Timeline-LM/The Amazing Digital Circus (2005 film)

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***The Amazing Digital Circus*** is a 2005 American computer-animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The sixth film produced by Pixar, it was written and directed by Pete Docter, co-written by Andrew Stanton and John Lasseter and produced by Brad Lewis based on a screenplay by Stanton and Lasseter. The film stars the voices of Amy Poehler, Robin Williams, Ryan Reynolds, Mandy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon, Jim Carrey, Candi Milo, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, and Scarlett Johansson. The plot follows a human who becomes trapped in a circus-themed digital universe, where she assumes the avatar of a jester and meets five others who share her situation, unable to recall their names and details of their pasts. The woman is assigned the new name "Pomni" by the circus's ringleader, an artificial intelligence named Caine, who controls the digital world and gives them adventures to keep them from going insane. The six now struggle to keep their sanity in the unnatural and claustrophobic digital world, all while Pomni searches for an elusive exit.

Development for the film began in 1998 when the initial concept, taking inspiration from the short story *I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream*, begun development. The team briefly considered taking the project over to Circle 7 Animation, before the project officially commented production at Pixar in 2000. Pete Docter signed on to direct the film in 2002 after finishing *Monsters, Inc.*, basing the film's style after 90's computer games. Docter enlisted John Powell to compose the film.

*The Amazing Digital Circus* premiered on June 10, 2005 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California, with its general release on June 17, in the United States. The film was a commerticla hit, grossing $785 million worldwide, and received widespread acclaim for its screenplay, animation, humor, voice acting, tone, and John Powell's score. It also won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and was nominated for several more, including Best Animated Feature, which it lost to *Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit*. A sequel, *The Amazing Digital Circus 2: Modem Mayhem*, was released in 2009 to similar acclaim.

## Voice cast

* Amy Poehler as Pomni
* Robin Williams as Caine
* Ryan Reynolds as Jax
* Mandy Kaling as Ragatha
* Reese Witherspoon as Gangle
* Jim Carrey as Kinger
* Candi Milo as Zooble
* Colleen O'Shaughnessey as Bubble
* Scarlett Johansson as the Gloink Queen
* Eric Bauza as Kaufmo

## Production

Pete Docter conceived *The Amazing Digital Circus* during a lunch with fellow writers John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Joe Ranft in 1994. *Toy Story* was near completion and the writers brainstormed ideas for their next projects—*A Bug's Life*, *Monsters, Inc.*, *Finding Nemo*, and *WALL-E*—at this lunch. One of the ideas that came out of the brainstorming session was a film about a human trapped in a strange parallel dimension inhabited by equally strange creatures. When Stanton began to work on the project in 1998, as Docter was busy on *Monsters, Inc.*, he had turned to Harlan Ellison's short story *I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream* for further inspiration, and for a while he considered taking the project to Circle 7 Animation, Disney's studio for more mature and experimental films, as he felt the project would be considered "too mature" for Pixar, but Lasseter and Docter both suggested that it stay at Pixar. Stanton agreed, and production officially commented in 2000. Andrew Stanton ultimately gave up directing duties to Pete Docter as he would go on to direct 2003's *Finding Nemo*. Brad Lewis, who joined Pixar in 2001, signed on to produce in early 2003.

## *The Amazing Digital Circus (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)*

### Producer

Chris Montan

***The Amazing Digital Circus (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)*** is the soundtrack for the film. The score was composed by John Powell, and was released on Walt Disney Records on June 18, 2005.