Tron is a 1982 American science fiction action-adventure film written and
directed by Steven Lisberger, based on a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird
and produced by Walt Disney Productions. The film stars Jeff Bridges as a
computer programmer who is transported inside the software world of a mainframe
computer where he interacts with programs in his attempt to escape, and Bruce
Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, and Barnard Hughes star in supporting
roles.
Development of Tron began in 1976 when Lisberger became fascinated with the early
video game Pong. He and producer Donald Kushner set up an animation studio to
develop Tron with the intention of making it an animated film. Indeed, to promote
the studio itself, Lisberger and his team created a 30-second animation featuring
the first appearance of the eponymous character. Eventually, Lisberger decided to
include live-action elements with both backlit and computer animation for the
actual feature-length film. Various film studios had rejected the storyboards for
the film before Walt Disney Studios agreed to finance and distribute Tron. There,
backlit animation was finally combined with the computer animation and live
action.
Tron was released on July 9, 1982 in 1,091 theaters in the United States. The
film was a moderate success at the box office, and received positive reviews from
critics who praised the groundbreaking visuals and acting. However, the storyline
was criticized at the time for being incoherent. Tron received nominations for
Best Costume Design and Best Sound at the 55th Academy Awards, and received the
Academy Award for Technical Achievement fourteen years later. Over time, Tron
developed into a cult film and eventually spawned a franchise, which consists of
multiple video games, comic books and an animated television series. A sequel
titled Tron: Legacy directed by Joseph Kosinski was released on December 17,
2010, with Bridges and Boxleitner reprising their roles, and Lisberger acting as
producer.
