GLITCH Productions, an indie animation studio, releases the final episode for “The Amazing Digital Circus” (often abbreviated as “TADC”) on June 19. However, theaters worldwide will showcase it early. GLITCH Productions tried going for one week, but theaters demanded it to be at least four weeks ahead. After negotiation, two weeks before the one-hour episode finale was the most that the theaters could do.
“The Amazing Digital Circus” is a web and Netflix series about humans trapped in a video game made in the late 90s and early 2000s. The game is run by a wacky artificial intelligence named Caine who creates the adventures to keep the humans entertained. The pilot episode premiered on October 13, 2023, and has since then shown improvements in animation quality as many YouTubers like Thinknoodles have stated in their reaction videos.
The one-season series is also created by American cartoonist, model, YouTuber and animator Cooper Smith Goodwin, popularly known as Gooseworx. Cooper was known for covering several popular songs from video games or cartoons, as well as creating animated short films such as “Little Runmo,” “Elaine the Bounty Hunter,” “Ghost of the Year,” and the webcomic “Horde of Heroes.” She also was a composer for the first season of Vivziepop’s animated streaming series “Hazbin Hotel” and the pilot of the web series “Helluva Boss.”
This big step up for GLITCH could change a lot for the entire industry and even allow other indie animation studios to follow in their footsteps, though it does have some downsides.
“Great move,” local Doane freshman Jacob Inman said, “but people are mad that they can’t go because not every theater is going to have it. On top of that, they have to avoid spoilers for two weeks.”
Many viewers and fans of “The Amazing Digital Circus” have been commenting on how sad and heartbreaking it will be to hear the show’s theme one last time before it concludes. Others fear what will happen next, all because of where episode eight leaves us.
“Two months is a long time to wait,” Graphic Design major Ella Kranz said. “I’m scared that Jax will be the next antagonist.”
Jax is a lanky lilac anthropomorphic rabbit character who often picks on the other members of the circus to push their limits. Jax originally was supposed to be a female bully character before the gender change. He’s voiced by Michael Kovach, an American voice actor and singer with vocal versatility.
After “The Amazing Digital Circus” ends, viewers can look forward to other GLITCH shows, such as “The Gaslight District,” a supernatural crime animated series by Nick Szopko, “Gameoverse,” a series about video game worlds by Ross O’Donovan and Arin Hanson, and “Knights of Guinevere,” a psychological thriller web series by Dana Terrace, Zach Marcus, and John Bailey Owen. Dana Terrace is also the creator of the Disney show “The Owl House,” featuring Alex Hirsch, American animator, writer, producer, and voice actor in another Disney series called “Gravity Falls.”
