The Amazing Digital Circus

''The Amazing Digital Circus'' is an independent-animated web series created and directed by Gooseworx and produced by Glitch Productions. The series follows a group of humans trapped inside a circus-themed virtual reality game, where they are troubled by a rogue artificial intelligence while coping with personal traumas and psychological tendencies. Gooseworx pitched the series to Glitch, inspired by 1990s computer-generated imagery and the short story "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by American writer Harlan Ellison.

The series began production in 2022, and its pilot episode premiered on Glitch Productions' YouTube channel on October 13, 2023. The pilot went viral and became one of the most-viewed animation pilots on the platform. The short was praised by critics for its animation and dark themes, and it was nominated for an Annie Award. The full series entered production following the pilot's popularity.

Synopsis

''The Amazing Digital Circus'' follows a cast of humans—Pomni, Jax, Ragatha, Gangle, Kinger, and Zooble—who have become trapped in the titular circus, a virtual reality game. Under the direction of their ringmaster, the artificial intelligence Caine, they engage in nonsensical adventures at the risk of losing their sanity and "abstracting" into digital monsters.

Voice cast

Main

* Lizzie Freeman as Pomni, the most recent human to be trapped in the circus. She takes the form of a jester.
* Alex Rochon as Caine, the circus' wacky yet unstable AI ringmaster with a set of teeth for a head.
* Michael Kovach as Jax, a mischievous man who enjoys pranking and bullying the other cast members. He takes the form of a tall purple humanoid rabbit.
* Amanda Hufford as Ragatha, a kindly woman who attempts to maintain an optimistic attitude towards her situation. She takes the form of a rag doll.
* Marissa Lenti as Gangle, a woman with a ribbon body and interchangeable comedy and tragedy masks that represent her current mood.
* Sean Chiplock as Kinger, a paranoid and forgetful man who has been trapped longer than the other humans. He takes the form of a king chess piece.
* Ashley Nichols as Zooble, an irritable person who lacks interest in the group's adventures. Their body is made of mix-and-match blocks, which changes in appearance between episodes.
* Gooseworx as Bubble, Caine's AI soap bubble assistant.

Guests

* 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, a gummy alligator-like NPC, and 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

Background and production

''The Amazing Digital Circus'' is directed, written, composed, and showrun by Gooseworx. Kevin Temmer is the series' lead animator, while Glitch Productions's founders, Luke and Kevin Lerdwichagul, are executive producers. Pre-production on the pilot episode began in mid-2022, and production started in full later that year. Gooseworx conceived the characters and designs; she reported designing the characters in under a week. Inspirations for the show include the short story ''I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream''.

Conception

Glitch 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 then accepted. Gooseworx presented three pitches to Glitch, and the one that would become ''The Amazing Digital Circus'' was chosen. 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 1990s and early 2000s 3D works, "where it looked kinda bad and creepy but was also completely unrestricted creatively". Yang said that the pitch's 1990s-inspired computer-generated imagery (CGI) style and nostalgic references to toys and computer games caught their attention, feeling that their audience would enjoy these characteristics. The Glitch team felt that this particular pitch had the greatest potential, especially due to the nostalgic appeal of the 1990s-inspired CGI renders, and recognized it as something uniquely distinctive that no one else could replicate.

Gooseworx stated that, while her original pitch was "more chaotic and silly", the story unexpectedly got "a lot deeper and more nuanced", with a "stronger emotional backbone", during the show's development.

Animation

The 3D animation process of ''The Amazing Digital Circus'' pilot was structured similarly to most other studios, with dedicated departments for various tasks. They primarily used Autodesk Maya for the 3D work and then rendered everything in Unreal Engine. The series was animated at 30 frames per second. Kevin Temmer, the series' lead animator, who was previously a junior animator at Blue Sky Studios, initially received a message from one of Glitch's founders, Kevin Lerdwichugal, asking him to animate a teaser trailer for ''The Amazing Digital Circus''. During the process, Temmer was asked to join Glitch's team full-time. According to him, he "couldn't say no to an opportunity to work on something so wacky and cartoony". The animators, including Temmer, were given a few scenes to complete every two weeks. They would regularly submit their progress for review by Gooseworx and Temmer, and this process would continue until both approved the scenes. Some of the movements, shaking, and glitching of characters and props in the pilot were inspired by Source Filmmaker and '' Garry's Mod'' machinimas, something that Glitch had already done with their ''SMG4'' videos.

Gooseworx had little experience with 3D works, hand-drawn 2D animation being her area of expertise. As such, according to Yang, Glitch had to work "very closely" with Gooseworx to translate her 2D style to 3D; Gooseworx became ''The Amazing Digital Circus'' showrunner and they "worked hard to maintain her vision as much as possible". 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. As Gooseworx likes "juxtapositions like happy music playing to something horrifying or cute little characters being miserable", she wanted the visuals to not necessarily reflect its darker story. She wanted the show to "feel kind of lonely".

Release

During ''The Amazing Digital Circus'' pre-production phase in the middle of 2022, Glitch released character trailers that were actually proofs of concept testing the series' animation style and visuals. A teaser was released on January 27, 2023. The pilot's official trailer was released on September 22, and the episode was released on October 13. Following the pilot's popularity, Glitch confirmed in November that there would be "more ''Digital Circus''". In February 2024, a full season was announced to be in production, with the pilot being "upgraded" to episode 1. A trailer for the second episode was released on April 19, 2024. The episode, "Candy Carrier Chaos!", was released on May 3, 2024.

Glitch stated that there are no plans for ''The Amazing Digital Circus'' to be put on streaming platforms besides YouTube, as they want full creative control of their productions. The show has been promoted with merchandise. On the long wait between the release of each episode, Yang said: "If we had to wait until the entire season was ready before dropping any episodes, he ''Digital Circus'' pilotwould not have premiered for years ... dropping all the episodes at the same time is not only impractical but also counterintuitive ... For us, not only is he waitpractical but it works a little bit in our favor because every time we make a new episode of anything, we can make a big event about it."

Reception

The pilot for ''The Amazing Digital Circus'' became a viral video on YouTube. By late November 2023, it had surpassed 150 million views, and by February 2024, it had over 270 million views, making it among the most-watched animation pilots in the history of YouTube. This popularity was not foreseen by Glitch. The series received a notable amount of fan creations and memes, getting highly popular on TikTok.

''The Amazing Digital Circus'' second episode surpassed 30 million views the day after its release.

Critical reception

Critics praised ''The Amazing Digital Circus'' pilot animation. Justin Guerrero of '' Comics Beat'' called it "wonderful and expressive", while Jamie Lang of '' Cartoon Brew'' and Jade King of ''TheGamer'' felt it was bright, colorful and fun. Lang further complimented that its aesthetic elements feel familiar without being cliche, giving a modern vibe to early CGI. Common Sense Media reviewer Stephanie Morgan praised the innovative animation and distinctive setting. Some critics noted the episode's dark humor and story; King praised the contrast it gave with the visuals, while Morgan described the show as "quirky ... with a touch of darkness". Zachary Moser of '' ScreenRant'' said that the series "deals with existential questions about reality and nihilism". Critics highlighted the episode's jokes, with Lang describing them as "timed with frame-to-frame perfection", with a "mature" sense of humor, and Morgan praising the clever fourth-wall-breaking jokes. Morgan criticized the "repetitive nature of the character traits".

Gail Sherman of '' Boing Boing'' described the second episode as "a candy-coated existential crisis" and called both the first and second episodes "brutal".

Awards and nominations

In 2024, Kevin Temmer was nominated at the 51st Annie Awards in the "Best Character Animation – TV/Media" category for his work in ''The Amazing Digital Circus'' pilot.

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References

Secondary sources

Primary sources

In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

External links

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