[ELECTRONIC ENGINE REVVING]
[THEME MUSIC]
[COFFEE DRIPPING]
[MICROPHONE SCRAPE]
KENNETH: What's up, everyone?
This is "Disney+ Deets," where we break down everything
you need to know about your favorite
Disney+ movies and series.
I'm Kenneth.
MARCELLUS: And I'm Marcellus.
And not to toot our own horns, but we're pretty
much the biggest Disney+ fans out there.
KENNETH: No, let's do it.
Toot toot, beep beep.
That's right.
MARCELLUS: Let's get into it.
KENNETH: Marcellus, you ever wondered
what it would be like to get lost in a video game?
MARCELLUS: I don't have to wonder.
It happens to me all the time.
Remember the other week when I--
KENNETH: I meant literally, like if you were trying
to stop an evil program from taking over everything,
and it fought back by pulling you into a game grid
where you had to fight for your life.
MARCELLUS: Oh, you must be talking about the iconic
'80s cult classic "Tron"--
the helmets, the discs, and my favorite part,
the light cycles.
KENNETH: In 1976, writer-director Steven
Lisberger saw a simple video game, called "Pong," which
was essentially digital ping-pong,
two paddles bouncing a ball back and forth on screen.
That may sound boring to us now,
but this was before personal computers existed.
This game was considered revolutionary.
MARCELLUS: Lisberger realized he could
use the same techniques to bring video games and computer
imagery together on screen.
In that moment, the entire concept for "Tron" was born.
KENNETH: The problem was Lisberger's idea
was ahead of its time and seemed nearly impossible.
According to animator Bill Kroyer,
literally nothing existed technologically to make "Tron."
MARCELLUS: That didn't stop Lisberger.
He convinced his team that they could
invent the technology to make the movie
while making the movie.
KENNETH: Lisberger pitched "Tron" to Disney,
specifically to associate producer and visual effects
supervisor Harrison Ellenshaw, one
of Disney's greatest matte painters,
who had previously worked on "Star Wars."
MARCELLUS: Ellenshaw was so well-respected
in his field, his faith in Lisberger's
experimental concepts got "Tron" the greenlight
from the studio.
KENNETH: This film takes place in two worlds.
There's the real world.
Then there's the electronic world, where computer programs
act as their alter egos for their users,
all under the watch of a rogue artificial intelligence
operating system known as the Master Control Program,
or the MCP for short.
MARCELLUS: You know what?
I was always scared of Master Control.
KENNETH: [CHUCKLES]
MARCELLUS: He reminded me of that,
just that old, old kind of like father
figure that just is very stern and just come out of nowhere.
He had that voice, it was like my grandpa or something.
KENNETH: I was about to say, when I met your grandfather,
he was Master Control.
MARCELLUS: (CHUCKLING) Yeah, he remind me of Master Control.
KENNETH: Your grandfather was Master Control Program.
He was the MCP.
MARCELLUS: "Tron" stems from the word electron,
and is the name of a heroic security program who
lives in the video game world.
Tron, because he's electronic.
Get it?
[CHUCKLES]
KENNETH: One of the filmmaker's first big wins
was casting Academy Award-nominated Jeff
Bridges to play Kevin Flynn.
Bridges was intrigued by how new and different the concept was.
MARCELLUS: Bridges says he loves working
with first-time directors like Lisberger
because they don't know what they can't do,
so they just let their imaginations go.
KENNETH: His hair was bleached and permed for the role.
Between that and hours of filming
under a hot, sweaty helmet, his hair started falling out.
But Bridges wasn't mad at the helmet.
He kept it after the movie wrapped, and occasionally still
wears it.
MARCELLUS: The filmmakers wanted Bruce Boxleitner to play Tron's
programmer, Alan Bradley.
But Boxleitner wasn't familiar with video games
and was going to pass.
KENNETH: When he learned Bridges was on board,
he was convinced to go all in.
MARCELLUS: After finalizing their cast,
all the filmmakers had to do was actually make the movie.
Kroyer described working on "Tron" as like Christmas
morning every day, because new technology was constantly being
invented for the production.
KENNETH: The '80s-- look at it.
It's so cool and retro--
MARCELLUS: '82, '82.
KENNETH: --even though it was futuristic.
MARCELLUS: I know, I love it.
KENNETH: The video game world was supposed to be
entirely computer animated.
However, technology was limited, which
meant that live actors couldn't be incorporated
into the CGI scenes.
The best computers available at the time
just didn't have enough memory.
They only had 2 megabytes of RAM and 330 megabytes of storage.
MARCELLUS: 330 megabytes?
Our videos are bigger than that.
KENNETH: Exactly, Marcellus.
That's why there's only a total of about 15 minutes of computer
animation in "Tron."
The rest of the movie used a technique
called backlit animation.
Actors were filmed on a dark set, using
large-format black-and-white high-contrast film, manufactured
specifically for this movie.
MARCELLUS: The footage was then colorized by both animators
and photographic techniques using light to give
it that signature "Tron" glow.
We must talk about the light cycles.
OK, now I always wanted a light cycle.
KENNETH: Oh.
MARCELLUS: And I might actually have one in my garage.
KENNETH: [CHUCKLES] Can I ride it, please?
MARCELLUS: No.
No, no, no.
You need your own color and everything.
KENNETH: By the end of production,
half a million frames of film were used in the animation
and compositing process.
This was a huge number for a movie at the time.
MARCELLUS: There are a total of 1,100 special effects shots
in "Tron."
900 of those involve live actors shot
within a digital environment.
This was a huge achievement at the time.
Ken, I remember being so amazed seeing this as a kid.
"Tron" became a cult classic, inspiring everything
from arcade games, to cosplay, to sequels.
Lisberger was shocked to realize that "Tron" had even inspired
people to study computers.
KENNETH: Once again, Disney captured
another slice of my childhood.
MARCELLUS: I must say, Ken, I'm feeling inspired to play
some video games.
You prepared to do battle?
KENNETH: I fight for the users.
MARCELLUS: OK, take it down a notch.
KENNETH: [CHUCKLES] That's our show for today.
Be sure to like, subscribe, and check out "Tron,"
now streaming on Disney+.
MARCELLUS: Take care of yourselves and the planet.
And we'll see you next time.
Marcellus and Ken signing off.
KENNETH: Marcellus, who do you think
would win in a light cycle race, me or you?
MARCELLUS: (ROBOT VOICE) End of line.
KENNETH: [CHUCKLES] Wait, you just
going to end my line like that?
MARCELLUS: Ken, I said, end of line.
KENNETH: OK.
[CHUCKLES]
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