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- Oct 2, 2009
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Some friends of mine and I decided we needed to watch the original TRON before the sequel comes out. After all, any film that has spawned an Oscar Awards debate over computer generated special effects, a short-lived Disneyland ride, a $170 million sequel, and my favorite childhood arcade game had to be worth a revisit. But scoring a copy is not as easy as you might think.
I started with NetFlix, from whom I rented it three years ago or so, but they no longer offer it... instead of "Adding" it to your queue you can "Save" it to the place where all lost movies go. (My Saved column currently includes, among other things the hard to find original "Sleuth" with Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier, and another film that Disney has swept under the rug, the racially insensitive "Song of the South.")
Maybe I can buy one? Nope. Despite the millions that Disney has poured into marketing for TRON: Legacy - inlcuding $25 million to develop a new video game - they've not provided copies of the original film to the few outlets that still actually sell videos around here. BestBuy? Nope. Book stores? Nope.
Called the mom and pop video store down the street only to find they closed their doors last month. Now they make sandwiches.
How about the only video store chain left in Northern California: Blockbuster Video?
"Yes, we have a copy. But it's been out since before Halloween." While upset that somebody has deprived me of TRON, it was at least nice to know that somewhere in town there is a keeper of the fire. Unless that copy was rented by a Disney mole.
A glimmer of hope came from the Blockbuster web site, where you can search all store inventories. The 8th store on my list has a copy. A call confirmed this, and an hour later the Holy Grail of computer animation was in my hand.
Five of us gathered before the flat screen last night with a box of Candy Cane Joe-Joes. About 20 minutes in when the eight-year-old in our midst asked if we could stop this and watch "Cars" instead, it became clear that Disney has learned a lot about its market in the past 28 years. It would seem that not allowing us to see the original before we see the sequel is part of the marketing campaign.
I started with NetFlix, from whom I rented it three years ago or so, but they no longer offer it... instead of "Adding" it to your queue you can "Save" it to the place where all lost movies go. (My Saved column currently includes, among other things the hard to find original "Sleuth" with Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier, and another film that Disney has swept under the rug, the racially insensitive "Song of the South.")
Maybe I can buy one? Nope. Despite the millions that Disney has poured into marketing for TRON: Legacy - inlcuding $25 million to develop a new video game - they've not provided copies of the original film to the few outlets that still actually sell videos around here. BestBuy? Nope. Book stores? Nope.
Called the mom and pop video store down the street only to find they closed their doors last month. Now they make sandwiches.
How about the only video store chain left in Northern California: Blockbuster Video?
"Yes, we have a copy. But it's been out since before Halloween." While upset that somebody has deprived me of TRON, it was at least nice to know that somewhere in town there is a keeper of the fire. Unless that copy was rented by a Disney mole.
A glimmer of hope came from the Blockbuster web site, where you can search all store inventories. The 8th store on my list has a copy. A call confirmed this, and an hour later the Holy Grail of computer animation was in my hand.
Five of us gathered before the flat screen last night with a box of Candy Cane Joe-Joes. About 20 minutes in when the eight-year-old in our midst asked if we could stop this and watch "Cars" instead, it became clear that Disney has learned a lot about its market in the past 28 years. It would seem that not allowing us to see the original before we see the sequel is part of the marketing campaign.
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