| The Amazing Digital Circus | |
|---|---|
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| Genre |
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| Created by | Gooseworx |
| Written by | Gooseworx |
| Directed by | Gooseworx |
| Storyboarded by | Neda Lay |
| Voices of |
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| Theme music composer | Gooseworx |
| Opening theme | "The Amazing Digital Circus Main Theme" (vocals by Lizz Robinett, pilot only) |
| Ending theme | "Digital Days" |
| Composers |
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| Country of origin |
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| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 2 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producer | Kevin Lerdwichagul |
| Editor | Gooseworx |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company | Glitch Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | YouTube |
| Release | October 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, dark humor, and characters, and amassed over 300 million views, surpassing Hazbin Hotel's pilot as the most viewed independent animation pilot on the platform.[3] The short also received an Annie Award nomination.
The second episode's premiere viewership achieved 30 million in a day, compared to the pilot episode that received 3 million over a three day period.[4]
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.[5] 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.[6][7]
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.[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.[8][9]
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] In a November 2023 post celebrating the pilot episode reaching 100 million views, Glitch confirmed the production of episodes beyond the pilot.[10] In January 2024, Lizzie Freeman reprised her role as Pomni for the promotional song "Jester (Pomni's Song)",[11] while the same month, Freeman and the rest of the cast reprised their roles for the promotional song "Digital Hallucination", animated music videos for each released to YouTube.[12] In February 2024, Glitch confirmed the series would consist of nine episodes in addition to the pilot,[13] which would be "upgraded" to episode 1.[14]
| No. | Title | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | October 13, 2023 (2023-10-13) | |
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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.
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| 2 | "Candy Carrier Chaos!" | May 3, 2024 (2024-05-03) | |
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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.
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The pilot for The Amazing Digital Circus became a viral video on YouTube,[6] amassing over 300 million views and gaining over five million likes.[5][10] 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]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Annie Awards | Best Character Animation – TV/Media | The Amazing Digital Circus: Pilot – Kevin Temmer | Nominated | [15] |
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