Tron was a movie in 1982 by Disney that was moderately successful at the box office it was about a programmer that gets sucked into his computer and it's electronic world. The film was centered on a game where the players had to cut each other off using motor bikes that left a line behind them. The game was also released with the film and you can play a similar tron game made in flash below. Tron is a security computer program written by Alan Bradley, and in 1982 was taken prisoner by the self-aware Master Control Program and forced to play on the Game Grid. His legendary skills and devotion to the users turned him into a formidable warrior and Disc Arena master. A prototype of Tron.

Tron (stylized as TRON) is a 1982 American science fictionaction-adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as a computer programmer who is transported inside the software world of a mainframe computer where he interacts with programs in his attempt to escape. Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, and Barnard Hughes star in supporting roles.

The development of Tron began in 1976, when Lisberger became intrigued with the early video game Pong. He and producer Donald Kushner set up an animation studio to develop Tron with the intention of making it an animated film. Indeed, to promote the studio itself, Lisberger and his team created a 30-second animation featuring the first appearance of the title character. Eventually, Lisberger decided to include live-action elements with both backlit and computer animation for the actual feature-length film. Various film studios had rejected the storyboards for the film before Walt Disney Productions agreed to finance and distribute Tron. There, backlit animation was finally combined with the computer animation and live action.

Tron was released on July 9, 1982 in 1,091 theaters in the United States. The film was a moderate success at the box office, and received positive reviews from critics who praised the groundbreaking visuals and acting. However, the storyline was criticized at the time for being incoherent. Tron received nominations for Best Costume Design and Best Sound at the 55th Academy Awards, and received the Academy Award for Technical Achievement fourteen years later. Tron was not nominated in the category of visual effects because the academy saw it as cheating to use computers to generate environments and effects.^[1] Over time, Tron developed into a cult film and eventually spawned a franchise, which consists of multiple video games, comic books and an animated television series.^[2] A sequel titled Tron: Legacy directed by Joseph Kosinski was released on December 17, 2010, with Bridges and Boxleitner reprising their roles, and Lisberger acting as producer, followed by the animated series Tron: Uprising set between the two films.

• 3Production
• 4Reception
• 8Sequels

Plot[edit]

Kevin Flynn is a leading software engineer formerly employed by the computer corporation ENCOM, who now runs a video arcade and attempts to hack into ENCOM's mainframe system. However, ENCOM's Master Control Program (MCP) halts his progress. Within ENCOM, programmer Alan Bradley and his girlfriend, engineer Lora Baines, discover that the MCP has closed off their access to projects. When Alan confronts the senior executive vice president, Ed Dillinger, Dillinger claims that the security measures are an effort to stop outside hacking attempts. However, when Dillinger privately questions the MCP, he discovers the MCP has expanded into a powerful virtual intelligence and has become power-hungry, illegally appropriating personal, business, and government programs to increase its own capabilities. The MCP blackmails Dillinger with information about his plagiarizing Flynn's games if he does not comply with its directives.

Lora deduces that Flynn is the hacker, and she and Alan go to his arcade to warn him. Flynn reveals that he has been trying to locate evidence proving Dillinger's plagiarism, which launched Dillinger's rise in the company. Together, the three form a plan to break into ENCOM and unlock Alan's 'Tron' program, a self-governing security measure designed to protect the system and counter the functions of the MCP. Once inside ENCOM, the three split up and Flynn comes into direct conflict with the MCP, communicating with his terminal. Before Flynn can get the information he needs to reveal Dillinger's acts, the MCP uses an experimental laser to digitize and download Flynn into the ENCOM mainframe cyberspace, where programs are living entities appearing in the likeness of the human 'Users' (programmers) who created them.

Flynn learns that the MCP and its second-in-command, Sark, rule and coerce programs to renounce their belief in the Users. The MCP forces programs that resist to play in deadly games and begins pitting Flynn in duels. Flynn meets other captured programs, Ram and Tron, between matches. Partnered, the three escape into the mainframe during a light cycle match, but Flynn and Ram become separated from Tron by an MCP pursuit party. While attempting to help Ram, who was wounded in the pursuit, Flynn learns that he can manipulate portions of the mainframe by accessing his programmer knowledge. Ram recognizes Flynn as a User and encourages him to find Tron and free the system before 'derezzing' (dying). Using his new ability, Flynn rebuilds a vehicle and disguises himself as one of Sark's soldiers.

Tron enlists help from Yori, a sympathetic program, and at an I/O tower, receives information in his identity disk from Alan necessary to destroy the MCP. Flynn rejoins them, and the three board a hijacked solar sailer to reach the MCP's core. However, Sark's command ship destroys the sailer, capturing Flynn and Yori, and presumably killing Tron. Sark leaves the command ship and orders its deresolution, but Flynn keeps it intact by again manipulating the mainframe, while Sark reaches the MCP's core on a shuttle carrying captured programs. While the MCP attempts to absorb captive programs, Tron, who turns out to have survived, confronts Sark and critically injures him, prompting the MCP to give him all its functions. Realizing that his ability to manipulate the mainframe might give Tron an opening, Flynn leaps into the beam of the MCP, distracting it. Seeing the break in the MCP's shield, Tron attacks through the gap and destroys the MCP and Sark, ending the MCP's control over the mainframe, and allowing the captured programs to communicate with users again.

Flynn reappears in the real world, rematerialized at his terminal. Tron's victory in the mainframe has released all lockouts on computer access, and a nearby printer produces the evidence that Dillinger had plagiarized Flynn's creations. The next morning, Dillinger enters his office and finds the MCP deactivated, and the proof of his theft publicized. Flynn is subsequently promoted to CEO of ENCOM, and is happily greeted by Alan and Lora as their new boss.

Cast[edit]

• Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a former programmer and game developer at ENCOM and video arcade proprietor who is beamed into the ENCOM mainframe via a digitizing laser by the Master Control Program.
  • Bridges also portrays Clu (Codified Likeness Utility), a hacking program developed by Flynn to find evidence of Dillinger's theft in the mainframe.
• Bruce Boxleitner as Alan Bradley, Flynn's work partner and fellow programmer at ENCOM.
  • Boxleitner also portrays Tron, a security program developed by Bradley to self-monitor communications between the MCP and the real world.
• David Warner as Ed Dillinger, the Senior Executive Vice President of ENCOM and former co-worker of Flynn's, who used the MCP to steal Flynn's work and pass it off as his own, earning himself a series of undeserved promotions.
  • Warner also portrays Sark, a command program developed by Dillinger to serve as the MCP's second-in-command.
  • Warner also provides the uncredited voice of the Master Control Program (MCP), a rogue artificial intelligenceoperating system (originally a chess program created by Dr. Gibbs and 'improved' by Dillinger) which monitors and controls ENCOM's mainframe.
• Cindy Morgan as Dr. Lora Baines, Bradley's co-worker and girlfriend, as well as assistant to Dr. Gibbs on the digitization experiment.
  • Morgan also portrays Yori, an input/output program developed by Dr. Baines and an ally of Tron.
• Barnard Hughes as Dr. Walter Gibbs, a co-founder of ENCOM running the company's science division, who creates the SHV 20905 digitizing laser with Dr. Baines's assistance.
  • Hughes also portrays Dumont, a 'guardian' program developed by Dr. Gibbs to protect input/output junctions in the mainframe.
  • Hughes also provides the uncredited voice of the Master Control Program's original incarnation.
• Dan Shor as Roy Kleinberg, an ENCOM employee
  • Shor also portrays Ram, an actuarial program possibly developed by Kleinberg to sort out connections between ENCOM and an unnamed insurance company, who is a close ally of Tron and Flynn.
• Peter Jurasik as Crom, a compound interest program matched against Flynn on the Game Grid.
• Tony Stephano as Peter, Dillinger's assistant.
  • Stephano also portrays Sark's Lieutenant.

Production[edit]

Origins[edit]

The inspiration for Tron occurred in 1976 when Steven Lisberger, then an animator of drawings with his own studio, looked at a sample reel from a computer firm called MAGI and saw Pong for the first time.^[3] He was immediately fascinated by video games, and wanted to do a film incorporating them. According to Lisberger, 'I realized that there were these techniques that would be very suitable for bringing video games and computer visuals to the screen. And that was the moment that the whole concept flashed across my mind'.^[4]

Lisberger had already created an early version of the character 'Tron' for a 30 second long animation which was used to promote both Lisberger Studios and a series of various rock radio stations. This backlit cel animation depicted Tron as a character who glowed yellow; the same shade that Lisberger had originally intended for all the heroic characters developed for the feature-length Tron. This was later changed to blue for the finished film (see Pre-production below). The prototype Tron was bearded, and resembled the Cylon Centurions from the original 1978 TV series, Battlestar Galactica. Also, Tron was armed with two 'exploding discs', as Lisberger described them on the 2-Disc DVD edition (see Rinzler).

Lisberger elaborates: 'Everybody was doing backlit animation in the 70s, you know. It was that disco look. And we thought, what if we had this character that was a neon line, and that was our Tron warrior – Tron for electronic. And what happened was, I saw Pong, and I said, well, that's the arena for him. And at the same time I was interested in the early phases of computer generated animation, which I got into at MIT in Boston, and when I got into that I met a bunch of programmers who were into all that. And they really inspired me, by how much they believed in this new realm.'^[5]

He was frustrated by the clique-like nature of computers and video games and wanted to create a film that would open this world up to everyone. Lisberger and his business partner Donald Kushner moved to the West Coast in 1977 and set up an animation studio to develop Tron.^[4] They borrowed against the anticipated profits of their 90-minute animated television special Animalympics to develop storyboards for Tron with the notion of making an animated film.^[3] But after Variety mentioned the project briefly during its early phase, it caught the attention of computer scientist Alan Kay. He contacted Lisberger and convinced him to use him as an adviser on the movie, then persuaded him to use real CGI instead of just hand-animation.^[6]

The film was eventually conceived as an animated film bracketed with live-action sequences.^[4] The rest would involve a combination of computer-generated visuals and back-lit animation. Lisberger planned to finance the movie independently by approaching several computer companies but had little success. However, one company, Information International Inc., was receptive.^[4] He met with Richard Taylor, a representative, and they began talking about using live-action photography with back-lit animation in such a way that it could be integrated with computer graphics. At this point, Lisberger already had a script written and the film entirely storyboarded with some computer animation tests completed.^[4] He had spent approximately $300,000 developing Tron and had also secured $4–5 million in private backing before reaching a standstill. Lisberger and Kushner took their storyboards and samples of computer-generated films to Warner Bros., MGM, and Columbia Pictures – all of which turned them down.^[3]

In 1980, they decided to take the idea to the Walt Disney Studios, which was interested in producing more daring productions at the time.^[4] Tom Wilhite, Disney's vice president for creative development, watched Lisberger's test footage and convinced Ron Miller to give the movie a chance.^[7][8] However, Disney executives were uncertain about giving $10–12 million to a first-time producer and director using techniques which, in most cases, had never been attempted. The studio agreed to finance a test reel which involved a flying disc champion throwing a rough prototype of the discs used in the film.^[4] It was a chance to mix live-action footage with back-lit animation and computer-generated visuals. It impressed the executives at Disney and they agreed to back the film. The script was subsequently re-written and re-storyboarded with the studio's input.^[4] At the time, Disney rarely hired outsiders to make films for them, and Kushner found that he and his group were given a chilly reception because they 'tackled the nerve center – the animation department. They saw us as the germ from outside. We tried to enlist several Disney animators, but none came. Disney is a closed group.'^[9] As a result, they hired Wang Film Productions for the animation.

Pre-production[edit]

Because of the many special effects, Disney decided in 1981 to film Tron completely in 65-mm Super Panavision (except for the computer-generated layers, which were shot in VistaVision and both anamorphic 35mm and Super 35 which were used for some scenes in the 'real' world and subsequently 'blown up' to 65 mm).^[10] Three designers were brought in to create the look of the computer world.^[4] French comic book artist Jean Giraud (also known as Moebius) was the main set and costume designer for the film. Most of the vehicle designs (including Sark's aircraft carrier, the light cycles, the tank, and the solar sailer) were created by industrial designer Syd Mead. Peter Lloyd, a high-tech commercial artist, designed the environments.^[4] Nevertheless, these jobs often overlapped, leaving Giraud working on the solar sailer and Mead designing terrain, sets and the film's logo. The original 'Program' character design was inspired by Lisberger Studios' logo of a glowing bodybuilder hurling two discs.^[4]

To create the computer animation sequences of Tron, Disney turned to the four leading computer graphics firms of the day: Information International, Inc. of Culver City, California, who owned the Super Foonly F-1 (the fastest PDP-10 ever made and the only one of its kind); MAGI of Elmsford, New York; Robert Abel and Associates of California; and Digital Effects of New York City.^[4]Bill Kovacs worked on the film while working for Robert Abel before going on to found Wavefront Technologies. The work was not a collaboration, resulting in very different styles used by the firms.

Tron was one of the first films to make extensive use of any form of computer animation, and is celebrated as a milestone in the industry though only fifteen to twenty minutes of such animation were used,^[11] mostly scenes that show digital 'terrain' or patterns or include vehicles such as light-cycles, tanks and ships. Because the technology to combine computer animation and live action did not exist at the time, these sequences were interspersed with the filmed characters. The computer used had only 2 MB of memory, and no more than 330 MB of storage. This put a limit on detail of background; and at a certain distance, they had a procedure of mixing in black to fade things out, a process called 'depth cueing'. The film's Computer Effects Supervisor Richard Taylor told them 'When in doubt, black it out!', which became their motto.^[12] Originally the film was meant to use white backgrounds like in THX 1138 inside the Grid, but it would require such huge amounts of lights that it was decided to use black backgrounds instead.^[13]

The computers at the time could not do animation, so the frames had to be produced one by one. In some of the more complex sequences, like the Solar Sailer moving through metal canyons, each frame could take up to six hours to produce. There was no way to digitally print them on film either; rather, a motion picture camera was placed in front of a computer screen to capture each individual frame.^[14][15][16]

Most of the scenes, backgrounds, and visual effects in the film were created using more traditional techniques and a unique process known as 'backlit animation'.^[4] In this process, live-action scenes inside the computer world were filmed in black-and-white on an entirely black set, placed in an enlarger for blow-ups and transferred to large format Kodalith high-contrast film. These negatives would then be used to make Kodalith sheets with a reverse (positive) image. Clear cels were laid over each sheet and all portions of the figure except the areas that were exposed for the later camera passes were manually blacked out. Next the Kodalith sheets and cel overlays were placed over a light box while a VistaVision camera mounted above it made separate passes and different color filters. A typical shot normally required 12 passes, but some sequences, like the interior of the electronic tank, could need as many as 50 passes. About 300 matte paintings were made for the film, each photographed onto a large piece of Ektachrome film before colors were added by gelatin filters in a similar procedure as in the Kodaliths. The mattes, rotoscopic and CGI would then be combined and composed together to give them a 'technological' appearance.^[9][17] With multiple layers of high-contrast, large format positives and negatives, this process required truckloads of sheet film and a workload even greater than that of a conventional cel-animated feature. The Kodalith was specially produced as large sheets by Kodak for the film and came in numbered boxes so that each batch of the film could be used in order of manufacture for a consistent image. However, this was not understood by the filmmakers, and as a result glowing outlines and circuit traces occasionally flicker as the film speed varied between batches. After the reason was discovered, this was no longer a problem as the batches were used in order and 'zinger' sounds were used during the flickering parts to represent the computer world malfunctioning as Lisberger described it.^[18] Lisberger later had these flickers and sounds digitally corrected for the 2011 restored Blu-ray release as they were not included in his original vision of the film. Due to its difficulty and cost, this process of back-lit animation was not repeated for another feature film.

Sound design and creation for the film was assigned to Frank Serafine, who was responsible for the sound design on Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979.

Play Free Tron Game Online

At one point in the film, a small entity called 'Bit' advises Flynn with only the words 'yes' and 'no' created by a Votrax speech synthesizer.

BYTE wrote: 'Although this film is very much the personal expression of Steven Lisberger's vision, nevertheless [it] has certainly been a group effort'.^[19] More than 569 people were involved in the post-production work, including 200 inkers and hand-painters, 85 of them from Taiwan's Cuckoo's Nest Studio. Unusually for an English-language production, in the end credits the Taiwanese personnel were listed with their names written in Chinese characters.^[9]

This film features parts of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; the multi-storey ENCOM laser bay was the target area for the SHIVA solid-state multi-beamed laser. Also, the stairway that Alan, Lora, and Flynn use to reach Alan's office is the stairway in Building 451 near the entrance to the main machine room. The cubicle scenes were shot in another room of the lab. At the time, Tron was the only film to have scenes filmed inside this lab.^[20]

The original script called for 'good' programs to be colored yellow and 'evil' programs (those loyal to Sark and the MCP) to be colored blue. Partway into production, this coloring scheme was changed to blue for good and red for evil, but some scenes were produced using the original coloring scheme: Clu, who drives a tank, has yellow circuit lines, and all of Sark's tank commanders are blue (but appear green in some presentations). Also, the light-cycle sequence shows the heroes driving yellow (Flynn), orange (Tron), and red (Ram) cycles, while Sark's troops drive blue cycles; similarly, Clu's tank is red, while tanks driven by crews loyal to Sark are blue.

Because of all the personal information about citizens which exist inside computer networks, such as social security number and driver's license, the idea was that each real world person has a digital counterpart inside the Grid based on information about them, which is why it was decided to use some of the same actors in both worlds.^[21]

Budgeting the production was difficult by reason of breaking new ground in response to additional challenges, including an impending Directors Guild of America strike and a fixed release date.^[4] Disney predicted at least $400 million in domestic sales of merchandise, including an arcade game by Bally Midway and three MattelIntellivision home video games.^[9]

The producers also added Easter eggs: during the scene where Tron and Ram escape from the Light Cycle arena into the system, Pac-Man can be seen behind Sark (with the corresponding sounds from the Pac-Man arcade game being heard in the background), while a 'Hidden Mickey' outline (located at time 01:12:29 on the re-release Blu-ray) can be seen below the solar sailer during the protagonists' journey.

Tron was originally meant to be released during the Christmas season of 1982, but when chairman of the Disney board Card Walker found out the release date of Don Bluth's film The Secret of NIMH was in early July, he rushed it into a summer release to be able to compete with Bluth, and it ended up competing with films like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Blade Runner and Poltergeist.^[22]

Music[edit]

The soundtrack for Tron was written by pioneer electronic musician Wendy Carlos, who is best known for her album Switched-On Bach and for the soundtracks to many films, including A Clockwork Orange and The Shining. The music, which was the first collaboration between Carlos and her partner Annemarie Franklin,^[23] featured a mix of an analog Moog synthesizer and Crumar's GDS digital synthesizer (complex additive and phase modulationsynthesis), along with non-electronic pieces performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra (hired at the insistence of Disney, which was concerned that Carlos might not be able to complete her score on time). Two additional musical tracks ('1990's Theme' and 'Only Solutions') were provided by the American band Journey after British band Supertramp pulled out of the project. An album featuring dialogue, music and sound effects from the film was also released on LP by Disneyland Records in 1982.

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

Tron was released on July 9, 1982, in 1,091 theaters grossing USD $4 million on its opening weekend. It went on to make $33 million in North America,^[24] which Disney saw as a disappointment, and led to the studio writing off a good chunk of its $17 million budget.^[25]

Critical response[edit]

The film was well received by critics. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars and described it as 'a dazzling movie from Disney in which computers have been used to make themselves romantic and glamorous. Here's a technological sound-and-light show that is sensational and brainy, stylish and fun'.^[26] However, near the end of his review, he noted (in a positive tone), 'This is an almost wholly technological movie. Although it's populated by actors who are engaging (Bridges, Cindy Morgan) or sinister (Warner), it's not really a movie about human nature. Like Star Wars or The Empire Strikes Back but much more so, this movie is a machine to dazzle and delight us'.^[26] Ebert closed his first annual Overlooked Film Festival with a showing of Tron.^[27]Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune also awarded four out of four stars, calling it 'a trip, and a terrifically entertaining one at that...It's a dazzler that opens up our minds to our new tools, all in a traditional film narrative.'^[28]Tron was also featured in Siskel and Ebert's video pick of the week in 1993.

InfoWorld's Deborah Wise was impressed, writing that 'it's hard to believe the characters acted out the scenes on a darkened soundstage... We see characters throwing illuminated Frisbees, driving 'lightcycles' on a video-game grid, playing a dangerous version of jai alai and zapping numerous fluorescent tanks in arcade-game-type mazes. It's exciting, it's fun, and it's just what video-game fans and anyone with a spirit of adventure will love—despite plot weaknesses.'^[29]

On the other hand, Variety disliked the film and said in its review, 'Tron is loaded with visual delights but falls way short of the mark in story and viewer involvement. Screenwriter-director Steven Lisberger has adequately marshalled a huge force of technicians to deliver the dazzle, but even kids (and specifically computer game geeks) will have a difficult time getting hooked on the situations'.^[30] In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin criticized the film's visual effects: 'They're loud, bright and empty, and they're all this movie has to offer'.^[31] The Washington Post's Gary Arnold wrote, 'Fascinating as they are as discrete sequences, the computer-animated episodes don't build dramatically. They remain a miscellaneous form of abstract spectacle'.^[32] In his review for The Globe and Mail, Jay Scott wrote, 'It's got momentum and it's got marvels, but it's without heart; it's a visionary technological achievement without vision'.^[33]

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes rated the film at 72% based on the reviews of 57 critics, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's consensus states: 'Though perhaps not as strong dramatically as it is technologically, TRON is an original and visually stunning piece of science fiction that represents a landmark work in the history of computer animation.'^[34]

In the year it was released, the Motion Picture Academy refused to nominate Tron for a special-effects award because, as director Steven Lisberger puts it, 'The Academy thought we cheated by using computers'.^[35] The film did, however, earn Oscar nominations in the categories of Best Costume Design and Best Sound (Michael Minkler, Bob Minkler, Lee Minkler, and James LaRue).^[36]

Cultural effect[edit]

In 1997, Ken Perlin of the Mathematical Applications Group, Inc. won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement for his invention of Perlin noise for Tron.^[37]

The film, considered groundbreaking, has inspired several individuals in numerous ways. John Lasseter, head of Pixar and Disney's animation group, described how the film helped him see the potential of computer-generated imagery in the production of animated films, stating 'without Tron, there would be no Toy Story.'^[38][39]

The music video of the song 'Abiura di me' of the Italian rapper Caparezza is based on Tron.^{[citation needed]} The two members of the French house music group Daft Punk, who scored the sequel, have held a joint, lifelong fascination with the film.^[40] Also, in Gorillaz' music video for the song 'Feel Good Inc.', Russel, the fictional drummer of the band, can be seen wearing an Encom hat.^[41]

Tron developed into a cult film and was ranked as 13th in a 2010 list of the top 20 cult films published by The Boston Globe.^[42]

The film heavily inspired the music video for Danish pop/dance group Infernal's 2006 hit single 'From Paris to Berlin'.

The Disco Biscuits, a Philadelphia-based jam band heavily influenced by electronic music, played an entire free-form set to correspond with the movie 'Tron', which was projected onto a partially transparent curtain in the front of the stage for their December 31, 2015 New Year's Eve show from the PlayStation Theater in Times Square, New York city.

In 2008, the American Film Institute nominated this film for its Top 10 Science Fiction Films list.^[43]

Books[edit]

A novelization of Tron was released in 1982, written by American science fiction novelist Brian Daley. It included eight pages of color photographs from the movie.^[44] In the same year, Disney Senior Staff Publicist Michael Bonifer authored a book entitled The Art of Tron which covered aspects of the pre-production and post-production aspects of Tron.^[45][46] A nonfiction book about the making of the original film, The Making of Tron: How Tron Changed Visual Effects and Disney Forever, was written by William Kallay and published in 2011.

Television[edit]

Tron made its television debut, as part of Disney Channel's first day of programming, on April 18, 1983 at 7:00PM (ET).^[47]

Home media[edit]

Tron was originally released on VHS, Betamax, LaserDisc, and CED Videodisc in 1983. As with most video releases from the 1980s, the film was cropped to the 4:3 pan and scan format. The film saw multiple re-releases throughout the 1990s, most notably an 'Archive Collection' LaserDisc box set,^[48] which featured the first release of the film in its original widescreen 2.20:1 format. By 1993, Tron had grossed $17 million in video rentals.^[49]

Tron saw its first DVD release on May 19, 1998. This bare-bones release utilized the same non-anamorphic video transfer used in the Archive Collection LaserDisc set, and did not include any of the LD's special features. On January 15, 2002, the film received a 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition release in the form of a special 2-Disc DVD set. This set featured a new THX mastered anamorphic video transfer, and included all of the special features from the LD Archive Collection, plus an all-new 90 minute 'Making of Tron' documentary.

To tie in with the home video release of Tron: Legacy, the movie was finally re-released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Special Edition DVD and for the first time on Blu-ray Disc on April 5, 2011, with the subtitle 'The Original Classic' to distinguish it from its sequel. Tron was also featured in a 5-Disc Blu-ray Combo with the 3D copy of Tron: Legacy. The film was re-released on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK on June 27, 2011.

Sequels[edit]

Tron: Uprising (TV series)[edit]

'Tron: Uprising takes place during the time period between the story lines of the two movies Tron (1982) and Tron: Legacy (2010). In the series, young program Beck becomes the leader of a revolution inside the computer world of The Grid, tasked with the mission of freeing his home and friends from the reign of Clu and his henchman, Gen. Tesler. To prepare for the challenge, Beck is trained by Tron – the greatest warrior The Grid has ever known – who mentors Beck as he grows beyond his youthful nature into a courageous and powerful leader. Destined to become the system's new protector, Beck adopts Tron's persona to battle the forces of evil.'^[50]

Tron: Legacy[edit]

On January 12, 2005, Disney announced it had hired screenwriters Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal to write a sequel to Tron.^[51] In 2008, director Joseph Kosinski negotiated to develop and direct TRON, described as 'the next chapter' of the 1982 film and based on a preliminary teaser trailer shown at that year's San Diego Comic-Con, with Lisberger co-producing.^[52] Filming began in Vancouver, British Columbia in April 2009.^[53] During the 2009 Comic-Con, the title of the sequel was revealed to be changed to Tron: Legacy.^[54][55] The second trailer (also with the [Tron: Legacy] logo) was released in 3D with Alice In Wonderland. A third trailer premiered at Comic-Con 2010 on July 22. At Disney's D23 Expo on September 10–13, 2009, they also debuted teaser trailers for Tron: Legacy as well as having light cycle and other props from the film there. The film was released on December 17, 2010, with Daft Punk composing the score.^[56]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Jackson, Matthew (March 1, 2013). 'Little-known sci-fi fact: Why Tron's FX got snubbed for an Oscar'. SYFY WIRE. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
2. ^Schneider, Michael (November 4, 2010). 'Disney XD orders 'Tron: Legacy' toon'. Variety. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
3. ^ ^abcCulhane, John (July 4, 1982). 'Special Effects are Revolutionizing Film'. New York Times. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
4. ^ ^{abcdefghijklmn}Patterson, Richard (August 1982). 'The Making of Tron'. American Cinematographer.
5. ^'Interview: Justin Springer and Steven Lisberger, co-producers of Tron: Legacy'. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012.
6. ^Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation
7. ^The Disney Draw – The Washington Post
8. ^Former Disney CEO Ron Miller recalls his own 'TRON' legacy
9. ^ ^abcdAnsen, David (July 5, 1982). 'When You Wish Upon a Tron'. Newsweek.
10. ^'In70mm.com'. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012.
11. ^Interview with Harrison Ellenshaw, supplemental material on Tron DVD
12. ^'The influence of Disney's Tron in filmmaking Tron and CG moviemaking'. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012.
13. ^Putting Tron's Special Effects Together – Tested
14. ^TRON, Jeff Bridges & CGI: The Classic 80's Film Anniversary – Variety
15. ^Original TRON | Computer Graphics World
16. ^Tron (1982) – Articles – TCM.com
17. ^The Magnificent Look of ... TRON; Electronic Games, 1982-10 – page 56
18. ^The Making of Tron (DVD Feature)
19. ^Sorensen, Peter (November 1982). 'Tronic Imagery'. BYTE. p. 48. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
20. ^'The People of NIF: Rod Saunders: Each Day is an Adventure'. Archived from the original on August 5, 2012.
21. ^Making of Tron
22. ^New William Kallay book reveals 'How Tron Changed Visual Effects and Disney Forever'
23. ^Moog, Robert (November 1982). 'The Soundtrack of TRON'(PDF). Keyboard Magazine: 53–57. Archived from the original(PDF) on December 2, 2010. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
24. ^'Tron'. Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2008.
25. ^Stewart, James B. (2005). DisneyWar: The Battle for the Magic Kingdom (p. 45). New York: Simon & Schuster
26. ^ ^abEbert, Roger (January 1, 1982). 'Tron'. Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2008.
27. ^'Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival #1 Schedule'. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
28. ^Siskel, Gene (July 9, 1982). 'Marvelous 'TRON' sends Disney soaring into the '80s'. Chicago Tribune. Section 3, pp. 1–2.
29. ^Deborah Wise, 'Unabashed fan and critics' critic talk about Disney's Tron,' InfoWorld Vol. 4, No. 30 (August 2, 1982): 70-71.
30. ^'Tron'. Variety. January 1, 1982. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2008.
31. ^Maslin, Janet (July 9, 1982). 'Tron'. New York Times. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2008.
32. ^Arnold, Gary (July 10, 1982). 'Duel of Two Disneys'. Washington Post. pp. C1.
33. ^Scott, Jay (July 10, 1982). 'Tron Beautiful but Heartless'. The Globe and Mail.
34. ^Tron at Rotten Tomatoes
35. ^Helfand, Glen (January 9, 2002). 'Tron 20th Anniversary'. San Francisco Gate.
36. ^'The 55th Academy Awards (1983) Nominees and Winners'. oscars.org. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
37. ^Kerman, Phillip. Macromedia Flash 8 @work: Projects and Techniques to Get the Job Done. Sams Publishing. 2006.
38. ^Thompson, Anne (December 9, 2010). 'What Will Tron: Legacy's 3D VFX Look Like in 30 Years?'. Tron Legacy VFX Special Effects in Tron Legacy. Popular Mechanics. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved December 24, 2010.
39. ^Lyons, Mike (November 1998). 'Toon Story: John Lasseter's Animated Life'. Animation World Magazine. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
40. ^IGN Staff (October 12, 2010). 'Listen to Daft Punk in TRON: Legacy'. IGN. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2010. Having grown up with admiration of Disney's original 1982 film Tron...
41. ^Gorillaz (June 28, 2016), Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc. (Official Video), retrieved April 15, 2017
42. ^Boston.com Staff (August 17, 2006). 'Top 20 cult films, according to our readers'. boston.com. The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
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44. ^Daley, Brian (October 1, 1982). Tron. New English Library Ltd. ISBN978-0-450-05550-8.
45. ^Bonifer, Michael (November 1982). The Art of Tron. Simon & Schuster. ISBN978-0-671-45575-0.
46. ^'Tron Sector Biography of Mike Bonifer'. Archived from the original on June 9, 2008.
47. ^'Exploring the 'Tron' Phenomenon'. The Disney Channel Magazine. The Disney Channel. April–May 1983.
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49. ^Kinder, Marsha (1993). Playing with Power in Movies, Television, and Video Games: From Muppet Babies to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. University of California Press. p. 12. ISBN978-0-520-07776-8.
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External links[edit]

• Tron on IMDb
• Tron at AllMovie
• Tron at Box Office Mojo
• Tron at Rotten Tomatoes
• Tron at the TCM Movie Database

This article covers notable characters of the Tron franchise, including all of its various cinematic, literary, video game adaptations and sequels.

• 2Tron
• 3Tron 2.0, Tron: Killer App, Tron: The Ghost in the Machine
• 4Tron: Legacy, Tron: Betrayal, Tron: Uprising and Tron: Evolution

Development[edit]

For the first film, Richard Rickitt explains that to 'produce the characters who inhabit the computer world, actors were dressed in costumes that were covered in black-and-white computer circuitry designs....With coloured light shining through the white areas of their costumes, the resulting characters appeared to glow as if lit from within....optical processes were used to create all of the film's computerized characters...'^[1] Frederick S. Clarke reported that Tron: Legacy would 'combine live action with Computer-generated imagery (CGI),' adding that 'several characters...will be completely digital...'^[2]

Tron[edit]

Kevin Flynn[edit]

Kevin Flynn is a former employee of the fictional software company ENCOM and the protagonist of the first film. He is played by Jeff Bridges.

At the start of the first film, he is manager of 'Flynn's', a video arcade where he impresses his patrons with his skills at games that (unknown to them) he designed at ENCOM, but remains determined to find evidence that CEO Ed Dillinger plagiarised Flynn's work to advance his position within the company. Throughout most of the film, Flynn travels around the digital world, accompanying the eponymous character Tron; but later discovers that as a User, he commands the physical laws of the digital world which empowers him beyond the abilities of an ordinary program. Eventually, he enables Tron to destroy the Master Control Program shown to oppress the digital world, and upon return to the material world obtains the evidence necessary to expose Dillinger, and becomes ENCOM's CEO himself.

Clu[edit]

Clu (short for Codified Likeness Utility) is a hacking program (also played by Jeff Bridges) created by Flynn to expose Dillinger's plagiarism.

In the film, he is seen operating a tank in the search to uncover the stolen data, but is captured by the Master Control Program and absorbed into it. The information gained from Clu is subsequently used against Flynn as he tries to escape the game grid on a light cycle.

Alan Bradley[edit]

Alan Bradley is a computer programming working partner of Kevin Flynn at ENCOM. He is portrayed by Bruce Boxleitner.

At the start of the first film, he creates the Tron program that monitors communications between the MCP and the real world, but finds its progress confined. As a result, he assists Flynn in exposing Dillinger. In the film, Tron addresses Bradley with the username 'Alan-One'.

Tron[edit]

Tron is a security program (played by Bruce Boxleitner) created by Bradley to monitor communications between the MCP and the real world. He is the main digital protagonist of the first film.

In the film, he is captured by the MCP and forced to play on the Game Grid, but freed by Flynn and instructed by Bradley to shut down the MCP. His code number is 'JA-307020'.

Lora Baines[edit]

Lora Baines is a research engineer at ENCOM, the ex-girlfriend of Kevin Flynn and then-current girlfriend of Alan Bradley. She is played by Cindy Morgan.

She works as one of the assistants of Walter Gibbs in the designing of the laser that teleports Kevin Flynn into the digital world, and creates the Yori program that assists in the derezzing procedure.

Yori[edit]

Yori is an input/output program (also played by Cindy Morgan) created by Baines to take charge of the creation of digital simulations (such as the Solar Sailer) and assist with the de-rezzing procedure of the digitizing laser.

The romantic interest of Tron and Flynn, Yori is reunited with Tron after he rescues her from the clutches of the MCP, and helps Tron and Flynn reach its core, where their combined efforts destroy the MCP and its factional programs.

Walter Gibbs[edit]

Walter Gibbs is the founder of ENCOM, where he continues to work at as a scientist along with Lora Baines, working on the teleporting laser. After voicing concerns about heavy restriction to the company mainframe computer in a meeting with Ed Dillinger, Dillinger responds by threatening him with being dismissed. He is portrayed by Barnard Hughes.

Dumont[edit]

Dumont is a 'guardian' program (played by Barnard Hughes) created by Dr. Gibbs to protect the ENCOM mainframe's I/O Tower. He even has a similar closeness with Yori that Gibbs had with her user, Lora Baines.

Ed Dillinger[edit]

Ed Dillinger is the Senior Executive Vice President of ENCOM and the main antagonist of the first film. He is played by David Warner.

Dillinger was a worker in ENCOM before plagiarizing Kevin Flynn's original work, after which he becomes the company's senior executive. He contributes to the rise of the Master Control Program that controls the ENCOM mainframe and creates the Sark program that acts as the MCP's second-in-command. Dillinger authorizes the MCP to tighten security controls upon learning of Flynn's seeking evidence of the theft of his work, but when he starts questioning the MCP's intent to defy his plans of capturing other programs, the MCP threatens to expose Dillinger's misdeeds. He is defeated and indeed disgraced when the MCP is destroyed, yet also relieved that the MCP is no more.

His son Ed Dillinger, Jr. appears in the beginning of Tron: Legacy in a minor role, portrayed by an uncredited Cillian Murphy.

Sark[edit]

Commander Sark is a command program (also played by David Warner)^[3] created by Dillinger to serve as chief lieutenant of the MCP and the secondary digital antagonist of the first film.

He oversaw the training of new programs kidnapped and brought to the Game Grid by the MCP, and was known to enter the games himself from time to time. He is destroyed by Tron near the end of the film. In the novelization, his code number is 'ES-1117821'.

Master Control Program[edit]

The Master Control Program (MCP), voiced by David Warner and also played by Barnard Hughes, is the main digital antagonist of the first film.

It is an artificial intelligence created by ENCOM founder Walter Gibbs and improved by Ed Dillinger that ruled Encom's mainframe computer. During the rule of the MCP, many programs are enslaved and forced to play games against its henchmen. To gain information and power, the MCP threatens to expose Dillinger's theft of Flynn's creations. Dillinger uses the MCP to administer the company's computer network (in effect an AI Superuser); but it, empowered by Dillinger, begins to steal data from other systems, and comes to desire control of external corporations and even governments. The MCP is ultimately destroyed by Flynn and Tron.

Before its destruction, the MCP ends most of its conversations with Dillinger with the computer programming phrase 'End of line'. In the sequel, Tron: Legacy, the digital world contains a nightclub called the 'End of Line Club'.

Roy Kleinberg[edit]

Roy Kleinberg is one of ENCOM's first computer programmers and coworker of Alan Bradley. He is played by Dan Shor.

He makes only a brief cameo at the start of the first film, where he already creates the Ram program that makes connections between ENCOM and an unnamed insurance company and begins working in a cubicle next to Bradley's. When Bradley went to Ed Dillinger about being blocked from the system, Kleinberg asks if he could have some of his popcorn, annoying Bradley further.

He is credited in the film as 'Popcorn Co-Worker'.

Kleinberg also appears in the short film 'The Next Day,' which was included on the Blu-Ray edition of Tron Legacy, and it's also in the film where his name is officially mentioned. He is the leader of the 'Flynn Lives' movement along with Alan Bradley.

Ram[edit]

Ram is an actuarial program (also played by Dan Shor) created by Kleinberg to 'work for a big insurance company' before being captured by the MCP and forced to play on the Game Grid.

While involved in the games, Ram exceeds his original programming to become a proficient gamer, and expresses a fair amount of confidence in his abilities while between contests; but took pride in his work as an actuarial program, which he seemed to associate with humanitarian purposes. He is injured by a game tank after escaping the game grid with Flynn and Tron, and later dies in the company of Flynn.

Crom[edit]

Ost_Crom is a timid and pudgy compound interest program, created by full branch managing savings and loan bank programmer Mr. Henderson, who was captured by the MCP and forced to play on the Game Grid. He is played by Peter Jurasik.

Crom and Flynn are forced to battle each other in the ring game. Flynn gains the upper hand, but refuses to kill a defenseless Crom, twice defying Sark's command to do so. Sark then derezzes the piece of the playing field that Crom is hanging from, which sends the hapless program freefalling to his death until Henderson re-created him into the updated Ost_Crom 2^{[citation needed]}.

Bit[edit]

The Bit is a representation of a bit (binarydigit), and as such is only capable of providing yes and no (0,1) answers to any question, through which it managed to convey various emotions. The Bit appeared twice in the movie, once at the beginning of the movie as companion to Clu and later as a companion to Flynn himself, and was originally to have a more extensive role; but has only two minutes for scheduling reasons.^[4] Despite this, the co-creators of Max Headroom, in their book Creative Computer Graphics, called it 'one of the most memorable characters in the film.'^[4] At the time of the film's release, the character represented an innovative use of vector graphics^[4] and morphing.^[5]

Physically, the Bit was represented within the movie by a blue polyhedral shape that alternated between the compound of dodecahedron and icosahedron and the small triambic icosahedron (the first stellation of the icosahedron).^[6] When the Bit says the answer 'yes', it briefly changes into a yellow octahedron and when it says 'no' it changes into a red 35th stellation of an icosahedron; these resemble prismatic forms or '3-D versions' of the Latin letters 'O' and 'X', respectively.

Tron 2.0, Tron: Killer App, Tron: The Ghost in the Machine[edit]

The video game Tron 2.0 was a direct sequel to Tron but is now non-canon with release of Tron: Legacy and its various related titles. The comic book Tron: The Ghost in the Machine further explores the Tron 2.0 characters and storyline.

Jet Bradley[edit]

Jet Bradley is the son of Alan Bradley and Lora Baines Bradley and the protagonist of the game Tron 2.0. Jet is digitized while searching for his missing father. Within the digital world, he is tasked with locating the Tron Legacy Code.

Jet is also the basis for the experimental program that is the central character of Tron: The Ghost in the Machine. This version of Jet is a digital backup of the original User, copied and stored within the system. Due to the complexities involved in making a copy of a human being, the program version of Jet is corrupted and split into three separate aspects. Eventually, all aspects of the program are united and given the choice to ascend from the digital world into the real world.

Mercury[edit]

Mercury is a female humanoid computer program. She is voiced by Rebecca Romijn. She is known within the computer world as a champion lightcycle racer but also shows some combat skills during the course of the game. She returns in Tron: The Ghost in the Machine as one of the leaders the resistance against the red version of the program Jet, who is masquerading as the MCP.

Ma3a[edit]

Ma3a (short for Math Assistant 3Audio) is a female computer program. She is voiced by Cindy Morgan. Unlike most other programs in the computer world, Ma3a is shaped like a sphere. When she was originally improved from Yori by Lora Baines in March 1988, she was known as Ma1a (short for Math Assistant 1Audio), followed by Ma2a (short for Math Assistant 2Audio) in June 1996 and Ma3a in 2003. Ma3a carries many of Lora's personality traits and even sounds like her (Cindy Morgan also played Yori in TRON). Some ENCOM employees have come to believe that part of Lora was digitized into Ma3a's code in the midst of the 1994 digitizing accident that resulted in Lora's death. In March 2003, Alan Bradley was given the 'Digital Pal' award for Ma3a.

Thorne[edit]

J.D. Thorne was an executive from fCon who was improperly digitized into the computer and became corrupted, spreading like a virus throughout the system. Corrupted programs that follow Thorne as 'The Master User' are called Z-Lots (pronounced 'zealots'). Thorne is derezzed after a battle with the Kernel. Before he dies, he passes along vital information on fCon to Jet Bradley.

The Kernel[edit]

The Kernel is a security program commanding the system's ICPs. He was destroyed by Jet Bradley during a battle with the corrupted user Thorne.

Byte[edit]

The Byte is similar to the Bit in visual design and also speaks in a modulated voice. Unlike the Bit, the Byte is able to speak in full English sentences.

Data Wraiths[edit]

Data Wraiths are digitizable, elite hacker users that were employed by fCon to create havoc in computer systems around the world, steal top-secret data and destroying the databases of fCon's competitors. When they derez in the computer world they are kicked out of the computer and return to their original human form, unconscious.

Seth Crown, Eva Popoff, and Esmond Baza[edit]

Seth Crown, Eva Popoff, and Esmond Baza are three fCon executives who attempted to transfer themselves into the computer world unaware that the correction algorithms necessary for proper transfer had been disabled. Without the algorithms, the digitization process went awry and the three executives were merged into one horrible monstrosity. After being defeated and pushed out of the digitzing stream by Jet (both for his safety and theirs, as their corrupted state would have killed them in the real world), they are stored in a hard drive so Alan can fix their code.

Tron: Legacy, Tron: Betrayal, Tron: Uprising and Tron: Evolution[edit]

Tron: Legacy, its comic book tie-in Tron: Betrayal, the animated television prequel Tron: Uprising and the video game tie-in Tron: Evolution are all direct sequels to Tron. Several characters appear in all four pieces of the franchise while others are specific to one component. All four parts establish a specific time line of the Tron universe.^[7]

Sam Flynn[edit]

Sam Flynn is the son of Kevin Flynn who works as a controlling shareholder at ENCOM and the protagonist of Tron: Legacy, played by Garrett Hedlund and voiced in the video games by Ross Thomas.

After 20 years of his father's absence, Sam is lured onto the Grid, where he reunites with his father and catalyzes the action of the second film, culminating in the destruction of Clu 2. Deciding to take responsibility of ENCOM, he names Alan the Chairman of the Board and takes Quorra to see her first sunrise.

Quorra[edit]

Quorra is a skilled warrior and the last remaining member of a group of 'isomorphic algorithms' destroyed by Clu 2, played by Olivia Wilde and voiced in video games by Erin Cottrell.

In the second film, she is a confidante to Kevin Flynn, who saved her from Clu 2's purge of the ISOs. Anxious to experience the outside world, Quorra accompanies Sam to escape the grid and enter the real world; both her name and her story-arc appear to relate to the Greek myth of Persephone.'^[8]

Clu 2[edit]

The Clu 2 Program (C2P) is an updated version of Clu created by Kevin Flynn to oversee the development of the Grid and the main antagonist of Tron: Legacy. He is physically played by John Reardon, with Jeff Bridges lending his likeness and voice to the character.

Programmed with the command of creating a 'perfect system', Clu 2 grew to resent Flynn – particularly, his fondness for the 'imperfect', spontaneously-generated Isos, or 'isomorphic algorithms'. Clu 2 later betrayed Flynn and Tron to seize total control of the Grid, and then enacted genocide upon the Isos, and forced Flynn into hiding for twenty years.

Over this period, Clu 2 kept the Grid under his own control, reprogramming his opponents as soldiers for his own army, led by a reprogrammed Tron under the name 'Rinzler'. He continued to seek Flynn for his 'identity disc', whose contents would allow Clu 2 to cross into the real world; and later lured Flynn's son Sam onto the Grid. After first trying to destroy him, Clu 2 uses Sam to draw out Flynn, and obtains his identity disc. He is destroyed after a long series of struggles, at whose end Flynn 'reintegrates' Clu 2 into himself, apparently destroying them both.^[9]

ISOs[edit]

The ISOs (short for Isomorphic algorithms) are a race of programs that spontaneously arose on the Grid. Clu 2 saw them as an obstacle to his creation of a perfect system whilst Kevin Flynn saw them as the next stage of evolution; wherefore Clu 2 betrayed Flynn and destroyed most of the ISOs. The last remaining ISO is Quorra, saved by Flynn and sent to the real world with Sam.

Castor/Zuse[edit]

Castor is a flamboyant supermodel program and the owner of the End of Line club located inside the tallest tower on the Grid, played by Michael Sheen.^[10]

When originally named 'Zuse', he was an ally of Flynn's and the ISOs' under his former name, but he betrays Sam and Quorra to bargain with Clu 2; he wishes to control the Grid once Clu 2 leaves for the real world. However, though Clu 2 seems to agree to the bargain, he traps Castor in his club, setting off explosions that kill him and his associate Gem.

Zuse is most likely named after Konrad Zuse, whose Z3 was the first automatic programmable digital computer constructed, in 1941.

Rinzler/Tron[edit]

Rinzler is a security program who serves as Clu 2's right-hand man, played by Anis Cheurfa, a well-known martial-arts performer cast for his abilities, stunts and acrobatic talents, with Bruce Boxleitner lending his voice and likeness for the character.

Considered a master warrior, he uses two identity discs in combat and displays advanced acrobatic talent. The two-disc DVD edition of the original Tron revealed that in the late 1970s, Lisberger Studios had produced an early demo animation showing the character 'Tron' similarly armed with two 'exploding discs', (see Tron Origins). Later in Tron: Legacy, it is revealed that Rinzler is a re-purposed form of the version update of Tron known as 'Tron 2'. Though it appears in Legacy that Tron was defeated in the initial strike of Clu 2's coup, Tron: Uprising reveals that he initially escaped capture, at the cost of severe injury, and served as a mentor to the program Beck in inciting insurrection against Clu 2's new regime; it has yet to be shown at what point in the time between Uprising and Legacy that Tron was captured and repurposed. As Rinzler, he has several encounters with Sam Flynn throughout Legacy, culminating in an aerial pursuit, during which he remembers his past identity and turns against Clu 2, who sends Rinzler plummeting into the Sea of Simulation. Rinzler's ultimate fate is left unknown, but as he sinks into the Sea, his red markings (indicating alliance to/control by Clu 2) fade to his original blue colors.

Rinzler is named after Lucasfilm Executive Editor, J.W. Rinzler, who has authored several books, including The Making of Star Wars, The Complete Making of Indiana Jones, and Making of The Empire Strikes Back. Director Joseph Kosinski chose the name during a working session with the writers when one of Rinzler's books happened to be on the table.^[11]

Jarvis[edit]

Jarvis is an administration program who serves as Clu 2's chief bureaucrat, played by James Frain.

While probably efficient in his function, his personality is shown to be sycophantic and cowardly. Jarvis attempts at every turn to impress Clu 2 and win approval. After Jarvis fails to prevent Sam Flynn from taking back his father's disc, Clu 2 derezzes him.

Bartok[edit]

Bartok is a basic program, leader of a rebel faction in TRON City, played by Conrad Coates.

In TRON: Uprising, he and his friend: Hopper joined a task force form by Paige to hunt down the renegade, after witnessing the workers standing up to Pavel, he and Hopper joined in also to defend the Renegade. In TRON Legacy, he is first seen speaking to Castor demanding an audience to Zuse, when the Black Guards attack the club, he started fighting them, but was quickly derezzed.

Edward Dillinger Jr.[edit]

Edward Dillinger Jr. is the son of Ed Dillinger and lead programmer on the ENCOM operating system, played by an uncredited Cillian Murphy.^[12]

He is seen attending an ENCOM board meeting in the beginning of Legacy. It would seem he inherited his father's habit of betraying others' beliefs to further his own profits as well as those of the company.

Anon[edit]

Anon is the main protagonist of Tron: Evolution. He is a security program owned by Kevin Flynn to try to maintain order in the grid and to investigate conspiracies. He teamed with Quorra in trying to stop Clu 2 from taking over the grid but was derezzed saving her from falling debris.

Abraxas[edit]

Abraxas is the main antagonist of Tron: Evolution. He is voiced by John Glover. He was formerly an ISO named Jalen before he was re-purposed by Clu 2 as a computer virus to justify the purge of the other ISOs from the Grid.

Beck[edit]

Beck is young vehicle maintenance program and the main protagonist of Tron: Uprising. He is voiced by Elijah Wood.

Through most of the series, he leads a revolution against Clu 2 and his armies from within the digital realm of The Grid. He is trained by Tron and looks to him as a mentor throughout his time as a games warrior. Beck eventually becomes as powerful as Tron and challenges the tyranny of Tesler and his oppressive forces.^[7]

Tesler[edit]

General Tesler is a command program who serves as one of Clu 2's generals and the main antagonist of Tron: Uprising. He is voiced by Lance Henriksen.

He is in charge of the forces occupying Argon City; Paige and Pavel report directly to him. He believes Tron is dead until Beck (taking on the mantle of Tron.) arrives, he calls him the 'Renegade'. Whenever the Beck arrives to help the people of Argon, Tesler tries to stop him by any means. In a flashback, he recruited Paige into joining him when he claimed the ISOs derezzed her friends, in reality he order her friends executed. Tesler has no problem derezzing his own men for either failing or reporting that the Renegade is Tron. Tesler has the ability to stressed out his arms and derezzed anyone or anything with them with his hands, he's shown to dislike Dyson and fearing failure to Clu should the Renegade free Argon and the Grid.

Dyson[edit]

Dyson is Clu's highest-ranking officer, sent to spearhead the apprehension of the Renegade and one of the recurring antagonist of Tron: Uprising. He is voiced by John Glover.

Bm Tron Computer Game

He started out as a friend and member of Tron's security force. While trying to riot between some programs and ISOs, Dyson bot half his face derezzed, believing Flynn has betrayed the grid due to siding with ISOs, he later joined Clu and participated in his coup against Tron and Kevin Flynn. He also scarred Tron's face and have brought to Clu, however he was led to believed he was dead, since the recognizer carrying him was sent shot down. He was then sent to Argon to deal with the Renegade, Tron sent Beck to captured him, but prove to be too clever. When Tron arrived to face him, Dyson believed he was the Renegade until Tron revealed himself to him, he was shock to see him alive, try to offer him to joined him, but Tron refused. Tron was fixing to derezzed him, but Tron decided to spared him for now, so he can delivered a message to Clu. This cause him to flee and Argon and reported Tron's survival to Clu. When ask who else knows, he derezzes Clu's sentry and said: 'Nobody, only us, Clu then advises to keep it that way.

Minor characters[edit]

• Ost_Gem is a character in Tron: Legacy, played by Beau Garrett. She is a servant to Castor while ostensibly working for Clu 2. She is presumably destroyed by Clu 2 alongside Castor.
• Able is a character in Tron: Uprising and is voiced by Reginald VelJohnson. Able runs Able's Garage, where Zed, Mara and Beck all work, and knows Tron. He is killed by Cyrus in 'No Bounds', while freeing Zed and Mara.
• Link is a character in Tron: Uprising, voiced by David Arquette. Link is a worker at Able's Garage and is also friends with Beck, Zed, and Mara.
• Mara is a character in Tron: Uprising, voiced by Mandy Moore. A friend of Beck's at Able's Garage, Mara is attracted to The Renegade.
• Ost_Paige_Suit is a character in Tron: Uprising and is voiced by Emmanuelle Chriqui. She is one of Tesler's field commanders. While hardened and dedicated, she is less antagonistic than Tesler and takes a personal interest in the new Tron.
• Pavel is a character in Tron: Uprising, voiced by Paul Reubens. Sadistic and power-hungry, Pavel seeks to undermine Paige and General Tesler.
• Zed is a character in Tron: Uprising, voiced by Nate Corddry. Zed is one of Beck's friends at Able's Garage and has a romantic interest in Mara.

Torn Computer Game

References[edit]

1. ^Rickitt, Richard (2000). Special effects: the history and technique. Watson-Guptill. p. 126. ISBN9780823077335.
2. ^Clarke, Frederick S. (2003). '[Tron: Legacy article]'. Cinefantastique. 35 (1–6): 60.
3. ^Dinello, Daniel (2005). Technophobia!: Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology. University of Texas Press. p. 157. ISBN9780292709867.
4. ^ ^abcJankel, Annabel; Morton, Rocky (1984). Creative Computer Graphics. Cambridge University Press. p. 67. ISBN0-521-26251-8. Unfortunately, Bit's extensive role in the film was curtailed to two minutes for scheduling reasons, but it remains one of the most memorable characters in the film - not bad for a pint-sized polyhedron.
5. ^Sobchack, Vivian (1999). Meta-Morphing: Visual Transformation and the Culture of Quick-Change. University of Minnesota Press. p. 91. ISBN0-8166-3318-5.
6. ^Longridge, Mark. 'The Character Bit from Tron'. Retrieved June 2, 2007.
7. ^ ^abGilchrist, Todd. 'TRON: Legacy' Screenwriters Discuss Stars, Story of the Upcoming TV Series'. Boxoffice Magazine. Archived from the original on December 24, 2010. Retrieved December 24, 2010.
8. ^Graham, Lloyd. 'Resurrecting the Maiden: From Hades to the Grid'. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
9. ^Jai Nitz (w), Salvador Larroca, Andie Tong (a). Tron: Betrayal 1 (October 6, 2010), Marvel Comics, retrieved on November 29, 2010
10. ^'Michael Sheen Confirmed for Tron Legacy'. ComingSoon.net. July 29, 2009. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
11. ^'Tron's Rinzler Has Lucasfilm connection'. starwars.com. Lucasfilm Ltd. December 17, 2010. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
12. ^'IMDB Cast list for Tron Legacy'.

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