Over the past few years, we’ve seen a number of shows and franchises make long-awaited returns in the form of reboots and revivals, and more are on the way. There’s also a renewed popularity of animated franchises from the ’90s, and when you talk about shows being ahead of their time from that decade, you have to mention the computer-generated series known as ReBoot. ReBoot was the first completely computer-animated TV series, paving the way for a host of other CGI entries in the genre, and one of the people who helped bring the show to life has now addressed the possibility of a revival and what went wrong with the last attempted return.
ReBoot featured the adventures of Bob and Dot as they battled virus villains like Megabyte in a digital city known as Mainframe, and Bob was brought to life by actor Michael Benyaer in the original series. ComicBook had the chance to speak to Benyaer all about his latest role as Ra’s Al Ghul in Bat-Fam, but we couldn’t pass up the chance to talk a little ReBoot. Benyaer was completely on board with voicing the character again and bringing the show back, especially with how far technology has come since the original series debuted.
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When asked how Bob would react to Bat-Fam, Benyaer said, “Bob would say game on. He’d say reboot, and he’d reboot into the Bat-Fam family game. Yeah, that show was definitely ahead of its time. It was the first fully CGI-animated series. I think it was 94 or 95 when it started. We pre-dated Toy Story, and they did do a reboot of ReBoot, maybe in the last 10 years.”
“They wouldn’t tell me what it was, and they had me do an episode where they kind of revisit the old characters,” Benyaer said. “And it really, you know, a lot of the fans weren’t happy with it in the new version, and I can understand why. I think the creators wanted to try to make it half live-action and half CGI.”
“I can understand that for budgetary reasons, etc, but I mean, more than ever, the Internet and computers are ubiquitous, so it would be great today,” Benyaer said. “Definitely, video games are much more lifelike and the CGI would look amazing for sure, and of course, I’d love to continue to voice Bob.”
The original ReBoot ran for 2 initial seasons before being cancelled by ABC after it was purchased by Disney. The third season did air in Canada, and eventually, stateside fans would get to see the third season on Cartoon Network. There were also TV movies aired in the 2000s, which were split up into multiple parts and shown on Cartoon Network as well.
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Then in 2018, fans received a new iteration of the franchise in ReBoot: The Guardian Code, which aired on Netflix and was pitched as a reimagining of the original series. It followed four teenagers who find out they are the guardians and set about heading into cyberspace to battle computer viruses and The Sourcerer, who has captured Megabyte. Unfortunately, the show wasn’t received all too well, and while it sought to mix live action with the franchise’s patented CGI look, it never captured an audience.
Perhaps a new revival could find a way to capture what made the original series so beloved and embrace modern technology and storytelling, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
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