The unbridled admiration for The Amazing Digital Circus, a co-production by Glitch Studios and Gooseworx, has reached new heights for animation creators on YouTube. With the pilot (reviewed last October) now boasting over 310 million views, Episode 2 saw a pumped-up livestream viewership: 800,000 live viewers is nothing to sniff at.
As the show’s lead Pomni comes to terms with her strange new world, the team are now up for their latest adventure: Candy Carrier Chaos! This sees them in familiar worlds, equally comparable to Mad Max and Adventure Time. Jack Hawkins as Gummigoo, a candy alligator, adds a rogue, Aussie villain to proceedings: he soon discovers the deception of this world and quickly crumbles with his uselessness as an NCP. It is up to Pomni to bring him back to the good side, hopefully, to join them at the Circus. Vera Tan as Princess Loolilalu is a class act, an edible royal who sets off the story by asking the gang to stop Gummigoo and his crew from stealing further maple syrup tankers.
Everything is working extremely well in The Amazing Digital Circus Episode 2, including the humour, with anxiety and depression as its undercurrent. It’s rare to encounter perfect eyes in animation, and Pomni’s really pop – you can see the gloss and the reflection of the settings she frequents. The lucidness and shine of the art is still here, and a true highlight. The Fudge Monster, voiced by a gurgling Lyle Rath, has been compared to the Greedy in Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure. His liquid state lovingly winks to the story’s mid-90s setting, and appearance akin to a point-and-click PC game. There are fun references to Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, and even a (dreadful) line of dialogue from the original Resident Evil.
The lack of Zooble, a character made up entirely of interchangeable shapes and parts, left fans disappointed – she just seems to walk off for most of the runtime, only popping back when Caine left. (Spoilers here: Gummigoo sees a shocking fate and his demise was quite devastating, Pomni’s reaction also rather haunting. We may not see him again, but he added a lot of depth to the show thanks to the writing and Hawkins’ voice acting.) Jax, another popular addition, did little, disappointed in the lack of violence he got to inflict. Hopefully, a bloodbath is coming that Jax will gladly provide.
With a full Amazing Digital Circus series now confirmed, fans are itching to know how many episodes they’ll be treated to. The attention given to this show can only grow even larger.
The Amazing Digital Circus is available to watch on YouTube now.
words JAMES ELLIS