Progress City, U.S.A.

It’s been a while, eh?

First, a note on the Tron 2 buzz that’s circulated since our last story. Jim Hill posted a somewhat breathless tale this week about the film’s production and how original TRON director Steven Lisberger had been taken off the project by John Lasseter, scrapping the years of development work that he had put in on the production. Lasseter, says Hill, was inspired by the original TRON to pursue a career in computer animation and thus has a great deal of interest in the film’s success. According to Hill, Lasseter’s interest has led to a great deal of drama with new writers being brought in and Lisberger being replaced with director Joseph Kosinski.

What Hill’s potboiler tale of seething angst and intrigue left out is that many of these changes were made months, if not years, ago, as described here in March. Thankfully Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News had a scoop handed to him when, upon reporting on Hill’s article, he was contacted by Lisberger. Although Lisberger is not directing the project, he remains actively involved in the production as Producer and promises amazing things to come. Good news all around.

Old links for perusal:

- In the light of recent events, this seems even more germane. In fact, I might trot that visual out every time the P.R. machine puts up their typical smokescreen

- Remember when the Disney Channel was good?

- World’s oldest animation!

- Donald Duck’s family tree. Expect to see a great deal about the Ducks here in the future.

- When the new Spaceship Earth show opened last fall, there was a great deal of controversy about the new, oversimplified narration and (to put it politely) anticlimactic finale. While the first act of the attraction, replete with new animatronics, is indeed spectacular, the more objectionable changes are symptomatic of the problems endemic to WDI’s output in recent years. Re-Imagineering posted a very on-the-target analysis of this thematic drift.

- Alvy Ray Smith, though unknown to most Pixar fans, was one of the three founders of that company along with Steve Jobs and Ed Catmull. He has posted some documents from Pixar’s founding at his website.

- Taking a moment to reflect up the recent it’s a small world fiasco, I’d like to link to a rebuttal to Disney P.R.’s spin by John at the Disney Blog. I think it’s an excellent riposte to Disney P.R.’s highhandedness (also to be seen in last month’s Adventurer’s Club dealings) as well as an indictment of Disney’s corporate dependence on the fleeting popularity of trends.

Finally, since one cannot link enough to the fine writings of Foxx at Passport to Dreams Old & New, these stories:

- First, her thoughts on the small world issue. Not only does this mirror my own first thought about the Adventurer’s Club fiasco - I thought we were past this - but she also points out the complete breakdown of communication between Disney and its fans since the Toad Wars of 1998. Not only have certain elements within Disney corporate made no secret of their disdain for their most devoted fanbase, but they have repeatedly and publicly lied to said fandom. Those rifts will take a while to heal, and apparently there’s still need of some housecleaning at Team Disney.

- I encourage everyone to read this dissection of Walt Disney World’s film-based attractions. Although I far too often get distracted by current news or the state of the animation program, this is the Disney I am most in love with. The Disney of Walt Disney World, 1971-84. I only wish I had more time to write about it. These “Phase I” attractions were technologically advanced, thematically and tastefully sophisticated, and embodied that great era before “loud = FUNNY” became the watchword of the day. If I had one wish for WDI’s future, it would be that they could in some part return Walt Disney World to that wonderful holistic feeling of balance that made the resort “The Vacation Kingdom of the World”.

The first video has leaked from Disney’s panel last Thursday at San Diego’s Comic Con, during which they showed a three minute teaser for the heretofore rumored sequel to the 1982 film TRON. The video is, of course, somewhat hard to see and poorly framed, but it gives an unexpectedly good idea of the aesthetic they’re going for with the project and was enough to get me thoroughly excited. I daresay that had I been in the room when that lightcycle first appeared I would have lost my business entirely. The video, while it lasts:

UPDATE: The original video was taken off YouTube by Disney stormtroopers. Below is another, zoomed version of the first.

UPDATE x4: I keep trying to re-post the video as Disney takes it down, but for the moment it can just be found here.

I know it’s a friendly audience, but it’s still great to hear that roar go up when the crowd realizes what they’re seeing. If Disney was trying to test the waters with this one, I hope they got the message.

I’ve been out of town for quite some time, and while I have a few other stories I’m working on I thought it important to get this bit of news online as it has just occurred. Rumors had emerged earlier today that something “unannounced” would be presented during Disney’s panel this afternoon at the San Diego ComicCon. These surprise announcements are the rare treasures of ComicCon, as studios keep their most geek-friendly unveilings for just such occasions. Today was no different.

The panel, which mostly focused on actors Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino promoting their upcoming film Return to Witch Mountain, concluded with a three-minute clip from director Joseph Kosinski’s upcoming sequel to the 1982 cult classic TRON. While we had reported on this project in March, it was not widely known that production, much less filming, had started. Even more shocking was the revelation that actor Jeff Bridges - himself a veteran of the original film - would be taking part in the project.

Hopefully more details will emerge once all the bloggers make their way back to their hotel rooms from the Disney panel; if we’re really lucky some video will leak out. Then again, Disney - if you’re listening - could whip up some fan goodwill by releasing that video online…

We’re also eager to hear more about this production which, as mentioned, no one knew was underway. They’ve already checked off one of my key recommendations for the film by bringing in Jeff Bridges; could Wendy Carlos be far behind? Details, people! We need details! Where are my Bothans?

Props to Ain’t it Cool News for getting the story out…

Updates:

/Film describes the teaser and adds that more footage might not be seen until next year

I should also point out that the film is currently being billed as TR2N. While it’s said to look much better in the film’s trademark font, I have to say that I still prefer TRON 2.0.

Greetings, Programs!

My TRON poster has an added bonus at the bottom: “The 21st Century begins October 1st, 1982 at EPCOT Center in Florida”

The film, Disney and nerd blogospheres collided recently with a widely publicized story that Disney is planning to release its long-gestating sequel to the film TRON in 2011. Furthermore, and perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s to be produced in 3D.

For the uninitiated, TRON depicted a world inside computers where programs appear as electronic avatars of their real-world users. Jeff Bridges starred as Flynn, a down on his luck videogame programmer who is enlisted by Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) and his girlfriend Lora (Cindy Morgan) to hack into the mainframe of their employer ENCOM. ENCOM has been taken over by sinister middle-manager Ed Dillinger (David Warner), a bureaucrat who rose to power on the profits of game designs stolen from Flynn. Dillinger is using the MCP - his Master Control Program - to lock down access to the ENCOM systems and appropriate the work of others.

Boxleitner as TRON

When Flynn breaks into ENCOM to hack its system, the MCP digitizes him and downloads him into the mainframe. There, he meets TRON (also played by Boxleitner), an electronic gladiator who is forced to battle other free programs on the game grid. You know, the typical sort of thing. Anyway, Flynn finds himself in an electronic version of Spartacus complete with disc battles and the iconic lightcycle races. Flynn and TRON must find a way to escape the grid, defeat the MCP and make the system safe for free programs once more.

Lightcycles. Teh awesum.

TRON was brought to Disney by director Steven Lisberger, who had previously attempted to find funding for the film as an independent feature. Lisberger secured funding from Disney after providing a test reel demonstrating his intended techniques with a mockup of the disc sequence. The film remains significant for its combination of live action, backlit animation and an unprecedented amount of computer generated imagery. Its designs are iconic, benefiting from the contributions of legendary designers Syd Mead and Jean “Moebius” Giraud.

The Solar Sailer

Disney has toyed with the idea of sequelizing TRON for several years; despite the fact that the original film made only marginal profits and received mixed reviews, time has made it a cult favorite and it remains a seminal inspiration for a generation of artists in the computer and entertainment industries. It’s usually acknowledged that the film was ahead of its time, and despite its flaws - its script needed a bit of polishing, it needed a touch more humor and personality and a smidge of tightening - it’s a fascinating film that deserves revisiting.

It was reported last Fall that Joseph Kosinski was in final talks to direct the new film, which would be produced by Sean Bailey and original TRON director Steven Lisberger and scripted by Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Kosinski, a commercial director, has also been signed to direct the Logan’s Run remake for Warner Brothers. Those concerned about an untested director taking over the reins on the film might be somewhat assuaged by a look at his previous work; he certainly shows a talent for creating mood and atmosphere, and his Nike promo might as well be an audition for TRON. In any case, I’d rather have him in the director’s chair than some hacky journeyman or - even worse - Michael Bay.

Hopefully negotiations will pan out this time; in 2005 it was announced that screenwriters Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal would be writing a remake of TRON, and prior to that Lisberger himself intended to film a sequel. Widely reported to be called TRON 2.0, Lisberger’s film was much talked about between 2001 and 2004 and had gone through several script drafts despite Disney’s cold feet in greenlighting it. Progress on the project allegedly accelerated due to the success of the original film’s 20th anniversary DVD release and the fantastic 2003 videogame sequel. Sadly, Disney never went forward with the project.

The TRON videogame actually outgrossed the film - through partial contributions from yours truly

So now that production seems to be going forward again, will it actually pan out this time? Here’s hoping. But if it does, I have some suggestions. If you’re listening, oh wise ones in Burbank, this is what I would do to make TRON 2 a success:

• - Get Lisberger involved. TRON is his baby, and his credit needs to mean more than just a check in the mail. The studio apparently liked his sequel script, so have him active in the process. Get the visual designers from the original involved, as well.
• - Wendy Carlos must do the score. Carlos, the electronic music pioneer, created the iconic score for the first film. Don’t go cheesy techno, don’t go cheesy alt-rock. Don’t go with any of the generic staples of the genre. It must be Carlos.
• - Keep the vibe. It seems that Kosinski gets the moody, spartan aesthetic of the original. If this were to turn into a quick-cut, rapid-fire action fest it would totally ruin the weird and otherworldy feel of the first film. Don’t go Michael Bay. Don’t pander. Make a film to last, not a spastic regurgitation of the latest hacky trends.
• - I cannot emphasize this enough. Get Jeff Bridges. He has already indicated his willingness to take part in the project, which would be a fantastic tie to the original. Rumors about Lisberger’s film hinted at a storyline involving a programmer going into the mainframe to track down Flynn, who was living in the machine as a ersatz electronic Colonel Kurtz. One assumes this plot, if even accurate, has been abandoned, but Flynn must return. One would not object to seeing Boxleitner or Warner either; just don’t make the film about angsty, trendy tween offspring of the original characters.

End of line.