Cyrus! & The Amusementals is an animated surrealist horror-comedy series created by Justin M. Morgan.
Set in a world aesthetically frozen in the 1970's and inhabited by humans and fantastical beings of all types, shapes, and sizes, it follows the titular Cyrus, a plucky but socially inept entrepreneur in the city of Benedictville, who is the CEO of a dingy, decrepit amusement park called Pleasure Ground.
With the help of his motley employees - troublemaking Lyle, ditzy Yuliya, curmudgeonly Kraigg, braggadocious Xeitz, and lamebrained Skewer - Cyrus works to alleviate Pleasure Ground’s less than desirable reputation, while he and his crew get into an assortment of shenanigans both in and out of the park.
The Amusementals
Cyrus Charleston
Our main human protagonist (as well the only human of the main cast for that matter) and head of Pleasure Ground, Cyrus is a good-hearted, if immensely strange, man who strives to make his park “the greatest goddamn family fun establishment if there ever goddamn was one”. Though not the brightest or most apt of leaders, he cares for his employees a lot, even if his opportunism can result in him putting the park’s success before their needs at times.Lyle
One of the two youngest members of the group, a robot who jumps from being a work-shy layabout to an agent of chaos. He runs Pleasure Ground’s snack bar, the woefully-named Greased Weiner, alongside Yuliya, who he is close friends with.Yuliya
Lyle’s co-manager at the Greased Weiner, a courteous ghost who often resides in her own plane of thinking. Her relationship with the robot can be described as being sibling-esque, as the two are hardly ever seen doing anything without the other.Kraigg MacKraigg
A curmudgeonly warlock and alchemist who works at the ring toss stand next to the Greased Weiner, and the most pragmatic of the gang. Seeing his life as one determined to make him as utterly miserable as possible, Kraigg can come off as a rather unpleasant fellow. He’s not as hard-hardened as he lets on, though.Priscilla Xeitz
Pleasure Ground’s ride technician and resident gadgeteer, an unidentifiable anthropomorphic insect with a gargantuan dome (figuratively and literally) and an overcompensating ego to boost. The others struggle to tolerate her due to her flaunting personality, but never find it in themselves to outright kick her out of the group, mainly because without her, the rides would never be able to function properly.Skewer
A stupid and overly excitable kaiju who just so happens to be at the size of the average domesticated dog, with the mannerisms of one to boot. His demeanor tends to cause trouble for the others more often than not, though he’s otherwise very friendly.This Unpublished Work Attempts To Provide Examples Of:
- Affectionate Parody: Of the works of Sid & Marty Krofft and 1960's/70's culture as a whole.
- All Animals Are Dogs: Skewer.
- Benevolent Boss: When the "chronic opportunist" side of his personality isn't dominant, Cyrus can be this.
- Black Comedy
- Butt-Monkey: All six of the Amusementals fall into this to some extent, but Cyrus and especially Kraigg have it the worst of the bunch.
- Cast of Snowflakes
- Cringe Comedy
- Deranged Animation
- Gadgeteer Genius: Xeitz.
- Gross-Out Show: Not extensively so, but given the setting, it's bond to happen at times.
- Jerkass: Lyle, Kraigg, and Xeitz are not exactly the most endearing people to be around.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Again, Lyle, Kraigg, and Xeitz. Cyrus can fall into this on his worst days.
- Like Brother and Sister: Lyle and Yuliya.
- Negative Continuity: Some episodes can end on one or more characters being doomed to a horrible fate with no apparent way out, yet they'll turn up fine like nothing happened. Downplayed as events from previous episodes can still be mentioned or even serve as the basis for another episode in spite of this.
- Nice Girl: Absentminded she may be, Yuliya is generally very good-natured.
- The Ditz: Skewer, oh so much. Cyrus and Yuliya have more than their fair share of moments as well.
- Token Human: Cyrus is the only through and through human character of the main cast.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Amusementals themselves: a dorky human entrepreneur, a mischievous robot, a scatterbrained ghost, a bad-tempered warlock, and a hyper-intelligent talking insect, and a moronic kaiju.
- Retraux: A good number of steps are taken to invoke the aesthetic of the 60's and 70's. This extends to the visual style and character designs, which have a distinctive and stylized UPA flair to them.
