A Non-Review by Professor Popinjay
!!!WARNING! POSSIBLE AND/OR DEFINITE MILD AND/OR PICANTE SPOILERS FOR THE FOLLOWING TITLES¡¡¡
- Tron (1982)
- Tron 2.0 (2003) [game]
- Tron: The Ghost in the Machine (2006) [comic]
- Tron: Betrayal (2010) [comic]
- Tron: Evolution (2010) [game]
- Tron: Uprising (2012) [series]
- Tron: Legacy (2010)
- Tron: The Next Day (2011) [short]
- Tron: Identity (2023) [interactive e-book]
- Tron: Ares (2025)
First conceived as a completely animated feature, postulated as having little practical value beyond a brief runtime, and eschewed by most production companies until Disney saw its potential, Tron (1982) would become a pioneer in computer generated special effects. While disqualified in its day from certain awards for costumes, set design, and special effects as the integration of computer generated images was considered “cheating” by the academy, cgi has become a mainstay of modern cinema. While the technology seems dated now, the original Tron walked so that later movies like Toy Story could run and eventually James Cameron’s Avatar could blindly mad-dash headlong and break through the wall like the Kool-aide Man shouting “OH YEAH!”
While the visuals were amazing, the story was unanimously considered incoherent. I think part of that was perhaps due to the fact that most people at the time couldn’t tell the difference between real computer jargon and science fiction. Seeing the original in this modern age where computer science is practically common knowledge, and sci-fi mumbo-jumbo is obvious to us, the story of Tron now comes off as part technical manual and part tongue-in-cheek far-fetched wishful thinking. This doesn’t mean it’s without its innocent charm similar to the assumptions of the future made by visionaries in the 1950’s.
But now we have virtual reality and films like The Matrix (1999). Sending just our mind into a computer world via a neural uplink at the base of our skull sounds strangely more believable than a magic “laser” that transports our whole physical bodies into a computer. So we have to take some things from Tron with a grain of salt nowadays.
As a kid I watched Tron repeatedly. It was all very neat and exciting visually but I had no idea what the hell was going on. Now that I’m older I can kind of follow it better but ultimately I decided to physically edit the film to my own liking so it would make more sense to me with my modern perception of how computer interfacing worked.
Wendy Carlos was another pioneer, this time in the field of electronic music. The painstaking process she had to endure to achieve her music, considering the limitations of the technology, is a remarkable achievement to say the least. While synthesized sound had been around, it was considered nothing more than a novelty at the time. Wendy, in tandem with Robert Moog (inventor of the Moog synthesizer), saw greater potential for synthesized sound and sought to bring it into the mainstream. To create her musical pieces, Wendy had to lay down one note at a time on a multilayer sound track with a click track for timing. The result was a mechanically perfect piece of music not achievable by humans on regular acoustic instruments.
The Vocoder, invented by Homer Dudley in the late 1930s, ironically would now be used by Carlos to convert voice and sound into actual electronic code to be stored in a computer, very much like a “laser” was transporting a human into the computer world in the film.
Yet, strangely, Tron (1982) would be devoid of music at many points. Cinematic storytelling was changing as was how the music worked to emphasize the events, characters, and emotions in a film. While John Williams was showing us at the time how a film’s musical score should be done with Star Wars and Jaws, some composers hadn’t received the memo. Not to diminish Carlos’ genius or achievements as Tron’s music is definitely innovative, I just personally find it not the most aesthetically pleasing at times. Just my opinion.
[A quick side-note: if you’ve never heard Wendy Carlos’ rendition of Peter and the Wolf, narrated by Weird Al Yankovic, you’re in for a treat.]
If you’re unfamiliar with the original, I’ll briefly explain the key players and elements. The first thing a newcomer to the world of Tron must understand is who is playing what part when and where and who then and him now. Now that we have that cleared up let’s move on.
Just kidding. Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is a programmer who designs phenomenal computer games far beyond the capabilities of other games of that time. His designs however are stolen by Edward Dillinger (David Warner) who sits in his ENCOM high tower wallowing around in money. Kevin is certain he can prove the games were designed by him if he can just get at the files. Unfortunately these files are in a highly guarded computer.
Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner, Scarecrow & Mrs. King 1983) is Kevin’s friend who wrote a guardian program called Tron. Alan helps Kevin into ENCOM but an accident involving an experimental “digitizer” zaps Kevin’s entire physical self into the computer world. Dan Shor plays a coworker of Alan’s who wants some of his popcorn. Trust me, he’s important! DO NOT FORGET ABOUT POPCORN CO-WORKER!!!!
Here’s where it gets tricky. Kevin then meets Alan Bradley’s program, Tron, in the computer world. Tron is played by Bruce Boxleitner also. Two roles, one actor. My kid brain back in the day was so confused by this! I thought they ALL got zapped into the computer world but NO! Only Kevin got zapped in. Everyone else Kevin meets is just a program designed by a human whom Kevin knows from the real world, represented by the human who created them. It’s kind of a Wizard of Oz scenario where Dorothy has a dream populated by everyone she knows playing different parts.
So Bruce Boxleitner plays Alan AND he plays the program Tron. Tron and Alan are two different characters. David Warner plays Edward Dillinger AND he plays antagonist program Sark. Cindy Morgan plays Lora and she plays the program Yori, who sneaks off with Tron so they can engage in some “mindless repetitive tasks” in an infamous deleted scene (wink wink).
As for Popcorn Co-worker? Dan Shor plays a program in the computer world named Ram! THE PROGRAM GETS AN ACTUAL NAME BUT THE HUMAN COUNTERPART IS JUST POPCORN CO-WORKER!?! Actually, actor Dan Shore confirmed his human name was officially Walter Disney but no mention of that name came up in the film, thank God! More on Popcorn Co-worker later.
Incidentally, before Kevin Flynn gets digitized, he too has a program played also by Bridges. This program is named Clu and while he achieves very little and is almost immediately derezzed (killed basically), he’ll be back. But not today.
Hopefully that helps clear things up. I’m sure you can imagine my confusion when Tron shows up in Scarecrow & Mrs. King. Oh man! Wouldn’t that have made for an amazing season finale, finding out Scarecrow had been Tron the entire series? In all honesty though, I’ve always thought Boxleitner a bit of a blank slate and I had a hard time telling him apart from anyone else wearing blue glowing circuitry in Tron.
All childhood confusion aside, whether you get it sorted out or not, the original Tron is a fun watch albeit a little dated by our standards. At any rate, understanding its historical significance makes it an interesting study when considering how far we’ve come with computer graphics.
Look for “Tron to Tron Ares” (Part 2 of 4) coming soon!
Click this link for the Tron Christmas Special. It’s magical:
Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity 
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