The Amazing Digital Circus

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The Amazing Digital Circus
Genre
Created byGooseworx
Inspired by"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream"
by Harlan Ellison
Written byGooseworx
Directed byGooseworx
Storyboarded byRobin French (lead)
Neda Lay
Voices of
Theme music composerGooseworx
Opening theme"The Amazing Digital Circus Main Theme" (vocals by Lizz Robinett, pilot only)
Ending theme"Digital Days"
Composers
  • Evan Alderete
  • Gooseworx
Country of origin
  • Australia
  • United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes2
Production
Executive producers
  • Kevin Lerdwichagul
  • Luke Lerdwichagul
ProducerKevin Lerdwichagul
Editors
  • Gooseworx
  • Luke Lerdwichagul
  • Abhignya Cavale
Running time25 minutes
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 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, dark humor, and characters, amassing over 300 million views, surpassing Hazbin Hotel's pilot as the most viewed independent animation pilot on the platform.[3] The pilot also received an Annie Award nomination.

The series' second episode surpassed 30 million views the day after its release, compared to the pilot episode that received 3 million views over a three day period.[4]

Voice cast

Main

  • 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, the circus' wacky yet 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.

Guest

  • Elsie Lovelock as the Gloink Queen, ruler of the pest-like Gloinks.
  • Vera Tan as Princess Loolilalu, princess of the Candy Canyon Kingdom.
  • Jack Hawkins as Gummigoo, an alligator-like NPC who befriends Pomni.
    • Hawkins also voices Chad, one of Gummigoo's partners.
  • Hamish Plaggemars as Max, Gummigoo's other partner.
  • Lyle Rath as the Fudge Monster, a candy-made creature who inhabits the kingdom.

Episodes

No.TitleOriginal release date
1"Pilot"October 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 an exit door that Caine dismisses as a hallucination. While Caine sends the group on 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. Pomni seeks Caine's help after Kaufmo causes Ragatha to glitch, but deserts Ragatha upon finding and entering the exit, which leads her through a labyrinth of office spaces to the "void", an out-of-bounds area. Caine rescues Pomni as the others return from their adventure following Kaufmo's interference. After imprisoning Kaufmo in a cellar with other abstracted humans and repairing Ragatha, Caine admits he created the "exit" to fulfill the group's desire for one, but could never decide what to put behind the door, leaving it unfinished. Deeming the adventure complete, Caine rewards the group with a feast of non-sustaining digital food, which Pomni attends in silence.
2"Candy Carrier Chaos!"May 3, 2024 (2024-05-03)
Caine sends the group to a new map, the Candy Canyon Kingdom, on an adventure to recover a tanker of stolen maple syrup from bandit non-player characters (NPCs). During a chase, Pomni and the bandits' leader, Gummigoo, are ejected from the map by a glitch caused when their vehicles collide. Out of bounds, Gummigoo discovers spare models of himself and the other NPCs, and realizes his reality is fabricated. Pomni empathizes with his feelings of worthlessness, and invites him to live at the circus to find new meaning in his life with her. The two return to the map by performing another collision glitch with a replica syrup tanker, which they leave for the other bandits to peacefully resolve the conflict. Shortly after Gummigoo enters the circus, however, Caine deletes him to keep himself from confusing the humans and NPCs. Pomni is distraught, but finds comfort and acceptance within the group when they bring her to a funeral for the abstracted Kaufmo.

Background and production

Glitch Productions initially noticed Gooseworx's animated short Little Runmo, which Jasmine Yang, development producer and general manager of Glitch, felt was exactly what they wanted to do: "It was funny, a little dark, and definitely very weird, like nothing we had seen before". Glitch contacted Gooseworx and asked her to create a pilot, which she accepted.[5] Gooseworx presented three pitches to Glitch, and the one that would become The Amazing Digital Circus was chosen.[5] Knowing that the pilot would be in 3D, she tried to create an idea that would best fit that style, mentioning, in particular, her inspiration from "really old 3D stuff from the 1990s and early 2000s, where it looked kinda bad and creepy but was also completely unrestricted creatively."[5] Yang said that the pitch's "1990s computer render art style" and nostalgic references to toys and computer games caught their attention, feeling that their audience would enjoy these characteristics.[5] In developing the show's visuals, they wanted it to resemble early CGI animated films and series without seeming outdated. Gooseworx and Glitch worked to create a balance between retro 3D and toys; Gooseworx initially wanted the show to be "pure and faithful to the retro rendering style of early 3D animation". Ultimately, they went with a "rose-tinted version" of that style.[5]

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.[6][7]

Inspirations for the show include the short story I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, the I Spy book series, and the Japanese CGI-animated series Popee the Performer.[8]

Release

Jasmine Yang, general manager at Glitch Productions, has stated there are no plans for the show to be put on streaming platforms besides YouTube.[5] The series was confirmed to be receiving additional episodes beyond the pilot in a November 2023 post by Glitch Productions, celebrating the pilot episode reaching 100 million views.[9] In February 2024, Glitch confirmed the series would consist of ten episodes total,[10] with the pilot being "upgraded" to episode 1.[11] A trailer for the second episode was released on April 19, 2024.[12]

Reception

Critical reception

The pilot for The Amazing Digital Circus became a viral video on YouTube,[8][5] amassing over 300 million views and gaining over five million likes.[5][9] The series was praised by critics for its quality of animation and depth of characters:[1][5][3] Jamie Lang of Cartoon Brew described the show's jokes as "timed with frame-to-frame perfection", with a "mature" sense of humor.[5] The animation was praised by Justin Guerrero as "wonderful and expressive"; Lang likewise praised it for its brightly colored retro aesthetic.[1][5] Jade King of TheGamer praised it 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 Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2024 Annie Awards Best Character Animation – TV/Media The Amazing Digital Circus: Pilot – Kevin Temmer Nominated [13]

References

  1. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c 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. ^ "GLITCH - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ a b Stanford, Kaitlin (November 2, 2023). "What is the web series The Amazing Digital Circus? Why are people obsessed with it?". In The Know. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023 – via Yahoo Finance.
  9. ^ a b Reyna, Leo (November 30, 2023). "Indie Cartoon The Amazing Digital Circus Surpasses 150M Views". CBR. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  10. ^ Lang, Jamie (February 23, 2024). "First Look: Breakout Indie Hit The Amazing Digital Circus Is Getting Nine More Episodes". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  11. ^ Glitch Productions (February 23, 2024). Pomni Wake Up Time To Go On An Adventure. Glitch Productions. Retrieved February 23, 2024 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ Burlingame, Russ (April 19, 2024). "The Amazing Digital Circus: Episode 2 Trailer Released". ComicBook.com. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  13. ^ Flores, Terry (January 11, 2024). "Netflix's Nimona Leads Annie Awards 2024 Nominations". Variety. Retrieved April 26, 2024.

External links

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