Disney Channel’s Friday night was Gridlicious (New word…what do you think?) as “Tron Uprising: Beck’s Beginning” premiered. This is the prequel to the new series premiering on Disney XD (Disney’s boy-centric network) on June 7th at 9pm. The gorgeously animated special centers on a program named Beck whose land is becoming overtaken by “Clu 2’s Crew” (or the orange people for you Tron newbies). Though Tron (The George Washington of the Grid Revolution, if you will) has “died,” Beck thinks he can disguise himself as Tron, rally up his fellow programs, and lead them to victory against Clu 2. After a successful/failed attempt at a defeat, an “Clu 2 Assistant” captures him and they discuss his past and future. After Beck fights him, not even phasing the masked man, Mr. Orange reveals himself as Tron (OH NO YOU DIDN”T!).
Tron believes in Beck so much, he decides to hand over the baton, er, disc, to Beck and announces him as the new Tron. All this is happening while Clu 2’s man henchman, General Tessler, has decided to take innocent programs, (cough cough Beck’s friends cough cough), and put them into “The Games” (Think Hunger Games, but with cool light-up Frisbees). Beck eventually proves himself to Tron after an orange lends Beck a helping hand after Beck spared his life. The helping of the hand results in the orange’s derezzing (The term on The Grid for a death). Beck does safe his friends, comes way too close to dying after a fight with General Tessler, and seems to give off a “love vibe” with…wait for it…an Clu 2 supporter (Say it ain’t so!).
After Tron Legacy’s hype was ginormous and the pay off at the box-office wasn’t, the feelings against Tron haven’t been all that nice. The original Tron was a box-office flop, Tron Legacy was a modest box-office flop, and yet, Disney keeps pushing for this to be a successful franchise. With a stellar cast at the helm of this show (Paul Reubens, Bruce Boxleitner, the original Tron, Mandy Moore, and Elijah Wood), some of the most amazing animation I have ever seen, and a super solid premiere episode (My only complaint? The lips didn’t match the sound. I am not sure if it was my TV, Disney Channel’s mess-up, or how they want the show to look, but the lips and the voices had a significant lag time in between.), I wouldn’t be surprised if this causes another Tron film. I can sense this becoming the “Star Wars: Clone Wars” of the Tron world. I am really looking forward to the full series to begin in June!
Did you watch the prequel? (If you haven’t…I left the full episode at the bottom of the page!) Do you agree that this is a great new show? Are you really jealous of those light cycles? Let me know in the comments below. I will (Hopefully) do a premiere episode recap in June to see if the prequel lives up to the show. Until next time…Don’t step off The Grid! Have a Magical Day!