TRON came out in the summer of 1982. I loved a lot about that movie, and it was a privilege to work on it at MAGI, but I didn’t like the fact that its aesthetic was limited by technology.
Rather than the rich visual palate that we associate with classic animation such as Disney’s Fantasia, TRON had a stripped down look that was largely dictated by the state of the art. In order to produce the required amount of high resolution CGI footage in 1981-82, the filmmakers needed to make some tough decisions.
The surfaces in the animated portions of TRON generally looked bare and untextured, and shapes were highly simplified. This worked thematically because the story took place within the somewhat abstracted world of computer software. But it was definitely a case of necessity being the mother of invention.
So after TRON wrapped, I took it as a personal challenge to try to push things in a more organic direction. I had seen Fantasia as a teenager, and the fantastical visions from that classic film had always stayed with me. In fact, the inspiring visuals of Fantasia had been a large part of my decision to take a job in the field of CGI.
More tomorrow.