History WebAnimation / TheAmazingDigitalCircus

''The Amazing Digital Circus'' is an Australian-American computer-animated [[SurrealHumor Surreal]] [[PsychologicalHorror Psychological]] [[BlackComedy Comedy]] web series created, written, and directed by Creator/{{Gooseworx}} (''WebAnimation/LittleRunmo'', ''WebAnimation/ThePinkCity''), and produced by Creator/GlitchProductions, with former Creator/BlueSkyStudios animator Creator/KevinTemmer leading the animation team. It marks Glitch's second collaborative effort after ''WebAnimation/MurderDrones'', and their fourth fully-animated series overall.

The story revolves around six troubled humans -- timid newcomer Pomni (Creator/LizzieFreeman), trouble-making rascal Jax (Creator/MichaelKovach), jovial optimist Ragatha (Creator/AmandaHufford), emotionally fragile Gangle (Creator/MarissaLenti), paranoid veteran Kinger (Creator/SeanChiplock), and moody cynic Zooble (Creator/AshleyNichols) -- who find themselves trapped in the [[ThePlace Amazing Digital Circus]]: a zany [[{{Cyberspace}} virtual world]] full of infinite possibilities, except for two things: [[MagicalProfanityFilter profanity]] and [[YouCantGoHomeAgain leaving]]. Directed by the kooky, ObliviouslyEvil A.I. Caine ([[Creator/TheAutarch Alex Rochon]]) and his energetic assistant Bubble ([[DescendedCreator Gooseworx]]), the six embark on all sorts of wacky, often traumatizing misadventures while trying to find any semblance of a way back to the real world (or at least keep their sanity intact), lest something terrible happen to them...

The story revolves around six troubled humans -- timid newcomer Pomni (Creator/LizzieFreeman), trouble-making rascal Jax (Creator/MichaelKovach), jovial optimist Ragatha (Creator/AmandaHufford), emotionally fragile Gangle (Creator/MarissaLenti), paranoid veteran Kinger (Creator/SeanChiplock), and moody cynic Zooble (Creator/AshleyNichols) -- who find themselves trapped in the [[ThePlace Amazing Digital Circus]]: a zany VR game full of infinite possibilities, except for two things: [[MagicalProfanityFilter profanity]] and [[YouCantGoHomeAgain leaving]]. Directed by the kooky, ObliviouslyEvil A.I. Caine ([[Creator/TheAutarch Alex Rochon]]) and his energetic assistant Bubble ([[DescendedCreator Gooseworx]]), the six embark on all sorts of wacky, often traumatizing misadventures while trying to find any semblance of a way back to the real world (or at least keep their sanity intact), lest something terrible happen to them...

The story revolves around six troubled humans -- timid newcomer Pomni (Creator/LizzieFreeman), trouble-making rascal Jax (Creator/MichaelKovach), jovial optimist Ragatha (Creator/AmandaHufford), emotionally fragile Gangle (Creator/MarissaLenti), paranoid veteran Kinger (Creator/SeanChiplock), and moody cynic Zooble (Creator/AshleyNichols) -- who find themselves trapped in the [[ThePlace Amazing Digital Circus]]: a zany VR game full of infinite possibilities, except for two things: [[MagicalProfanityFilter profanity]] and [[YouCantGoHomeAgain leaving]]. Directed by the kooky, ObliviouslyEvil A.I. Caine ([[Creator/TheAutarch Alex Rochon]]) and his energetic assistant Bubble ([[DescendedCreator Gooseworx]]), the six embark on all sorts of wacky misadventures (and by "wacky", we mean "unrelenting and often deeply traumatizing") while trying to find any semblance of a way back to the real world -- or at least keep their sanity intact -- lest something terrible happen to them...

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[TagLine A psychological dark comedy about cute cartoon characters who hate their lives and want to leave.]]''[[note]]Clockwise from top left: [[ThePollyanna Ragatha]], [[MoodSwinger Gangle]], [[{{Keet}} Bubble]], [[VirtualRealityWarper Caine]], [[CloudcuckooLander Kinger]], [[{{Jerkass}} Jax]], [[TheCynic Zooble]]. Center: [[NervousWreck Pomni]].[[/note]]]]

''The Amazing Digital Circus'' is an Australian-American computer-animated [[SurrealHumor Surreal]] [[PsychologicalHorror Psychological]] [[BlackComedy Black]] HorrorComedy web series created, written, and directed by Creator/{{Gooseworx}} (''WebAnimation/LittleRunmo'', ''WebAnimation/ThePinkCity''), and produced by Creator/GlitchProductions, with former Creator/BlueSkyStudios animator Creator/KevinTemmer leading the animation team. It marks Glitch's second collaborative effort after ''WebAnimation/MurderDrones'', and their fourth fully-animated series overall.

Described as "Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream" with the aesthetic of an ''Literature/ISpy'' book, the series revolves around six troubled human souls -- including timid newcomer and series protagonist ([[https://twitter.com/GooseworxMusic/status/1620671688861159424 technically]]) Pomni (Creator/LizzieFreeman), trouble-making rascal Jax (Creator/MichaelKovach), jovial optimist Ragatha (Creator/AmandaHufford), emotionally fragile Gangle (Creator/MarissaLenti), moody perfectionist Zooble (Creator/AshleyNichols), and paranoid veteran Kinger (Creator/SeanChiplock)--who find themselves in the form of toys and trapped in, well, the [[ThePlace Amazing Digital Circus]], a zany circus-themed virtual reality game of infinite possibilities directed by a kooky, fun-loving yet oblivious artificial intelligence named Caine ([[Creator/TheAutarch Alex Rochon]]) and his energetic assistant Bubble ([[DescendedCreator Gooseworx]]). Together, they embark on all sorts of wacky misadventures (and by "wacky" we mean "unintentionally unrelenting and often deeply traumatizing") all while trying to find any semblance of a way back to the real world and keep their sanity intact, lest something terrible happen to them...

* {{Understatement}}: In "POMNI WAKE UP TIME TO GO ON AN ADVENTURE", Caine claims that the video for the pilot reached their goal of "1 view". The video for the pilot had reached over 200 million views by the time the video was made.

** Pomni's colour scheme, spindly body, and hat evokes ''VideoGame/NiGHTSIntoDreams''. Her situation is more-or-less an inverse of Nights' situation: instead of freeing dreamers trapped in nightmares so they wake up, she's the dreamer desperately trying to wake up from a nightmare.

* TakeThat: When Caine plugs official merch in "POMNI WAKE UP TIME TO GO ON AN ADVENTURE", he says anything not from digitalcircus.store is a "dirty boogleg" with a split-second frame showing a bunch of unofficial plushies of the cast.

* JumpScare: "POMNI WAKE UP TIME TO GO ON AN ADVENTURE" starts with Pomni lying in bed and staring at the ceiling before Caine does this trope and screams at Pomni/the camera.

'''Sun:''' Hi, Caine! I'm gonna ''kill you!''

* FreezeFrameBonus: In the hallway, one can see the doors to the rooms of other residents whose pictures have been crossed out. [[spoiler:What happens to Kaufmo implies they were all Abstracted and locked by Caine in the cellar.]] One of them is of a black queen chess piece that resembles Kinger, implying that they may have come together.

[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwAPLk_sQ3w The pilot]] was released on October 13, 2023. One month later on November 12, after the pilot reached 100 million views, Glitch Productions [[https://twitter.com/glitch_prod/status/1723892397938262278 confirmed]] more episodes will be developed.

* GenreDeconstruction: Of [[TrappedInAnotherWorld digital Isekai]]. In most works, it would feature those trapped in the digital world coming together to escape by learning and exploiting the mechanics of the world, ala ''Anime/SwordArtOnline''. That is decidedly ''not'' what happens here, because [[spoiler:''there really is no escape'', owed to the fact that an escape ''was never programmed into the game''. As it turns out, if someone wants to trap someone in a digital world, there is zero reason ''to'' program an escape in the first place. Not only that, but any mechanics are incredibly simplistic or ill-defined, leading to the characters being powerless against the general dangers of the world. The protagonist rallying everyone to come together against the master of this world? Good luck with that when everyone has resigned themselves to their fate and considers it impossible. The protagonist isn't an AllLovingHero; she's a scared girl who desperately wants to escape her horrible situation and, at the first chance, ''[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere will]]'' abandon everyone if it means she can leave this awful world, because ''that's what most humans put in this situation would do''.]]

Described as "Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream" with the aesthetic of an ''Literature/ISpy'' book, the series revolves around six troubled human souls -- including timid newcomer and series protagonist ([[https://twitter.com/GooseworxMusic/status/1620671688861159424 technically]]) Pomni (Creator/LizzieFreeman), trouble-making rascal Jax (Creator/MichaelKovach), jovial optimist Ragatha (Creator/AmandaHufford), emotionally fragile Gangle (Creator/MarissaLenti), moody perfectionist Zooble (Creator/AshleyNichols), and paranoid veteran Kinger (Creator/SeanChiplock)--who find themselves in the form of toys and trapped in, well, the [[ThePlace Amazing Digital Circus]], a zany circus-themed virtual reality game of infinite possibilities directed by a kooky, fun-loving yet oblivious artificial intelligence named Caine ([[Creator/TheAutarch Alex Rochon]]) and his energetic assistant Bubble ([[DescendedCreator Gooseworx]]).

Along with the five other souls, Pomni goes on all sorts of wacky misadventures (and by "wacky" we mean "unintentionally unrelenting and often deeply traumatizing") all while trying to find any semblance of a way back to the real world and keep her sanity intact, lest something terrible happen to her...

Described as "Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream" with the aesthetic of an ''Literature/ISpy'' book, the series revolves around six troubled human souls--including timid newcomer and series protagonist ([[https://twitter.com/GooseworxMusic/status/1620671688861159424 technically]]) Pomni (Creator/LizzieFreeman), trouble-making rascal Jax (Creator/MichaelKovach), jovial optimist Ragatha (Creator/AmandaHufford), emotionally fragile Gangle (Creator/MarissaLenti), moody perfectionist Zooble (Creator/AshleyNichols), and paranoid veteran Kinger (Creator/SeanChiplock)--who find themselves in the form of toys and trapped in, well, the [[ThePlace Amazing Digital Circus]], a zany circus-themed virtual reality game of infinite possibilities directed by a kooky, fun-loving yet oblivious artificial intelligence named Caine ([[Creator/TheAutarch Alex Rochon]]) and his energetic assistant Bubble ([[DescendedCreator Gooseworx]]).

* SubvertedKidsShow: The show's aesthetic resembles that of a children's PC ROM game, but it's a PsychologicalHorror story about human minds being trapped inside a superficially-friendly environment. Even InUniverse, characters aren't capable of doing or saying anything particularly obscene.

* ProductionThrowback: In the pilot, after the Gloink Queen spits out Zooble's head, Kinger asks if they had experienced a game show while in there. Fellow Gooseworx shorts ''WebAnimation/ElainTheBountyHunter'' and ''WebAnimation/LittleRunmo'' featured game shows in the stomach of another character: the climax of ''Elain the Bounty Hunter'' had Elain swallowed whole by her target and then forced to participate in a game show while inside him, while ''Little Runmo'' had Runmo play a wheel-spinning game in the Temp King's stomach for the chance to win a 1-up.

** The hosts of the circus are named Caine and Bubble, and the logo in the office [[spoiler:which Pomni spends time going through the numerous exit doors]] reads "C & A", like CainAndAbel.

Described as "Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream" with the aesthetic of an ''Literature/ISpy'' book, the series revolves around six troubled human souls--including timid newcomer and series protagonist ([[https://twitter.com/GooseworxMusic/status/1620671688861159424 technically]]) Pomni (Creator/LizzieFreeman), trouble-making rascal Jax (Creator/MichaelKovach), jovial optimist Ragatha (Creator/AmandaHufford), emotionally fragile Gangle (Creator/MarissaLenti), moody perfectionist Zooble (Creator/AshleyNichols), and paranoid veteran Kinger (Creator/SeanChiplock)--who find themselves in the form of toys and trapped in, well, the [[ThePlace Amazing Digital Circus]], a zany circus-themed VR game of infinite possibilities directed by a kooky, fun-loving yet oblivious artificial intelligence named Caine ([[Creator/TheAutarch Alex Rochon]]) and his energetic assistant Bubble ([[DescendedCreator Gooseworx]]).

** She also makes a cameo in ''[[WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers SMG4]]'' in a brief summoning gag during The Very Safe and Legal SMG4 Show, with enough time to scream "OH NO NOT AGAIN" before being poofed out again.