The Nightmare Begins
Encyclopedia
"The Nightmare Begins" is the first episode of science fiction
comedy
series Invader Zim
, originally aired on March 30, 2001. This is also the first "full-length" episode of Invader Zim. Because of the absence of the opening title video, this is technically the longest episode of Invader Zim ever made. This is the first official episode to feature Richard Horvitz as Zim. In the pilot episode, he was first portrayed by Mark Hamill
, and then Billy West
. Shortly after the cancellation of The Angry Beavers
, Horvitz was brought in as a potential voice of Zim, and was asked to record over certain lines for the pilot. Though neither his nor Hamill's cuts made to an official release, Horvitz remained the voice of Zim for the remainder of the series.
, thus ending the assignment process. On Earth, a boy named Dib intercepts a signal and hears about the Irken invasion plan, though no one, these being his sister and father, takes any interest.
Invaders are receiving robot assistants called SIR (Standard-issue Information Retrieval) units. Not wanting to give away advanced technology to Zim, he is given a robot constructed of garbage named GIR. It is not known what, if anything, the G stands for. GIR appears unintelligent and Zim comments on this, but the Almighty Tallest lie and convince him all is well, telling him, "It's not stupid...It's advanced!". Zim and GIR head for Earth, and upon their arrival Zim picks disguises and constructs a base. The disguises scene involves cameos of the creator, Jhonen Vasquez
, and the director, Steve Ressel
. The next day Zim attends the local school as he believes he will learn about his enemy there. Dib is there and recognises Zim as an alien, but nobody else does. Dib makes an attempt to capture Zim but gives up when Zim gets to his base, as the front lawn is covered in laser firing lawn gnomes.
Prior to airing of Invader Zim, Nickelodeon
desired a series to suit its "eleven to fifteen year-old" demographic. The network hired alternative comic book
writer
Jhonen Vasquez
to create the series. Several ideas were considered by both Vasquez and the network, including a children-suited version of Mork and Mindy
, but were dropped by the creator, who believed such ideas did not suit his genre of writing. Vasquez indicated that in the final version of the series, very little of his writing style was changed, other than restricting language and certain visuals that may not be suitable for children, including that of visuals deemed by the network as similar to the September 11 attacks
The biggest difference that he cites is the change from working alone to working with thousands of people at Nickelodeon, calling it an "absolute misery". A pilot was originally pitched to the network in 1999, which featured many similar elements from the series, including a mysterious portrait of a monkey
hanging in Zim's house.
Vasquez asked his friend, Mark Tortorici, to produce ideas for the theme music
for Invader Zim. The two settled on a direction for the music and Tortorici and produced a final version of the theme. Vasquez's team selected Michael Tavera
to compose music for the pilot episode. Vasquez said that he asked for several of the tracks that Tavera produced to be discarded and that ultimately the team had less than half of the number of tracks that they planned to submit. According to Vasquez, he and Tavera were not creatively "a great fit" for one another. Vasquez described the pilot music as having a "more 'children's television' sound", with a "much more traditional and not as surprising" theme as he wanted, but added that the music "worked for the pilot". Tortorici's theme song and Tavera's cover version did not appear in the pilot as there was no credit sequence. Vasquez said that members of the Invader Zim crew laughed at Tavera's version of the theme because it was "cheesy", adding that the reaction was not mean-spirited and that Tavera had received little information about the series before submitting the music. Tavera did not become a part of the regular Invader Zim crew, while Kevin Manthei
created the series' music.
in a Wal-Mart
exclusive Nickelodeon
release, Nickstravangaza! #2. Mac McEntrie of DVD Verdict commented positively on the episode, praising the "Great Assigning", and "Doom song" scenes, as well as the creation of Zim's house. In 2001, Kyle Menke won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for "The Nightmare Begins" for his storyboarding, as did Steve Ressel
, who won an Annie for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production for "The Nightmare Begins". That same year, Steve Ressel, Jhonen Vasquez, and Mary Harrington won the World Animation Celebration award for Best Title Sequence. In 2002, the sound crew was nominated for the Golden Reel Award
for Best Sound Editing in Television - Animation for "The Nightmare Begins".
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
series Invader Zim
Invader Zim
Invader Zim is an American animated television series created by Jhonen Vasquez. It was produced by and subsequently aired on Nickelodeon. The series revolves around an extraterrestrial named Zim from the planet Irk, and his ongoing mission to conquer and destroy Earth...
, originally aired on March 30, 2001. This is also the first "full-length" episode of Invader Zim. Because of the absence of the opening title video, this is technically the longest episode of Invader Zim ever made. This is the first official episode to feature Richard Horvitz as Zim. In the pilot episode, he was first portrayed by Mark Hamill
Mark Hamill
Mark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars. More recently, he has received acclaim for his voice work, in such roles as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Firelord...
, and then Billy West
Billy West
William Richard "Billy" West is an American voice actor. Born in Detroit but raised in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Billy launched his career in the early 1980s performing daily comedic routines on Boston's WBCN. He left the radio station to work on the short-lived revival...
. Shortly after the cancellation of The Angry Beavers
The Angry Beavers
The Angry Beavers is an American animated television series created by Mitch Schauer for the Nickelodeon channel. The series revolves around Daggett and Norbert Beaver, two young beaver brothers who have left their home to become bachelors in the forest near Wayouttatown, Oregon. The show premiered...
, Horvitz was brought in as a potential voice of Zim, and was asked to record over certain lines for the pilot. Though neither his nor Hamill's cuts made to an official release, Horvitz remained the voice of Zim for the remainder of the series.
Plot
On the Irken-ruked planet Conventia, the start of a galactic conquest campaign known as Operation Impending Doom 2 is about to begin. The Irkens want all the races of the universe to serve under their already vast Empire, so they plan send Irken Invaders to make the planets vulnerable so the Irken Armada can easily invade and conquer them. Zim arrives uninvited, and it is revealed that Zim singlehandedly ruined the original Operation Impending Doom by stealing a Frontline Battle Mech and unwittingly annihilated a portion of his home planet, Irk. Reluctant to have Zim involved with the new operation, the Almighty Tallest, the two leaders of the Irken Empire, send Zim away to a distant planet on the other side of the Galaxy, represented on their galactic map as a sticky note with a circle drawn onto it with a question mark in the circle. It turns out to be EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, thus ending the assignment process. On Earth, a boy named Dib intercepts a signal and hears about the Irken invasion plan, though no one, these being his sister and father, takes any interest.
Invaders are receiving robot assistants called SIR (Standard-issue Information Retrieval) units. Not wanting to give away advanced technology to Zim, he is given a robot constructed of garbage named GIR. It is not known what, if anything, the G stands for. GIR appears unintelligent and Zim comments on this, but the Almighty Tallest lie and convince him all is well, telling him, "It's not stupid...It's advanced!". Zim and GIR head for Earth, and upon their arrival Zim picks disguises and constructs a base. The disguises scene involves cameos of the creator, Jhonen Vasquez
Jhonen Vasquez
Jhonen Vasquez , also known as Chancre Scolex or simply Mr. Scolex, is an American comic book writer, cartoonist and music video director...
, and the director, Steve Ressel
Steve Ressel
Steve Ressel is an animator, comic book artist, illustrator, producer, publisher, novelist, script writer, and director. Steve directed animated series such as Invader Zim, The Wild Thornberrys, Duckman, Stressed Eric, God, The Devil and Bob, Rugrats, and others.Ressel directed and produced the...
. The next day Zim attends the local school as he believes he will learn about his enemy there. Dib is there and recognises Zim as an alien, but nobody else does. Dib makes an attempt to capture Zim but gives up when Zim gets to his base, as the front lawn is covered in laser firing lawn gnomes.
Origin of Invader Zim
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
desired a series to suit its "eleven to fifteen year-old" demographic. The network hired alternative comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
Jhonen Vasquez
Jhonen Vasquez
Jhonen Vasquez , also known as Chancre Scolex or simply Mr. Scolex, is an American comic book writer, cartoonist and music video director...
to create the series. Several ideas were considered by both Vasquez and the network, including a children-suited version of Mork and Mindy
Mork and Mindy
Mork & Mindy is an American science fiction sitcom broadcast from 1978 until 1982 on ABC. The series starred Robin Williams as Mork, an alien who comes to Earth from the planet Ork in a small, one-man egg-shaped spaceship. Pam Dawber co-starred as Mindy McConnell, his human friend and roommate...
, but were dropped by the creator, who believed such ideas did not suit his genre of writing. Vasquez indicated that in the final version of the series, very little of his writing style was changed, other than restricting language and certain visuals that may not be suitable for children, including that of visuals deemed by the network as similar to the September 11 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
The biggest difference that he cites is the change from working alone to working with thousands of people at Nickelodeon, calling it an "absolute misery". A pilot was originally pitched to the network in 1999, which featured many similar elements from the series, including a mysterious portrait of a monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
hanging in Zim's house.
Vasquez asked his friend, Mark Tortorici, to produce ideas for the theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
for Invader Zim. The two settled on a direction for the music and Tortorici and produced a final version of the theme. Vasquez's team selected Michael Tavera
Michael Tavera
Michael "Mike" Tavera is an American composer. He has worked on countless TV series, TV films and direct-to-video sequels, usually animated.-Film:-Television:-External links:...
to compose music for the pilot episode. Vasquez said that he asked for several of the tracks that Tavera produced to be discarded and that ultimately the team had less than half of the number of tracks that they planned to submit. According to Vasquez, he and Tavera were not creatively "a great fit" for one another. Vasquez described the pilot music as having a "more 'children's television' sound", with a "much more traditional and not as surprising" theme as he wanted, but added that the music "worked for the pilot". Tortorici's theme song and Tavera's cover version did not appear in the pilot as there was no credit sequence. Vasquez said that members of the Invader Zim crew laughed at Tavera's version of the theme because it was "cheesy", adding that the reaction was not mean-spirited and that Tavera had received little information about the series before submitting the music. Tavera did not become a part of the regular Invader Zim crew, while Kevin Manthei
Kevin Manthei
Kevin Manthei is a composer for film, television, and video games.-Biography:Manthei grew up in Minnesota. He played the piano in his youth and played the trumpet in high school. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Music degree in Theory and Composition. He also studied...
created the series' music.
Writing
Prior to the episodes' airing, various scenes were cut due to time constraints. An early scene in the episode where the Tallest reminisce of Zim inadvertently laying waste to their capital planet Irk in a Frontline BattleMech during Operation Impending Doom 1 was meant to run over thirty minutes and was partially animated. However, the sequence was deemed too long by the production crew and was cut entirely. On the commentary it is also said that the Tallest are redesigned after this episode, which can be seen by their new armour the next time they appear in the episode Germs. All the main characters are introduced in this episode, as are the prominent locations used in the series. Important plot points such as the conflict between Zim and Dib are presented. This conflict continues throughout the series with brief moments when they're forced to work together. The episode ensures to emphasise how Dib is seen as different, with characters siding with Zim from the moment they've met him, whilst having hatred for Dib.Reception
"The Nightmare Begins" was well-received overall by television critics, and was included alongside various other NicktoonsNicktoons
Nicktoons are animated television shows that are produced by and aired on the children's television channel Nickelodeon. Prior to 1991, Nickelodeon aired mostly foreign made animated series. The idea for Nicktoons was formed in 1989 and on Sunday, August 11, 1991, the first Nicktoon, Doug, was...
in a Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
exclusive Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
release, Nickstravangaza! #2. Mac McEntrie of DVD Verdict commented positively on the episode, praising the "Great Assigning", and "Doom song" scenes, as well as the creation of Zim's house. In 2001, Kyle Menke won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for "The Nightmare Begins" for his storyboarding, as did Steve Ressel
Steve Ressel
Steve Ressel is an animator, comic book artist, illustrator, producer, publisher, novelist, script writer, and director. Steve directed animated series such as Invader Zim, The Wild Thornberrys, Duckman, Stressed Eric, God, The Devil and Bob, Rugrats, and others.Ressel directed and produced the...
, who won an Annie for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production for "The Nightmare Begins". That same year, Steve Ressel, Jhonen Vasquez, and Mary Harrington won the World Animation Celebration award for Best Title Sequence. In 2002, the sound crew was nominated for the Golden Reel Award
Golden Reel Award
Golden Reel Award may refer to:* Golden Reel Award , presented by the Genie Awards to high-grossing Canadian films...
for Best Sound Editing in Television - Animation for "The Nightmare Begins".