First Look: Breakout Indie Hit ‘The Amazing Digital Circus’ Is Getting Nine More Episodes
Australia’s Glitch Productions, producer of last fall’s viral indie animation pilot The Amazing Digital Circus, has revealed that nine more episodes of the show are on the way.
When the pilot episode of The Amazing Digital Circus debuted on Youtube on October 14, 2023, it did so with an exceptional bang. The episode has surpassed over 270 million views since its launch, becoming one of the most-watched animation pilots in Youtube history.
The Amazing Digital Circus tells the story of Pomni, a woman who becomes trapped inside an unhinged virtual world alongside five other humans who are subjected to the whims of an unpredictable AI. Glitch’s one-line description for the show reads, “What if it was Toy Story, but everyone was a jerk?”
The series, like the pilot episode, will be written, directed, composed, and showrun by the Gooseworx, with Kevin Temmer (Spies in Disguise, Ice Age: Collision Course) serving as lead animator. Glitch founders Kevin and Luke Lerdwichagul are executive producing.
Voice casting for the full season includes Lizzie Freeman, Alex Rochon, Michael Kovach, Amanda Hufford, Sean Chiplock, Ashley Nichols, and Marissa Lenti.
Glitch Productions shared a few first-look images from the new episodes with us, seen below.
Glitch CEO Kevin Lerdwichagul said of the full season order:
How this show turned out, both in its quality and its global reception, honestly exceeded my wildest dreams. This has been a huge moment not only for Glitch but for the entire indie animation industry. We hope that the show’s ongoing success shows the entire entertainment industry what independent creators can achieve and that people want more original animated stories. This is only the beginning for Glitch. Along with the full season, we have so, so much more in store.
It’s easy to see why the pilot went viral in the first place. The episode has a twisted sense of humor and features jokes delivered with to-the-frame perfection. Its sense of humor is mature enough to appeal to adult audiences without getting overly vulgar. Aesthetically, The Amazing Digital Circus offers something that feels familiar without ever feeling cliche. The cg animation is bright and fun, recalling the early years of the art form, yet sharp and clean, giving it a modern feel.
The Amazing Digital Circus pilot was not just Glitch’s most successful production but also its most technologically advanced. The pilot was created using Unreal Engine and, according to the studio, production pushed its creative and technical capacities harder than anything it had done before.
Season one of The Amazing Digital Circus doesn’t have a scheduled release date yet, but when it is ready it will be available on the Glitch Youtube channel. Last year, we spoke with Glitch producer Jasmine Yang, who told us the company has no plans of becoming involved with traditional broadcasters or streaming platforms anytime soon.
“We are a Youtube-first company,” Yang explained. “We believe very strongly in the future and potential of Youtube for long-form animation. A lot of this stems from what we’ve seen in the trends from streaming services, particularly towards animation. I don’t need to go into details about the recent wave of cancellations or the general disrespect towards animation from the mainstream, but we believe that Youtube is the best way forward.”
