cooking or world peace.
    Membrane's Eyes

    Professor Membrane's eyes are finally revealed.

  • As dimensions are colliding, Professor Membrane's eyes are briefly seen, which are the same eye colors as that of his children.
  • The movie puts into question whether or not the comics are considered canon since some scenes are taken from some issues but lead to much different events. It's possible that Zim forgetting Phase 2 is the diverging point between the comic and movie continuities, as in the comics Zim remembers Phase 2 and carries it out.
  • The drawings seen in the end credits are the same ones GIR had drawn all over Zim's Base.
  • Unlike the rest of the series which aired on Nickelodeon, this is the only special ever to be released by Netflix.
  • This is the first (and so far only) time in the series in which there's a happy ending, as Dib not only wins over Zim satisfactorily, but also reconciles with his father and sister, resulting in the Membrane family growing more close. In addition, the Almighty Tallest are finally given their deserved comeuppance for their actions.
  • It's unknown whether or not the people of Earth fully believe that the events of the movie took place, or they believe it was a hallucination, similar to Professor Membrane's comments at the end.
  • Vasquez explained that the sky was blue in the movie in contrast to crimson in the series so that when Zim teleported Earth later in the film, the change in color would be more of an impact as to how much there is a stake.
  • Zim is sticking up the middle finger as he's talking to his computer (in the beginning of the movie).
  • Richard Horvitz revealed in a recent interview that Zim’s line during the climatic chase scene “Then why are you ugly?” Was improvised and Jhonen Vasquez loved it so much that they kept it on the movie.
  • According to Jhonen, many shots in the movie had art inconsistencies and errors that were never fixed, (presumably) due to a lack of time. [15][16]
  • At the San Diego Comic Con 2020 Invader Zim panel, Aaron Alexovich stated that he feels that the new designs for the characters in the movie look "cooler" than they did on the original show. However, fans did not take that too kindly to that as many felt that the original designs were more “gritty and dark” with goes with the theme of the show while the designs of the movie were more colorful which many felt lost part of what made the series unique.
  • Eric Trueheart said that after Enter the Florpus aired, nobody from Nickelodeon or Netflix called up Jhonen Vasquez to say, 'Hey, nice job.'
  • Despite Zim being the main character of the series, the movie is seen mostly from Dib's perspective, although fittingly Zim is the main villain of the movie and almost appeared as if he was going to succeed.
  • Jhonen Vasquez has confirmed that both Red and Purple are dead, having died in the Florpus Hole in the dimension of fire, and presumably met their end shortly after Zim's transmission with them disconnected. However, they make further appearances in the comics published after the movie's premiere, which seems to suggest a different continuity or that the Tallest did die and simply "got better" similar to Invader Skoodge.
  • The movie was praised by critics but had a mixed reaction from the fanbase.
  • The new art style used for the movie gained a mixed reaction from fans. Some praise the redesign for appealing to a new audience and generation, but many criticize the new style for looking childish, simple, colorful, round, safe, and cutesy compared to the show's edgy, sharp, and dark style. The fanbase also heavily disagreed on Aaron Alexovich preferring the new look over the original.
    • According to Richard Horvitz in an interview, he said that Jhonen Vasquez didn’t want to just make a tribute to the original show but he also wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to use the new tools available for the movie so he that partly explains the different animation style.

Movie and Comics Differences[]

A majority of the content in the movie's first act borrows events that occur in Issue 1 and the beginning of Issue 2 of the comic series but with several changes:

  • In the movie, Gaz now goes to check on Dib in his room wearing a hazmat suit humorously titled a “Gazmat”, a pun on her name. In the comics, Gaz simply went up to his room with her standard attire.
  • In the movie, Zim hides in a toilet that seems to be separate from his kitchen toilet. In the comics, it was clearly shown that he was hiding in the kitchen’s toilet. Also, in the comics, he was only accompanied by GIR, whereas Minimoose joins them in the film.
  • The movie added in a scene of a neighbor freaking out at Zim being an alien, Zim putting his disguise back on, and the neighbor declaring it a false alarm.
  • In the comics, Zim's flashback to hiding in the toilet is merely in his imagination. In the movie, it's revealed to be a video that he's showing Dib on his phone.
  • In the comics, Zim pointed at his bush shrubs to where he believed Gaz was hiding and told her to come out. This is omitted in the movie.
  • In the movie, Minimoose now joins in on the Zim’s neighborhood vandalism showcase by removing a pizza sticker attached to Poonchy’s mom’s car.
  • In Issue 1, GIR launches a poodle into space. In the movie, it's a pug.
  • In the movie, Zim forgets his next plan while contacting the Tallest in his base. In the comics, Zim contacts the Tallest in space in his Voot Runner, already knowing his plan and on his way to enact it.
  • In the comics, Purple mistakes Zim for Invader Jim, with Red correcting him. In the movie, this is reversed, with Red making the mistake and Purple correcting him.

Inconsistencies and Animation Errors[]

  • During Dib’s dramatic monologue on Zim, during a scene where Zim pops out of the shadows in his human disguise, it appears that his leg is briefly cut off in a similar manner that happened to him in "The Nightmare Begins".
  • In the TV series, the Tallest only have 2 fingers, whereas in the film they have thumbs. Of course, this can be contributed to the design update or the fact that it was implied that they simply hid their thumbs in their gauntlets.
  • Professor Membrane is revealed to have robotic arms, having lost his real ones as a kid to sharks. This is a possible continuity error, as Professor Membrane’s design in every previous media depicts him with short sleeves that clearly show he has actual arms under the gloves. A possible "in-universe" explanation is that he simply used realistic-looking artificial arms before upgrading prior to the movie.
  • When Dib bursts out of his house to talk to his father, Professor Membrane picks Dib up and for a brief moment, there are two frames of Dib that are overlapping.
  • When Dib enters Zim's base, the massive pile of nacho cheese, in which Zim is hiding, is absent.
  • During the keynote speech, just before Professor Membrane runs up to yell "Not scientifically possible!" at the excited audience member, he's still at the podium but members of the audience are already in midair as if being thrown aside by his run.
  • During the song, "Peace is Nice,' the camera pans to the right while showing a group of kids singing along. If you look closely at the right side of the screen, for a fraction of a second before the shot changes, you can see a kid's arm cut out briefly.
  • Despite Gaz having repaired Tak's ship enough to fly it in "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever", in the movie Dib says that he hasn't gotten the ship flyable because its AI won't let him, hinting that Gaz may have done something to it to annoy her brother, especially after he claimed to have fixed it in the Christmas special.
  • Zim has a human tongue when his Computer is showing him a holographic simulation of what the Florpus Hole will do to nearby worlds.
  • Zim mocked that neither Dib or Gaz have a spaceship to rescue their father with, despite the fact that he already discovered Dib was in the possession of Tak's ship, since he's seen evidence of that in both "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars" and "Dibship Rising", this may be because Zim either forgot about this or he thinks the ship can’t fly since he knew it needed to be fixed in the latter episode.
  • The Comms Officer's panel resets to a straight line when Red decides to simply blow up Earth and then resets again after Purple orders the ice cream truck to be blown up.
  • The tip of Zim's right antennae was missing when he was with GIR and Minimoose mockingly waving goodbye to Dib as he was being attacked by the army of robots.
  • Zim is at different points in the movie covered with nacho cheese and hit with a ham, things that have been shown to have negative reactions with his Irken biology, only for nothing to happen. This cannot be explained with the in-universe knowledge that Zim covers himself in paste because it is only known to protect him from contact to Earth’s water.
  • ETF Credits - copia

    Cast Credits fixed (right)

    Erroneously in the credits Paul Greenberg was not credited as the voice of Poonchy who was named as "Pizza Kid" by Jenny Goldberg.
    • This was eventually fixed as later showings of the movie added in the credits that Paul Greenberg correctly voiced Poonchy as well as Weird Alien # 2, Goldberg voiced Gloinky, Breehn Burns voicing a neighbor and Jhonen Vasquez providing the Alien Bees noises.
  • During several scenes (specially the ones in Moo-Ping 10 or the chase scene), Dib's pants switch between being colored black (like in the original series) and colored in a jeans-like blue.
  • In the climactic chase scene, when Dib is demanding Zim to give him Minimoose and Zim says "no" over and over, neither of their lips are moving.

Critical Reception[]

Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus has received mostly positive reviews from critics. Charles Pulliam-Moore of io9 wrote that "What Enter the Florpus does better than anything else is convey how much more potential there still is in the Invader Zim franchise", and noted that "By turning Zim into a legitimate threat ... Enter the Florpus both gives Dib a real reason to fight and makes you question which of them you'd want to win in the end".

Matthew Dougherty of IGN praised the film's animation and humor, and wrote that "Enter the Florpus didn't need to be a grand conclusion to the series, but it's also a movie that wants to have genuine stakes".

Palmer Haasch of Polygon lauded the portrayal of the relationship between Dib and Professor Membrane, calling it "The best thing" about the film.

Joe Matar of Den of Geek praised the film's "inventive moments and truly hilarious laugh-out-loud jokes", and wrote that "The art and animation look almost perfect", though he called the film's aesthetic "a little too bright and sterile".

Matthew Dougherty from IGN favorably compared Enter the Florpus to what Serenity did with Firefly, while also saying "The sci-fi elements are fun, the humor is wildly absurd, and the animation is breathtaking. In this case, that's enough for this return to be worth the wait.

Siobhan Ball from The Daily Dot gave the film 3/5 stars and said "With Enter the Florpus, Invader Zim has matured without losing any of the elements that endeared it to subculture teens in the first place."

Eric Vilas-Boas from Thrillist said "[It's] the dazzlingly animated space battles, and the firehose stream of gross and morbid humor that make Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus well worth the long, 17 year wait."

Kellen Beck from Mashable said "The best thing about Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus is the way it manages to perfectly capture the spirit of the TV show and transport my brain right back to the early [2000s]."

While Brandom Zachary from CBR.Com said that throughout the movie, small character beats are given plenty of emotion, particularly those involving Dib, while the grander scenes of the Irken Empire and trips through space stand out from a visual perspective. The movie looks great, especially when compared to the smaller scale of the original series. Technology and animation have advanced to a point where the big sci-fi moments get the level of detail and attention they deserve, something that was never quite able to be achieved in the series.

While parts of it work best if you're a longtime fan of the original show, Enter the Florpus still holds up as a standalone movie, mixing a hilarious tone with genuine human emotion. Invader Zim is, in a lot of ways, a precursor for modern animated sci-fi shows like Rick and Morty that have flourished in recent years, which occupy similar themes and concepts to those Zim was addressing almost two decades ago. Thankfully, the passing years haven't dulled any of the spark that first ignited the darkly comedic sci-fi series.

Sol Harris from Starburst Magazine gave the film a 7/10, saying "Enter the Florpus is a fairly typical Nickelodeon TV-movie in that it retains everything that made the show work - its humor, its characters, its tone - but it suffers from messy pacing."

Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the movie 3/5 stars. In her review Ashby criticized the frequent use of name calling and violence, but added that the movie "ends on a mostly satisfying and conclusive note" and that "Enter the Florpus will be best received by original Invader Zim fans" rather than newcomers.

In April 2021, YouTuber Ms. Mojo ranked Enter the Florpus as the tenth best series finale in its "Top 10 Memorable Nickelodeon Series Finales" video.

Enter the Florpus currently holds a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 22 reviews with an audience score of 90% and with the critics consensus saying "Invader Zim quits being banished all over again in Enter the Florpus, an excellent revival that captures the spirit of the cartoon while cranking the doom up to eleven."

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