Editing Tron (section)

{{Short description|1982 film by Steven Lisberger}}
{{about|the film|the franchise|Tron (franchise){{!}}''Tron'' (franchise)|other uses|Tron (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Tron
| image          = Tron poster.jpg
| alt            = On the center of a circle, a man releasing a disc upwards into the air, with a woman standing next to him. A beam of light descends upon the disk with another light coming out from the background. A caption reads: "A world inside the computer where man has never been. Never before now."
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Steven Lisberger]]
| producer       = [[Donald Kushner]]
| screenplay     = Steven Lisberger
| story          = {{Plainlist|
* Steven Lisberger
* [[Bonnie MacBird]]
}}
| based_on       = 
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Jeff Bridges]]
* [[Bruce Boxleitner]]
* [[David Warner (actor)|David Warner]]
* [[Cindy Morgan]]
* [[Barnard Hughes]]
}}
| music          = [[Wendy Carlos]]
| cinematography = [[Bruce Logan (filmmaker)|Bruce Logan]]
| editing        = [[Jeff Gourson]]
| production_companies = {{Plainlist|
* [[Walt Disney Productions]]
* Lisberger-Kushner Productions
}}
| distributor    = [[Buena Vista Distribution]]
| released       = {{Film date|1982|07|09}}
| runtime        = 96 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $17 million
| gross          = $50 million<ref name=gross>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|date=February 24, 1984|page=31|title=Disney Sets 'Tron' B.O. Record Straight}}</ref>
}}

'''''Tron''''' (stylized as '''''TRON''''') is a 1982 American [[science fiction film|science fiction]] [[action adventure film]] written and directed by [[Steven Lisberger]] from a story by Lisberger and [[Bonnie MacBird]]. The film stars [[Jeff Bridges]] as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer and [[video game developer]] who is transported inside the software world of a mainframe computer where he interacts with programs in his attempt to escape. It also stars [[Bruce Boxleitner]], [[David Warner (actor)|David Warner]], [[Cindy Morgan]], and [[Barnard Hughes]]. ''Tron'' was one of cinema's earliest films to use extensive [[computer-generated imagery]] (CGI).

The inspiration for ''Tron'' dates back to 1976, when Lisberger became intrigued with [[video games]] after seeing ''[[Pong]]''. He and producer [[Donald Kushner]] set up an animation studio to develop ''Tron'' with the intention of making it an animated film. To promote the studio itself, Lisberger and his team created a 30-second animation featuring the first appearance of the title character. Eventually, Lisberger decided to include live-action elements with both backlit and [[computer animation]] for the actual feature-length film. Various studios had rejected the storyboards for the film before [[Walt Disney Pictures|Walt Disney Productions]] agreed to finance and distribute ''Tron''. There, backlit [[Traditional animation|animation]] was finally combined with the 2D computer animation and the live action.

''Tron'' was released on July 9, 1982. The film was a moderate success at the box office, and received positive reviews from critics, who praised its groundbreaking visuals and acting but criticized its storyline as being incoherent. ''Tron'' received nominations for [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]]<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnw3u-49CJU Gandhi Wins Costume Design: 1983 Oscars]</ref> and [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]]<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7puywQAYfqo E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Wins Best Sound: 1983 Oscars]</ref> at the [[55th Academy Awards]]. It was however disqualified from the [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects|Best Visual Effects]] category because at the time the Academy felt that using computer animation was "cheating".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/little-known-sci-fi-fact-why-trons-fx-got-snubbed-oscar|title=Little-known sci-fi fact: Why Tron's FX got snubbed for an Oscar|last=Jackson|first=Matthew|date=March 1, 2013|website=SYFY WIRE|language=en|access-date=January 22, 2019|archive-date=January 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123011724/https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/little-known-sci-fi-fact-why-trons-fx-got-snubbed-oscar|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jul/05/tron-steven-lisberger-interview|title='Frankly it blew my mind': how Tron changed cinema – and predicted the future of tech|first=Steve|last=Rose|website=The Guardian|date=July 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107022925/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jul/05/tron-steven-lisberger-interview|archive-date=January 7, 2024}}</ref> ''Tron'' spawned multiple video games (including an [[Tron (video game)|arcade tie-in]] released shortly after the film), and as it became a [[cult film]], a [[Tron (franchise)|multimedia franchise]] including comic books. A sequel titled ''[[Tron: Legacy]]'', directed by [[Joseph Kosinski]], was released in 2010, with Bridges and Boxleitner reprising their roles and Lisberger acting as producer. A commercial success, it was followed by the [[Disney XD]] animated series ''[[Tron: Uprising]]'' in 2012, set between the two films.<ref name="Variety0410">{{cite news|title=Disney XD orders 'Tron: Legacy' toon |first=Michael |last=Schneider |newspaper=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=November 4, 2010 |url=https://variety.com/2010/tv/news/disney-xd-orders-tron-legacy-toon-1118026910/ |access-date=November 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118026910 |archive-date=June 30, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> A third installment, ''[[Tron: Ares]]'', is scheduled to be released on October 10, 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tjarks |first=Jonathan |date=August 5, 2020 |title='Tron: Legacy' Has a Cult Following for a Reason |url=https://www.theringer.com/movies/2020/8/5/21354861/tron-legacy-cult-following |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805162001/https://www.theringer.com/movies/2020/8/5/21354861/tron-legacy-cult-following |archive-date=August 5, 2020 |access-date=August 6, 2020 |website=The Ringer |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 15, 2017 |title=Watch: How 'Tron: Legacy' Built its Legacy with Visual Feats |url=https://nofilmschool.com/2017/06/watch-legacy-tron-legacy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201030829/https://nofilmschool.com/2017/06/watch-legacy-tron-legacy |archive-date=December 1, 2020 |access-date=August 6, 2020 |website=No Film School |language=en}}</ref>