Four teenaged gamers, who are members of an online game's highest-scoring team, meet in person on their first day at Alan Turing High School. Their enrollment was arranged by Vera, an artificial intelligence who has recruited the team as "Guardians" to physically enter and protect cyberspace.5 Early in the series, Vera is given a human body and locked out of cyberspace, so she enrolls as an exchange student. The Guardians battle the Sourcerer, a human hacker. Dark code is the Sourcerer's primary weapon against the world's computer systems. After his initial run-in with the Guardians, the Sourcerer reactivates the computer virus named Megabyte, the main antagonist of the original ReBoot, to help him from inside cyberspace.
Tamra accidentally uploads a video of Vera rapping about herself and the Guardians, and her classmate Shari shares the sensitive information. The Guardians manage to intercept the video before anyone else sees it. Parker learns that Vera's "dates" with Trey really were to help him study. At the DIS headquarters, Agent Nance recognizes the Guardian Code as Adam's work and she becomes intent on finding the Guardians and taking their tech by force.
On October 3, 2013, Rainmaker announced the development of a new ReBoot television series alongside the reintroduction of the Mainframe company brand for its small screen productions.11 Speaking to Canada.com later that month, Rainmaker's president and Chief Creative Officer Michael Hefferon stated that the show wouldn't be the same as the "world of technology has changed drastically in the 20 years from when ReBoot first started" and cautioned that the original show's characters would likely be limited to cameo appearances. He then said that the company planned to pitch the series in February, with the hope of getting YTV on board as the broadcast partner.12
In November 2014, Rainmaker revealed the show would be called ReBoot: The Guardian Code.13 The following May, Deadline reported the series would be a live-action/CG-animated hybrid distributed by The Weinstein Company.14 On June 8, 2015, Corus Entertainment, owners of YTV, ordered a 26-episode first season, stating that the series was created by Hefferon and confirming the details of the Deadline story.15 Shortly after, various characters from the original series, including Bob, Dot, Enzo and Megabyte, were confirmed to appear in the series, though focus had shifted to a group of four teenagers recruited into protecting cyberspace by the Guardian program V.E.R.A. The four teens were named as Austin, Parker, Trey and Tamra. A poster showcasing Austin in his guardian form was released.16 Commenting on the inclusion of live-action material in the series, Hefferon stated, "I talked with broadcasters around the world. The one [resounding] thing — and I hate to break it to the fans — was nobody wanted the reboot of what [the show originally] was. Nobody was willing to buy it." He later added that two thirds of an average episode would be animated content.17 At the time, the series was planned for a late 2016/early 2017 launch.18
Casting calls for the series went out in May 2016. They listed a shoot date between August and November of that year in Vancouver, British Columbia, with YTV attached as the broadcast partner and the episode count reduced to 20.19 Production was delayed with filming taking place in British Columbia in February and March 2017.202122
On March 28, 2017, Corus confirmed the information revealed in the casting calls and announced the show's executive staff and main cast. Worldwide distribution, licensing, and merchandising rights had moved to Corus's Nelvana Enterprises with YTV set to debut the series in 2018. A mobile virtual reality experience and digital trading card game were confirmed to be in development.23 Rainmaker's parent company Wow Unlimited Media reported that the first 8 episodes of the series had been delivered to broadcast partners in the third quarter of 2017, with the remaining 12 scheduled for the fourth quarter of that year.24
ReBoot: The Guardian Code is modeled, rigged, and animated in Autodesk Maya,25 and rendered in 4K resolution26 using Unreal Engine 4.27 Hefferon stated that using Unreal gave them an advantage in speed: "Some of these shots could have taken 3 to 13 hours in a traditional pipeline, per frame," whereas Unreal rendered each frame in seconds or minutes. It also easily allowed the crew to reuse animation assets for the virtual reality tie-in.28
Ty Wood, Sydney Scotia, Ajay Parikh-Friese and Gabriel Darku were cast as group of teenagers who enter Mainframe to protect the virtual and real world from viruses such as Megabyte.29
Three voice actors from the original series reprise their voice roles in this series: Michael Benyaer returns as Bob, Kathleen Barr as Dot and Shirley Millner as Hexadecimal. Timothy E. Brummund replaces Tony Jay as Megabyte due to the original actor's death in 2006.
A trailer for the series and the virtual reality experience debuted on February 21, 2018.30 The ten-episode first "season" debuted on Netflix globally, excluding Canada, on March 30,31 followed by a ten-episode second and final "season" on September 28.32 All twenty episodes aired on YTV in Canada between June 4 and July 5.33
Following the debut of the show's first 10 episodes on Netflix, the official ReBoot: The Guardian Code YouTube channel uploaded a series of 10 one-minute virtual reality shorts.34 Similarly, YTV released a series of live-action shorts featuring the characters from the show alongside the Canadian broadcast.35 A number of these shorts are directly tied to events in the series.
A free-to-play mobile game, titled ReBoot: The Guardian Code – Code Hacker was released for iOS and Android devices on March 22, 2018. Developed by A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Digital, the game is a match-5 puzzle title that features audio detection technology allowing users watching the YTV broadcast to unlock in-game cards. A web-browser version was also hosted on the official website for the series, as well as on YTV's site. As of January 5, 2022 the mobile game is no longer on the Google Play Store.36
On February 21, 2018, an official trailer was released.37 It was not well received; by March 10, 2018, the trailer had reached 12,000 dislikes and 983 likes on YouTube.38
On February 25, 2018, the French website Codelyoko.fr, a fansite for the TV show Code Lyoko, published a negative review of the trailer. The review accused ReBoot: The Guardian Code of plagiarizing Code Lyoko, as the trailer showed many similarities to Code Lyoko's premise and characters.39 Shamus Kelley from Den of Geek! also noticed the similarities, claiming that "ReBoot: The Guardian Code is going for the whole Code Lyoko thing" and added that "There isn't a single reference to the old series outside of the term Guardians. It feels more like a teen drama with elements from Code Lyoko and Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad."40 Another concurring opinion came from Digital Spy writer Jon Anderton, who claimed that the original show "took place inside a computer system and there was no schoolkid element, making The Guardian Code more similar to 2000's series Code Lyoko (or Tron, to use a more mainstream example)".41 Shortly after the trailer's release, Code Lyoko co-creator Thomas Romain responded to the official ReBoot: The Guardian Code Twitter account, stating, "Wow you really liked Code Lyoko, didn’t you?"42 The Guardian Code has also been seen as a derivative of Zixx, an earlier CG/live-action TV show Rainmaker helped produce.4344
Reviewing the first ten episodes of the series for Collider, Dave Trumbore had mixed feelings, giving the show a 2-star rating. While he praised the performance of Hannah Vandenbygaart, the character interactions and most of the visual aesthetic, he felt the show's animation was of poor quality for a 2018 series. He criticized the writing, acting and camerawork, saying that it is "stuck in the mid-'90s." His biggest issue was the show's pacing, commenting that the series took too long to introduce emotional moments and callbacks to the original show.45
Emily Ashby awarded the show 3 stars in her review for Common Sense Media.46 She felt the show had a number of positive role models for kids and while the series wasn't educational in nature, its use of technology could spur interest in STEM fields.
Shamus Kelley of Den of Geek! was especially critical of the tenth episode, describing it as "one of the worst episodes of television" he has ever seen. He derided the decision to include a character mocking fans and felt the cameos from the original characters were superficial.47 Conversely, io9's Charles Pulliam-Moore found it to be the only episode of the first ten to be worth watching. Calling it "legitimately fantastic," he enjoyed the appearance of characters from the original series and said "you can get away with not watching the rest of the season, jumping to the finale, and actually having a good time."48
"Corus Entertainment Proudly Bolsters Its Diverse 2017/18 Programming Slate with New and Returning Canadian Original Productions" (Press release). Corus Entertainment. June 5, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017. https://www.corusent.com/news/corus-entertainment-proudly-bolsters-its-diverse-201718-programming-slate-with-new-and-returning-canadian-original-productions/ ↩
Bolen, Michael (November 24, 2014). "Reboot of 'ReBoot' Gets a Title. Yes, This Is Really Happening". The Huffington Post Canada. Archived from the original on March 30, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2014. The sequel to the classic animated series 'ReBoot' is looking cooler all the time. ... The show is being re-imagined for the 20th anniversary of the original show.. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/11/24/reboot-sequel-title-tv-show-cartoon_n_6214852.html ↩
Konkin, Amanda [@akonkin] (February 21, 2018). "ReBoot: The Guardian Code (@reboottgc) Trailer has been released! Check it out & subscribe to our channel on @YouTube. The first 10 episodes will be premiering worldwide outside of Canada as a @netflix Original Series March 30 #reboottgc #netflix" (Tweet). Retrieved March 3, 2018 – via Twitter. https://x.com/akonkin/status/966514391108657152 ↩
"ReBoot: The Guardian Code". Netflix. Retrieved September 16, 2018. https://www.netflix.com/title/80217957 ↩
Reid, Michael D. (May 27, 2017). "Capital Reboots Animated Series". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Retrieved August 3, 2017. https://www.pressreader.com/canada/times-colonist/20170329/281496456120645 ↩
Vera Raps | ReBoot: The Guardian Code. YouTube. YTV. May 25, 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_9DQqM_U64 ↩
"Rainmaker Entertainment Inc. Reboots Mainframe Entertainment as Its New Television Division". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924084506/http://www.rainmaker.com/?/site/news/82 ↩
Strapagiel, Lauren (October 30, 2013). "The New ReBoot Won't Quite Be as Fans Remember". Canada.com. Postmedia Network. Retrieved March 3, 2018. https://o.canada.com/entertainment/television/the-new-reboot-wont-quite-be-as-fans-remember ↩
Flemming Jr., Mike (May 6, 2015). "Weinstein Company's Next TV Foray: Animated Family Series 'Spy Kids,' 'Gnomes' and 'ReBoot'". Deadline. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved March 4, 2018. https://deadline.com/2015/05/spy-kids-david-the-gnome-reboot-weinstein-company-animated-tv-series-1201421512/ ↩
"Corus Entertainment Greenlights "ReBoot: The Guardian Code" from Rainmaker Entertainment's Mainframe Television Division" (Press release). Corus Entertainment via Stockhouse.com. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015. https://stockhouse.com/news/press-releases/2015/06/08/corus-entertainment-greenlights-reboot-the-guardian-code-from-rainmaker ↩
Bolen, Michael (June 9, 2015). "A Reboot of ReBoot Is Officially Coming to TV with 26 New Episodes". CBC News. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017. https://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/reboot-of-reboot-officially-coming-to-tv-with-26-new-episodes-1.3104830 ↩
Duhaime-Ross, Arielle (June 17, 2015). "We Spoke with the Human behind ReBoot'S New Live-Action Concept". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved March 4, 2018. https://www.theverge.com/2015/6/17/8789383/reboot-show-guardian-code-tv-remake ↩
Infantry, Ashante (June 11, 2015). "3 Classic Animated Kids Shows Get a New Life on TV". Toronto Star. Torstar. Retrieved March 4, 2018. https://www.thestar.com/business/economy/2015/06/11/3-classic-animated-kids-shows-get-a-new-life-on-tv.html ↩
"'ReBoot: The Guardian Code' Casting Call for Lead Roles". Project Casting. May 30, 2016. http://www.projectcasting.com/casting-calls-acting-auditions/reboot-the-guardian-code-casting ↩
"Film and TV Production List" (PDF). ACTRA. March 20, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017. http://www.ubcp.com/wp-content/uploads/Film-TV-List-Mar.20.pdf ↩
Guglielmi, Luca (February 9, 2017). "ReBoot: The Guardian Code Shoot Date Revealed". All The Stuff You Care About. Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20170228165130/https://allthestuffyoucareabout.com/2017/02/09/reboot-the-guardian-code-is-back-in-development/ ↩
"Wow! Unlimited Media's Mainframe Studios and Corus Entertainment Begin Next Phase of Production on ReBoot: The Guardian Code". Corus Entertainment (Press release). March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2018. https://www.corusent.com/news/wow-unlimited-medias-mainframe-studios-corus-entertainment-begin-next-phase-production-reboot-guardian-code/ ↩
"Wow Unlimited Media Announces Financial Results for the Third Quarter of 2017". Wow Unlimited Media (Press release). Marketwired. November 29, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2018. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/11/30/1307657/0/en/Wow-Unlimited-Media-Announces-Financial-Results-for-the-Third-Quarter-of-2017.html ↩
"Don't Call It a Reboot". Indiescreen. No. Winter 2018. Canada: Canadian Media Producers Association. p. 21. https://cmpa.ca/prime-time/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Indiescreen-winter-2018-.pdff ↩
"Nelvana and Wow Unlimited Media's Mainframe Studios Reimagine '90s Cult Classic with New Series ReBoot: The Guardian Code" (Press release). February 21, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2018. http://www.corusent.com/news/nelvana-and-wow-unlimited-medias-mainframe-studios-reimagine-90s-cult-classic-with-new-series-reboot-the-guardian-code/ ↩
"A Whole New Game". Animation Magazine. No. August / September 2017. United States of America. p. 27. https://www.animationmagazine.net/shop/issue-272-august-september-2017/ ↩
"ReBoot: The Guardian Code Release Date, Cast Info, and More!". denofgeek.com. March 29, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017. https://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/reboot/256279/reboot-the-guardian-code-release-date-cast-info-and-more ↩
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GlitchBob452 (March 10, 2018). "Congratulations to #ReBootTheGuardianCode! You've hit 12K dislikes!!!". Twitter. Retrieved March 10, 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) https://twitter.com/GlitchBob452/status/972593129462300672 ↩
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Jon Anderton (February 22, 2018). "Cult '90s CGI Series ReBoot Is Back... but the First Revival Trailer Is Proving Divisive". Digital Spy. Hearst Communications. Retrieved March 2, 2018. https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a850644/reboot-guardian-code-revival-first-trailer-netflix/ ↩
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