History Fridge / Tron

* It's easy to underestimate Alan; nerd glasses, unflattering fashion sense, conduct like a boy scout. However, that may be part of the point. He had clearly been working on Tron for ''months,'' meaning he suspected Master Control was up to no good ''well'' before anyone else did. And he followed all the proper procedures for memos and paperwork, probably [[BatmanGambit knowing Dillinger wouldn't read them anyway]]. This being the [[TheEighties early 80's]], he probably bypassed Master Control's notice by making sure those memos were handwritten or typewritten (with appropriate copies kept in a desk drawer if anyone asked him to provide proof). And he also kept up good relations with Gibbs, the only guy who went higher than Dillinger in the corporate hierarchy. Dillinger and Master Control clearly did not understand that as soon as Alan completed Tron and hit "run," their whole house of cards would collapse, and they wouldn't have even known what hit them. Sure, they locked Alan out of his software (and locked up said software in the Game Grid), but they wouldn't have been able to keep that up forever. And Dillinger couldn't fire Alan without drawing a massive amount of suspicion and a likely investigation. And if they destroyed Tron without firing Alan, then that would ''also'' draw a ton of suspicion, given how many other programs went MIA. Alan pulled a glitching XanatosGambit on those clowns and they didn't realize it until it was way too late.

* It's easy to underestimate Alan; nerd glasses, unflattering fashion sense, conduct like a boy scout. However, that may be part of the point. He had clearly been working on Tron for ''months,'' meaning he suspected Master Control was up to no good ''well'' before anyone else did. And he followed all the proper procedures for memos and paperwork, probably [[BatmanGambit knowing Dillinger wouldn't read them anyway]]. This being the [[TheEighties early 80's]], he probably bypassed Master Control's notice by making sure those memos were handwritten or typewritten (with appropriate copies kept in a desk drawer if anyone asked him to provide proof). And he also kept up good relations with Gibbs, the only guy who went higher than Dillinger in the corporate hierarchy. Dillinger and Master Control clearly did not understand that as soon as Alan completed Tron and hit "run," their whole house of cards would collapse, and they wouldn't have even known what hit them. Sure, they locked Alan out of his software (and locked up said software in the Game Grid), but they wouldn't have been able to keep that up forever. And Dillinger couldn't fire Alan without drawing a massive amount of suspicion and a likely investigation. And if they destroyed Tron without firing Alan, then that would ''also'' draw a ton of suspicion, given how many other programs went MIA. Alan pulled a glitching XanatosGambit on those clowns and they didn't realize it until it was way to late.

* One would wonder why Dillinger was stupid enough to keep incriminating evidence of his stealing Flynn's game designs and programs. He didn't. The MCP kept them as ''blackmail''.

* Of course, death was permanent for fellows like Crom and Ram. They were accounting applications, not game bots. [[WreckItRalph And when they did die, it was outside their game]], meaning no respawns.

* Yori is a character that operates on ''nothing'' but FridgeBrilliance. In the theatrical film, it's difficult to discern what use she has outside of being ShallowLoveInterest...unless you're watching closely and get your hands on that DeletedScene and/or the {{Novelization}}. Her EarlyBirdCameo is shown on a screen well before she shows up in the film (when they're digitizing the orange, the lower right hand side of the screen reads "ROM Yori, LOAD Yori"), establishing she pretty much runs the laser. (Which is why she was captured and turned into a drone instead of being sent to The Games like her husband - Master Control needed her alive). Secondly, notice that even with an ''urgent call from his deity'' on the line, Tron goes and finds her first? [[AlwaysSavetheGirl Okay, so maybe showing some Disney Prince origins here, but]]...Then we get the DeletedScene. Yori's providing the hideout, she's adept at sabotage (highly illegal power reroute), she's the one who actually makes the plans on how to get into the I/O Tower. (And incorporates them into foreplay!) It's ''her'' connection to Dumont that gets the old Guardian to relent. And ''she'' is the one who designed and piloted the getaway vehicle (the Solar Sailer). The only thing she ''isn't'' handling is the combat, which is her husband's job.

* The ending is a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming. Flynn comes out of the helicopter, vindicated at last. He's got Dillinger's job running day to day operations, he's made peace with Lora and Alan, and they're now a PowerTrio, walking off into the sunset. It is the high point in the entire franchise. [[{{Tron20}} Because no matter what]] [[{{Film/TronLegacy}} timeline you pick]], [[HappyEndingOverride it all goes to hell from there]] and their victories and happiness will be fleeting at best. By the time the sequel(s) end, Encom is in shambles, over 2/3 of the characters are dead/de-rezzed, and the other 1/3 end up with dim survival odds or even a FateWorseThanDeath with one of the SpinOffspring left to pick up the pieces of what's left. .

[[WMG:FridgeBrilliance]]

* Yori is a character that operates on ''nothing'' by FridgeBrilliance. In the theatrical film, it's difficult to discern what use she has outside of being ShallowLoveInterest...unless you're watching closely and get your hands on that DeletedScene and/or the {{Novelization}}. Her EarlyBirdCameo is shown on a screen well before she shows up in the film (when they're digitizing the orange, the lower right hand side of the screen reads "ROM Yori, LOAD Yori"), establishing she pretty much runs the laser. (Which is why she was captured and turned into a drone instead of being sent to The Games like her husband - Master Control needed her alive). Secondly, notice that even with an ''urgent call from his deity'' on the line, Tron goes and finds her first? [[AlwaysSavetheGirl Okay, so maybe showing some Disney Prince origins here, but]]...Then we get the DeletedScene. Yori's providing the hideout, she's adept at sabotage (highly illegal power reroute), she's the one who actually makes the plans on how to get into the I/O Tower. (And incorporates them into foreplay!) It's ''her'' connection to Dumont that gets the old Guardian to relent. And ''she'' is the one who designed and piloted the getaway vehicle (the Solar Sailer). The only thing she ''isn't'' handling is the combat, which is her husband's job.

* Yori is a character that operates on ''nothing'' by FridgeBrilliance. In the theatrical film, it's difficult to discern what use she has outside of being ShallowLoveInterest...unless you're watching closely and get your hands on that DeletedScene and/or the {{Novelization}}. Her EarlyBirdCamero is shown on a screen well before she shows up in the film (when they're digitizing the orange, the lower right hand side of the screen reads "ROM Yori, LOAD Yori"), establishing she pretty much runs the laser. (Which is why she was captured and turned into a drone instead of being sent to The Games like her husband - Master Control needed her alive). Secondly, notice that even with an ''urgent call from his deity'' on the line, Tron goes and finds her first? [[AlwaysSavetheGirl Okay, so maybe showing some Disney Prince origins here, but]]...Then we get the DeletedScene. Yori's providing the hideout, she's adept at sabotage (highly illegal power reroute), she's the one who actually makes the plans on how to get into the I/O Tower. (And incorporates them into foreplay!) It's ''her'' connection to Dumont that gets the old Guardian to relent. And ''she'' is the one who designed and piloted the getaway vehicle (the Solar Sailer). The only thing she ''isn't'' handling is the combat, which is her husband's job.

* Adding to the overt religious subtext, the ''TRON'' theme features heavy use of a ''church organ''.

* Minor one, but whenever a program or a user in the guise of a program expresses extreme emotions, their TronLines light up intensely. The big example, being Tron's BigNo causing his blue lines to glow brighter. The same effect happens whenever a program consumes energy from a pure source or is close to dying. Much like how us humans get tired if we are angry or upset, a program's emotional state is burning energy faster the more intense it is.

* The ending is a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming. Flynn comes out of the helicopter, vindicated at last. He's got Dillinger's job running day to day operations, he's made peace with Lora and Alan, and they're now a PowerTrio, walking off into the sunset. It is the high point in the entire franchise. [[{{Tron20}} Because no matter what]] [[{{Film/TronLegacy}} timeline you pick]], [[HappyEndingOverride it all goes to hell from there]] and their victories and happiness will be fleeting at best. By the time the sequel(s) end, over 2/3 of the characters are dead/de-rezzed and the other 1/3 end up with dim survival odds or even a FateWorseThanDeath.

* More Fridge Sadness, but...Ram was the one who drove the RED cycle. And we all know what happens to the dude in red...

* As stated elsewhere, Tron is a ''firewall''.

* The religious parallels between "programs-users" and "humans-gods". Not just the parts where Flynn is basically a Christ figure for the computer world, but the whole fact that not only are most programs not entirely sure if users even exist, but the users aren't even ''aware'' that they have created these intelligent beings in their computers. Take this setup a step up into the real world (the novelization takes a few more steps in this direction than the film), and you basically have real-world Deism - the reason we don't see God(s) is because they don't even realize we're here, or self-aware!

** Acknowledged by Steven Lisberger, who said that in 1982, it was still unknown which medium the computers would gravitate to: the artists or the businessmen.

* The debate between Dillinger and Gibbs about what their processing goals should be (serving the end user versus serving the business's bottom line) is surprisingly prophetic, as this debate eventually fueled the entire evolution of the PC market that was still in its infancy at the time. In Hindsight, the Dillinger/Gibbs relationship even has a Steve Jobs/Steve Wozniak vibe going on.

[[WMG:FridgeSorrow]]
* The Users have [[CreatingLifeIsUnforeseen no idea about the Programs being living, sentient beings capable of love, friendship, and a social order entirely of their own.]] Even in the Legacy era, Alan has no idea what a heroic creature his virtual "son" is [[spoiler: nor the horrific, twisted thing he became]]. Roy Kleinburg will ''never'' know what a sweet, good-natured, and brave Program Ram was.

* More "Fridge Sadness" then Fridge Horror, but the Users have no idea about the Programs being living, sentient beings capable of love, friendship, and a social order entirely of their own. Even in the Legacy era, Alan has no idea what a heroic creature his virtual "son" is [[spoiler: nor the horrific, twisted thing he became]]. Roy Kleinburg will never know what a sweet, good-natured, and brave Program Ram was.

[=SuddenFrost=]
* The original movie makes more sense if you make it your personal canon that the MCP is oppressing the other programs on the system not by depriving them of ''energy'', but rather ''CPU time''. And the SpaceWhaleAesop is, don't give an AI program sysadmin privileges over the system it runs on. --

* The original movie makes more sense if you make it your personal canon that the MCP is oppressing the other programs on the system not by depriving them of ''energy'', but rather ''CPU time''. And the SpaceWhaleAesop is, don't give an AI program sysadmin privileges over the system it runs on. -- [=SuddenFrost=]

* After Walt Disney's death, there were (very false) rumors that he was frozen cryogentically. The rumors were fueled inadvertently, in part, by Disney staff making comments about proceeding with company decision making, "as if Walt were still here." Now, think about this and the "Flynn Lives" movement...

* The whole Tron/Yori ship: I realize that, in-film, the whole ship was probably just an "as above, so below" shout out to the Bradleys and a means to point out that the Program and User worlds were NotSoDifferent. It was still very sweet, especially in the Daley novelization. A moment fridge brilliance is involved when it hit me - she's a system maintenance utility and he's the damn firewall. ''Of course'' they're practically designed for one another.

*** She does - and therefore has local admin access within the minicomputer that's running the research simulations. in the "outside", and in real life, if ENCOM's running, say, IBM's family of mainframes and minis, then the lab would have most likely been running off a System/34 mini, which would talk onwards to the main kit. Or the solar sailer project would have been running on this gear. Lora would have higher-level access locally, hence FLynn was trying to authenticate at a higher level and ride admin privs in. - alcockell