‘Tron’ Has an Award-Winning TV Show, and Most Fans Missed It

Thanks to an interview done by Empire Magazine with Joachim Rønning, the director behind Tron: Ares, we have our first real insight into the newest entry of this Disney-based franchise. While the red-clad armor and vehicle in Empire’s exclusive image looks mighty impressive and holds that futuristic aesthetic synonymous with Tron, there seems to already be a wavering consensus online for this movie and the factors causing this are aplenty.

The first detail that moviegoers are concerned about is that the story revolves around a program invading the real world, which has never been done before in the series. Another concern is that the director for Tron: Ares is the same one behind the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise — specifically, Dead Men Tell No Tales (which had the lowest opening day revenue of the franchise). The third strike seems to be that the rock band Nine Inch Nails is replacing Daft Punk, which helped make Tron: Legacy sound unique.

The director says this change was to help lead Ares into a ‘grittier, more industrial’ space, but some just aren’t buying it. There is something we can all get behind, though, and that is a vastly underrated Tron television series from over 12 years ago, which ended up winning a Primetime Emmy Award. Taking place between the events of the first film from 1982 and the sequel that was released 28 years later, Tron: Uprising was a short-lived cartoon on Disney XD that combined 2D animation and CGI animation.

A trailer for the show was made available on the various DVD and Blu-ray releases of Legacy. This covert marketing plan was successful as the premiere episode “Beck’s Beginning” (which aired on May 18, 2012) garnered over a million viewers. Before we get into the surprisingly dark and gritty story (we have deaths in the first two episodes), a spotlight has to be put on the talented cast.

An Underrated Take on the ‘Tron’ Franchise

Elijah Wood voices Beck, who is our main protagonist, while Bruce Boxleitner (How The West Was Won, Babylon 5) brings life to the legendary Tron. Singer and actress Mandy Moore voices Mara, who is one of Beck’s friends, and Reginald VelJohnson (Carl Winslow from Family Matters) lends his voice to Able, Beck’s boss at the garage. Kate Mara, Aaron Paul, Paul Reubens, Donald Faison, and Paul Scheer are only some of the names in the supporting cast. When it came to the names behind the characters, Disney definitely had their hand in the right pile. The world of the Grid certainly comes alive thanks to these actors and actresses.

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Tron: Uprising is essentially the story of a rising villain — the AI program written by Kevin Flynn back in 1983, Clu. Originally created to become the architect of the Grid, Flynn’s doppelgänger becomes both increasingly resentful of his maker spending so much time in real life and due to the fact that new lifeforms are spawning all the time in the Grid. While the climactic scene plays out differently in various materials, Clu (and many of his Black Guards) ambushes Tron and Flynn in this one-of-a-kind digital cyberspace.

While the former gives just enough time for the latter to escape, Tron is permanently scarred and left for dead. Disney XD’s Tron: Uprising is set sometime after this battle when Clu begins to seize numerous cities within the Grid. A young mechanic named Beck is captured by a disguised and disfigured Tron, who teaches him how to become a leader in the fight against this red-clad tyranny.

Beck Has to Save the Grid in ‘Tron: Uprising’

While the show’s visual direction might be a new look for younger audiences, older viewers, on the other hand, will find it a bit familiar to a science fiction MTV animation that aired about 20 years prior. In an interview with Variety Magazine in 2012, the Tron: Uprising director and executive producer Charlie Bean said that influences came from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Thundercats, and even the avant-garde-based Aeon Flux. According to Bean, characters that were lean and able-bodied fit well against the permanently dark and hidden world of the Grid.

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In every episode, viewers were treated to fast-moving scenes and striking colors that swiftly complimented each other. Whether we were following Beck’s friends Mara and Zed through the lower city or chasing the main protagonist himself as he sped through the outskirts on his light cycle, the signature outline style and bursts of bright blue color are perfectly crafted here to mimic the original live-action Tron movie. The world depicted here definitely has a surreal type of depth. As Uprising takes place entirely in the Grid, this show is a great contrast to the drastic change of scenery expected to take place in Ares.

‘Tron: Uprising’ Caters to All Ages

In that same interview, Bean also mentions how the show was crafted around all audiences (Disney XD’s primary demographic as well as dedicated fans of the franchise). Without spoiling anything major, this balance of themes can be seen in the first two episodes, as one of Beck’s close friends is ruthlessly “derezzed” (which means killed in Tron lingo), and then a fellow combatant named Rilo, whom Beck was trying to protect in the games, is stabbed by a black guard from behind. Along with many other scenes like this, older viewers who might have been intrigued by the battles shown in movie theaters years ago will definitely be drawn in.

On the other hand, younger viewers might find the hero’s arc inspirational, as Beck is shown to slowly step into the role of Tron, just like Peter Parker finds confidence from within the mantle of Spider-Man. Also, the score for Tron: Uprising was made by composer Joseph Trapanese, the same man who helped to curate the Daft Punk selection for Legacy (by itself, this should be an incentive to watch for those who don’t like the musical change coming to Ares).

Even though the cartoon was canceled after just 19 episodes due to low ratings, the art director behind this small-screen rendition of Tron, Alberto Mielgo, actually won the Primetime Emmy Award for his art on the show in 2013. The beginning of that sentence may worry some but don’t fret just yet. Tron: Uprising is currently available to stream on Disney+.