You have to admit that it's kind of ironic that Elijah Wood
has gone from playing Video Game Boy No. 1 in 1989's "Back to the Future
2" (He's the kid who — after being shown how the "Wild Gunman"
video game is actually played — turns to Marty McFly and whines "You mean
you have to use your hands?") …
Copyright 1989 Universal
Pictures. All rights reserved
… to now voicing a character who actually lives inside of
a video game in Disney XD's "TRON: Uprising."
Elijah Wood stands in front of
an image of Beck, the character that he voices in "TRON:
Uprising."
Photo by Rick Rowell. Copyright Disney XD. All rights reserved
FYI for those of you who yet to experience this new animated
series, Disney XD is presenting a
"TRON: Uprising" marathon tonight. Beginning at 7 p.m. ET / PT, every
single episode that has aired to date will be shown in chronological order.
Which will then allow any "TRON: Uprising" newbie to catch up on
what's been going on in Argon City.
And speaking of TRON newbies: When we spoke on the phone
earlier this year about this new animated series, Elijah revealed that he
wasn't exactly a fan of the first "TRON" movie.
"But given that I was only a year and a half old when the original
'TRON' movie was first released to theaters, I feel like I have a pretty good
excuse for not fully embracing the franchise back then," Wood laughed.
"But I do remember playing the TRON video game when I was a kid and really
enjoying that. Which is why I was excited to see that storyline continued with
'TRON: Legacy
' in 2010."
(L to R) "TRON:
Uprising" director & executive producer Charlie Bean and consulting
producers Adam Horowitz & Edward Kitsis. Photo by Noe Valladolid
Elijah especially enjoyed how Edward Kitsis and Adam
Horowitz (i.e. the screenwriters of "TRON: Legacy") had taken the
world that Steve Lisberger had created back in 1982 and then expanded that
mythology. Changing the Grid into a grander if somewhat grittier place.
"Which is why — when I heard that Edward & Adam
were part of the team developing a new 'TRON' animated series for Disney XD …
Well, I just had to check this project out," Wood enthused. "So when
Disney called and asked me to take a meeting about possibly voicing a character
for this show, I immediately said 'Yes.' "
So since Kitsis & Horowitz were involved, Elijah knew
going in that the writing on "TRON: Legacy" would be solid. But what
Wood wasn't ready for was the bold new look that Charlie Bean (i.e. the
director and executive producer of this new Disney XD show) had envisioned for
this animated series.
Copyright Disney XD. All rights
reserved
"When I looked at the concept art and animation tests
that Charlie had put together … There's no other way to describe it. Charlie
had this really ambitious cinematic vision for 'TRON: Uprising,' " Wood
continued. "Something that — thanks to its mix of 2D animation and CG —
was going to look like nothing that had ever been on TV before. It was this —
coupled with the epic scope of the story that Edward & Adam were looking to
tell with 'TRON: Uprising' — that convinced me that I had to be part of this
show."
That said, thanks to the voice work that he'd done for
"Happy Feet" and "Happy Feet 2," Elijah knew that — as an
actor — he'd now regularly be facing a unique set of challenges by agreeing to
voice the character of Beck for "TRON: Uprising."
"9 times out of 10 when you're voicing a character for
animation, you're in the studio alone while you're recording your lines. The
only other people that you get to interact with are the director and the sound
engineer. Both of whom are behind glass in the control room," Wood said.
"What was nice about working on 'TRON: Uprising' is that Charlie would
occasionally bring Mandy (Moore) and Emmanuelle (Chriqui) in to record with me.
Which made that much easier to get through some of the exposition-heavy scenes
that Beck had with Mara and Paige."
(L to R) Elijah Wood, President
and Chief Creative Officer for Disney Channels
Worldwide Gary Marsh, Bruce
Boxleitner and Mandy Moore at the "TRON:
Uprising" press junket. Photo by Rick Rowell.
Copyright Disney XD. All rights reserved
And speaking of exposition … Getting caught up on "TRON:
Uprising" 's backstory would probably be a very good idea right about now.
Given that this animated series (which actually serves as a bridge between the
original 1982 film and its 2010 sequel) is about to begin exploring a particularly
intriguing aspect of this sci-fi franchise's
mythology. Which (SPOILER ALERT) deals with how the previously heroic Tron
(voiced by Bruce Boxleitner) eventually get transformed into Clu's vicious
henchman, Rinzler.
Last month at Comic-Con International as part of a Disney Television
Animation panel, the folks from Disney XD showed a trailer …
… for an upcoming "TRON: Uprising" two-parter,
"Scars." Which promises to reveal all sorts of juicy details about
" … the betrayal that will define a legacy."
Of course, to really understand what's going on in "Scars"
(which is slated to air sometime later this Fall), you're going to have to be caught up on
everything else that's been going on in the world of "TRON:
Uprising." So tonight's marathon on Disney XD would be an excellent way to
get caught up on what's been going on the Grid. Find out who the real players
are these days in Argon City.
The excitement begin at 7 p.m. ET / PT with a
commercial-free airing of this animated series' very first episode,
"Beck's Beginning." And after that — for the next three hours —
Disney XD will move sequentially through the other six episodes of "TRON:
Uprising" that have aired to date, ending with the most recent show,
"Price of Power."
Elijah Wood and Bruce
Boxleitner field questions from "TRON: Uprising" fans at last
month's
Disney Television Animation panel at Comic-Con International.
Photo by Rick
Rowell. Copyright Disney XD. All rights reserved
So if you've been looking to catch up on what's been going
on with this acclaimed animated series and/or you just want to properly set the
stage for everything that's about to go down in Argon City once that
"Scars" two-parter airs in the Autumn, be sure to watch and/or DVR
tonight's "TRON: Uprising" marathon on Disney XD.