Glitch’s Netflix Deal: Indie Animation’s Blessing in Disguise

Over the past few years, Glitch Productions has found much success as an independent animation studio due to their popular web-series such as Murder Drones and The Amazing Digital Circus. Throughout that time, many fans have prided Glitch for maintaining their indie animation status by staying true to their creative freedom and crowd funding method rather than relying on bigger corporations who often take creative control over artists’ work to give them funding.

This is why fans have been making a big deal over Glitch’s recent deal with Netflix as it allows The Amazing Digital Circus to stream on their platform. While many fans have worried over what this arrangement could do for the show’s status as part of indie animation, the details tell us that this is actually a positive progression. In fact, it likely means something bigger for indie animation as a whole.

How Glitch Runs The Amazing Digital Circus

The Amazing Digital Circus is an animated web series created by Gooseworx. It follows the misadventures of a girl who is given the name Pomni along with a cartoon jester form after accidentally finding herself trapped inside of a digital circus world. Run by a hyperactive and suspicious ringmaster named Caine, she embarks on the quests he conjures up alongside other trapped individuals in their own fictional forms. All the while, she tries to navigate the existential dread of her situation while finding unexpected comfort in the friends she makes along the way. The pilot was released on October 13th, 2023 and was officially announced as a full series on February 23rd, 2024 after reaching a stunning 250 million views that same month.

Produced by the indie animation studio Glitch, there is a combination of elements specific to indie animation that has contributed to the show’s unprecedented amount of success. One of which involves its unique art and writing style. Produced by major corporations, many creators are limited to making creative choices for their shows that only executives deem best. This can include many aspects such as sticking to a specific art style, changing their jokes, or including certain kinds of characters to meet a quota. However, Glitch allows every creative aspect of The Amazing Digital Circus to stay true to Gooseworx’s vision which has helped the show stand out and make sure it’s one of a kind.

Another huge aspect that helped the show become successful was the fact that Glitch released it on Youtube for mass audiences to see free of charge. In other words, releasing the show on a free website rather than a paid streaming service made sure it was accessible to as many people as possible. Considering this, as well as fans’ attraction to the show’s unique art style and humor, it’s no wonder the view count reached the heights it did.

This, of course, brought forth the show’s enormous fanbase who have been there to support its production by purchasing merch and other promotions released by Glitch. The fact that production for The Amazing Digital Circus has relied on fan-funding in this way is arguably the most notable aspect of indie animation that Glitch embraces. Instead of placing show fundings in the hands of major corporations who are notorious for taking creative control, Glitch’s way of funding their shows builds a more intimate connection with the fans. It lets them know that the money they put into their company matters as part of a team effort. For all the purchases made in adoration for the content they produce, Glitch gives back by giving out more content and merch to benefit them – along with many Youtube videos thanking them for their contributions.

Fan Concerns About The Netflix Deal

Given that Glitch has operated as an indie animation studio in this respectable way, it was quite alarming news for fans to hear that Glitch signed a contract with a big corporation like Netflix allowing The Amazing Digital Circus to stream on their platform. The announcement Glitch made on YouTube told us that episodes would release on Netflix starting October 4th, but would still come out on Youtube free of charge. Regardless, many couldn’t help but worry that the contract would mean that Netflix would fund the show in some way and dictate how the rest of the series would go forward creatively. Such concerns made sense as Hazbin Hotel, another indie animation show that started on Youtube, later got picked up by Amazon Prime and took a hit in quality with a pacing problem due to constraints over how many episodes were allowed production. On top of the fear that something similar might happen to The Amazing Digital Circus now that it’s on Netflix, more people also started to think that Glitch was becoming too corporate since they already allowed Hot Topic to release merch of the show earlier this year.

Opening Doors for Indie Animation

However, the main element of this situation that makes a difference lies in the details of the contract that Glitch and Gooseworx have stated explicitly to fans. These specifics state that they both still have full creative control over every aspect of the series and production will remain independently funded just like it always has – episodes are merely released on Netflix as well. Gooseworx has made it clear that they have never sought out opportunities like this, rather it’s always found them. More importantly, when it comes to making deals with them, both Gooseworx and Glitch have made it a priority to make sure these companies align with their terms so that they can maintain their creative freedom. The deal they have made with Netflix seems to be a win-win for both parties. It ensures that Netflix is able to get a popular show on their streaming service and that Glitch is able to help the show reach more audiences. The only worst case scenario in this situation would be the show getting removed from Netflix. Even then it would only benefit Glitch as the show would have likely interested more viewers who primarily use Netflix for their entertainment enough to continue watching it on YouTube for free instead.

While it might seem like Glitch is becoming more corporate by making deals with larger companies like Netflix and Hot Topic, since they’re so strict on maintaining control of their product, that statement doesn’t seem fully accurate. This is especially true considering Gooseworx’s earlier announcement saying that all the profits they get from their merch sales at Hot Topic will also go primarily into show production. At this point, this expansion is just Glitch taking advantage of situations that will help with funding themselves better and make sure the show reaches as many potential fans as possible. They are finding success on this mission already since, as of October 13th, Glitch announced that The Amazing Digital Circus has made history by becoming the first series to reach one of Netflix’s top ten most viewed shows while trending at number one on YouTube.

Prime Video giving Hazbin Hotel full series treatment proved that bigger corporations are starting to see the value in indie animation, which worked out as that show ended up reaching a major level of novel success. Now, Glitch’s Netflix deal is proving that these corporations are starting to see the value in its practices as well. In other words, making deals that are respectful of indie animation companies’ creative control could mean that they find validity in their ways. As a result, the deal worked as well since it allowed Glitch to do the impossible in such a short amount of time.

Such phenomena means monumental things for indie animation as a whole. It could be a small start in changing how we go about animation as an industry given the values involved in this situation and the resulting possibilities. On a bigger scale, it can make many creators feel like their dreams of making it big with their own animated shows are more achievable. With this, they are shown just how successful you can become overtime – even if you start out small and niche.