Reboot
A sad event occurred for me today. I finally finished all the episodes of Reboot.
The short post I was going to make actually turned into quite a long essay on the programme, so it's hidden here. There are spoilers, but they're safely marked.
In case you haven't heard of this, it's an ostensibly-for-children TV series made at intervals from the early 90s. It was the first entirely CGI animated series and is now something of a landmark in the genre. It was the thing that made Mainframe Entertainment famous (prior to Reboot they were mainly known for doing the Dire Straits music video. In fact, I think that's all they did). Since then they've produced a whole raft of CGI animated series. None as good, unfortunately, although I do have a certain rather embarassing fondness for Max Steel (featuring a shape-changing nanotechnology powered teenage secret agent-cum-extreme sports star battling supervillains on a daily basis... I'll stop there, shall I?).
Reboot tells the story of the inhabitants of a computer system known to us only as Mainframe. Mainframe has two small problems. Firstly, it's infected with a couple of viruses intent on making trouble; secondly, their user has a habit of playing games. They may be fun when you're on the outside, but they're quite another matter from the inside. Luckily, Mainframe is on the Net, and the Supercomputer (the Net's capital) has sent Guardian 452, aka Bob, to keep on top of things.
That, at least, is how things start. Events progress...
Reboot is obviously a labour of love for Mainframe Entertainment. They even took their name from the show. Their web site is covered with Reboot graphics, despite their having a number of more profitable projects running; and every few years, they manage to push through another series. The last one was 2001 and ended on the most damnable cliffhanger. There are rumours of another one coming in 2005.
What makes Reboot so memorable? It's good, that's what. It has style. The characters are interesting, the writing is excellent, the storylines are (once they got their feet under them) highly compelling. The series is both at once very funny and also deadly serious. The overall plot arc from --- well, from the middle of series two up until the end --- is really quite grim, while at the same time individual episodes are blatant spoofs, sometimes of themselves. All the games are recognisable; there's one wonderful moment when Bob and Dot Matrix, his not-his-girlfriend-but-they-definitely-have-a-thing-even-if-neither-of-them-will-admit-it, have just defeated the user in a game that's a cross between a FPS and The Evil Dead (complete with Bruce Campbell's chin, shotgun, and 'groovy'), ask themselves pointedly what kind of sick creature would enjoy such a thing. Or perhaps they're asking the camera.
The writers aren't afraid of doing the unthinkable, too. None of the episodes are formulaic (well, from season two, anyway). It did start as a children's TV show, so there are limits as to what they can show, but they're pushing those limits as hard as they possibly can. There was one event that totally floored me. I describe it below in the spoiler-unsafe section.
The endless, endless bad computer puns add a certain... flavour, too.
The production values are wonderful, too. You may not remember back then, but state of the art for American animation was, maybe, 15 fps of hand-drawn art. Reboot is silky-smooth 30fps throughout. This was just unheard of at the time. The 3D CGI was amazing at the time, lending everything a feel of solidity and physicality, and really good even by today's standards: there was real art in it. If you compare to, say, Max Steel, Reboot stands out a mile despite being much older. The more recent episodes incorporate different styles that still mesh nicely with the older feel when needed. The incidental music and voice acting is top-notch, too.
It's very sad that you can't get Reboot on videotape or DVD for love nor money. It's only 47 episodes; about twenty hours. You could fit that onto about five or six DVDs no trouble. Hey, if I could get it, I'd buy it. I have money right here... but no, it's not available, and so people have to resort to... seedier... measures.
It may tell you something about the series if I tell you that the last time it was aired on UK television, ITV canned it half-way through series three because it wasn't suitable for children's TV any more...
I can't really say much more without heavy spoilers, so let me just leave you with some screen captures... and the advice that if you ever get the chance, watch it. (And if you see any Reboot DVDs, let me know. Please?)
one two three four five six seven eight nine ten ...ah, hell, just go to the official Reboot page. There's loads of stuff there. (And it's been updated since I last looked! A good sign! Hurrah!)
HERE BE SPOILERS
I REALLY MEAN IT, BIG SPOILERS FOR SEASON THREE, BUT I'VE GOT TO TELL SOMEONE
Let me give you an example. The season three opening: the invasion of Mainframe by the strange creatures from the Web has been beaten back, but only with help of the two viruses, Megabyte (cool but nasty) and Hexadecimal (really, really freaky). Unfortunately the Mainframers have been betrayed. Megabyte has banished Bob into the Web, and he's not coming back. A complete sector of the system is under Megabyte's control, and the Principle Office itself has nearly been destroyed. Things are looking bad. The games are still coming in, and with Bob gone the user keeps winning. And when the user wins, the system suffers.
Luckily, Bob's young protege Enzo Matrix is on the ball. Mostly. He's had some very basic training, he's been programmed with an early version of the Guardian protocol... he's just a kid, but he's all they've got. He plays the games with his slightly dorky friend Andraia, herself a refugee from a game, and he wins. Mainframe is safe.
Then he and Andraia enter a game they can't win. They escape nullification by converting themselves from system sprite mode to game sprite mode, thanks to Andraia's background, but when the game leaves, that means so do they. End credits on Dot, his big sister, looking shocked as the giant purple game cube vanishes into the sky.
What do you think happens? They get rescued in the next episode, of course. Or else return, maybe the one after, just in time to save the day.
Well... no. They stay there. The next episode picks up a good number of years later (subjective time), and they've grown up. Cute, cheerful comic-relief Enzo has turned into the dark, brooding, borderline pyschopath Matrix who kills several people (well, viruses) practically on-camera. Andraia has turned from a gawky kid into... well, definitely not a child any more. They're still friends. Good friends. Rather better friends than you can really show on that kind of programme, actually. Neither of them are people you want to cross. Or annoy. Or, uh, be near when they're mildly irritated. Given that the only thing that's keeping Matrix stable is Andraia, and that Andraia's main purpose in life is to be with Matrix, they're not the safest people to be around. (Matrix learning how to be human again is a major plot thread, actually.)
When they finally return to Mainframe, they find out what's happened to the place. Then they're really annoyed.
I could go on, but I have to leave something to surprise you. Let me just say that the last four episodes of season three are not to be missed...
The short post I was going to make actually turned into quite a long essay on the programme, so it's hidden here. There are spoilers, but they're safely marked.
In case you haven't heard of this, it's an ostensibly-for-children TV series made at intervals from the early 90s. It was the first entirely CGI animated series and is now something of a landmark in the genre. It was the thing that made Mainframe Entertainment famous (prior to Reboot they were mainly known for doing the Dire Straits music video. In fact, I think that's all they did). Since then they've produced a whole raft of CGI animated series. None as good, unfortunately, although I do have a certain rather embarassing fondness for Max Steel (featuring a shape-changing nanotechnology powered teenage secret agent-cum-extreme sports star battling supervillains on a daily basis... I'll stop there, shall I?).
Reboot tells the story of the inhabitants of a computer system known to us only as Mainframe. Mainframe has two small problems. Firstly, it's infected with a couple of viruses intent on making trouble; secondly, their user has a habit of playing games. They may be fun when you're on the outside, but they're quite another matter from the inside. Luckily, Mainframe is on the Net, and the Supercomputer (the Net's capital) has sent Guardian 452, aka Bob, to keep on top of things.
That, at least, is how things start. Events progress...
Reboot is obviously a labour of love for Mainframe Entertainment. They even took their name from the show. Their web site is covered with Reboot graphics, despite their having a number of more profitable projects running; and every few years, they manage to push through another series. The last one was 2001 and ended on the most damnable cliffhanger. There are rumours of another one coming in 2005.
What makes Reboot so memorable? It's good, that's what. It has style. The characters are interesting, the writing is excellent, the storylines are (once they got their feet under them) highly compelling. The series is both at once very funny and also deadly serious. The overall plot arc from --- well, from the middle of series two up until the end --- is really quite grim, while at the same time individual episodes are blatant spoofs, sometimes of themselves. All the games are recognisable; there's one wonderful moment when Bob and Dot Matrix, his not-his-girlfriend-but-they-definitely-have-a-thing-even-if-neither-of-them-will-admit-it, have just defeated the user in a game that's a cross between a FPS and The Evil Dead (complete with Bruce Campbell's chin, shotgun, and 'groovy'), ask themselves pointedly what kind of sick creature would enjoy such a thing. Or perhaps they're asking the camera.
The writers aren't afraid of doing the unthinkable, too. None of the episodes are formulaic (well, from season two, anyway). It did start as a children's TV show, so there are limits as to what they can show, but they're pushing those limits as hard as they possibly can. There was one event that totally floored me. I describe it below in the spoiler-unsafe section.
The endless, endless bad computer puns add a certain... flavour, too.
The production values are wonderful, too. You may not remember back then, but state of the art for American animation was, maybe, 15 fps of hand-drawn art. Reboot is silky-smooth 30fps throughout. This was just unheard of at the time. The 3D CGI was amazing at the time, lending everything a feel of solidity and physicality, and really good even by today's standards: there was real art in it. If you compare to, say, Max Steel, Reboot stands out a mile despite being much older. The more recent episodes incorporate different styles that still mesh nicely with the older feel when needed. The incidental music and voice acting is top-notch, too.
It's very sad that you can't get Reboot on videotape or DVD for love nor money. It's only 47 episodes; about twenty hours. You could fit that onto about five or six DVDs no trouble. Hey, if I could get it, I'd buy it. I have money right here... but no, it's not available, and so people have to resort to... seedier... measures.
It may tell you something about the series if I tell you that the last time it was aired on UK television, ITV canned it half-way through series three because it wasn't suitable for children's TV any more...
I can't really say much more without heavy spoilers, so let me just leave you with some screen captures... and the advice that if you ever get the chance, watch it. (And if you see any Reboot DVDs, let me know. Please?)
one two three four five six seven eight nine ten ...ah, hell, just go to the official Reboot page. There's loads of stuff there. (And it's been updated since I last looked! A good sign! Hurrah!)
HERE BE SPOILERS
I REALLY MEAN IT, BIG SPOILERS FOR SEASON THREE, BUT I'VE GOT TO TELL SOMEONE
Let me give you an example. The season three opening: the invasion of Mainframe by the strange creatures from the Web has been beaten back, but only with help of the two viruses, Megabyte (cool but nasty) and Hexadecimal (really, really freaky). Unfortunately the Mainframers have been betrayed. Megabyte has banished Bob into the Web, and he's not coming back. A complete sector of the system is under Megabyte's control, and the Principle Office itself has nearly been destroyed. Things are looking bad. The games are still coming in, and with Bob gone the user keeps winning. And when the user wins, the system suffers.
Luckily, Bob's young protege Enzo Matrix is on the ball. Mostly. He's had some very basic training, he's been programmed with an early version of the Guardian protocol... he's just a kid, but he's all they've got. He plays the games with his slightly dorky friend Andraia, herself a refugee from a game, and he wins. Mainframe is safe.
Then he and Andraia enter a game they can't win. They escape nullification by converting themselves from system sprite mode to game sprite mode, thanks to Andraia's background, but when the game leaves, that means so do they. End credits on Dot, his big sister, looking shocked as the giant purple game cube vanishes into the sky.
What do you think happens? They get rescued in the next episode, of course. Or else return, maybe the one after, just in time to save the day.
Well... no. They stay there. The next episode picks up a good number of years later (subjective time), and they've grown up. Cute, cheerful comic-relief Enzo has turned into the dark, brooding, borderline pyschopath Matrix who kills several people (well, viruses) practically on-camera. Andraia has turned from a gawky kid into... well, definitely not a child any more. They're still friends. Good friends. Rather better friends than you can really show on that kind of programme, actually. Neither of them are people you want to cross. Or annoy. Or, uh, be near when they're mildly irritated. Given that the only thing that's keeping Matrix stable is Andraia, and that Andraia's main purpose in life is to be with Matrix, they're not the safest people to be around. (Matrix learning how to be human again is a major plot thread, actually.)
When they finally return to Mainframe, they find out what's happened to the place. Then they're really annoyed.
I could go on, but I have to leave something to surprise you. Let me just say that the last four episodes of season three are not to be missed...