Retronauts Micro 94: Tron

Some of the best Tron love Disney ever allowed the franchise was in Kingdom Hearts II with its Space Paranoids world. Tron and MCP are probably at the best they've ever looked. It's a lovely world. They kind of ruined that goodwill with the Space Paranoids world in Dream Drop Distance based on Tron Legacy, but maybe that's just my distaste for the sequel.

Phazonmasher

The disaster that was the making of Black Cauldron would make an excellent documentary. They hid it for a decade.

Kevin Peterson

I didn't think of the tangential aspect of these conversations, and I understand that you can't be prepared about everything. And you don't have to apologise, I'm a patron, not a customer. I don't have expectations for you to meet, I have ideals I hope to see you reach. :) And I'm not disappointed (although one would hope someone who makes regular podcasts about movies, games and pop culture knows a bit about two of the most influential illustrators and designers, who helped shape Jodorowsky's Dune, Alien, Blade Runner and many other of our beloved imaginary worlds :p), and I'm probably too hard on you, but Retronauts had consistently been above the rest of the crowd in terms of content, so I tend to think of you as closer to being infallible than others, hence my shock when I realize you're humans. Take care and stay cool. Chu~

FYI, the notes for this episode consisted of 12 single-spaced pages of text. The nature of organic, unrehearsed conversations about a wide range of topics means that sometimes we step onto tangents we hadn't thought to study in advance. We try to be up-front about what we don't know as firm fact rather than pretend to be infallible. But you do have our apologies for the constant disappointment this approach results in for you.

Retronauts

That's OK, I actually meant The Black Cauldron but got the names of Disney's generic-ish fantasy movies based on novels totally mixed up. — JP

Retronauts

Oh man.. I became the kind of fan I hate. I’m so sorry

Kevin Peterson

While you’re correct that Disney’s early 80’s Animation wasn’t that great, your example, which is truthfully not that great, The Sword in the Stone actually came out in 1963 and was one of Walt’s Films. Fox & The Hound and Black Cauldron (another attempt by Disney to make a “boys film”) not so great.

Kevin Peterson

It's all good, I never really gave an impression that I know Tron! Certainly I didn't have as much to say about the films compared to your discussion - I think you covered them well, and as noted the cartoon isn't "retro" at this stage (though it was probably the best realization of the living computer concept).

Kevin Bunch

Very good episode, once again, but if you'll allow me, I'd have a bit of criticism to do. While the discussion was enjoyable to listen to, it fell a bit flat most times you talk about technicalities or trivia. For instance, taking about Sid Mead and Moebius but being clearly uninformed about them would be alright in a discussion between friends, but Retronauts feels like an authority or at least educational, and seeing you miss key points that i feel you should have prepared and researched for is a bit disappointing. Maybe I'm asking too much and misunderstand what you want to do with this podcast, but lack of preparation is a regular issue on the show, I feel. I still do love the show, though, and have no intention of stopping my subscription any time soon. :) Cheers.

Yeah, I remembered Matrix Blaster while editing. Oh well! — JP

Retronauts

You guys mentioned Matrix Blaster - That was one of the games that Flynn created that was annexed by Dillinger in the movie, but I don't know if it was actually referred to in the arcade game. As for the rest of the episode, it's a really weird feeling to think of Tron 2.0 to be considered retro now. I was absolutely EXCITED for that game to come outand I think it really did hit the marks in a lot of ways, and yet Buena Vista left it to die sadly.

RoryDropkick

Really fun episode. I remember wanting to see this movie on release, then getting somehow scared by it (I was 5 and scared of everything). Then I got obsessed with it; the toys, the video games, the book-and-cassette version. I finally saw it on its World Television Premiere (tm 1983) during a Disney Channel free weekend (it was an ad-free subscription channel that had only been around a year then). We taped it and so for years my mental image of the film included a "call now and subscribe" chyron. Y'all missed my favorite 8-bit Tron game, Tron Deadly Discs for Atari and Intellivision. It was a weird little game that has aged much better than Mattel's other Tron games. Oh, and Tron 2.0 is on Steam and optimized for Windows 10. Though servers are of course dead for the excellent multiplayer disc battles.

Zachary Adams

Doh, we recorded this at MGC. We shoulda had you on, too.

Retronauts

Great episode! I saw the original in the theatre, when I was 12 (I'm an old). I was an arcade kid then, too, and I remember the arcade game fondly (that cabinet!). Oddly, the music cues have stuck with me since 1982, and there are still certain note combinations in music that will trigger that Tron "dodo do doooo dodo do dodo do dooo" bit in my head.

Aleisha

Tron has been something that has been a part of me since I was 4. I don't know how it resonated with me at such a young age, but it just did. I'm listening to it right now and hoping to have more to talk about when I'm done.

RoryDropkick

The Tron music is so outstanding. It's awesome that the arcades were able to recapture the sound.

Normallyretro

Excited to listen to this one. I enjoyed the Tron movies and cartoon, and really like most of the classic Tron games (Maze a Tron is pretty bad, granted), and while I never played Tron 2.0 I do have a copy... perhaps it needs a look after all.

Kevin Bunch