ATTENTION PROGRAMS.
Disney is currently sabotaging one of it's best current pieces of entertainment - Tron: Uprising.
I realize that not everyone is a fan of TRON, but whether you are or not, I highly suggest giving this television show a chance, not just now, but for the chance to even continue.
Right now, the show is on Disney XD, and the current new episodes play on Sunday nights at midnight (11 p.m. c).
You think that's a terrible time slot? So do I. The time slot, the channel and the advertising are what's killing this show, not the show itself.
Tron: Uprising doesn't belong on Disney XD. It is far too mature and intelligent to play next to shows like Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja. It belongs on a more adult-geared channel...I don't see why this show couldn't play on, say, ABC. Maybe Disney chose Disney XD because it is an action-packed cartoon, but in tone, maturity and content, the show just doesn't fit comfortably next to all of their other shows.
This reflects one of the inherent issues that the Disney corporation seems to continually struggle with. They can't seem to get over the idea that cartoons are for everyone, not just for kids. Walt understood that, but as with many other aspects of the company, once he died, much of his intentions and direction for the company died as well.
Look at Cartoon Network, for example. They section off their genres of cartoons, knowing what demographics their programming is aimed at and when - and they are proof that mature cartoons can be successful.
This show has so much going for it. The plot is compelling and never talks down to the audience (perhaps too complex for a 7 year old at times, but not for someone a few years older). I would suggest watching Legacy before watching the show, but truthfully it is not completely necessary.
The characters are engaging and actually have interesting arcs, and the vocal cast is equally impressive. Elijah Wood stars as Beck, the program that is tired of Clu's evil reign on the Grid and feels that someone needs to take a stand to stop him. Bruce Boxleitner reprises his role as Tron, who is now too wounded to take back the Grid, but trains Beck to take his place as the new Tron. Mandy Moore, our very own Rapunzel, voices Mara, who along with Zed (Nate Corddry) are close friends of Beck who work with him at Able's (Reginald VelJohnson) Garage. Emmanuelle Chriqui voices Paige, one of Tesler's (Lance Henriksen) field commanders. She is my personal favorite. She is dedicated to working for Clu, but it is sadly all based on a lie, and we as an audience see that she is not actually evil, but misled by the corruption of Clu's cronies. Paul Reubens voices Pavel, Tesler's second-in-command, is however as evil as they come, and it is very interesting to hear Mr. Reubens voice such a different character. And finally, The Grid (yes, The Grid starts off each episode) is voiced by Tricia Helfer.
The animation is awesome, so unique and so appropriate to the world. I didn't like it at first, admittedly, but I soon grew to love it. The style can be desribed as something reminiscent of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, ThunderCats, and Aeon Flux.
The musical score is worth the purchase of the soundtrack, too; it fits into the rest of the Tron universe nicely, as it is orchestrated by Joseph Trapanese, the same guy that arranged Daft Punk's score for Tron: Legacy.
Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (the same guys that created Once Upon a Time) along with Justin Springer act as consulting producers while Charlie Bean acts as executive producer.
So the show is pretty solid. There are no gaping holes in the actual content or by the way it is created. But there are rumors spreading that the show could possibly be cancelled due to "lack of an audience."
Well, obviously. If you change the day and time slots for new episodes all of the time, don't let viewers know when the next episodes are even coming, completely stop advertising the show for when it will actually be on, and make the show completely unaccessible online (which is ridiculous, considering that the show premiered on youtube and gave us all hope that it would have a larger internet presence), you're going to kill it. Go here to see Disney's website for the show and see what I mean.
Programs, I'm appealing to you. This is a fantastic show that doesn't deserve this kind of treatment.
This is why I'm encouraging you to check out this show ASAP and watch the new episode that is premiering at midnight this coming Sunday. It's a poor time slot, but the show needs more love or it will probably be cancelled.
It's time to begin the "uprising" in ratings and fight for this show! If you want to do more, you can go here and tell Disney how you feel, or you can tweet at them directly.
No comments:
Post a Comment