“Greetings Programs.”
A simple phrase that can arouse giddy fits of joy (or crushing disappointment, but more on that later) in even the most stalwart of geeks. Regardless of context the phrase magically whisks you all the way back to 1982, when CGI was something unheard of, and the neon lights and electric sounds of arcades littered the landscapes… The Grid in analog. A digital frontier in the film, Tron, The Grid was populated by programs that looked and sounded enough like us that we could relate to their struggles. It was a place where video game fantasies were a reality, with gladiator battles and lightning-fast races to the death. With such a rich fictional world and a concept beyond its time is it really any surprise that legacy has endured over 30 years?
After years of speculation, Disney finally put their money where their mouse was in 2010, hitting Ctrl+Alt+Del on the rumor mill, and released a proper sequel, TRON: Legacy. Although it received mixed reviews, the film made enough to warrant yet another trip into The Grid and in 2012, the 30 year anniversary of Tron, we saw the premiere of TRON: Uprising. An animated series designed to expand the existing universe and bridge a bit of the gap between films, Uprising was highly stylized with stunning CGI that blended seamlessly with the traditional 2D animation. It was this fanboy’s wet dream, combining the darker cyberpunk design aesthetic of Legacy with an artistic style most akin to Mtv’s cult classic, ÆON FLUX.
Uprising was darker, and edgier, than anything Disney had shown before: a tragic hero’s arc (quite similar to that of Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins) in which a young program has his entire world shattered by an overwhelming evil, inspiring him to rise above his programming. With the help of a wise mentor, he takes up the mantle of a warrior to strike fear in the hearts of his enemies, and convince the people to rise up against tyrannical oppression. So, yeah… not your average Saturday morning cartoon fare.
Needless to say, the show opened to rave reviews and did very well in it’s early ratings, garnering lots of buzz and even picking up a few awards along the way. Disney even went so far as to order additional episodes be produced, expanding the originally planned mini-series into a full-fledged series, and bumped it from Thursdays to the much more coveted Friday evening timeslot. The show had captivated both the child and adult demographics, and it seemed as though Disney had a surefire hit on their hands. And then… it was gone.
At the height of it’s popularity, TRON: Uprising literally disappeared from television. After airing only it’s seventh episode, the show went on an abrupt and completely unannounced hiatus, with Disney simply making the statement that it would return in October. Upon it’s return, they seemingly continued to play with the timeslot to the point that my DVR couldn’t even find it. And then it was gone again. And then December saw the show return to wrap up the final 3 episodes of what we all thought was to be the first (not the ONLY) season. Not that any of us saw them, of course, because they dumped them at midnight. They aired the epic three-part conclusion they’d been building up to all season at the goddamn stroke of midnight. Ummmmm…
So WTF happened to TRON: Uprising? From the moment it’s popularity gained momentum, it was as though it had been derezzed by the Mouse House itself, leaving casual fans and fanboys alike scratching their heads, wondering “Why would Disney so blatantly wipe their ass with a franchise they’ve invested so much in developing?” Well, there are quite a few conspiracy theories zipping around the interwebs, these are the three that seem to be the most prominent:
1) It was just too damn expensive.
There’s no arguing that TRON: Uprising was one of the most unique and visually stunning cartoons to ever grace the airwaves, and it featured an entire array of B-List celebrities as it’s core cast of characters (Elijah Wood, Mandy Moore, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reubens, etc.). These things equal some serious money in terms of a show’s budget. Some believe that Disney simply didn’t wish to continue developing a show with such high production costs. But that theory doesn’t make much sense to me, raising the question “If they had budgetary concerns, why order more episodes in the first place?” And it still does little to explain why they deliberately buried the show in Where’s Waldo-esque timeslots. If the money’s already spent, why try to hide it?
2) It wasn’t suited for their target demographic.
It’s been reported that Disney’s been aiming for the 2 to 14 year old range in developing their programming, and supposedly they didn’t feel that TRON’s edgy look and darker storylines was the proper fit for the demographic. That makes even less sense to me considering that they developed this property as a companion piece to the film series… which had exactly the same edgy design and darker overtones. They knew damn good and well they weren’t adapting Winnie the Pooh for the umpteenth time here.
3) They feared the backlash from gaining a cult following.
Another theory is that Disney feared a backlash from the proclaimed “kids” show garnering too much of an undesirable adult fan base, ala My Little Pony‘s now infamous “Bronies.” Now, this one makes no sense to me whatsoever. The only reason that TRON was resurrected after 28 years, is because it already HAS a cult following. The original film opened to mediocre reviews at best, and had a less than stellar box-office draw. The ONLY reason for the sequel, the games, the merchandising, and yes, TRON: UPRISING, is because the geeks have kept the dream alive all these years. To cancel a show made FOR them because they actually want to watch it sounds more than slightly ridiculous to me.
As of this writing, Disney has not released an official statement regarding the fate of the show, and the creators and production crew members have released some very unofficial statements about it’s status as varied as the show’s ADD timeslots (“It’s cancelled,” “It’s not cancelled,” “It’s cancelled,” etc.). But as far as we know, one of the boldest, most brilliant, and visually mind-blowing cartoons television has ever seen, is currently sitting in a recycle bin on a Disney desktop, displaying the message “Are you sure you want to permanently delete?” with the white gloved hand of a certain Mouse who shall remain nameless ready to click “yes” at any given moment. And that’s a damn shame.
End of line.
