Date of Award

4-15-2026

Document Type

Honors

Degree Name

General Beadle Honors Program

First Advisor

Daniel Welynn

Second Advisor

Dr. Kurt Kemper

Abstract

PAX began as a comic drawn in a notebook in 2020 and has developed into the outline of a full animated series. Inspired by the actions of selfish or misinformed citizens refusing to wear masks or quarantine themselves during the height of the coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic, PAX began as a comic about a girl surviving in a post-apocalyptic wasteland: a reality where nobody reacted to the many warning signs of the impending alien invasion. This reflected my perception at the time that nobody was taking COVID seriously. Recently, PAX has taken on a slightly more hopeful tone, where the invasion has only just begun, and it may not be too late. As a narrative device, the early version of PAX was too bleak to seem hopeful and left no room for a potential recovery from challenges society faced. It also did not allow for narrative development surrounding the subplots of environmental disaster and willful ignorance because the story was over, PAX was simply a reflection of how isolated and helpless the pandemic made many citizens feel. In retrospect, many people contributed to keeping COVID at bay as much as they could, and without the efforts of these scientists and citizens, the outcome could have been much worse than it was. PAX’s new plot reflects this hope, as one citizen of Piermoore, a young adult called Cori, notices the ship and wants nothing more than to understand it. This new protagonist is an evolution of Dib Membrane from Invader Zim. Like Dib, Cori is fascinated by the unexplained and the supernatural. Unlike Dib, Cori believes aliens can be good. She is obsessed with mystery and wonder and dreams of being abducted by aliens, if only to see what they are like. In contrast, Dib wants to dissect aliens to gain fame and respect from other scientists. My thesis, PAX: When Apathy Invades, draws from the works of animators Tim Burton and Jhonen Vasquez and the animation studio Cartoon Saloon. Burton and Vasques both use sharp corners and details such as sharp teeth or large eyes to evict a macabre art style that matches the grim fantasies their work is set in. Vasques’s work for TV show Invader Zim is particularly inspiring for PAX, with its citizens drawn as grotesque caricatures of regular people, stripped down to their basic traits: greasy businessmen, pale and paranoid conspiracy theorists, piglike consumers, and impressionable children with bulging eyes. This aesthetic influences the narrative disparagement of Piermoore, the fictional town my thesis, PAX, is set in. A recurring theme in Invader Zim is that society is too self-absorbed to notice any of the many alien threats throughout the series. Citizens in PAX will be similarly designed after their core flaws, but unlike Invader Zim, society is more apathetic than self-absorbed, slowly drained to a point where they have lost the ability to care or the will to rebel. PAX appeals to the science fiction loving audience of Invader Zim while taking itself more seriously and giving the characters the capacity to evolve over time. Though the protagonists of PAX only just meet in my 1-minute animation, it will be apparent that there is a story arc of character development from the start, as Pax and Cori establish a mystery that needs solving when Pax appears in the woods, apparently having been abducted, with no memory. Much of PAX will take place in nature, which is unusual for a sci-fi show and requires a slightly different stylistic approach than most. Softer outlines will create a more natural look for plants, but it could clash with a bold art style if it were done exactly as Invader Zim was. This is where the work of studio Cartoon Saloon is essential to the art design of Pax. The stylistic impact of Cartoon Saloon is different from that of Vasques and Burton because this studio’s work emphasizes the beauty of nature. “Wolfwalkers” is a prime example of Cartoon Saloon’s ability to use rough texture and imperfect lines to create natural beauty; guidelines and sketches appear as faint details over the finished animation, which create an unpolished and natural look. This approach also creates the illusion of more detail to otherwise very simple geometric designs. Since PAX takes place in the small town of Piermoore, surrounded by wildlife and a large lake, an unpolished accent to the art style will help soften the angular designs and connect the characters to nature. Being able to fully display the beauty of some nature in PAX will also create a greater contrast with the withering fauna around the town.

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