The Amazing Digital Circus is an Australian adult independent animated web series created, written, and directed by Gooseworx and produced by Glitch Productions.

The series follows a group of humans trapped inside a circus-themed virtual reality game, where they are overseen by an erratic artificial intelligence while coping with personal traumas and psychological tendencies.

Gooseworx pitched the series to Glitch, inspired by 1990s computer-generated imagery and the short story "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by American writer Harlan Ellison.

Under the direction of the circus's ringmaster, an artificial intelligence named Caine, they engage in nonsensical adventures to distract themselves from their situation, all while at risk of losing their sanity and "abstracting" into digital monstrosities.

[4][7] Glitch initially noticed Gooseworx's 2019 YouTube animated short Little Runmo, which Jasmine Yang—development producer and general manager of Glitch—felt was exactly what they wanted to do: "It was funny, a little dark, and definitely very weird, like nothing we had seen before".

[13][15] Knowing that the pilot would be in 3D, she tried to create an idea that would best fit that style, mentioning in particular her inspiration from 1990s and early 2000s 3D works, "where it looked kinda bad and creepy but was also completely unrestricted creatively".

[15] Yang said that the pitch's 1990s-inspired computer-generated imagery (CGI) style and nostalgic references to toys and computer games caught their attention, feeling that their audience would enjoy these characteristics.

[15] The Glitch team felt that this particular pitch had the greatest potential, especially due to the nostalgic appeal of the 1990s-inspired CGI renders, and recognised it as something uniquely distinctive that no one else could replicate.

[13] Gooseworx stated that, while her original pitch was "more chaotic and silly", the story unexpectedly became "a lot deeper and more nuanced", with a "stronger emotional backbone", during the show's development,[14] describing it as having been "inspired by "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" [but] instead of AM being a living embodiment of hate, he's a fun-loving wacky little guy.

[15] During The Amazing Digital Circus' pre-production phase in the middle of 2022, Glitch released character trailers that were actually proofs of concept testing the series' animation style and visuals.

[‡ 5] Initially, Glitch stated that there were no plans for The Amazing Digital Circus to be put on streaming platforms besides YouTube, as they want full creative control of their productions.

[5][15][26] Justin Guerrero of Comics Beat called it "wonderful and expressive",[5] while Jamie Lang of Cartoon Brew and Jade King of TheGamer felt it was bright, colourful, and fun.

[28] The Amazing Digital Circus received a notable amount of fan creations and memes,[4][7][14] along with gaining popularity on TikTok.

[35] In 2024, Kevin Temmer was nominated at the 51st Annie Awards in the "Best Character Animation – TV/Media" category for his work in The Amazing Digital Circus' pilot.