The Art of ReBoot

2007, Rainmaker Ent., 104 pages, numerous color pictures, hardcover. I had been searching for this lovely book a long time, being a big fan of the series. Having had high hopes, I wasn't disappointed when the package arrived om my dutch european doorstep. The book is solid, the Art-work abundant. Remember ReBoot? The first computer generated animation show "back in the 90-ties" which aired 4 seasons and ended far too early and abruptly. Based on the clever concept of Sprites that live inside a Mainframe (i.e. your computer), wonderfull stories and visually stunning art was conceived. I won't bother you with a full description of the show; if you found this review, you probably need no further explanation and know and love the show. The book succeeds very well in conveying how exceptional the Art really was. The designs, the sets, the characters, you will find it all in here. In my opinion the show was and is Art with a capital, which was lovingly created and brought to life by a large crew of inspired, talented, persistent and very craz...ehh..creative people. The book commemorates this very well and has loads of pre-production art and inside-stories to relish in. The book focuses mainly on the visual art and storylines, which is quite logical, exceptional as it is. Being a multi-tongued word-artist myself, i cannot stress enough though, that the lingual innovative aspect of the show has been much underrated. I would have loved to see an extensive summary in the book dedicated to the numerous noval expressions launched in and by ReBoot, quite often based on mathematical and computer-language. Food for Frisket...ehh, the Connaisseur. I LOVE the Art and humour of ReBoot which is aptly mirrored and expressed in this neat booklet. Booklet, you say ? A grand 104 pages in hardcover format, a bookLET ? This simply has to do with its dimensions, measuring only 26,5 by 17,5 cms. (2,5 centimeters is approx. 1 inch, do the Math yourself, Basic! ). There are (yes, really) hundreds-of-thousands of worldwide fans out there who love the Art of ReBoot and as I, love its 2-D and animation art. The Art does indeed wholly deserve twice its seize, if not more. In europe great artists as Geiger and Moebius are considered artistical and cultural heroes and honoured accordingly. ReBoot in my (not so) humble opinion, ranks up there easily and yes, seize DOES matter. Know and honour your cultural heroes, praise them and be proud of them and their heritage. Hail ! Salve ! The show was indeed in many artistical ways noval and awe-inspiring. The music. The concepts. The Art. The Animation. The Games. The character-evolution. The life-and-love-issued. The Jokes. The Witt. The Self-Mockery -how dimwitted these users are, not?-. The cultural reference encyclopedial knowledge and know-how. I could go on for hours... Speaking of Art, I was happily surprised to see a section in this wonderfull book dedicated to the "real" 3-D art, meaning the action figures and toys.

I like the Art of Reboot book - It contains all the stuff any keen ReBoot fan would want to see is here - Vehicle designs, sets, all the characters... The artwork is interesting - its nice to see plenty of hand-drawn concept artwork, as well as the various coloured pieces and variations between the way the concept art went in relation to the final CG work. A good book - though beware the small size (7" x 10.5") when you get it. I was expecting a larger book that would look proud placed on my coffee table... Not something I looked like I picked up for the kids. Nice book, but I'm no fan of the physical format of it.

Great book! I'm a hopeless fan of the series, so this kind of book is just for me. The book is full of bright illustrations and original animation drafts as well as comments from its creators, as they recall how this cartoon was being brought together. Although the delivery was slow and it took three weeks to actually obtain the item after purchasing it, the wait was worth it.

How welcome to see interest revived in the dazzling CGI series which premiered on ABC in the fall of 1994, and which was kicked off the air at the height of its ratings when Disney bought Capitol Cities/ ABC. At that time Claster Television packaged the first two seasons and syndicated it to over one hundred independent stations. Freed of the restraints of ABC's Standards and Practices code, The ReBoot studio in Vancouver B.C. made a third season that was a bit wilder, although I think still OK for kids, and with one continuous story arc. But the Disney cancellation meant that the many imaginative ReBoot toys made by Irwin failed to sell. The third season was never seen in the US until at the request of fans, Cartoon Network ran it along with seasons one and two. Throwing caution to the wind, the studio- Mainframe Productions/ BLT/ Alliance made a fourth season, such as it was, actually two feature length episodes. What the shows gain in edginess they lose in the innocence that made the original series an instant winner, and ReBoot, known for parodying popular culture, largely became a parody of itself. Both season four shows are simply badly- written. There were also two IMAX rides created. At one time season three was available on four DVDs, but even then fans would write asking how to get seasons one and two. Like so many animated shows, ReBoot misjudged its audience, which would far prefer the innocent shows over the new "edgy" ones. The Art of ReBoot is a long overdue tribute to the world's first all CGI show. It's a hardback about 10 X 7, about a hundred full color slick pages. There is no text except small comments from designers worked around the montage style pages. It's published by Arcana Studio/ Beach Studio/ DMF, with Jim Su listed as producer, not of the ReBoot series, that was Chris Brough, but of this book. Su's idea was to give credit to all the animators and designers behind the scenes, reversing the policy of early cartoon studios of witholding credit. This approach gives readers an insiders' view of ReBoot from the artists' perspective. Inluded are numerous character and set designs by Brendan McCarthy, along with color shots from the show of the final versions. The final fourteen pages, titled ReBoot Re-Imagined, show the ReBoot characters reversioned in various styles of graphic novels. Many of these artists are better known for other properties, including Spiderman, Transformers, Marvel Comics, and X- Men. Some also work for DMF, a Toronto comic book/ graphic novel company, and the Arcana Studio. This book is a dazzling tribute to a series many viewers remember fondly. Hopefully revived interest will spur the first two seasons' release on DVD, and maybe even reboot ReBoot back to the air (in its classic form, not an 'edgier' one).