Revisiting Planet TRON
Recently I re-watched the movie TRON on cable. What a dope flick. I love watching these early eighties sci-fi movies on cable. I’ve probably watched Logan’s Run like twelve times this year already. That movie tops the charts. But goddamn TRON…I can’t believe its been 20 years since my brother and I first snuck into the Maplewood Mall II theaters to see it. At the time TRON was a very un-disney movie and the cool by us as we were reaching the age when Disney cartoon movies were not cutting it anymore.

Watching it now it’s nuts to see how much TRON is still influencing pop-culture and design; it’s futuristic production design is everywhere. The new 2003 Dodge Tomahawk is nothing more than a supped up Light Cycle that Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxlietner were so deft at riding through the grid streets of TRON world. Most of what makes TRON so amazing (it surely isn’t the plot or screen writing) is the forward thinking minimalist production designs. Most of the designs for TRON came from the mighty pen of super sci-fi illustrator Syd Mead. Checkout these early renditions of the light cycle. On Syd’s own site you can also see what he’s been up to lately, including a proposed fantasy design for a new World Trade Towers. More cool illustrations of Syd’s can be seen here and here. Syd Mead also made a boss Hotwheels car too called the Sentinel 400 Limo. I may have to get my geek on this weekend and go buy the 20th anniversary edition of TRON.