Disney piled on the promotion for “TRON: Legacy” at Comic-Con

Jim Hill

14 years ago

Let's cut to the chase here: There was just no escaping "TRON:
Legacy" at this year's Comic-Con.

Even before you entered the San Diego Convention Center, thanks
to those banners that seemed to be hanging off of every light post in the city,
you found yourself face-to-face with Jeff Bridge's not-exactly-smiling face.

And then when you got out on the exhibition floor, there was
no way you could miss that enormous Recognizer looming over the TRON: Legacy
booth.

And for the full 4 ½ days of
Comic-Con, attendees were drawn like moths to a flame to Booth 3712. Where they
either "Oohed" and "Aahed" at the full-size replica of Sam Flynn's Light Cycle that
was on display there …

Photo by John Shearer. Getty
Images for Disney

… or stood on line for hours
with the hope that they then might be
able to purchase one of the limited edition die-cast versions of Sam's Light Cycle
which Disney periodically put up for sale inside of their TRON: Legacy booth.

Mind you, if you timed your
visit just right, you sometimes got a whole lot
more show for your dough. Which is what happened on July 23^rd, when Garrett Hedlund
(who plays Sam Flynn in this upcoming Walt Disney Pictures release) came by to
pick up the custom-made action figure that Spin Master had created for him …

Garrett Hedlund with his custpm-made Sam Flynn action figure. Photo by John Shearer
Getty
Images for Disney

… and Beau Garrett (who plays
Siren Jem in "TRON: Legacy") checked out some of the remote-control merchandise
that Disney has had created to help capitalize this new 3D action-adventure
film.

Beau
Garrett visits the TRON: Legacy booth on the exhibition floor at Comic-Con
Photo
by John Shearer. Getty Images for Disney

Mind you, by the time that Garrett & Beau got to the
exhibition floor, the TRON collectible that the diehard fans most wanted (i.e.
that special vintage version of a TRON action figure from the original film.
Which came in an arcade-style package with a base that had this cool light-up
feature) …

… were long gone. All 1500 pieces sold like hot cakes.

And if you missed out on those two limited edition items
that Disney was selling out of its TRON: Legacy booth, not to worry. You could
always exit the exhibition floor and then head on over to Flynn's …

Photo by Eric Charbonneau /Le Studio / Wireimage

… Where – after walking through that hole towards the back
of the arcade …

Photo by Eric Charbonneau / Le Studio / Wireimage

… and then getting zapped by that old ENCOM laser …

… you then found yourself inside the "End of the Line" Club.
Which was this cool physical recreation of a virtual nightclub that proves to
be a crucial setting in "TRON: Legacy."

Photo by Eric Charbonneau / Le
Studio / Wireimage

Where – if you were lucky – you might bump into someone like
Bruce Boxleitner (i.e. one of the stars of the original "TRON" film
who's
reprising his Alan Bradley role in "TRON: Legacy"). Who'd then happily sign
your "Flynn Lives" poster.

Photo by Eric Charbonneau / Le
Studio / Wireimage

Of course, let's remember that Boxleitner has been playing a
huge part in the promotion of "TRON: Legacy" for months now. You may recall
Bruce's performance at that bogus ENCOM press conference that was held in San
Francisco back in April in conjunction with WonderCon. Which ended with "Flynn
Lives" supporters swarming the stage …

Photo courtesy of The Blue Parrot

… before an ENCOM helicopter buzzed the crowd standing in
Justin Herman Plaza …

Photo courtesy of ENCOM

… and a mysterious skydiver (alleged to be Sam Flynn) then
jumped out of that copter.

Photo courtesy of The Blue Parrot

I know, I know. It's cool to get to see all of the "TRON"
-related celebrities who turn out at events like Comic-Con and WonderCon …

Bruce Boxleitner and Jeff Bridges
at Comic-Con 2010. Photo by Eric Charbonneau
/ Le Studio / Wireimage

… not to mention some
of the cool "TRON: Legacy" products that will be turning up on store shelves
this fall. Like the TRON Game Chair pictured below. Which comes with high performance speakers
that will then give you an amazing surround sound effect.

Photo
by John Shearer. Getty Images for Disney

But isn't this the tail wagging the dog? With The Walt
Disney Company putting far too much emphasis on promotion of this December 17^th
release. Rather than making sure that "TRON: Legacy" is actually a good movie.

Not to worry. Back in March, Disney screened the
work-in-progress version of this Joseph Kosinski film for the brain trust at
Pixar. Afterwards, the Mouse hired "The Incredibles" director Brad Bird and "Toy
Story 3" screenwriter Michael Arndt to punch up the script of this "TRON"
sequel. With a particular emphasis being placed on beefing up Sam Flynn's
relationship with his long-absent father.

Once Bird and Arndt turned in these new script pages,
Kosinski and his cast went back in front of the cameras last month for six days
of previously planned reshoots. With the end result being that "TRON" Legacy" 's
underlying theme and emotional underpinning got that much stronger.

So – sure – Disney was promoting the hell out of "TRON:
Legacy" at this year's Comic-Con. The cast and filmmakers literally did
hundreds of on-camera interviews last week as they tried to get the word out about this
upcoming Walt Disney Pictures release.

Director Joseph Kosinski and Walt
Disney Studios President of Production Sean Bailey
at the "TRON:
Legacy" MySpace Party at 2010 Comic-Con. Photo by Eric Charbonneau
/ Le
Studio / Wireimage

And given that Rich Ross regularly meets with his "TRON:
Legacy" speed team (i.e. 30 representatives from various divisions of The Walt
Disney Company whose sole responsibility is make sure that Mickey isn't
missing any promotional opportunities for what Mouse House execs hope will their next big film franchise), you should
expect to hear a whole lot more about this "TRON" sequel between now and
December 17^th.

Which brings me to an interesting question: Are you willing
to put up with all of this hype & merchandising if "TRON: Legacy" actually turns
out to be a good motion picture? Or has
all of this advance publicity (which has been going on for almost three years
at this point) already soured you somewhat on this project?

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW199KUkBWY]

Your thoughts?