The Crushing Fall of Reboot

One day, Mainframe Entertainment were the premiere 3D animation studio. Now they do yearly direct to video Barbie Movies. What happened?
Voice Cameos:
Woolie Woolz: / woolieversus
Scott "KaiserNeko" Frerichs : / kaiserneko
0:00 - Chapter 0 - Prologue
3:48 - Chapter 1 - Rise of Mainframe Entertainment
17:02 - Chapter 2 - Season 2 Gambles
22:35 - Chapter 3- Enzo Reloaded
35:55 - Chapter 4 - Cartoon Network Films
44:11 -Chapter 5 - Crushing Fall

[@Eidlones]

I always love that "you need a kid in the show so they have someone to relate to", when no kids ever really liked the kid characters.

[@CoralCopperHead]

I liked Enzo just fine, and liking him made his transformation into Matrix way cooler for me as a kid. "Awesome, badass version of a character I like!" as opposed to "Oh good, they finally replaced him." Then the ending gives me the best of both worlds, it's great.

[@Eidlones]

@@CoralCopperHead It's just weird how they always say to add in a kid character, when I never knew anyone that cared that much about the kid characters. Everyone wanted to be the cool older characters.

[@otaking3582]

I think the only time a "Kid Appeal Character" actually worked was with Justin in Power Rangers Turbo, and that's just because he was the only competent member of his team

[@booradley6832]

Its amusing to me because I dont like kids. And I didnt like kids even when I was one.

[@Aldrius]

I did not love Enzo as a kid (but didn't hate him either) but as an adult he's one of my favourites.

[@semysane]

The fact that it's been a year with no follow up to this cliffhanger is perfect, lol

[@KyleRuggles]

It's like watching Star Trek TNG - Best of Both Worlds after Riker says fire, and we didn't get anything! It's been 23 years already!

[@ProtoZealott]

I always found the idea of this computer becoming riddled with an ever increasing amount of problems while the user just keeps playing random games to be funny. Only when the computer straight up crashes on them do they do anything, and honestly, that's pretty accurate.

[@CoralCopperHead]

Time dilation. We get to see Enzo's birthsecond, and I think someone mentions that he's finally "a day" old. It's entirely possible that the entire series happened over the course of like, a week in real-time. Plus, a lot of the problems are quickly resolved by Bob within the course of an episode, and he's a GUARDIAN program -- I always presumed they were antivirus programs, so by all accounts, nothing's really _wrong_ with the computer beyond Bob refusing to go beyond weak quarantines with Megabyte and Hex which we don't get to really understand his motives for until the made-for-TV movies.

[@otaking3582]

@@CoralCopperHead Unless you're using McAfee or Protegent, most antivirus softwares don't make every single one of their PC games unwinnable. That's usually Denuvo's job.

[@alizaidi2893]

Sounds like my early 90s experience with computers as a kid

[@ClannerA01]

​@@CoralCopperHead I've always thought of him as Norton Disk Doctor or PCTools since they do clean up your harddrive and allow you to manually disable viruses. Winning games? Well, i do use PC tools to change values in the save files and bypass copy protection.

[@michaelbannan9972]

2003 me feels so attacked right now. * cries in Livewire virus *

[@acridyd]

The tone of ReBoot changing from child-like to mature themes really matched how its audience grew-up with the show. While unintentional, it added a layer of relatability.

[@Lucy-31]

ReBoot and Beast Wars were way ahead of their time for kid's shows. I'll always have a soft spot for them.

[@thomasarnoldcoe6527]

Yeah Boi. And Battle Planets.

[@mattbaxter688]

And shadow raiders

[@I.C.Weiner]

Shut up Rat Trap.

[@BrotherB1ackHeartSavage]

Always

[@SaucerheadTharp]

“It is by my will alone you survive this encounter.” The world lost a hell of a voice when Tony Jay passed away. The best villains are smart, deep voiced, and British. Really interesting video. Always wondered what the hell happened with My Two Bobs.

[@alphayun7401]

i think the best villains, are the business person type, playing the long game, and plotting never boastful, or waiting for the right time to boast

[@MechaniclZ]

Bad enough he passed away...But he actually died as well. That sucks.

[@booradley6832]

@@MechaniclZ Not sure how to process this comment.

[@Allan1291]

His voiced sounded familiar and my suspicions were true he was the Elder God in Legacy of Kain. Its amazing how good he was :O

[@jmcateer0]

Tony Jay was amazing in this show. Even at it's most campy (like guitar solo with Bob levels of camp), he delivered an intimidating and charming performance.

[@AE1OU]

Yeah Woolie. Had a feeling he'd make a cameo

[@SorcererLance]

Having The User system restore their computer during the then-finale of the show's third season would both technically and literally count as a "deus ex machina"... where "god" swoops in to save the day for our heroes. I don't entirely believe it's too anti-climactic, as the show establishes The User as this world's deity since the first episode's intro narration. The Sprites have always been aware of them and their seemingly infinite control/power to create/destroy but are unsure if they're even a real being as they never made their presence known in any way, shape or form... So also in a way, it also acted as a "Chekov's gun". If your own computer got so corrupt and practically unusable, you normally wouldn't leave things as-is if you still need to use it for things. You'd fix it by rebooting the computer or system restore it to a prior save before things got so bad. ...Now if only The User would stop downloading their games from highly questionable sources that leaves entire sections of Mainframe destroyed.

[@LeoMidori]

Whoever the User was, they must have really loved shareware floppies.

[@yousaywhatnow2195]

They technically never explained why games do so much damage (and the damage existed in other computers as well apparently when Enzo and the other exiles were going throughout the internet, so it wasn’t just the one), so I always wondered what the hell was up with that. It couldn’t be viruses attached to the games either because viruses are anthropomorphized as well, and it’s unlikely that every game they used would be a corrupted version to the point where that would make sense.

[@CoralCopperHead]

@@yousaywhatnow2195 I wouldn't be surprised if it was the writers trying to pre-empt any moral guardians that were concerned about video game addiction because it was so poorly understood at the time. Besides, they needed some stakes, otherwise there wouldn't be any reason to go into the Games where you could be deleted by a bad move, all the tension would be rooted in evacuating sectors before the cube landed, and they only need to show that process once or twice for the audience to understand it's a common thing that they know how to do well -- after that they'd have to start stacking more and more convoluted reasons why, pick a handful of characters, failed to evacuate and have to survive yet another Game. Make the User's victory a threat somehow, now the cast has no choice and we aren't going to question them heading in. It's like films about giant robots and monsters, where we know it makes no sense, but if we don't just accept the premise there can't be a show.

[@maximumrisk2004]

@@yousaywhatnow2195 I havent watched the show to be sure they never mentioned where in the Computer Mainframe the City would be located, but I would Imagine the RAM and once a Programm is done with a certain area of Memory it usually gets wiped clean to be used for other Software. Simple IT

[@robertmarsh5322]

@@yousaywhatnow2195 I always understood it as when the user won they would uninstall the game, blanking out the sector. There was the one place during Enzo's travels where the user only played golf... Mainframe only makes little sense due to the sheer number and variety of games.

[@NCHProductions]

another reboot retrospective? welp time to drop everything.

[@BigHeadClan]

Much like MH shorts there are never too many retrospectives on Reboot. :)

[@IamNster]

Guys Fox finally remembered the password to his KZbin channel

[@MarbleOceans]

Ey these videos take ages to make, a lot of work goes into them. Be patient with creators ✨

[@ryanmason2502]

Hexadecimal, with her shifting faces, is such an awesome villain concept. With a phenomenal voice actress.

[@CoralCopperHead]

Enzo: "Can't believe I couldn't beat the User. I must be BASIC." My mom, explaining the lingo to me as a kid: "BASIC is an extremely outdated programming language." Programming teacher, twelve years later: "Alright, we'll be spending the first half of the year learning BASIC." Me: _"Fuck this shit, I'm out."_

[@hardleecure]

for real. if you want to learn an ancient language that'll make you a ton of cash, COBOL is where it's at.

[@bitwize]

Today: "Basic" is slang for a Fortnite player with no custom gear. Also slang for a woman with no individual taste.

[@captainnintendo]

I think even to this day, Reboot has to be one of my most beloved TV shows. As a kid, I absolutely adored it. Even if tons of the jokes and techno babble and pop-culture references went completely over my head. I just enjoyed the action, the variation, and the creative ideas they had for all the episodes. As I've grown older I've only grown to appreciate the clever writing and the show's legacy even more. Such an ambitious and groundbreaking show for its day. Hell, I was actually dressed up as Enzo for our equivalent of Halloween over here. Complete with green face paint and all. A few years ago I even carved out a Jack-o-lantern with the cool virus logo as well. I also had some of the toys like Hex, Hack and Slash, and Enzo. Sadly never got to own the PS1 game back in the day. I think the most hard-hitting and chilling scene from the show has to be the one from "Game Over". You can tell how this is not gonna end well, you know it's coming but you still think something could happen in the last second. And then you hear that announcement "The user wins" and the whole room just turns completely silent for what feels like forever. Everyone shooked to their core as they as well as the audience is trying to process what just happened. It is bone-chilling and such a ballsy movie and I love it. Sadly, in Denmark, they only ever made it to season 2. It was years until I even realized there were 2 more seasons. but dang, whenever that rocking anthem to the opening was playing, II knew I was in for a great time. There was just nothing like Reboot back then and while its looks might be dated now, they are still just so iconic and the writers made the absolute most out of the setting and theme of being inside of a computer. It is outright criminal that this show never got the ending and closure it deserved. But I guess Guardian Code showed us that there are fates worse than death -_- This retrospective really took me back. Thank you so much for shedding some light on all the cool history of this amazing show. Can't wait for the next part.

[@phykin]

The "End Game" episode burned into my brain. I'll never forget watching that as a kid. So used to happy endings then there was that.

[@kayrupe125]

I know! I was like, "there's no way they'll have it end like that" but they went all the way

[@rerez]

Well this couldn't have come out at a better time! 😁

[@reinoob]

Got me confused for a moment XD

[@Raztatic]

Talk about a coincidence.

[@theintoxicationbin3836]

Just watch a cutscene compilation man, only worthwhile thing in that game

[@dariendude17]

Why do you say that?

[@Raztatic]

@@dariendude17 Rerez uploaded a video about the Reboot game for PS1

[@RasenRendanX]

I grew up with this show. I loved it so much. also as a 90s Canadian kid. I'm so sad it fell from grace... This man mentioned sticking around I haven't heard that show in 2 decades. The theme song was so catchy

[@Raztatic]

Stickin' Around was part of my daily routine as a kid.

[@sopranophantomista]

You don't know how giddy I am watching this. From the PSA medley in the beginning, to the select scenes from the series you let play to drive home the emotional core (I still get chills listening to Megabyte's laugh, you're not the only one), to your kind, thoughtful, balanced critique the series, thank you for your time and effort talking about this show. I rewatched the series a couple of years back, and it floors me how many references and jokes still land. Now that I'm older, I was able to catch more layers in the writing and the character development. I'm sure that if I rewatch it now, I'll take even more away from it. It's a shame that the last "season" will never be resolved. I personally have a head cannon that the cycle starts again, harking back to season 1. The circle will never be unbroken. I can only hope that somehow, some way, the Hub can get back together and finally finish the series, the way they want to.

[@felman87]

I think what sucks is that Reboot could've been just fine with opting to end with My Two Bobs. The entire premise works perfectly as is. S1 was the wholesome kids show. S2 made things interesting. S3 deals with Enzo living up to Bob, failing not from a lack of ambition but simply because he was a child trying to fill in for the role of an adult. The ending of S3 shows us that grown up Enzo didn't just measure up to Bob, but was better in a lot of ways. Bob and Megabyte always seemed to be at an impasse. Megabyte was stronger but Bob, with the help of glitch, managed to outwit and keep him at bay. There was no impasse with Enzo. He utterly defeats Megabyte, proving that the student has surpassed the master who trained him. Enzo's arc is complete. Then we get some clean-up with Daemon, wrapping up that old loose threads before we conclude with Bob and Dot completing their arcs, Dot pining for a return to the old. The old wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though because Megabyte turns out to be the Other Bob. This makes Dot realize that what she pined for, the old days, were also kind of bad. With Megabyte and Hexadecimal running around mainframe causing trouble. She realizes that the idealist past she yearned for was gone (if it ever really existed at all, I mean Megabyte was a bad dude after all), time has moved on, people have grown and change and ultimately learn to appreciate what you have in front of you. Dot and Bob defeat Megabyte for good, allowing each of our original 3 protagonists to overcome the Big Bad that was set up at the start and thus we can end the series.

[@jessip8654]

I grew up on this show, and still rewatch it every couple of years. It holds up incredibly well, the third season especially was way ahead of its time for kid's media. Yeah the animation is dated but I think it has a fun retro charm. Even if the show is largely forgotten by anyone that isn't a 30-something Canadian, it had a huge influence on the animation industry. Most my animation coworkers cite Reboot as one of their biggest inspirations. So its influence is all through western cartoons.

[@seanwilliams7655]

I'm an over 40 American and I loved Reboot.

[@kappo34]

Croatian reporting, I LOVED the show back in the day. Woke up at 6 to watch it when they messed up the timeslot

[@paultapping9510]

it was popular in the UK also

[@JustaGuy_Gaming]

It was a good show and the voice acting was amazing of course. More so for the side characters and villains than Bob or Enzo TBh though. It was by far the best looking 3d TV show we would get for years, and heck some movies looked worse at the time. The first season was a bit painful at times as it tried a bit hard to be "Cool and hip". Using slang terms that just felt painful coming out of the VA mouths. Luckily they seemed to dial back on it in later seasons.

[@Val.Kyrie.]

Almost 40 year old Canadian 🙌🏻 loved reboot.

[@DethGuy95]

Woolie cameo at the end, "a surprise to be sure, but a welcomed one"

[@Juwce_86]

Haha I'm a mid 30's Australian and I somehow grew up with this cartoon down here. Super lucky. I swear I was the only kid that knew about it back then. Thanks for putting this together. Much love.

[@SabbyNeko]

Me to! I think season 3 might have been the first time stupid child me found out edge was real and life is complicated.

[@epicgamer2727]

Having not seen this yet I’m expecting Woolie to pop up at least twice

[@tomero12]

"I'm Canadian! I'm Canadian!" "Beast Wars..." It's Beasties, you fraud!

[@facepwnagewtf]

I always found it weird as a kid when the show as it aired was called Beasties, but if you bought the series on VHS it was named Beast Wars .

[@Feasco]

see also War Planets- sorry, Shadow Raiders

[@Thalanox]

@@Feasco I think Shadow Raiders sounded better, honestly. As for Beast Wars, I think that sounds better than Beasties.

[@lostnumbr]

with all my dealings in the toy line, mp and third party figures I've gotten used to calling it beast wars myself. though the title theme always sounded better as beasties.

[@haotseng318]

I wonder if the joke is that the Reboot Retrospective series was left on a cliffhanger just like the actual series was lol.

[@Blacknight8850]

While I'm looking forward to Part 2, it would make for an amazing meta-joke if you ended this video with the cliffhanger of a great evil poised to return and then never released the conclusion due to nonspecific production issues, just like _ReBoot_ itself, lol!

[@DeetexSeraphine]

Oh man... I loved this show as a kid, still love it as an adult-shaped person... the end of Game Over yanks a tear every time.

[@mateo_sid]

ok, now i need that second part. wait, it's been over a year?!? i'm glad you're enjoying star trek and that you've become one of us, but to quote bender - let's go alreadyyyyy! 😅❤

[@daniell1483]

As a kid, I loved Reboot; as an adult, all I could remember of the show was that I had loved it as a kid. Seeing this retrospective, I can't help but think it was the late, great Tony Jay's voice acting that made it something special. It was the first time a young me imagined a villain as genuinely menacing. The man's portrayal of Megabyte (and later on for me the Elder God from Legacy of Kain) is simply fantastic. Rest well, Tony.

[@TiltedRose]

just subscribed thinking there was gonna be a part 2 soon. then i realized this video is a year old. feels bad.

[@joakimmogren1727]

I never grew up with the show, I thought it looked like ass but after learning 3D animation with Maya & Blender I can respect the animators. Also I thought it was cool that the art director helped to develop Mad Max: Fury Road.

[@BrotherB1ackHeartSavage]

It’s koo dude i was a fan of the show and still thought it looked like ass. I was a huge fan of 2D art styles in animation tho and it made it distracting but just like you i appreciate it for its time. I used to want to be an animator myself

[@fattiger6957]

You really have to be forgiving for the visuals. They didn't have Pixar's budget or time. For the restrictions they were working with, they did the best they could. While everyone remembers the visuals, what makes me still consider myself a fan is the story in the second half of the series.

[@BrotherB1ackHeartSavage]

@@fattiger6957 second half is a classic I’ll never forget. Enzo stepping up to become Bob then Bob coming back was epic in my opinion the show has great writing but a lot of young boys action cartoons had good writing back then. Omg i hope to God that’s not my nostalgia Goggles talking

[@booradley6832]

@@BrotherB1ackHeartSavage Its not. There are a lot of well written and emotional moments in the show.

[@BrotherB1ackHeartSavage]

@@booradley6832 i hadn’t watched it in awhile was thinking about looking it up for a rewatch

[@civilwarfare101]

I feel so bad for the animation studio. They were such a goddamn powerhouse. Hell, I can also say the same for Canadian voice talent and animation in general. Things haven't been the same since the 00s.

[@fattiger6957]

Canadian entertainment in general is now a shadow of what it was in the 90s-early 2000s.

[@civilwarfare101]

@@fattiger6957 Yup, 2008 is where it all went to shit. I look up what YTV has now, and I just get depressed.

[@brandonontama2415]

As someone who enjoyed Canadian TV shows it's sad. Canada could of really been a powerhouse in the animation industry, maybe give the US and Japan some much needed competition.

[@civilwarfare101]

@@brandonontama2415 They really could've been. It truly is a shame. All though there seems to be some interesting Chinese and French cartoons though

[@brandonontama2415]

@@civilwarfare101 Definitely

[@civilwarfare101]

I just want people to know, they DID continue Reboot through a Webcomic many years ago. So if you want a conclusion there's that. I remember reading a summary on the wiki many years ago and remember it not being that great. But I might read it now that I found better access to it.

[@PassoutWeezing]

Listen, as soon as you started this video with the house hippo it was game over. This video is prime quality. Can’t wait to see part 2 and dear god, BEAST WARS please!!

[@crimeman5587]

Getting kaiserneko to voice a quote by a fellow by the skin of their teeth production leader named Scott is a funny Easter egg.

[@fernie-fernandez]

I nearly jumped from hearing a voice of The Legendary TFS…

[@theintoxicationbin3836]

Oh the 90s Canadian Nostalgia at those commercials! Man, I've gotta believe a better world out there got a full season 5 sendoff; oh what could have been.

[@GeorgeBPryor]

Thank you so much for giving Insektors a shout out, almost everybody overlooks it when discussing the history of early 3D animation. It was a truly impressive show for its time and a great show in its own right.

[@whimsymm6742]

I never got as into Reboot as Pokémon or other 2D shows, but it definitely has a special place in my heart from my early years, and as an artist myself, it’s genuinely impressive to look back on this animation and how hard the creators had to work to get it off the ground. I also quite liked Beast Wars, so it’s cool to know the same studio is behind two fond shows from my childhood….Part 2 of this series is gonna hurt. :’)

[@hughmahn484]

8:45 Though who knows how CGI would've been received without reboot and toy story being a one-two punch showing it's viability, then come to see cities like Toronto and Vancouver being big hubs for tech and computer jobs come the turn of the century. For Reboot season 1 I gotta say, while it isn't anything standout spectacular I think you might be underselling some of the writing and humor, I still think it has a real charm to it despite the limitations put on them.

[@BugsyFoga]

Reboot: one of the front runners of revolutionizing 3D animation at the time .

[@amshigar0092]

Loved the video man! I remember watching Reboot as a kid on TV, and especially rewatching season 3 a lot because my dad recorded those episodes when they aired. I didn’t understand everything that went on, stuff like Enzo/Matrix’s internal struggles and everything going with Mouse went completely over my head, but I still remember having a blast with the show regardless. Revisiting the show in it’s entirety just last year myself not only helped revitalize my love for it, but also gave me a stronger appreciation for the elements I previously didn’t get. So you’d better believe I’m excited for part 2, because I’m already deep enough in the hole to back out now!

[@fattiger6957]

The 2nd video will be very depressing because the state of the ReBoot IP in the last 20 years is infuriating to say the least.

[@brianpj5860]

All those 1990’s Canadian infomercials where a blast from the past, wow! “Don’tcha put it in your mouth!” Haha!

[@zoesoundglave3897]

and just like reboot, left on a cliffhanger for years

[@Matthias333]

Wow. This video was amazing in so many ways...research, scripting, editing, etc...etc... I'm sure you've heard this a million times, but 'How do you not have way, way more viewers!?' Good luck to you and you'll get there if you keep up this level of quality. Sincerely, //-_matthias

[@dgcatanisiri]

Shit, just that clip alone of Dot screaming guts me... That is damn good writing and performances.

[@DanzelGlovington]

No way! What a surprise video to wake up to I've been a total ReBoot head since I can remember. Rewatched the whole thing on crave a few months ago.

[@Lanewreck]

Damn, that bit at the end with woolie, got me choked up. Very very good video my dude. Well done. My childhood thanks you.

[@enilenis]

2 reasons I've been in effects business all my life - Reboot TV series and Red Alert game cinematics. I was so blown away by them, I decided to go into computer graphics when I grew up, and that exact thing happened. I tried getting into Mainframe, while still in high school, but that was around the time when they were starting to break up, so I never got in. 2 of my college instructors were Mainframe animators, doing part time gigs. They relayed a lot of what was happening at the company internally. They had salary raises baked into contracts I believe it was $4K raise, across the board, every 4 shows. And keeping staff was getting prohibitively expensive, because of it. At one point it was better for them to end contracts, prior to crossing another 4-show mark.

[@vinceunknown1935]

So I guess making another movie to end it all with Megabyte getting defeated for good is off the table eh?

[@bbd121]

I've always carried a little flame for the girls of Reboot when I was young. Now, decades later, you remind me of it. ...And I still think they look hot, uncanny valley and all. Funny how rose tinted glasses work. :D

[@Unforgiven11]

This is one I actively think about week to week. For people who weren't fans of the show it's hard to explain how it felt to cut off where it did in the story. Literally at the climax, right before the grand finale while the bad guy has taken over and all our heroes are about to get hunted down and killed. It ended with all the characters in complete horror of the situation and then just *poof* no more Reboot. It messed with me as a kid, I just kept waiting for the final movie (1 hour special or whatever) to come out and conclude things. I just kept on hoping that Bob and the gang would turn things around but we didn't get anything. I don't really understand how this could be allowed to happen.. I understand the VA of Megabyte is iconic, irreplaceable and was with them from the beginning of the project. But how can you let all the fans down in this way? Not release ANY official material to give a proper ending? The new show is bogus, the fact they use Live Action and the story revolves around Users going into the game to act like some kind of super heroes is just whack- it was never about that. So frustrating.

[@Munden]

I caught these on TV in the USA. Looking at the wiki that must have been between1996-97 because I didn't watch them on Cartoon Network in 99.

[@t.j.giroux5936]

Man oh man does this ever take me back. I’ve always been so proud of this little Canadian show! Such a great cheesy little show.

[@dadriangreen6179]

Canadian here - and Reboot is the stuff of legends. A true classic.

[@AegisKHAOS]

Reboot was one of my favorite animated series back in the day, especially season 3 where Mainframe Studios got unshackled and did what they wanted to do. Sad to see where the series ended up. Like... WHY!??!!

[@lajeandom]

so many things could have been done, its a real shame.

[@JArtsChannel]

I literally just watched a four-part retrospective on Reboot before your upload.

[@thebigdawgj]

Link?

[@JArtsChannel]

@@thebigdawgj kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqSqfalraKyXe80

[@AnonYoBizness]

Ill prob be commenting several times here. WOW thanks for the nostalgia burst with those commercials. Good times.

[@nongravis]

As a kid I had the biggest crush on Megabyte. That voice.... I also once had my glasses destroyed in school and had to watch the season 2 finale with my nose literally against the screen. My parents rented a VHS Player because I refused to go to a wedding as that weekend would be the season 3 finale airing. Syndication did not exist in my country. Our tiny tv had 4 channels. My mother had been watching the season with me and convinced my father it would be better for my sense of closure to not miss it. In hindsight, my parents were really awesome and understanding of my obsession with this show. [Fixed spelling, ish]

[@kaismessiahbaby755]

Perfect video for a Sunday morning. Brings back so much nostalgia it's insane. This is amazing! Also 27:15 you're playing classic Mobb Deep!? Holy crap dude you got amazing taste!

[@Raztatic]

Foxcade, you should do a video about the characters and the voice actors of the show. That's really all this video needs. They also have a comic book series that I think concludes the storyline for the show. You should look into it. I'm sure you'd enjoy them. This is one of my favourite shows from when I was a kid. Even just the opening to this video hit me in the feels. I sing that "don't you put it in your mouth" song all the time, so it was cool showing my gf where that's from. Growing up in Abbotsford, it was always cool knowing that they made Reboot in Vancouver. Great video! Thanks for the nostalgia!

[@entrophynever2152]

Thanks. I was in my mid-30's when Reboot premiered, I loved it. When the 3rd season came on Cartoon Network it was an unexpected gift. It should have ended there, all else is noise. Andrea lives!

[@vmakia]

Closure- @44:11 I finally understand. Thank you. Great Video, man. There's a lot of heart.

[@JeffTMagic]

This is my favorite show of all time. So underrated and kind of forgotten

[@SpookeyGael]

Woolie is practically the brand embassador for Reboot at this point

[@Foxcade]

I started working on this video and Woolie just materialized in my home

[@Cakeman777]

Whenever there is a new Reboot retrospective, I am sure to follow and I have to say that I greatly enjoyed hearing your thoughts and insights into my favourite TV series. I stayed away from the Guardian Code for...well the obvious reasons, but I look forward to part 2!

[@LeoMidori]

God this show was incredible. The weird thing about Reboot is the older I get is that the more I appreciate just how incredible it was, and this essay only helped solidify this. From my first views of the first season on YTV when I was six years old until my rewatch earlier this year, the story, characters, music and animation all came together to make such a sensational, if odd, product.

[@stonewall286]

I'd watch a Part 2 for sure. Don't even know what it would be about.

[@Half-LightZ13]

This is one of those childhood classics that I had to go back and rewatch. Still love it. Still wish it gotta a proper ending. But at least we got the ending with the musical.

[@Kitamora]

Here in the UK I remember watching ReBoot as a kid and it would always worm it's way into my mind as I got older. About a decade and a half or so back me and a friend finally found the whole show on DVD and we binge it on occasion. Such a weird and wonderful show. My still in box Hexadecimal action-figure is one of my most prized possessions. Never watched your channel before but this is an excellent video.

[@sumsaudi]

CANADAS ANSWER TO REDLINE WAS MY JAM. World Race and Acceleracers are also incredible films which brough so much richness to a hotwheels toyline. also like Reboot. it ended on a cliffhanger. started over with a new story featuring the same main character with vert for battle force 5, which has nothing to do with the previous story. Spiderman TNAS also ended on a cliffhanger. It almost like Mainframe Entertainment is the Valve of Animation. our storytelling is awesome, nothing else does thing quite like us, but like a third sequel wont ever happen.

[@treetheoak8313]

Honestly this, woolies and Bullsession's videos are like DVD collectors extra for fellow reboot fans. Hell bullsession has a great input on the reboot that shall not be named.

[@ConekillerConfuzor]

Check put the Lazor Comb Alphanumeric podcast too! It's on KZbin!

[@BenAllen217]

Just like the show, this video ended on a cliffhanger. Props to you, man.

[@jaygames3905]

My childhood as an American I think of reboot often. I swear I lived in that universe it must have been that orange green hair girl... man 5th grade lol . But I could cry thank you so much for making this.

[@danielwilliamson6180]

ReBoot was a brilliant show. Truly ground breaking and ahead of it's time.

[@Karter_Blackpaw]

Oh my god, that show Shadow Raiders, I completely forgot that fever dream existed except for it being an odd animated show during childhood. I think I need to spend a drunken weekend watching it again....

[@Daviesng007]

So.... is there a part 2?

[@charleyedwards2121]

grew up on ytv love this, great video man i use enzo as an example of a character who gets super powerful super quick the proper way disney can really learn somethign from master story writers like this god i love this show

[@AshXXMayftw]

While I do love modern day 3D animation, there always something more charming about the unfinished/early look of the older CGI shows like this, the Donkey Kong show, and even movies like the original Toy Story and the CGI shorts that came before it.

[@poncut5074]

Same. It always has a sort of dream like quality to me.

[@AshXXMayftw]

@@poncut5074 This may sound weird, but it's one of the reasons I legit like the Donkey Kong show. Even though I know it's pretty bad, the animation and corny dialogue just make it so much fun to watch.

[@xCoMiXx]

A great series, years and years ago when Two Best Friends mentioned this show I looked it up but I was kinda turned out by the CGI, but back in like 2019 I watched aaall seasons and oh man is it fantastic! I've learned to appreciate those old 3D models a lot, the story really is a rollercoaster but it's a great ride all throughout, unlike Guardian Code, pure BS.

[@viddork]

Forever ago, I went to a movie and saw a YTV ad for Reboot. Imagine seeing it, not on your crappy little CRT TV, but blasted up on the big screen! First time I ever saw an ad for a TV show in a movie theatre, and I can't remember seeing another one since. That Gilbert and Sullivan finale to Season 3 was phenomenal! The entire season recapped in brilliant lyrics was hilarious.

[@JoeEnglandShow]

One thing I love about the season 3 finale is that it finally incorporates the mystery of the "User". The central conceit of ReBoot is that, unbeknownst to us, within our computers is a thriving civilization of artificial intelligence. Human beings, for all intents and purposes, who have miraculously spawned within the framework of the appliances we take for granted. We're literally playing with their lives. It's a sort of cousin of the Toy Story scenario, wherein toys come to life when we're not looking. The dramatic disparity is even greater because we neither recognize nor attach emotional weight to the elements in our computers, and we furthermore have no idea that we're causing them distress. It's a profound concept, mirrored by the fact that the people in the computer barely know more about us than we do about them. All they know is that we're powerful quasi-godlike beings who occasionally inflict our wrath on them (though I never was quite clear on how winning games actually damages the system). It practically invites the question, if we accidentally created a new order of life without even knowing about it, what does that say about our own world? Is the real God as unaware of our plight as we are of the computer people? Their whole lives basically revolve around this question. Who, or what, is the User? Do they even exist? Can we establish communication? The opening of the show pins this as an integral mystery, something that Bob intends to get to the bottom of. They never actually go after the answer, but I find it poignant that, in the end, they decide to put their faith in us. As Mainframe collapses, Bob decides that all they can do is hope that this incomprehensible force of nature, whoever or whatever it is, will take care of them. For once, the User is not an antagonistic presence. After everyone has done their part to save their home, it's finally up to us. Not showing the User is a deliberate choice. It not only grants them a mythic quality, it also allows the viewer to play the part. We imagine that it's just us, sitting at a keyboard at home, looking at a screen, and casually taking care of our computer. This mundane act of rebooting the system, probably not much more than a passing concern, allows us to unknowingly save the lives of countless innocent people who both fear and depend on us. I can't think of a more appropriate finale to this epic drama than by bringing it back around to Bob's stated quest. Yes, Bob, there is a User.

[@poisonedlava]

"Only the evil characters could be sexualized..." oh so that's where my taste in people came from

[@marklarizzle]

It was such a pleasure experiencing this show. The long wait untill more came and how much more mature it was.

[@basilramsay8589]

You did an amazing job on this. Can’t wait for part 2! I rewatch it and I notice the paint program ep is the first ep that the web creature is mentioned. The cops are chatting about just before Hex breaks in. I realized that’s when the story arcs starts.

[@JetSetDex]

Still waiting on part 2 to come out!

[@otaking3582]

When's Part 2?

[@combatking0]

Out of all of what happened in ReBoot, I find Hexadecmial's arc to be the most compelling. Sure, it's slow during the first three seasons, but her sacrifice at the end is brilliant.

[@jareddufour]

cried a lot. I just want to go back to simpler times. ReBoot will always live on in my heart.

[@NmyLogan]

to be continued... ~2 year later and still nothing. maybe someday.

[@Invictus_Mithra]

Ending on a cliffhanger just like the show

[@McGinty84]

So... Woolie was right?

[@mattd1466]

This was really interesting man, wasn't aware how much 3d animation history was involved with this shit and all the turmoil it went through. Got notifications on for when part 2 drops👌

[@kid_rajah]

Man Reboot was my shit. Waking up on Saturday after watching Ghost Writer, Lambchop, and Ronin Warriors throughout the day. Reboot got me ready for Beastwars. If I could find all the VHS tapes, I’d buy it. About a week ago I showed a friend about Reboot who never heard of it.

[@firehawk128]

When is part 2? :)

[@treebush]

Part 2 when

[@TheTicain]

Blast of nostalgia for me! Being a kid back then, that show was the shit!!! trust me!

[@admcleo]

Just stumbled across a fun little video and got a suprise ending dose of woolie. What a nice surprise. Feels kind of bad to be a kid who got through season 2 and my local scheduling shenanigans prevented me from ever seeing the rest.

[@yoyleb1711]

is this part 1 being a cliffhanger intentional lol

[@yoyleb1711]

jokes aside this is incredibly fascinating. i wasn't the right age during the height of this show (neither am i canadian or american) but i really have to check this series out! i have a profound love for old cgi, especially Money For Nothing.

[@manuelcorrea2365]

I am from Colombia and I remember this series was also broadcasted in my country in the mid-late 90's and I loved it!

[@missedmurphy]

Instant like for House Hippo. As a kid of the 90's it and the early 2000's was an amazing time. YTV was the best channel back then for kids. Ah, the good ol' days...

[@user-yy2zz7wk1z]

This was my favourite show. It taught me so much about computers without knowing so when I actually started studying computers it all started to make sense.

[@Fungster117]

I can't wait till part 2. Because no one feels the pain more than the fans than myself and my coworkers who actually worked on the Guardian Code.

[@samuelsolomon7330]

I am so sorry.

[@InferisDCB]

By the way, Bob never found out, did he? Bob: "They say the user lives outside the net, and inputs games for pleasure ... I intend to find out" I later realized I was one of those users Back then schools and corporations had mainframes I brought games with me on floppies to play on the school mainframe And back then, games weren't well build; changing system settings for their own means, and not always for the better of the system running the game