Tron: Uprising


Tron: Uprising is an American animated science fiction television series produced by Disney Television Animation. Set in the Tron fictional universe, the series takes place between the events of the films Tron and Tron: Legacy. The series was mainly directed by Charlie Bean, who also acted as executive producer, while Justin Springer, Edward Kitsis, and Adam Horowitz served as consulting producers. It revolves around Beck, a young program who becomes involved in an insurrection inside the computer world of the Grid.
A total of 19 episodes were produced and aired
on Disney XD in the United States from May 18, 2012, to January 28, 2013.

Synopsis

Beck is a young, anthropomorphized computer program who becomes involved in a revolution inside computer world of the Grid against the villainous Clu and his henchmen. Beck adopts the persona of legendary warrior Tron and becomes the enemy of General Tesler. Subsequently, he is trained by the actual Tron, who also mentors him to grow into a courageous and powerful leader.

Characters

Mains

  • Beck, a young program who leads a revolution against Clu. He is referred to by the public as "Tron" and "the Renegade".
  • Tron, the original protector of the Grid, who was supposedly killed by Clu. Unable to protect the Grid due to his injuries, Tron sought out a new protector and found Beck, whom he trains.
  • Mara, a co-worker and friend of Beck.
  • Zed, a co-worker and friend of Beck.
  • General Tesler, Clu's henchman and the main antagonist of the series.
  • Paige, one of Tesler's field commanders.
  • Able, the owner of the eponymous garage and Beck's, Mara's, and Zed's boss.
  • Pavel, Tesler's second-in-command.
  • The Grid, the narrator.

    Recurring

  • Clu, a program created by Kevin Flynn with creating the perfect world. Clu betrayed Flynn and Tron, then took over the Grid.
  • * Tatasciore also voices Kevin Flynn, the Grid's creator
  • Bartik, a program who joined a task force formed by Paige to hunt down the Renegade.
  • Hopper, a program who joined a task force formed by Paige to hunt down the Renegade.
  • Dyson, a former member of Tron's squadron.
  • Perl, a member of a criminal gang.
  • Cyrus, Tron's former apprentice.
  • Keller, a scientific program employed by Tesler.
  • Cutler, a veteran of the Isomorphic Algorithm wars.
  • Quorra, an ISO.
  • Link, a resident of Argon
  • Gorn, a technician specializing in disc manipulation.

    Episodes

Production

Design

The series features an animation style that mixes 2D animation and CGI animation. The look of the series was inspired by Star Wars: The Clone Wars, ThunderCats, and Aeon Flux.
Director Charlie Bean explained "the idea was to create a distinct style for the CG show not seen elsewhere on television or in film." He worked closely with art director Alberto Mielgo, character designer Robert Valley and lead vehicle designer Daniel Simon, who was previously responsible for many vehicle designs in the Tron: Legacy feature film, including the light cycles. Mielgo won the Primetime Emmy Award for his art direction in 2013.

Casting

In December 2010, it was announced that Elijah Wood, Bruce Boxleitner, Lance Henriksen, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Mandy Moore, Paul Reubens, Nate Corddry and Reginald VelJohnson would voice characters in a television series based on the Tron franchise, titled Tron: Uprising.

Cancellation

On January 14, 2013, producer Edward Kitsis responded to rumors of cancellation by stating, "I don't know what the future is now. I know at the present, I can say we need more viewers." Disney XD moved the program in the broadcast schedule to Monday mornings at 12:00 AM Eastern until the first season episodes finished airing on January 28, 2013. No more episodes of Tron: Uprising were ever produced following the airing of the final episode.

Release

Marketing

A trailer for the series, with a voice-over by Bruce Boxleitner, was released online in. and on the home video releases of Tron: Legacy, on. Disney XD presented CGI models of characters, concept art, and the original trailer that was with the home releases of Tron: Legacy at San Diego Comic-Con in 2011. Disney released the first, pre-season episode on, in which the full 31-minute episode was featured on Disney XD on Demand, YouTube, Facebook, iTunes a week earlier. The prelude episode was broadcast only on Disney Channel, and was originally going to be a 10-part miniseries.

Streaming

On May 9, 2013, it was announced that Disney had reached an agreement with Netflix wherein Tron: Uprising would appear on the streaming service, however it was removed one year later. The full series was later added for streaming on Disney+, which was released in November 2019.

Music

The series is scored by Joseph Trapanese, who arranged Daft Punk's score for Tron: Legacy. A soundtrack album for the score was released digitally and manufacture on demand CD by Walt Disney Records on. Trapanese later digitally released two extended plays for the show featuring additional tracks not heard on the initial product: Tron: Uprising - Hero EP in 2015 and Tron: Uprising - Occupied EP in 2020.

Reception

Critical response

The series premiere earned mostly positive reviews. IGN gave the episode "Beck's Beginning" a ranking of 8 out of 10. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 5 critics' reviews for the first season are positive.

Awards and nominations