ReBoot made its debut on television in 1994 on ABC in the states, and here in Canada on YTV. It was the first ever fully computer animated television series. By 1994, CGI was just starting to become the main go-to for special effects in Hollywood. But it wouldn’t be until Toy Story in 1995 that CGI animation would goo off like a rocket. But while most people praise Toy Story for being the pioneer of CGI animaiton, it was ReBoot that came out first, and was a massive hit, especially in its home and native land of Canada.
The general story of ReBoot centers around the world of a computer, and the inhabitants who live in the system, which is represented in the city of Mainframe. It’s a world run by humanoid characters named sprites, and Our main protagonists consist of a sprite named Bob, who is a guardian who has come to Mainframe from the super computer. Guardians in many ways act like the police in this world, as they must protect systems from viruses, the evil that usually wants to corrupt or destroy systems. Bob’s code is to mend and defend.
Rounding out the protagonists include Dot, the love interest for Bob, and the female role model for the show. She runs her own diner, and later in the series plays a bigger role in the protection of Mainframe. Her little brother Enzo is an energetic kid who sees Bob as his hero, and will often tag along with Bob on his adventures. He has a catchphrase of “alphanumeric”, as well as a pet dog named Frisket.
And there’s also Phong. Phong runs the Mainframe principal office, which is the control hub of the entire system. He is very much a wise sage much like Confucius. He often speaks in riddles, and in the first season, would only give his advice to those who could best him in his favorite game, which is, of course, Pong.
On the main villains side are two viruses by the names of Megabyte and Hexadecimal. Megabyte is a conqueror virus who infects others and takes over systems. His main goal throughout most of the series is to try to find a way to the super computer so he can infect it. He was voiced by the late Tony Jay, who gives him a very chilling, and commanding voice, which is very fitting of Megabyte’s tyrant persona. He has an army of infected binomes at his disposal, as well as his two main henchmen known as Hack and Slash. Despite being the ones Megabyte puts in charge of missions the most, they are incredibly dumb, and easy to defeat.
And then there’s Hexadecimal, the self proclaimed queen of chaos. Hexadecimal is an insane virus who unlike Megabyte often concocts schemes to cause havoc in Mainframe, mainly out of boredom, or wanting to be random. Her face is a white mask that changes expressions when she moves her hand over her face. Hexadecimal lives in a destroyed part of Mainframe known as Lost Angles, which much like Hex herself is random and chaotic. She also has a pet named Scuzzy.
The other villain in many ways is the User, the one who controls the computer itself. The user is a faceless a god-like being, who not only can upgrade Mainframe, but can also activate games for their pleasure. A giant purple cube drops into a sector of Mainframe, and those underneath it are thrust into whatever game the user is playing. The sprites and binomes then reboot, which gives them the tools necessary to play. The object is to defeat the user. If the user should win the game, the sector is destroyed, and those in the game are nullified, which turns them into slug-like creatures called nulls.
There’s a lot more on the show to cover, like other major characters, and major plot points, but those will come in due time. ReBoot lasted for four seasons, with a total of 47 half hour episodes. And there’s no better way to start this review with the pilot episode, “The Tearing”.
____
We open the first episode with Bob being chased by Hack and Slash. Despite managing to trap Bob for a hit and run, Bob simply sidesteps the duo, causing them to fall apart. And from barely the first 30 seconds of this series, it’s made apparent that Hack and Slash aren’t very smart. Bob, being the cocky, and cool hero he is jokes about how easy it was to dispose of them. Suddenly a vid-window pops in front of him. Vid-windows, are popup windows that act as means to converse with one another. Kind’ve like video chatting is now. Proving that for a show from 1994, ReBoot did see some innovations of the future coming in real life. Megabyte is the one who activated the window, and tells Bob that he wants a favor. Bob turns down the favor, because he doesn’t do favors with slime like Megabyte. To which Megabyte makes it clear that only Bob is making things more difficult for his friends by doing so.
The next day, as Bob wakes up and prepares for the new day ahead, Enzo opens a vid window telling him that there’s a problem Dot’s diner. When Bob gets there, he learns that thugs roughed the place up . He informs Dot and Enzo that it must be Megabyte’s doing because he rejected the favor. Bob thinks he should deal with this himself, but Dot reminds him that even though things are different in the super computer, in Mainframe, everyone sticks together.
Megabyte opens a vid window to gloat about the damage he’s caused, and to once again remind Bob that this could all end if he just does his favor. Bob sticks to his guns, and rejects the favor, saying he will stay at the diner to ensure no more attacks. However, that plan is interrupted as a game is about to drop. Bob has to make it before it lands, but Megabyte has other plans, and manages to block Bob before he can enter the game. Unfortunately those in the game can’t succeed without Bob, and the user wins the game, nullifying the sector. Bob blames himself for not doing Megabyte’s favor, and Dot tells him to go see Phong.
However, the only way to get any advice at all from Phong is to beat him in a game of Pong, which, while cool to see in the episode, also doesn’t paint a good picture for Phong immediately. The fact that he’ll only give you advice if you best him at a challenge is rather annoying. Either way, Bob succeeds in besting Phong. Phong’s best advice for the situation is to keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, while also reminding Bob about the whole “Mainframers stick together” mantra from earlier. Bob says he’ll discuss it with the others, but instead decides “screw it, I’ll just go to Megabyte and deal with this offer ballyhoo.”
Bob heads to Silicon Tor, Megabyte’s base of command., and is easily welcomed in by the virus. While that happens, Dot and Enzo learn about Bob’s plan to go to Megabyte’s. Inside the Tor, Bob meets with Megabyte, and learns of what the favor is. Megabyte is in possession of a tear, which with Bob’s help, or a user dropped game, could become a portal to the supercomputer. Bob is hesitant to do so, but Megabyte bounds Bob up, and threatens to send him into the unstable tear. But in the middle of the situation, Dot gets herself captured. Bob manages to make the tear even more unstable, deleting some of his army.
Bob and Dot try to escape, as Megabyte catches up to them. Before he can do anything to them, a game conveniently drops on the Tor. The game is a space shooter, similar to Wing Commander. Bob, Dot, and the binomes caught in the game reboot, and avoid the user. But with Megabyte in the game, he’s the bigger problem. Megabyte infects the user, and heads for the tear. Bob and the others give chase to him, avoiding asteroids, icy cave hazards, and Megabyte’s army.
They eventually catch up to Megabyte, who has found the portal. They destroy his ship, but not before Megabyte crashes Bob and Dot’s ships as well. Before Megabyte can enter the portal, Bob enters the portal, and the game ends. Bob returns from the portal, and erases the tear, as well as uses a cloaking device that hides Bob and Dot, which Megabyte mistakes as an exit device. And the episode ends Bob talking about the supercomputer, and that was nice to visit, but it’s good to be home.
For the first episode of ReBoot, The Tearing does a great job of establishing a lot of the basics of the series. How most of the world of Mainframe works, how dangerous the games are, who the heroes are, and who the villains are. It especially shows the kind of hero Bob is, and that while he can be smart enough to get himself out of many a situation, while at times getting himself into trouble with being too headstrong. The episode also does a good job of establishing him as the new kid in town, and not used to handling things like most in Mainframe do.
On the other end of the spectrum, Megabyte is a great villain. From his awesome look, his chilling voice, and his ability to infect others, as well as his super sharp claws. Not to mention his massive army of infected binomes, who despite being as dumb as Hack and Slash, still show how much power and control he has managed to attain so far since entering Mainframe. The episode also does a good job showing the importance of the games, and that they have major effects to the world in the show.
The only real issue is the plot does feel like it moves at mach speed, never really giving time to catch its breath. But since this is an episode that has to not only establish the world of Mainframe, but the characters as well, it’s very forgivable. And maybe it’s my own dislike of space shooter games like this, but the game for the episode really wasn’t one of the more memorable ones. They get much more interesting in later episodes. All in all, it’s definitely a solid starter episode for ReBoot, and would leave anyone wanting more.