Disney Animation Boss Plans to Pitch an Animated Tron Movie

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Disney Animation Boss Plans to Pitch an Animated Tron Movie

Jennifer Lee, the chief creative officer for Walt Disney Animation Studios, plans to pitch an animated Tron movie.

Speaking with Collider, Lee was asked if an animated Tron movie could ever see the light of day. Lee revealed she and a number of other Walt Disney Animation Studios directors regularly meet to discuss ideas and said she’d bring it up next time they’re all together.

“I will promise to do it at my next directors’ lunch. Once a month, I just have lunch with all the directors together, and I’m gonna say, ‘There has been a request. Is there anyone here, who has been dreaming of that to happen?’ We’re filmmaker-driven, so then I can blame them, if it doesn’t happen. No, I’m teasing…I’m gonna write that down and bring that to them. Unfairly, I haven’t done that yet, so I will. I love that.”

Breaking down the history of the Tron franchise

Steven Lisberger brought the Tron franchise to life in 1982 with a movie starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, and David Warner. While not a major box office hit at the time, it has since developed a cult following and went on to inspire several video games, comics, and more.

A sequel, Tron: Legacy, arrived in 2010 from director Joseph Kosinski. Bridges and Boxleitner both reprised their roles alongside newcomers Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde. Often celebrated for its musical score composed by Daft Punk, the movie made $400 million at the worldwide box office with a budget of $170 million.

An animated television series, Tron: Uprising, debuted on Disney XD in 2012. Set between the events of Tron and Tron: Legacy, the series lasted for 19 episodes and featured vocal performances from Boxleitner, Elijah Wood, and Mandy Moore.

Another Tron movie, Tron: Ares, is currently in the works; although, it has had a long and troubled production history, as the project was initially announced back in 2010. Joachim Rønning is directing the film, which stars Jared Leto and Evan Peters. Tron: Ares was supposed to begin production in August 2023, but filming was delayed due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.