For the second year in a row, Disney brought Tron: Legacy to Fan Expo in Toronto.   Here are our thoughts and pictures from the event, mainly focusing on today’s Tron panel.  Fan Expo started yesterday, August 27th, and runs until tomorrow, August 29th.  All in all, this is a fun time to be had at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Pictured to the right is Tron: Evolution video game visual director Chris Whiteside.

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At noon today Disney welcomed patrons to The John Bassett Theatre for a special panel on their upcoming movie Tron: Legacy.  The event started with an introduction from the hosts Teddy Wilson and Ajay Fry.  They welcomed Propaganda Games visual director Chris Whiteside to the stage and he showed us a sneak preview of the Tron: Evolution video game.  He talked about how this new property in the Tron cannon introduces us to a story that is not evident in either film.  The game looks to be a lot of fun.

We were then shown a 3D trailer for the film, plus 7 minutes of exclusive footage.  Presented in Dolby Digital 3D, the image was crisp and clean.  The scenes shown were from when Sam Flynn first enters the Tron game, and is mistaken for one of the gamers.  The footage was quite impressive, and served as a good teaser of the coolness we can expect come December 17th.

After the footage, the very talkative Bruce Boxleitner – who reprises his role as Tron – took questions from the audience.  Touching on Tron being a huge part of pop-culture and what it’s like to have toys of yourself, it was an involved, lively and very entertaining Q&A.  He jokingly mocked E.T. as the reason for the original being a financial failure – which was shockingly well received, and he even told everyone to go see the new movie several times over opening weekend, just to make sure Disney gets back the revenue.  One audience member even asked if they would get a t-shirt if they went 4 times over opening weekend, to which Boxlightner replied “maybe I’ll make you dinner.”  The film looks amazing, and I think it’s going to be a hit.

On the floor of the convention Disney has a booth to promote the upcoming film.  It showcases many of the cool merchandise we can look forward to, and also has a station where you can try your hand at the video game.  Entrants to the booth pass under a spectacular recreation of a Tron recognizer.  Maybe it’s not quite as cool as last year’s booth which included a Light Cycle, but it’s still a must-see of the convention.

With hundreds being denied access despite having had tickets, and near-impossible to access escalators, making my way through the exhibition floor of Fan Expo was a somewhat more overwhelming and mildly less enjoyable experience for me than it was last year.  But it was still a fun event with lots of interesting things to see, many great celebrities to meet, and Tron remaining a highlight.

-John C.

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Disney’s Tron: Legacy panel today at Fan Expo was fun, profiling the new video game, as well as showing a new trailer, and 7 min. sequence from the upcoming film – which were in pretty clear Dolby3D, which doesn’t seem to dim like RealD.  Chris Whiteside from Propaganda Games was on hand to talk about the game for a little bit, before Bruce Boxleitner – who is reprising his role as Tron in Tron Legacy – came out to talk a little bit about getting back into the Tron world, and do a little Q & A with the audience.

First, I’ll give you a little bit about the game:  The Tron: Evolution game will be released in time for the film (late Nov., early Dec.) and will be a bridge game taking place between the two films, so a prequel to Tron: Legacy of sorts.  It is designed as a multiplayer game (with solo option) and seems to be very engaging for the player.  There are multiple Lightcycles and Tanks, etc. that you can control, and the option to play in combat mode as a character.  The game from the ground up is like cyber sports.

The video game introduces you to the new film’s world.  You can look behind doors, stand in alleyways, things you might pass by in the film, but here, you can actually see.  In Tron: Legacy the whole city is like a new type of massive program built so that it’s very hard to change or gain control of.  After a short video about the game and Propaganda, they had a brief run through of a couple of the levels of the game.  One cool level (4?), is a real set piece, with buildings getting destroyed, tanks chasing you, and pretty much setting up the look of the city for the beginning of Tron: Legacy.  There Lightcycles that can drive down skyscrapers, and you can take other bikes out with light discs.  It looks really cool, like the film.

They also touched on the pop-culture of Tron, and mentioned some Canadian references.  Propaganda is based in Vancouver, the film was shot in Vancouver, and Spin in Toronto is doing toys, etc.  And from spoofs on TV, music videos, commercials, and on-ice shows, Tron is everywhere.  They also mentioned that Daft Punk is doing the soundtrack for Tron: Legacy.

Next, Bruce Boxleitner was brought out on stage, where he joked that he “just got out of the game grid.”  He talked about how excited he was to return as Tron – it’s not everyday an actor gets the opportunity to reprise a role like this.  He spoke about the popularity, and signing everything from Beta tapes to models of Lightcycles people had built.  When asked what we could expect of this new film, he said simply; “This is not your daddy’s Tron.  The world has changed, technology has advanced and even then in some ways when the first one came out, it was very ahead of its time.  This is not the quaint 1980’s Tron – it’s a dangerous, sinister place.  My biggest fear would be that expectations are too big, but I honestly think Tron fans are going to love this one.”

He mentioned that in this film, it is like “passing the torch on to this younger hero – it’s now Kevin Flynn’s son’s time.”  His role in the film starts out very much as a storyteller, where he has become a kind of father figure to Sam ever since his father went missing.  Because of the darker feel, Boxleitner said that most of his scenes were filmed at night, making his work days often be from 5PM to 4AM.  Some final footage was filmed just last month.  Before wrapping up, he mentioned how different the toys are now for the film, then in the ’80s, and how great is was to work with Jeff Bridges again.  There was also a brief mention of a new restored, longer cut of the original Tron getting ready for a Blu-Ray release later this fall.  Overall, it was a fun, interactive Q & A that felt like it ended before it was barely started.

Afterward, I went out onto the floor of FanExpo – really crowded this year – and checked out Disney’s Tron: Legacy booth, where they have a model of the Recognizer, as well as were having periodic giveaways of t-shirts and discs.  Overall a fun – although really busy – day in Toronto, which gets me all the more excited to see Tron: Legacy – in 3D no less.

-Erin V.

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Last year, Fan Expo gave a very early look at Tron: Legacy.  This year, fans were treated to even more of the Tron universe.  At the John Bassett Theatre, we got to see a preview of the new Tron: Evolution video game.  There was also a look back at Tron inspired pop culture references, including commercials, ice shows, music videos, and spoofs on cartoons such as The Simpsons.

We also saw some early clips of the new film, which seems amazing.  Several special guests were also in attendance, including a Q&A with original Tron actor Bruce Boxleitner.  The whole thing was really cool, and has gotten me excited for Tron: Legacy in December.

-Nicole

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Judging by the enthusiastic response to the Tron: Legacy trailers and 7 minute sneak peek at the very crowded John Bassett Theatre for the Fan Expo 2010 Tron: Legacy panel the new Tron movie opening on December 17th should do very well.

Tron: Legacy looks like it’s going to be amazing.  The scenes previewed were fast-paced and visually impressive especially in Dolby Digital 3D.

Attendees were also treated to a presentation by Chris Whiteside about the new Tron: Evolution video game and a Q&A with the original Tron actor Bruce Boxleitner.

Upstairs at the Tron booth fans could see the video game in action and figures from the movie.  The Tron exhibit was the best thing I saw at Fan Expo.  And there’s a lot to see.

-Maureen

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Right up front I must admit that I am not a gamer and felt very much like an outside observer at FanExpo, the Toronto geekfest counterpart of Comic-Con. I also was one of the many people who found the original TRON somewhat bewildering and boring when it came out, though I admired it more on recent viewing. The presentation and booth promoting the upcoming sequel TRON: Legacy and game have renewed my interest in the December release of the film.

Before the presentation the screen displayed some related merchandise–models, action figures, etc. The game was introduced by one of the developers, Chris Whiteside. It appears to be well thought out as a bridge between the old and new films that should provide gamers with a good understanding of the game in the film, since they were developed together. The influence of TRON on popular culture was then shown in an amusing compilation reel of clips from shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park as well as various commercials. We then watched a trailer and several minutes from the new film in very good 3D using new glasses that appear to be both polarizing and tinted. The presentation concluded with a question and answer session with Bruce Boxleitner, who played the title character in the original film and appears in the sequel as the mentor of Sam Flynn, Kevin’s son. Now 60, he was as nice as expected, though he expressed some mock resentment that the original film had been overlooked, coming out in the same summer as Blade Runner and E.T.

The TRON booth couldn’t be missed in the centre of the exhibition hall, with its tall mockup of a gantry-like “Recognizer.” Copies of the game were set up for people to play, and life-size figures and samples of merchandise were on display. Several Quorra lookalikes were on hand to answer questions and toss out “FLYNN LIVES” T-shirts and disks to a few lucky fans.  Overall it was a well-designed promotion for the upcoming film and related material.

-Tony

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Our exclusive pictures of the event are after the break.

The Tron recognizer – welcoming vistors to the Walt Disney booth.

Tron jacket and upcoming gamer ‘air chair.’

Tron helmets, including actual props, and Sam Flynn mannequin.

Tron: Evolution video game stations.

A selection of Tron merchandise

Collectible model Light Cycles

-All photos taken by Erin V.