I’ve really been enjoying your Comic-Con coverage. But why no pix of the thing that TRON fans most want to see, the inside of Flynn’s Arcade?
Ask and ye shall receive.
Photo by Nancy Stadler
Even though I had been clued in that something special would be happening away from the convention center on Thursday night, I was just too wiped then to be on hand when Flynn’s Arcade was officially unveiled.
But – that said -- I did manage to get over to Sixth & J on Saturday night (which was the last night that this off-site “TRON: Legacy” promotion was in operation). And upon on entering the building (Which – FYI – was the exact same building that housed Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland” touring exhibit. The key difference here being that “TRON” fans entered this structure on Sixth Street, while “Alice in Wonderland” fans entered over on 7th), I found a neat little recreation of that arcade space that you briefly visit in the original “TRON” film.
Photo by Shelly Smith
As you might expect, there were “Space Paranoids” games here that you could actually play …
… as well as a “TRON” machine or two.
But even if you weren’t a gamer, there was lots of stuff within this highly themed space to look at and enjoy. Like recreations of the original signage that you can see in that 1982 Walt Disney Productions release.
Or the colorful neon signs & graffiti that decorated the walls.
… a dark corridor that was filled with chemical smoke. The walls of this narrow space were lined with flat panel screens that displayed concept drawings for the new Light Cycles which will be used in “TRON: Legacy.”
The further you walked down this corridor, the more finished & polished these Light Cycle concept drawings got.
Until you finally rounded a corner and there – on a dramatically lit, slowly rotating turntable – was a full-sized recreation of the next generation Light Cycles that will appear in this upcoming Walt Disney Pictures release.
As this point, everyone whipped out their digital cameras & cell phones and began grabbing images of the display. The only thing that eventually moved “TRON” fans out of this area was that table loaded with free t-shirts down by the building’s exit. Where Comic-Con attendees could chose between a shirt that featured a “Flynn’s Arcade” logo and one that proclaimed that “Flynn Lives.”
Now add to this the “Flynn’s Arcade” game token that you were handed as you waited in line outside of this building … And I’d say that the Mouse put together a pretty effective promotion for this Summer 2010 Disney Digital 3D release.
Your thoughts?
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That, my friends, is what Disney can do when its marketing arm is working in full sync with Walt Disney Productions and Walt Disney Imagineering (who, if not personally involved with this project, certainly had their bedrock principles put into practice here).
When everything clicks, it's a beautiful thing. If only they could get it going more often.
The trailer for the Tron sequel, Tron Legacy hit the Web last week, and it looks fantastic. A cleaned-up, high-res version of the footage that was shown last year at ComiCon, it doesn't give away any plot ... but does show what an additional 27 years
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