Seventeen years since the show ended, Reboot has left many of its fans on a high peak roller coaster of immersive character and story only to hit us with the small drop of a very disappointing cliff-hanger. For years words have spread around about the first fully computer-generated animated series coming back for a proper continuation, and with today’s technology in 3D animation, it felt like the perfect opportunity would arise by now. And after today’s trailer reveal of Netflix’s Reboot: The Guardian Code – it’s better off we never asked.
Hinted of its very private productions as early as 2015, many didn’t actually believe it would go through with very little updates going on. What was known at the time was that it would attempt 3D animation (with the Unreal engine as seen in the final product) and live action, which has never introduced human characters in the prior adaptation. How would they continue the story lines that we sought to tie knots finally? How have our Bob, Dot, Enzo, and multiple other developed characters grown? Could this pull off a Samurai Jack Season 5?
Turns out this Reboot looks to be a more hardened…reboot than we thought. What we are instead provided is an entirely new setting what looks closer to a live-action Disney channel film and with animation segments that appear arguably downgraded than the original show’s animation back 24 years ago. We are introduced to a high school setting with four teenagers recruited by a “virtual evolutionary recombinant avatar” (V.E.R.A.) to protect cyberspace from threats such as Megabyte and Hexadecimal. Knowing that the other beloved characters will be styled with such a drastic tone shift and more lifeless animation style also hurts us.
You can view the trailer below and let your opinion decide for itself:
The description is as follows:
It’s official! We are excited to share a sneak peak of #ReBootTheGuardianCode! The show is a cool mix of live action and awesome animation about the adventures of four teenagers who become the Next-Generation Guardians of Cyberspace with the help of an artificially intelligent bio-constructed teenage girl. This Netflix Original Series debuts worldwide on March 30th, stay tuned for dates in Canada!
It’s very difficult to believe Rainmaker Studios, formerly known by its original name Mainframe Entertainment, is the same studio involved as the original series many fans have shared passion for. Known for their work in Reboot and the Transformers spin-off Beast Wars, Rainmaker Studios has also been involved in major film animation lately with Escape from Planet Earth and the Ratchet & Clank movie.
The ironic thing is the name change was right, as the waterworks of many enraged fans (myself included) have gotten the biggest reaction with what is currently a 10% like rating on YouTube. Comments have also been nothing short of expressing shame:
Reboots for classic shows have always been a slippery slope, many times having to do with how well it adapts to the modern demographic and if it’s for an actual passion project or just a license renewal for cash grab. For every Voltron: Legendary Defender and Transformers: Prime, we do end up with the ones no one has asked for with revamping the Rugrats to All Grown Up! or taking away the Sonic SatAM’s cliff-hanger continuation to a very watered Sonic Underground. This one sadly falls under both categories.
Netflix is seemingly bringing back a handful of reboot releases to its program block recently, with the likes of 1960’s Lost in Space and even one of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Even with high quality programs like its Marvel shows that will still be available under its wing, there’s always going to be some handful of stinkers.
Let’s hope these reactions put Rainmaker on the right path… and for a proper revival of Reboot soon.
Reboot: The Guardian Code premieres on Netflix March 20th, 2018.