ReBoot was the first Canadian cartoon completely created in CG. Though the characters' unnatural movements were distracting at first, the series had us waiting for more. When it first debuted, the series was light-hearted and silly. Enzo was an adventurous kid with an awesome dog, Frisket. His sister, Dot, was independent and intelligent. Bob, the Guardian, was an experienced fighter that every kid wanted to be.

Though we only watched the shows as their aired, and later when it came back with a third and fourth season, we didn't know about all the hidden secrets involved with the series' development. ABC Network aired the CG animated show but caused several headaches for Mainframe Entertainment. The production company faced severe issues with the Broadcast Standards and Practices for the first two seasons. We might laugh at the censorship in Dragonball Z or Sailor Moon, but the Canadian company would have entire episodes completely rejected for ridiculous reasons.

As Mainframe Entertainment broke free from ABC, fans were able to see their creativity come to life. The story became less silly and more serious. Stories were no longer contained in a lighthearted 30-minute episode. We wanted to see what would happen to the inhabitants of Mainframe and if Bob, Dot, or Enzo would beat the user in the next game cube.

Our list compiles some of the hidden secrets behind the making of ReBoot. Even if the characters scared you, Mainframe Entertainment's dedication to the series is highly respectable.

20 Removing All Action From Adventure

Mainframe Entertainment was thrilled when ABC agreed to air ReBoot on Saturday morning television. ABC was aware that the show was meant to be an action-adventure story. Action-adventure series often combine a variety of characters, puzzles, and fighting to neutralize threats.

Bob and his trusty key tool, Glitch, fight off various threats from game cubes but also the viruses that threaten to destroy the city of Mainframe. After the network began receiving more information about the show, they told Mainframe the violence had to be reduced. The censors wanted to protect the children. Instead of showing violence, the heroes had to come up with other ways to take down their enemies. The show's "action" had to be reduced to more "adventure" elements.

19 What Should I Do With My Hands?

The Sprites of Mainframe are meant to have realistic, human characteristics. We watched Bob and his friends perform everyday movements like eating, sleeping, and fighting. With the small amount of fighting ABC's Broadcast Standards and Practices allowed them to do, it's only natural the characters would get injured. As with most cartoons geared for children, direct strikes to the body are not allowed on screen. There's only the implication of a hit or injury. Mainframe Entertainment stated during an interview that the censors often cut out content they thought was too racy, including a scene where a character fell on her rear and tried to rub the pain away. The scene wasn't meant to be scandalous, but ABC still demanded it to be removed from the episode.

18 TV Can’t Contain These Hockey Sticks

ABC's censors may have had an iron grip on what could air on television, but they had no control over related merchandise. Mainframe Entertainment was able to release a series of ReBoot related products, including trading cards. Dot was a little more realistic in proportion and even went so far as to bear a little more skin by wearing shorts. Enzo, the youngest of the ReBoot cast, is shown holding sharp weapons, which is usually off-limits for kids. On a website-exclusive wallpaper, Bob is playing hockey while holding a hockey stick, which was completely banned on-air. The official ReBoot video game released on the PlayStation was also more daring than the tv show. The game contained more violence and racy material than what was allowed on Saturday morning.

17 Rebooting Scripts To Get Them Past Censors

With the amount of ridiculous censorship and revised scripts that Mainframe Entertainment had to deal with, you can’t blame them for being frustrated with ABC’s Broadcast Standards and Practices. Sometimes the censors would reject a script for small details. One famous example is Dan Didio, who was previously a writer for ReBoot, wrote a Max Max inspired script. BS&P returned it with the words "Show completely rejected." They resubmitted with no changes, and it was immediately approved.

Though they were fortunate with “Bad Bob,” it wasn’t always so easy for Mainframe. Having a rejected script or one that had to be changed before airing meant the team had to work double-time to get any changes made and resubmit it. Protecting children from inappropriate content is important, but some changes made no sense.

16 Now We’ll Never Know How Computers Work

ReBoot quickly became a household favorite while it aired. The show included references to real computer and programming practices. Viewers loved the video game references. Mainframe Entertainment announced an educational spin-off for ReBoot starring the background characters, Bionomes. The show would take place on a chip farm, where computer chips grew. The show wouldn't include any sprites and would star Bin and his family: Cookie, Digit, Browser, Kernel, Mr. and Mrs. Fontface, and additional characters named the WIzzywigs. The show would be aimed at preschool audiences. Fifty-two episodes lasting eleven minutes each were planned. News of the show disappeared just as soon as it appeared on the Mainframe Entertainment website. We can only assume the show was canceled and the announcement was poorly planned.

15 The Censors Really Weren’t Pucking Around

Though older viewers are used to hearing adult language on their favorite shows, censors want to protect young children from bad words. Words have to be carefully used in cartoons, which is why you might hear unusual slang or mathematics references in place of profanity. One of the most unusually censored moments of ReBoot was a single word: hockey. The ice or dry land sport seems relatively safe. If there were any complaints about the game, it might be that it's violent. It's no surprise that the game also had to be banned from the show. How is the word hockey offensive? It may refer to "hickey," which is a mark left during an intense make-out session. The censors never clarified and only added it to ReBoot's banned word list.

14 Eyes Up Here, Kids

Before Mouse and AndrAIa debuted, Dot was the only leading female Sprite. The 1990s were a time where we saw the uprising of female protagonists. No longer were they damsels in distress, but valuable team members. Enzo relied on Dot as his only living relative while Bob trusted her as a valuable advisor and much later on, love interest. While we all know how great Dot is, ABC's censors demanded changes be made to Dot's physical characteristics. Dot's chest had to be less realistic and made into a single blob on her torso. Hexadecimal was able to keep her curves, which implied that only villains could show off their bodies. After leaving ABC's grasp, Mainframe Entertainment modeled Dot into a more realistic female form, without sacrificing her brains.

13 Unleashing The Beast Delayed The Game

Mainframe Entertainment is not only known for ReBoot. They also worked on other completely CG shows like Action Man, Max Steele, and yes, all of those $5 bargain bin Barbie doll movies (although they released those under the company name Rainmaker). As CG video games began to make a larger impact on entertainment, the company's skills were improving and were quickly rising in demand. While great for the company, fans worried about the future of ReBoot.

Due to Mainframe's work on other properties, there were issues on when new episodes of ReBoot would be aired in both Canada and America. It was their work with Beast Wars: Transformers and Shadow Raiders that directly affected when the new episodes would air. Fans waited patiently and finally got to see what happened to their favorite Mainframe residents.

12 Sisterly Love (But Not Like That)

One has to wonder what goes through the mind of censors. Though it’s their job to keep children safe, they can also twist the most innocent gestures to mean something sinister. Scenes of sibling affection between Dot and Enzo had to be greatly reduced. Censors didn’t want children to see Dot kissing Enzo on the cheek because the gesture was promoting familial relations. ReBoot never implied this kind of relationship between Dot and Enzo, and the two characters even have romance subplots with different, unrelated, sprites.

Though most kids just thought it was a family bond, the censors believed that kids would take it as Dot and Enzo being romantically involved. After hearing the complaint, one of the show’s creators Ian Pearson stated it was "one of the sickest things I've heard."

11 One Of The Few Times We Hoped For A ReBoot

Mainframe Entertainment put up with the BS&P's numerous requests and managed to win ReBoot a second season on ABC. The episodes started off as contained stories, but the production company began to take chances by making longer story arcs and adding in a little more violence. Fans loved the new format, and the show seemed to be thriving on ABC. The network went through a major change, which meant that several shows had to end.

Unfortunately, after ReBoot's second season, the show was removed from ABC's Saturday morning cartoon lineup. The show ended with the cliffhanger "Firewall" in America. Fans in the US had no idea if the series would continue. Canadians were lucky and saw season 3 in 1999. After three long years, the show was canceled. US fans finally saw the series come back to life in 2001 on Cartoon Network.

10 Movies Made For TV

After the tv series initially ended in cancellation, Mainframe Entertainment considered their options. Going to Netflix or Hulu weren't yet available options, and neither were web-based movies since most of North America was still on dial-up internet. The production company decided to follow-up the second season with two films: Daemon Rising and My Two Bobs.

Plans for a fourth season were still rocky. Since ReBoot was being syndicated on Cartoon Network, Mainframe decided to cut up the movies into 21-minute episodes. The later series were slightly darker and serious than their tv counterparts. They focused on the older Mainframe residents trying to survive Megabyte's takeover after Bob's disappearance. Enzo and AndrAIa were now older and seasoned fighters, while Dot took on an advisory role.

9 Emma See What You Did There

Mainframe Entertainment did their best to release a quality program for kids. They had to face ABC's censors and did their best to make the network happy. Mainframe couldn't help but poke some fun at BS&P in the show. Emma See was inspired by the censorship Mainframe faced. The binome worked as a Program Sensor. She monitored every activity in the city to ensure it was politically correct. Her work would lead her to work with Dot for a grand birthday party for Enzo. She refused most of the acts for unknown reasons, just as the BS&P did for the scripts Mainframe submitted, but she did let a few performances slide. In the ReBoot DVD release, Mainframe admitted that Emma See wasn't just a parody of BS&P, but one specific individual named Mary. When Mary found out, she wasn't happy.

8 The Pixels Are Always Greener On The Other Side

Mainframe Entertainment may have complained about making it past ABC's censors, but the UK was even more strict with their children's content. Even in 2017, Europe continues to remove scenes of violence from media that they deem inappropriate. Meridian refused to air all of the episodes and felt no obligation to "take all episodes." Instead of removing the most offensive parts from the show, their censors refused to air entire episodes. Almost half of season three and no episodes of season four made it on the air in the UK. Around the time Meridian made this decision, they also declared that they would not air the proposed ReBoot trilogy in the UK. ABC may have forced Mainframe to make several changes, but at least they allowed them to be aired on tv.

7 Bob, We’re In The Wrong Format

After ReBoot ended, the creators weren't sure where to go from there. Mainframe knew they still had a loyal fanbase who only wanted more. In 2008, Rainmaker Entertainment announced they would team up with Zeros2Heroes to release a webcomic series. Rainmaker wanted to work with fans to produce a story that everyone would enjoy. After receiving several pitches, a webcomic was released on the Zeros2Heroes website. ReBoot: Paradigms Lost would start off as a webcomic, but hoped to release a physical version. Rainmaker had high hopes that the comic would do well and eventually spawn more ReBoot CG movies. Paradigms Lost went into detail about the events that unfolded after Megabyte took over the Principal Office. The webcomic ended one year later, but with no additional information about the future of the series.

6 Even Programmers Have Secrets

Facing numerous unexplainable and unreasonable script changes, Mainframe Entertainment was getting sick of ABC's Broadcast Standards and Practices. Their censorship requests were often too strict, which caused nothing but headaches for the developers. Dan DiDio, a former writer for the show who would later move on to DC Comics, recalled how much Mainframe struggled to get their scripts approved. The cast decided to hide a message for the BSP. In one episode, within the city lights, a binary code is clearly displayed in all its glory. For those who aren't up to date, the code reads "F*** you, broadcast standards." While the BSP didn't catch the profane insult, it was a way for Mainframe let out their frustrations about the censorship.

5 Increasing The Difficulty

When ReBoot was first purchased by ABC Network in America, they knew they would be receiving an action-adventure show. Mainframe Entertainment made the show more child-friendly, even though they didn’t approve of the censors’ many demands. The show had to be dumbed down so much that Mainframe couldn’t tell the story they wanted to.

In later seasons, the production company began to take more risks. Their CG work was becoming more polished, and they wanted the story to match. ReBoot quickly moved from child audiences to PG, which caused some issues in overseas markets. The change would eventually hit them in North America. The show was canceled from ABC, but it turned out for the best. ReBoot could now be produced for an older audience.

4 How Come The Dog Gets A Bazooka?

During the 1990s, shows aimed at children were facing more censorship. Violence was removed and replaced with silly slapstick humor. The Sprites of ReBoot were not allowed to use gun-type weapons to kill another creature. Though the humanoid Sprites couldn't fight with guns, non-humanoids had full reign. In one episode, Enzo's dog Frisket wields a bazooka. No one else in the show could use such a powerful weapon, but the dog gets to have all the destructive power. BS&P could only hope children wouldn't emulate the canine.

Toward the end of the series, censorship was lightened since the demographic was changed from young children to teens. Both Sprites and Binomes were given full reign of handguns, cannons, and bazookas.

3 Deleting All Plans For The Big Screen

In February 2008, Paul Gertz of Rainmaker Animation, one of the studios of Mainframe Entertainment, announced that a ReBoot movie was in development. The movie would tell the story of a new Guardian. Fans were cautious, disliking the new style of the characters, but still hoped for more information. In June 2008, fans were shocked when it was announced that an entire movie trilogy was planned. Issues began to arise quickly. There were conflicts with the script. The writer eventually quit the project, and a new writer had to be found. Another short trailer was released in 2009, but news slowly started to disappear. Three years after the first announcement, any mention of the movie trilogy began to fade away. The movie trailer was removed from the Rainmaker website. The production company wanted to move on, but fans didn't forget.

2 Don’t Do This At Home (Teleport Instead)

Children are little sponges, which is why you might hear professionals say to lead by example. The BS&P especially took care not to display any offensive actions on screen. They were afraid that children would emulate the actions they witnessed on cartoons.

As the Guardian, Bob had to fight his way to protect the citizens of Mainframe. One scene had Bob jumping through a window. When the BS&P found out, Mainframe had to cut the scene from the show. Mainframe made fun of the censors in "The Quick and the Fed." Bob wasn't allowed to jump through a window to help Dot. Instead, Bob commanded his key tool Glitch to "BSnP," which allowed him to teleport through the window.

1 Cliffhangers Were Giving Kids What?

Kids are impulsive and impatient (and honestly, so are some adults). When ReBoot first debuted in the 1990s, there was no such thing as binge-watching a show on Netflix. Kids had to patiently wait until the next week to find out what happened on their favorite show.

Thanks to ABC's BS&P, kids didn't have that issue with the first season of ReBoot. In fact, no episodes of ReBoot's first season were allowed to end on cliffhangers. Each episode had to be self-contained with a clear beginning and end. All kids needed to remember were the main character's names each week. Why would the BS&P demand such a thing from Mainframe? They wanted to prevent children from having "traumatic tension."