The Amazing Digital Circus
Genre
Created byGooseworx
Inspired by"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison
Directed byGooseworx
Voices of
Theme music composerGooseworx
Opening theme"The Amazing Digital Circus Main Theme" (vocals by Lizz Robinett)
Ending theme"Digital Days"
Composers
  • Evan Alderete
  • Gooseworx
Country of origin
  • Australia
  • United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes1
Production
Executive producers
  • Kevin Lerdwichagul
  • Luke Lerdwichagul
ProducerKevin Lerdwichagul
EditorGooseworx
Running time25 minutes, 45 seconds
Production companyGlitch Productions
Original release
NetworkYouTube
ReleaseOctober 13, 2023 (2023-10-13) –
present (present)

The Amazing Digital Circus is an independent animated web series created and directed by Gooseworx and produced by Glitch Productions.[1] The series follows a group of humans who attempt to maintain their sanity after becoming trapped inside a circus-themed virtual reality game.

The series premiered on Glitch Productions' YouTube channel on October 13, 2023.[2] It received critical acclaim for its animation, mature humor, and characters, and amassed over 100 million views in a month, surpassing Hazbin Hotel's pilot as the most viewed independent animation pilot on the platform.[3]

Production

The Amazing Digital Circus originated from one of three pitches presented to Glitch Productions by YouTube animator Gooseworx, who the company reached out to create a pilot after the success of Gooseworx's animated short Little Runmo.[4] Inspirations for the show include the short story I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream and the Japanese CGI-animated series Popee the Performer.[5][6]

The show's art style was inspired by CGI and computer games from the 1990s and early 2000s, with the final product described by Gooseworx as a "rose-tinted version" of early 3D animation.[4] Pre-production began in mid-2022, with production starting in full later that year. The characters were modelled and animated in Maya, with the models and animations then exported to Unreal Engine for final rendering.[7][8]

Jasmine Yang, general manager at Glitch Productions, has stated there are no plans for the show to be put on streaming platforms besides YouTube.[4] Gooseworx is planning for the show to have one season of eight episodes.[9] In a post celebrating the pilot episode reaching 100 million views, Glitch confirmed the production of episodes beyond the pilot.[10]

Voice cast

  • Lizzie Freeman as Pomni, the most recent human to be trapped in the circus, who is stuck in the body of a jester.
  • Alex Rochon as Caine (abbr. Creative Artificial Intelligence Networking Entity[11]), the circus' unstable AI ringmaster.
  • Michael Kovach as Jax, a humanoid purple rabbit who takes delight in pranking and bullying the other cast members.
  • Amanda Hufford as Ragatha, a kindly rag doll who attempts to maintain an optimistic attitude towards her situation.
  • Marissa Lenti as Gangle, a humanoid ribbon who wears fragile comedy and tragedy masks that represent her current mood.
  • Sean Chiplock as Kinger, a paranoid and forgetful king chess piece who has been trapped in the circus the longest.
  • Ashley Nichols as Zooble, an irritable humanoid mix-and-match toy.
  • Gooseworx as Bubble, Caine's soap bubble assistant.
  • Elsie Lovelock as the Gloink Queen, ruler of the pest-like Gloinks.

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Pilot"GooseworxGooseworxOctober 13, 2023 (2023-10-13)
After donning a virtual reality headset, a woman becomes trapped in a circus-themed computer game inhabited by the artificial intelligence ringmaster Caine, his assistant Bubble, and six other trapped humans: Jax, Ragatha, Gangle, Kinger, Zooble, and Kaufmo. The woman—renamed "Pomni" after forgetting her original name—repeatedly notices exit doors that Caine dismisses as hallucinations. While Caine tasks the group with an adventure to stop an infestation of creatures called Gloinks, Ragatha and Jax take Pomni to meet Kaufmo, whom they discover has succumbed to despair and "abstracted" into a mindless beast. Seeking Caine's help after Kaufmo causes Ragatha to glitch, Pomni instead finds and enters the exit door, which leads her through a labyrinth of office spaces to the Void, an out-of-bounds area. Caine returns Pomni to the circus, reuniting her with the others who have finished the adventure. After imprisoning Kaufmo in the cellar with other abstracted humans and repairing Ragatha, Caine admits he created the "exit" to fulfill the group's desire for one, but left it unfinished after being unable to decide what to put behind the door. Caine rewards the group for completing the adventure with a feast of digital food, which Pomni attends in silence.

Reception

Critical reception

The pilot for The Amazing Digital Circus became a viral video on YouTube,[5] amassing over 100 million views in a month and gaining over four million likes.[4][10] The series was praised by critics for its quality of animation and depth of characters:[1][4][3] Jamie Lang of Cartoon Brew described the show's jokes as "timed with frame-to-frame perfection", with a "mature" sense of humor.[4] The animation was praised by Justin Guerrero as "wonderful and expressive"; Lang likewise praised it for its brightly colored retro aesthetic.[1][4] Jade King of TheGamer praised its for creating a "deeper expansion of its characters than a single episode could ever conjure"; she commented on its inclusion in internet culture with the creation of The Amazing Digital Circus-related fan art and memes, viewing it as likely to receive more popularity with the release of further episodes.[3]

Awards and nominations

Year Award CategoryNominee(s) ResultRef.
2024 Annie Awards Best Character Animation - TV/Media The Amazing Digital Circus: Pilot Pending [12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Guerrero, Justin (October 25, 2023). "REVIEW: THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS is a jaw-dropping dark comedy". The Beat. Archived from the original on November 3, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  2. ↑ Valens, Ana (October 25, 2023). "Where and How To Watch 'The Amazing Digital Circus'". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 King, Jade (November 16, 2023). "The Amazing Digital Circus Is The Biggest Indie Animation In Years". TheGamer. Archived from the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lang, Jamie (October 26, 2023). "'The Amazing Digital Circus' Creator Gooseworx On Developing The Internet's Hottest Animated Pilot". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Stanford, Kaitlin (November 2, 2023). "What is the web series 'The Amazing Digital Circus'? Why are people obsessed with it?". Yahoo Finance. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  6. ↑ Belenkova, Daria (November 13, 2023). "«Удивительный цифровой цирк»: этот мультик свёл интернет с ума | Обзоры сериалов | Мир фантастики и фэнтези" [“The Amazing Digital Circus”: this cartoon drove the Internet crazy]. World of science fiction and fantasy (in Russian). Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  7. ↑ McKenzie, Theodore (November 7, 2023). "GLITCH on Character Animations in The Amazing Digital Circus". 80 Level. Archived from the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  8. ↑ Guerrero, Justin (December 4, 2023). "INTERVIEW: Kevin Temmer of The Amazing Digital Circus on the animation and Behind The Scenes". Comics Beat. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  9. ↑ Valens, Ana (December 1, 2023). "'The Amazing Digital Circus' Creators Have Plans for a Full Season". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  10. 1 2 Reyna, Leo (November 30, 2023). "Indie Cartoon The Amazing Digital Circus Surpasses 150M Views". CBR. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Gooseworx". Tumblr. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Nominations". Annie Awards. January 11, 2024. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
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