Inanimate Insanity Invitational

Inanimate Insanity Invitational (also known as Inanimate Insanity III/Inanimate Insanity 3) is the third season of Inanimate Insanity created by Adam Katz and directed by Taylor Grodin, Brian Koch and Justin Chapman.

The series was first announced on the Inanimate Insanity Direct that was broadcasted on AnimationEpic's YouTube channel on April 1, 2021, the 10th Anniversary of Inanimate Insanity. The first episode was released on April 3, 2021, two days later.

Overview
Sometime during the events of Inanimate Insanity II, nine fan-selected contestants received VIP invitations under the guise of seeing Spoiled Lemon, a popular band, playing live at a vacation resort. Once they arrive on the tropical island called Paradise, the invitations are revealed to be fake, and the contestants are swindled into yet another competition hosted by MePhone4 alongside nine brand new contestants, for a total of eighteen contestants split into three teams of six, eventually named The Sinkers, The Thinkers and The Pinkers. The teams were later rearranged into two teams of six in Episode 7. The teams then compete in various challenges created by MePhone4 in the familiar style of the previous seasons. The team that loses is then up for elimination, while the two other teams are safe from elimination.

At eliminations, contestants will vote for who they would like to eliminate from their own team. The contestant with the most votes is eliminated and sent to Indefinite Island where they are given the choice to remain for a chance to rejoin the game, or leave. Although viewers cannot vote for contestants to be eliminated, they are able to vote for one contestant from each of the three teams after every episode to be given immunity and be safe from elimination. Voting is held at inanimateinsanity.com/vote and usually has a window of about a week after every episode airs.

This season has been stated to have a far different approach to the competition than its predecessors. Although it is still character-driven, the stories are less intense and dark like Season 2 and adopt a more light-hearted competition-angled approach, similar to Season 1. According to Adam Katz, the goal of Season 3 was to return to the original roots of the show.

Returning

 * Balloon
 * Bow
 * Box
 * Fan
 * Nickel
 * OJ
 * Paintbrush
 * Test Tube
 * Yin-Yang

Debuting

 * Blueberry
 * Cabby
 * Candle
 * Clover
 * Goo
 * Lifering
 * Silver Spoon
 * Tea Kettle
 * The Floor

Host

 * MePhone4

Elimination Order
See also: Elimination Tables

Favorite Contestant Voting
On February 13, 2021, a video called "Inanimate Insanity - VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE!" was released prompting viewers to vote for their favorite character among the contestants from Season 1 and Season 2. In the Inanimate Insanity Direct, following the announcement of the third season, Adam confirmed that they took the results of the favorite character poll into consideration when creating the cast of Season 3. However, any "important characters" tied to Season 2's ongoing story were intentionally excluded.

On April 10, 2021, the results were displayed in "Why We Made Inanimate Insanity Season 3". There were 22,155 votes in total. Contestants with green votes joined the season, contestants with red votes were excluded.

Although Lightbulb, Knife, and Suitcase had enough votes, they were excluded from consideration. Additionally, Taco also had enough votes but was tied to the season's drama. It was stated that although Microphone did not get enough votes to join the season, she would still be excluded due to her Season 2 story-arc ending.

Trivia

 * This season began on April 3, 2021, and coincidently, April was the same month its two predecessors began.
 * The date is patterned with the previous seasons’ release dates. Season 1 premiered on April 1st, 2011, and Inanimate lnsanity ll premiered on April 2nd, 2013.
 * Additionally, the date of Season 3 is descending count-down, 4/3/21, while the intro of the starts with a count-up to the number three.
 * Like the previous two seasons, this season uses a new unique art style, featuring different colors for existing contestants and new looks for the eyes, mouths and limbs.
 * The style is somewhat reminiscent of the Inanimate Insanity Shorts "Waffling About" and "Seas the Day", but with notably less choppier animation and less of a Paper-Mario like style.
 * The third season was announced at the end of the Inanimate Insanity Direct.
 * It was teased as a "big announcement" shortly before.
 * The broadcast confirmed that Season 2 would still continue as planned and will run alongside Season 3, and that the 15th episode of Season 2 is in development.
 * The season's abbreviation is III, which is 3 in Roman Numerals, in reference to the third season.
 * As of this season, Balloon, Nickel, and Paintbrush are the only contestants who have competed in every season of Inanimate Insanity.
 * As of this season, Bow and OJ are the only two contestants who have competed in Season 1 but not in Season 2.
 * Lifering is the only newcomer to Inanimate Insanity Invitational that appeared in previous content.
 * This is similar to both Fan and Cheesy in Season 2, as they appeared as minor characters in Season 1 and became contestants in Season 2.
 * This is the first season to:
 * Introduce confessionals.
 * Have three teams instead of two.
 * Allow viewers vote for contestant immunity instead of elimination.
 * Solely have contestant-voted eliminations with no viewer-voted eliminations.
 * Incorporate contestants who competed in Season 1 and not Season 2.
 * Not have Marshmallow, Apple, Baseball, Knife, or Lightbulb competing.
 * Premiere before a previous season has ended, with Season 2 having two episodes left at the time of the premiere.
 * Not utilize "Aces High" as the intro song. Though the intro music takes inspiration from the tune.
 * This season's intro was animated by Niall Burns. The music was created by John Mietus.
 * In "Why We Made Inanimate Insanity Season 3" it was confirmed that each new episode of this season is planned to be released every 4-6 weeks.
 * The season, however, has taken short breaks during the summer and winter.
 * It was revealed in The Music Behind Inanimate Insanity that the season was originally called Inanimate Insanity: Fans vs. Favorites.
 * This the third consecutive season where a male is the first contestant eliminated. This is also the third season where a male is also the second contestant eliminated.