Shocking news from the world of Disney: John Lasseter is in charge. I thought that was a given? But the guys over at Jim Hill think this is big news, and are trumpeting the idea that it’s John Lasseter who is responsible for that awesome Tron 2… er scuse me Tr2n (I really hope they don’t go with that gimmicky name) footage which debuted at Comic Con last weekend.
John, like me and a lot of other people, was completely blown away by the original Tron when he first saw it back in 1982. You might say it had a hand in inspiring him to become what he is today. That’s not news either actually, Lasseter has talked before about his admiration for the film. If Tron hadn’t been made would we have Pixar? Probably not.
The interesting thing in Jim Hill’s story though is that they claim the script which Tron creator Steve Lisberger has been working on lo these many years will not be used. Apparently Lasseter was blown away by the look of Tron, but not so much the story. So they say he’s tossed out Lisberger’s plans and is going his own way with the sequel. Lisberger is still getting a co-producer credit, but he’s not really being allowed to do anything, which is sort of a shame if you’ve heard the passionate way Lisberger has talked about his hopes for the more Tron in the past. Instead of giving Lisberger his head, Lasseter allegedly convinced Disney to hire Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz to write a script. Horowitz and Kitsis are best known for their work on Lost. In other words they can write, but they’re not very good at getting to the point. Meanwhile Disney has brought in a first timer named Joseph Kosinski to direct it.
Of course the accuracy of all of this is based on whether or not Jim Hill knows what they’re talking about. In the circle of Disney fans I know, Jim Hill has a reputation for rumor flailing, so it wouldn’t be a total shock if they’re way off base on this one. We’ll see what checks out when Disney finally releases more information about the film.
