Want To Buy The Original TRON On DVD? Tough Shit.

As Disney’s Tron: Legacy hype machine hits a fever pitch - 792 posters have been released, the entire soundtrack has been released thirty eight seconds at a time and there’s probably a MCP ‘personal massager’ that will be on sale at the Tron: Legacy pop up store in Culver City - the Mouse House is hoping you’ll just sort of forget about the original film.

At least that’s the only explanation I can come up with for the fact that Tron is out of print on DVD and has no Blu-Ray on the horizon. With Tron: Legacy being a direct sequel to  the cult classic 1982 film you’d think this would be the perfect time to trot out a stuffed-to-the-gills Blu, complete with all sorts of Legacy hype. This is when all the stocking stuffer discs have been hitting shelves, after all, and you imagine that kids freshly pumped from the 3D lightcycles of Legacy would be psyched to pop in the Blu of the movie that started it all.

I’d imagine that the reality of Tron - it’s not really that good! It’s more than a little boring! - is what’s keeping it hidden from sight. You can still buy it on Amazon marketplace, if you have 100 bucks to spare. It’s disappeared from Netflix, leaving only the ‘Save’ button where ‘Add to Queue’ should be. Disney would rather you not revisit this film and then say to yourself ‘Holy shit, that was turgid. Why would I want to pay up to 17 bucks to see the sequel in 3D IMAX?’

Which then raises the question of ‘Why would Disney want to make a direct sequel to a movie they’re so embarrassed of?’ There will be a Blu-Ray of the film - expect it at the same time that Tron: Legacy hits home video - but it’s back in the Disney Vault until then.

What do you think? Is Disney ashamed of Tron? Are they worried that watching the original will hurt their marketing plans for the new one? And are you thinking about selling your DVD now that you’ve learned it’s worth so much?