Before cyberspace and life on the web were ours to experience, before life seemed destined to become one neon thrill ride, there was TRON. This 1982 Disney feature blended cinema’s black-and-white silent film past with its futuristic neon computer-rendered vision to shape many people’s perceptions of today’s world and continues to inspire artists, filmmakers, collectors and more today.
As the inaugural feature-length computer-animated film, TRON revolutionized our perception of animation and entertainment. Additionally, its advanced character development techniques, high contrast black-and-white Kodalith transparencies, and innovative computer animation techniques set a precedent for generations of digital entertainment to follow.
This film tells the tale of Flynn, an ENCOM programmer and video game developer who now runs an arcade after being terminated from his job. After using an old computer system to break into its mainframe, he finds himself transported into digital reality where he teams up with Quorra (one of three Isomorphic Algorithms or ISOs) as well as Master Control Program in a bid to take down CLU, an evil force known for creating chaos across cyberspace.
TRON was widely lauded as an technological marvel, yet audiences from around the world loved this movie for what it represents: storytelling about identity, community and loyalty that resonated deeply.
Heritage Auctions will showcase these themes and the film’s impact through original artwork featured in its TRON Signature Sale on October 20-23. The auction offers a diverse array of production-used artwork and artifacts used during production; including high contrast black-and-white Kodalith transparencies which were double their normal size so animators could light the images and sequences on them more effectively.
These large-format transparencies are highly sought-after items at this sale as they provide an intimate peek into the early stages of film development. Used for layout, timing and composition by John Scheele’s visual effects team led by animator Ken Ellenshaw for layout purposes, these transparencies show their true beauty.
TRON’s blockchain provides an infrastructure capable of supporting decentralized applications, smart contracts and tokens while being capable of processing over 2,000 transactions per second with lower transaction fees than popular blockchains such as Ethereum. Developers looking to build upon decentralized networks may find TRX an attractive choice; however, investors must keep some factors in mind before investing.