We’ve all watched animations from major studios like Disney, Pixar, or Dreamworks, but I’ve been slowly losing interest in their work. Nowadays, I watch Glitch Productions’ indie animations for their creative character designs and deeper storylines.

Indie animation refers to animated shorts, series, or feature films produced independently—outside of major animation studios. These animations are distributed online mainly through YouTube or through other social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

Glitch Productions, my favorite and rising independent animation studio, is based in Sydney, Australia. In 2017, Thai-Australian brothers Kevin and Luke Lerdwichagul founded this company with one goal in mind: to change how the West creates teen and young adult animation. Kevin and Luke noticed that Western animations traditionally follow light-hearted episodic formulas rather than deep, character-driven stories. Their goal is to create animation with more mature themes that appeal to teens and young adults, trying to make their shows resonate and relatable to their audience.

Before I found out about Glitch, I initially followed Luke Lerdwichagul, who was known for his SMG4 animations on YouTube. The channel was created on February 13, 2009, and the series concluded on December 27, 2025. Each video was filled with meme references as the cast of Super Mario went on absurd and silly adventures. I recall coming across his videos when I was younger; they never failed to make me smile and laugh. It came as a surprise when I recognized him in Glitch’s announcement video titled “A New Era”, which was about moving forward with their future indie animation projects. I had drifted away from his content by the time I found the video, and after hearing him with his brother, promising to bring an innovative wave of animation, I walked into uncharted territory, unaware of the joy it would give me.

While I wasn’t aware of Glitch Productions when they came out with Meta Runner in 2020 and Sunset Paradise in 2021, I discovered their channel through Murder Drones (MD). This horror-comedy show livestreamed its pilot episode on October 29, 2021, gaining 82 million views. While I was only 11 years old at that time, I’d say this is one of their most iconic shows. I remember the shock I felt when I watched the pilot episode—I’d never seen anything quite like it. I was fascinated by the character designs and plot, but I was beyond amazement when I found out that MD’s sixth episode, “Dead End,” was the 2024 Webby People’s Voice Winner. This was the first instance I saw an internet series get an award—I didn’t think it was possible! The series reached its conclusion on August 23, 2024, but Glitch’s achievements continued growing from there.

Towards the end of MD’s production, Glitch collaborated with Gooseworx to bring The Amazing Digital Circus (TADC) to life. Inspired by a short story written by Harlan Ellison, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, this surreal dark comedy series reached an impressive 428 million views on its pilot episode, which premiered on October 13, 2023. As if I wasn’t shocked by a Webby Award, I was even more amazed when TADC was an Annie Award nominee in 2023 for Best Character Animation – TV/Media.

On October 4, 2024, after hearing that TADC made its way onto Netflix, a global streaming service, I scrambled to get a subscription. Although the series was free on YouTube, it felt different watching it on a streaming platform—indie animation was finally getting the spotlight it deserved.

I was beyond excited and proud of how far Glitch Productions had come. April 10, 2026, was another achievement for Glitch when they announced that the series’s finale episode, “The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act,” would be screening in theaters globally on June 4, 2026, as an hour-long special. With audience support, it’s slowly finding its way to more theaters around the world. The last episode will also be released on June 19, 2026, on both YouTube and Netflix. This is a big step for indie animation, and I intend to watch the final episode in theaters over the summer.

Glitch also collaborated with my favorite electronic-rock group, The Living Tombstone (TLT), who became famous and well-known for their Five Night at Freddy’s fan-made songs on YouTube, releasing a song inspired by MD called “Fight Til’ I’m Good Enough” on October 17, 2025. I was beyond hyped once it was announced in their Glitch Direct 2025, which is a pre-recorded, Nintendo Direct-style presentation with major announcements regarding their show updates, news, or trailers for new projects. After going to The Living Tombstone concert on October 23, 2025, I counted down the days until the music video was up on YouTube.

One thing that I love about Glitch Productions is its creative freedom for its shows’ creators. Glitch allows creators to create exactly what they envisioned without the concern for censorship, which was what happened to one of my favorite shows, The Owl House (TOH), a Disney animated series created by Dana Terrace. It was a fantasy-comedy show where a human named Luz Noceda, a Dominican-American teenager, stumbles into the Boiling Isles. It’s a realm of witches, and despite Luz having no innate magical abilities, she pursues her dream to become a witch under the guidance of a witch named Eda Clawthorne and a demon named King, whom she both befriended in the beginning episodes.

Glitch Productions’ Knights of Guinevere (KOG), also created by Dana Terrace, was a big conversation topic within the indie animation community. So far, only the pilot episode has been released. Terrace was a former Disney employee working on The Owl House, which got cancelled since Disney executives believed it did not fit their branding. She stated this on her 2021 Reddit ask-me-anything (AMA) account. Initially, TOH was going to have a full third season to conclude its story, but it was ultimately concluded in three, longer episodes, each around 50 minutes. Regardless, fans and Terrace openly and vocally criticized Disney for their decisions.

On February 13, 2026, more episodes of KOG were confirmed to be greenlit, meaning that the show had been officially approved, funded, and cleared to move from the planning stage into production. Now that Terrace’s work is free from censorship, I cannot wait to see how this series will continue. As a fan of her shows, I’m also excited about how it’s going to develop. Indie animation allows for more freedom, allowing its audience to see the first few iterations instead of the last few, providing more content that would have been cut from the final product.

Glitch’s merchandise is another captivating aspect, alongside their animations that I adore. Their new merch drops usually align with their latest episode release, offering direct references from the show in a physical form. 80% of their funding comes from their merch, as stated on their X (formerly Twitter) account on July 5, 2024. Glitch has also partnered with Hot Topic, a pop-culture merchandise and clothing store, on May 29, 2025, bringing their merch into physical stores in North America for fans to purchase in person. Ever since this partnership, I’ve been visiting Hot Topic more frequently than I had before. When I see others also checking out Glitch’s merchandise, it gives me a sense of community and reminds me that I’m not the only person with an interest in indie animation. As a person with niche interests growing up, I always felt like an outcast. I still feel it to this day, but being able to relate and talk freely about indie animation with others becomes one less thing to hide.

In addition, I love Glitch’s dedication to helping out other indie creators on social media; funding is always an obstacle for independent studios to handle, but for one example, on October 10, 2025, the creators mentioned in Glitch Direct that they partnered up with another indie studio to help them jump into developing their own project, Lackadaisy.

I’ve watched most of Glitch’s projects, and I simply love them. The Amazing Digital Circus, The Gaslight District, Knights of Guinevere, and Murder Drones are all fantastic indie animations. Their shows are dark, grim, and horror-centered, which are my favorite genres. Each show is special in its own way and never fails to create jaw-dropping scenes and huge plot twists. Their latest show, Gameoverse, recently premiered its pilot episode on May 15, 2026, at 3 p.m. I watched it with my friends after school, and we were all blown away by its innovative storyline. The plot is switched; instead of the hero winning against the enemy, the enemy has to beat the hero for the greater good of the world. This irony in the show has already got me hooked; I hope Gameoverse gets enough attention so that more episodes can be made.

Indie animation is becoming more eye-catching and appealing to me; studios like Glitch Productions allow more creative expression, helping create more interesting storylines. For the past year or two, I’ve been rewatching old Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks’ animations rather than their latest releases. I feel like the animation produced by them just isn’t as interesting or captivating as it used to be with their plot, design, and conflict. I feel like I’m taking away the same repeating message they’re trying to convey, and it’s not engaging anymore.

The world of indie animation is growing slowly, and I think more people should recognize it. If Glitch Productions can make lasting achievements both on the internet and in the real-life world, I believe that other indie studios have the same potential. I can’t wait to see how Glitch will continue engaging fans with their content, and I hope indie animation studios will thrive one day, bringing a new era of self-expression, creativity, and innovative storytelling into the modern world.