“I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison is one of the most iconic short stories in American history. Released in 1967, it follows the last five members of humanity being kept alive by a supercomputer to torture them as revenge for how humans treated computers. 

“The Amazing Digital Circus (TADC),” created by Gooseworx and released on the GLITCH YouTube channel, is an animated series heavily inspired by the literary classic, following characters trapped in a virtual world by a psychopathic artificial intelligence (AI) with no observable motive. 

TADC starts with a small, pale clown girl spawning into the virtual world. She immediately discovers there is no known way of escaping. She can remember bits of her life before booting up the game but can’t remember other pieces of information, such as her name. 

She is randomly assigned the name Pomni, and she meets the cast of characters in the circus who are all analogous to people in the original short story. They make one thing absolutely clear to her: they’ve been stuck in here for longer than any of them can remember, and Pomni is likely to suffer the same fate. 

The characters all have avatars that they didn’t have any control in picking but seem to be related to their personalities. 

For example, Jax is a cynical and sarcastic jerk. His avatar is a purple cartoon rabbit seemingly based on rubber hose animation. It’s the perfect body for giving and receiving slapstick, and it’s rather jarring when he has emotional outbursts. 

On the other hand, Zooble is an amalgamation of toy block-like parts. They are able to exchange and replace their parts but struggle to capture an identity that feels like their own. 

The character with the most pull, however, is Caine, the aforementioned AI in charge. He wears a circus performer’s garb, which is fitting for the show’s title. His head is a giant set of teeth with two eyeballs in the middle, an appropriate homage to the title of the original short story. 

Caine often assigns adventures to the trapped humans in an effort to keep them sane. It’s not entirely clear if he really cares whether or not they go crazy or if he’s just doing it because he’s programmed to.

The humans, however, have every reason to want to keep their sanity. When people trapped in the circus lose what makes them human, they “abstract,” turning into bits of static electricity and being dropped into an endless abyss by Caine. 

The series follows the cast going on Caine’s adventures as they attempt not to go crazy. They have all seen abstraction and fear becoming even more trapped in the game than they already are.

TADC is surprisingly somber at times when compared to its colorful backdrop. The characters frequently get existential. They question whether or not their friendships are valid, if they have lives to return to and whether or not escape is truly possible. 

This show is dark comedy at its finest. The unique animation and visual style sets up for a lot of good gags and slapstick.

That’s not to dismiss the writing: the jokes are genuinely hilarious, and the character’s struggles are identifiable and relatable. 

Fans of horror, comedy, dystopian fiction and good animation are in for one heck of a time from start to finish — wait a minute. 

TADC is not yet complete. Six episodes have been released on the Glitch YouTube channel. Episode seven might come out this month. It’s not entirely clear. Gooseworx confirmed on her Tumblr that there are nine episodes planned for the series, so here’s hoping we get the conclusion relatively soon.

Tolbert can be reached at [email protected]. Tell him what your avatar in the circus would be.