Genre Adult animation[1][2]
Dark comedy[3][4]
Psychological drama[5]
Created by, Showrunner written by and directed by Gooseworx
Main voice cast
Lizzie Freeman as Pomni, the most recent human to be trapped in the circus. Her in-game avatar is a jester.[4][6][7]
Alex Rochon as Caine, the circus’ wacky yet unstable AI ringmaster with a set of teeth for a head.[4][6][7] The character is based on AM from Harlan Ellison’s short story “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream”, where, according to Gooseworx, “instead of AM being a living embodiment of hate, he’s a fun-loving wacky little guy”.[8]
Michael Kovach as Jax, a mischievous man who enjoys pranking and bullying the other cast members. His avatar is a tall purple humanoid rabbit.[4][6][7]
Amanda Hufford as Ragatha, a kindly woman who attempts to maintain an optimistic attitude towards her situation. Her avatar is a rag doll, resembling Raggedy Ann.[4][6][7]
Marissa Lenti as Gangle, a woman with an avatar composed of ribbons and an interchangeable comedy and tragedy masks that represent her current mood.[4][6][7]
Lenti also voices Martha Mildenhall, a ghost NPC who is the wife of Theodore Mildenhall.
Sean Chiplock as Kinger, a computer scientist who has been trapped in the circus longer than the other humans. As a result, he is insane and forgetful, but becomes lucid when in dark spaces. His avatar is a king chess piece wearing a king’s robe.[4][6][7]
Ashley Nichols as Zooble, an irritable person who lacks interest in Caine’s adventures. Their avatar is made of mix-and-match blocks, which Zooble replaces with different ones between episodes due to feeling dissatisfied with their own appearance.[4][7] The design of Zooble’s body was inspired by ZoLo playscuplture toys, while the character’s name is based on the toy brand Zoob.[9][10]
Gooseworx as Bubble, Caine’s AI soap bubble assistant.[7]
Guests
Elsie Lovelock as the Gloink Queen, ruler of the pest-like Gloinks.[7]
Vera Tan as Princess Loolilalu, princess of the Candy Canyon Kingdom.
Jack Hawkins as Gummigoo, a gummy alligator NPC.
Hawkins also voices Chad, one of Gummigoo’s gummy alligator partners.
Hamish Plaggemars as Max, another of Gummigoo’s gummy alligator partners.
Lyle Rath as the Fudge Monster, a candy-made creature banished from the Candy Canyon Kingdom for cannibalising its inhabitants.
Tim Alexander as Baron Theodore Mildenhall, the deceased baron of Mildenhall Manor.
WizardzWiz as Ghostly, a ghost in Mildenhall Manor.
Payton Goodwin as the Creature, the still-living corpse of an angel that was hunted by Baron Mildenhall.
Theme music composer Gooseworx
Opening theme “The Amazing Digital Circus Main Theme” (vocals by Lizz Robinett, pilot only)
Ending theme “Digital Days” Composers Evan Alderete, Gooseworx
Country of origin Australia Original language English No. of episodes 3
The time investment in watching the entirety of The Amazing Digital Circus is small: three episodes, totaling barely over one hour. The emotional investment, however, might be considerably steeper.
The premise of the tale is that five humans have wound up trapped in a virtual reality computer game. Not, in and of itself, a particularly new concept: it’s been the premise of many SF books and short stories, going back to Harlan Ellison’s “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.” Entire anime franchises are predicated on the notion.
What makes this version so unique is that it is a combination of the false gaiety of the Big Top combined with absolute existential horror. Characters in candy-colored versions of children’s toys experience the confusion and despair of an utterly berserk rendition of children’s fairy tales as interpreted by an AI (Caine), a set of dentures with eyeballs peering out. It is hard to tell if Caine is deliberately cruel like Ellison’s AM, or just exhibiting the inept wrongness of an AI still in beta testing.
The five humans who have somehow been trapped in this psychological rat maze have arrived stripped of any sense of the individual identity they held in the world, but with their functionality as human beings still intact, if eroding.
Disorientation and terror are slowly being replaced in each of them with a sort of resigned air of “Just do what it wants. It’s easier that way.”
Like Ellison, Gooseworx yanks barks of involuntary laughter out of the audience. This world is brutal, it is absurd, it is cruel, and it’s also bright and playful and hilarious. This is brilliant work.
Inspired by the Ellison classic, it also has elements of Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot.”
That Netflix picked up such a limited YouTube series is remarkable in and of itself. Gooseworx had been working on funding for more episodes, and like many Australian endeavors, is a bit off the beaten path. Netflix still manages to find absolute jewels after all this time.