Reboot: The Guardian Code (hybrid live-action/CG-animated reimagine of Reboot)

Entertainment—the television division of the multifaceted Vancouver-based animation studio Rainmaker Entertainment (TSX VENTURE:RNK)—to produce 26 half-hour episodes of a reimagined version of the classic and first-of-its-kind CG-animated television series ReBoot. Reboot: The Guardian Code, a hybrid live-action/CG-animated series to be distributed globally by TWC/Dimension Television (excluding Canada) commences production on the heels of the series’ 20th anniversary featuring cutting-edge technology that will reboot the ReBoot universe to create a groundbreaking multi-platform experience. The announcement was made today at Banff World Media Festival by Jamie Piekarz, Director of Content, Corus Kids, and Michael Hefferon, President and Chief Creative Officer, Rainmaker Entertainment. The series originally premiered on Corus’ kids channel YTV in 1994 and aired until 2001.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Mainframe to bring back an exciting new, reimagined version of this classic animated series to Corus Entertainment,” said Jamie Piekarz, Director of Content, Corus Kids. “The new Reboot will feature the same action and comedy that viewers loved in the original series, but with an updated technological universe that will fascinate a new generation of kids.”

“We are thrilled to receive the greenlight from Corus Entertainment to move forward with the production of Reboot: The Guardian Code,” commented Hefferon. “Technology is ever-changing and Reboot: The Guardian Code will utilize the very technology inherent in the concept of the show—and prevalent in kids’ everyday lives—to drive a new type of relationship across multiple platforms. Reboot: The Guardian Code and associated brand extensions will deliver mass appeal with a technology focus, empowering kids with the tools and confidence to chart their own course in a world that is increasingly dependent on and powered by technological knowledge.”

Created by Michael Hefferon, Reboot: The Guardian Code is based on the original ReBoot created by Gavin Blair, John Grace, Phil Mitchell and Ian Pearson. The YTV series was the first of its kind–a fully CG animated television series. Ahead of its time, the original series electrified viewers with its groundbreaking animation style and stories of heroic Guardians who battled viruses inside computer systems. Twenty years later, ReBoot: the Guardian Code upgrades that original concept for today’s tech savvy kids.

Transcending age groups with appeal to kids, tweens and teens, ReBoot: the Guardian Code is an adventure-comedy series about four teens (Austin, Parker, Grey and Tamra) who discover that they’re next-gen Guardians with a mission to save the world, by defending it in cyberspace. The Internet revolutionized the world, but it also left it vulnerable to attack. With the help of VERA, the last surviving cyberbeing from the original Guardian Program, our heroes stream into cyberspace where they use their awesome code-based powers to battle viruses that have been unleashed by a ruthless hacker. Known only as the Sourcerer, he seeks to rule the world by controlling cyberspace. Original fans of the show will be happy to hear that Megabyte will be back and he’s getting a major upgrade. ReBoot will showcase leading edge technologies and bring coding into the mainstream for kids.

When Austin, Parker, Grey and Tamra are not trying to stop viruses from overloading a nuclear power station, or remotely opening a dam to flood a city, or playing Criss Cross Crash Hour with a city’s transportation grid, our heroes are being typical teens: arguing with their parents over curfews; dealing with crushes; or trying to avoid getting suspended for skipping class when they’re really on a cyber mission to save the world!

Over the course of its four seasons in the 1990s, 48 x 22 minute episodes of ReBoot were sold to 84 counties (YTV in Canada and ABC Network and Cartoon Network in the US), with the last new episodes airing in 2001. Complementing the television series was a ReBoot toy line produced by Irwin Toys along with a video game produced by Electronic Arts.