As a writer, I’ve chronicled the making of a number of films, including Tron, a movie I still enjoy researching.
The original Tron still has a special place in the hearts of many geeks like myself, and I found it quite fascinating the film came along at an interesting period in Disney’s history. At that point, Disney was what you’d call “last on the train” to bring a project to, and they were still some years away before Michael Eisner reinvented the company, and made them #1 in the business.
Tron was one of several experimental Disney films as the company was in transition, and considering I’ve only scratched the surface of what went on behind the scenes with it, I’m looking forward to reading The Making of Tron: How Tron Changed Visual Effects and Disney Forever. A book on Tron is long overdue, and this one was written by, and is being self published by William Kallay.
According to his Amazon page, Kallay is a filmmaker and writer who runs the website, FromScriptToDVD and he’s also written for Widescreen Review magazine. For The Making of Tron, Kallay interviewed Jeff Bridges, Tron writer / director Steve Lisberger, FX masters Harrison Ellenshaw and Richard Taylor, and more.
The book’s description on Amazon tells us, “In 1982, Disney was in serious trouble. Its films were no longer drawing audiences into theaters. In the era of Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, Disney desperately needed to reinvent itself.”
Disney’s salvation came with Tron, but I’m sure the book will also mention how like many films that broke new ground, the studio didn’t know what it had, and it also took many years for the impact of Tron to make itself clear in modern day film.
No matter how entertaining a movie is, the behind the scenes stories can often be even more fascinating and dramatic. Again, a book on Tron is very welcome, much needed, and long overdue, and I applaud William Kallay for taking this on and publishing it himself. I’m definitely looking forward to diving into Kallay’s book, and learning even more about the wonderful Tron universe.
