“The Amazing Digital Circus” has risen in popularity since its initial release. The animated show’s pilot was made available on YouTube on October 13th of this year. The pilot dives into existential horror with amazing graphics, animation, mystery, and a compelling soundtrack. It is no wonder it has been a favorite release for many!
The show was created by Goosewerx and produced by Glitch Productions and has reached critical acclaim as of November 2023, reaching over 100 million views on YouTube. What stands out from its release is the amount of involvement that Goosewerx has in the project, especially in the soundtrack. The soundtrack of “The Amazing Digital Circus” has an ability to elevate the storytelling and themes seen in the show.
While the first song in the pilot is not in the official soundtrack, it is posted on Gooseworx’s YouTube channel as “The Amazing Digital Circus – Main Theme.” It remains an important song to analyze as its fun and joyous elements and melody will be referenced in tracks later in the pilot episode. The song is the beginning of the story, introducing all the characters, with the main character, Pomni, making their appearance in the middle of the song. Within the video for the song, multiple voices layer against each other to add a more chilling element to an overall cheery tone.
With a total of 16 tracks overall, four stand out the most in the soundtrack: “Today’s Adventure,” “Kaufmo the Clown,” “Going Nowhere,” and “Your New Home.” These tracks add more depth and drive to the story’s more chilling and mysterious elements.
“Today’s Adventure” excellently illustrates the perceived innocence at the story’s beginning. It has playful and goofy digital sounds and whistles, leaning more into the eccentricity and goofiness of the character, Caine. He introduces the day’s adventure of capturing the Gloinks to Pomni and the other characters.
The song that presents the first drastic change in the story is “Kaufmo the Clown,” with its dark brass chords, vocal background chanting, shrill woodwinds, and dramatic trumpet. Ragatha, Jax, and Pomni discover that Kaufmo has abstracted and basically gone insane. With their new knowledge, they run away from the digital mass he has become. This track fuels the tension and terror of the scene as it devolves into a chase and an escape by Pomni.
“Going Nowhere” plays as Pomni goes through a near-infinite amount of exit doors as she tries to find an escape out of the digital circus and ends up in the void, a blank digital space of nothingness. The music fuels the tension with a build-up of winds in a crescendo, with keys lightly playing for each second, devolving into a chilling trumpet and aura noises. The song then leads to a transition of an angelic-sounding trumpet and chanting chorus as Pomni reaches the void.
The final stand-out song that has become a TikTok trend in the past month is “Your New Home.” This song is unique and ties in so well to the main theme. It repeats the melody of the main theme more somberly and dramatically with the chanting chorus and dramatic trumpets, woodwinds, and keys. While this song plays, Pomni realizes she is stuck and can no longer leave. We see her mental breakdown as she slowly seems to accept her fate. This song contrasts the main theme and adds to the innocent beginning to the genuinely sinister and dark turn of the existential horror of “The Amazing Digital Circus.”
Overall, “The Amazing Digital Circus” is such a compelling and refreshing pilot, and with its current popularity, it will likely become a fully animated series. The elements of music truly elevate the series to another level, and fans can feel the storytelling through it. With its soundtrack, this pilot excels in a way that is not commonly achieved in the world of web series. Be sure to check it out!
I am a writer and photographer based in Houston, Texas. I am currently attending the University of Houston as a Marketing major, and a PR and MIS minor. I am passionate about my work through the various creative avenues I use such as writing, designing, and photography. In my free time I enjoy delving into rabbit holes and discovering new things!
