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.
@@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.
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
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.
A lot of the time executives don't like that and want to dumb things down or keep things marketable and repackage them for just a demographic, even ignoring their original audience when they want to just keep something they think is easy to sell to kids for ever or sell toys with. ReBoot the show did the opposite. Its why its still rewatchable as an adult and the character development feels real. There was no status quo after season 2, when the writers had more freedom and also trying to see what they could get away with, always thinking they were going to be cancelled anyway. But what made it work was that the show didn't forget its premise and still mostly kept its humor here and there to not be too grim and alienate people.
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.
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.
@@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.
@@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
@@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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
@@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.
@@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.
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.
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
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.
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."_
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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]
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.
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
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!
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.
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.
Followed this show religiously. I remember missing a season and then suddenly enzo was old and buff. Blew my mind cause seeing the main character physically evolve was completely new to me as a kid. At that time I watched power rangers, turtles and ghostbusters before that. And all was just serialized villain/monster of the week stuff.
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 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.
It seems like it was the first TV series in my life with a long storyline, and all these plot twists with the Matrix and Bob just blew my preschool mind. I don’t remember the show itself, but I’ll never forget these moments.
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.
Oh gog, I remember looking up what was required to work at Mainframe Entertainment in the 90s (as part of a school project) The whole, "everybody had to be a jack of all trades" bit is UNDERSELLING what all you needed to know to work at their studios. You literally needed to know enough to WRITE the 3d rendering software as well as the Graphical Design knowledge to USE it. Also, a LOT of system administrative stuff--and so much other stuff. You literally had to be a one person production team for what the job required Like, you know that joke line, "I know EVERYTHING, I'm a Gardener (psst-psst--guardian, the line is)" from season 2... well... just to be able to work on the team in the 90s you pretty much had to be that Gardener from that throw away gag featuring Mike the Tv
Between Reboot and Now and Again...I just want them to finish properly. Everything else got rebooted and completed that needed it...why not this? It was so damn good.
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.
I grew up on this series. I'm from Michigan. I just rewatch the series again this year/last year and it was like like revising my childhood. Watching enzo become an adult is still the coolest thing of this show.
Lolll I love the ending.😂 If you were hinting at what I suspect you were hinting at, yes, we all agreed to not talk about it!! Let it be forgotten in time!! 😂😂
I lived in Detroit for the first 20 years of my life and I guess that was close enough to catch a Canadian channel that played this on Saturday mornings. It came on super early so I could catch this before Kids WB.
this video managed to slip through the cracks for me until now and through it I was thinking "man this would have been the perfect moment for a Woolie cameo" so I just resigned myself to maybe a mention in the comments And them BAM, surprise Woolie action Pure Kino
I watched this before going to bed. HUGE nostalgia. Gave me chills multiple times. The 'game over' recap actually had me shed a tear (wtf) I watched more of this as a kid then I had realized, I recall loving it, but I missed soooo much too. Gonna have to rewatch this series when I can
Nostalgia being baited heavily here. Ten years old, 486 IBM with games that came on five floppy disks and now there's a show that is actually happening inside this magic machine that runs Windows 3.1? Hell yes!
That Into Gave Me Chills I am so disappointed in the ReBoot reboot, especially considering that I have the PERFECT premise for a proper reboot. In an THIS close to writing fanfic for it. I mean, THEY’RE IN A COMPUTER, IT’S NOT VERY HARD TOO IMAGINE HOW TO UPGRADE THEM.
As a UK resident Reboot had a totally different vibe, it wasnt a saturday morning cartoon it was a 4:30pm semi serious after school show amd as a kid, having a show that felt more adult really shaped my ideas of storytelling and stakes for kids
I always assumed bob having a different voice was due to the changes he sustained. He looked different, so sounding a bit different made sense to me. Kinda like matrix not really sounding like Enzo, in his case he want through computer puberty.
This totally takes me back to the 90s. They have the full series on youtube. When I am looking for a little nostalgia I pour my self a drink and turn it on. I love love love Hexadecimal lol!
I remember this. loved it. still do. it was absolutely genius. totally revolutionary. when I heard about the new updated season, I was so excited. then I saw the first episode and was totally devastated. I still hold out hope someone who cares will get the license. id love Glitch, who does murder drones to do it. do a total reboot of the series, pun only slightly intended.
WOW thanks for the blast from my past there... I loved Reboot and did have great hopes for Mainframe Entertainment coming out with stuff... They are still around and proud Canadian Story. And yes when I heard abut Reboot coming back I was through the moon. Until I saw it.. I think I saw 2 episodes and turned it off and never watched it again...
Hey, I LIKED TALENT NIGHT! If anything, Talent Night kind of cemented that Megabyte's motives were self-serving, not simply evil for the sake of evilness. That was a hard thing to accomplish in season 1.
There was a long time where you could not google this series because it was called Reboot... so everytime you'd google it, it would give you a list of movie reboots instead of this show. For awhile I thought this show was a fever dream I had as a kid that I thought was real.
I've never watched this show, but I watch just about everything you upload so I'm really excited for part 2. Probably be a lot to dig into if the sequel or whatever is as bad as you've implied. Great video.
As another Canadian who grew up in the 90s, I have a similar experience. ReBoot was a pivotal cartoon to 8 year old me. It stood out because of the CG, but the characters and story got really good (I still hate Mike the TV though) I mean it got amazing in the last few seasons. I rewatched it a couple years ago and it still works. You just need to be in the right mind-frame that it's a 90s cartoon. It's forever a travesty the show ended on a massive cliffhanger that will never (it seems) be resolved. At this point, I've given up hope that the IP owners will get their heads out of their asses and just give ReBoot fans the ending they've been hoping for for 20+ years. Fans just have to make do with headcanon and fanfics for that happy ending between Bob and Dot and Matrix and Andrea.
I will never give up on the original series. I've been watching the series for 17 years. Because it's such a good source of inspiration and creativity, and I just can't get over how truly amazing it all is. Maybe one of these days, we'll at least be told how they wanted the series to end... Also, FUCK The Guardian Code. God fucking damn that's such a pile of cringe and disappointment.
