Neko Con Panels - Rosearik Rikki Simons and Tavisha
Wolfgarth-Simons
Invader
Zim isn't anime, but anime convention fans haven't cared. They've loved
Jhonen Vasquez' offbeat stories printed by Slave Labor Graphics, and were
thrilled when Zim was picked up by the Nickelodeon cable service. The Zim
deal also was a chance for artist Rosearik Rikki Simons to advance in the
animation world as a colorist and voice actor for Zim. Rikki
and wife Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons were dedicated Zim fans, and they
were as disappointed as anyone else when Nickelodeon dropped the show after
less than one year on the air, leaving more than one season's episodes
unseen. When the Simons appeared at a Saturday NekoCon panel, all the fans
wanted to hear was their take on the end of Zim, and that's what they got.
In short, Rikki Simons said that Zim disappeared in a battle of wills between
Vasquez and the cable executive - and he takes Vasquez' side of the argument.
"Everything
that anyone does at Nickelodeon is run through a committee of executives,"
said Simons. He wasn't part of those discussions and heard much of the
story second hand, but what Simons heard was there wasn't any executive
support for the unusual Zim stories. "Most of the things that made the
audience laugh the most, they never liked. It wasn't their style of humor.
They are terrified of offending anyone who would plop their kids in front
of the TV and babysit them - that's what that channel is for. I think
it's an unfounded fear, but a fear that Nickelodeon would adhere to all
the time, that if this show was mean spirited enough, that parents wouldn't
place their kids in front of the TV sets any more." It's worth noting here
to point out that Nickelodeon is one of the top performing branches of
MTV Networks and Viacom, and that cable service is under great pressure
to make money in an economic downturn.
Zim was
a project from Nickelodeon's west coast arm in Burbank, California while
the service is run from New York. "I do not think New York knew what they
were getting into until it was too late," Rikki Simons said. "I think the
producers at Burbank were hoping it would work." Simons said the budget
for a Zim episode was $500,000 and for their money, the company expected
to get a safer project than a risk-taking artist wanted to produce. "They
do expect to change the creators' outlook on their own work. Jhonen is
a person you can not change - ever. They told Jhonen that kids don't like
monsters, robots and aliens. They said that kids like stories that involve
school. They wanted most of the stories to center around the school that
Zim was attending and how he tried to fit in, and probably to eventually
make him into a nice guy." Instead, the Zim that Nickelodeon got had stories
which, Simons admits, did have mean-spirited humor, but he feels the series
had funny episodes. So what about the unseen Zim episodes? Simons has heard
nothing to hint they'll ever be shown anywhere.
Invader
Zim isn't anime, but anime convention fans haven't cared. They've loved
Jhonen Vasquez' offbeat stories printed by Slave Labor Graphics, and were
thrilled when Zim was picked up by the Nickelodeon cable service. The Zim
deal also was a chance for artist Rosearik Rikki Simons to advance in the
animation world as a colorist and voice actor for Zim. 
"Everything
that anyone does at Nickelodeon is run through a committee of executives,"
said Simons. He wasn't part of those discussions and heard much of the
story second hand, but what Simons heard was there wasn't any executive
support for the unusual Zim stories. "Most of the things that made the
audience laugh the most, they never liked. It wasn't their style of humor.
They are terrified of offending anyone who would plop their kids in front
of the TV and babysit them - that's what that channel is for. I think
it's an unfounded fear, but a fear that Nickelodeon would adhere to all
the time, that if this show was mean spirited enough, that parents wouldn't
place their kids in front of the TV sets any more." It's worth noting here
to point out that Nickelodeon is one of the top performing branches of
MTV Networks and Viacom, and that cable service is under great pressure
to make money in an economic downturn.
Zim was
a project from Nickelodeon's west coast arm in Burbank, California while
the service is run from New York. "I do not think New York knew what they
were getting into until it was too late," Rikki Simons said. "I think the
producers at Burbank were hoping it would work." Simons said the budget
for a Zim episode was $500,000 and for their money, the company expected
to get a safer project than a risk-taking artist wanted to produce. "They
do expect to change the creators' outlook on their own work. Jhonen is
a person you can not change - ever. They told Jhonen that kids don't like
monsters, robots and aliens. They said that kids like stories that involve
school. They wanted most of the stories to center around the school that
Zim was attending and how he tried to fit in, and probably to eventually
make him into a nice guy." Instead, the Zim that Nickelodeon got had stories
which, Simons admits, did have mean-spirited humor, but he feels the series
had funny episodes. So what about the unseen Zim episodes? Simons has heard
nothing to hint they'll ever be shown anywhere.
