10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Tron

10. There’s only 15 minutes of actual computer animation in the movie. The rest of it was achieved through old-school techniques like matte painting, and the glowing circuits on the unitard costumes actually had to be hand-painted onto each and every frame of film. And yet the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences snubbed it for a Best Visual Effects Oscar nod that year because they felt using computers gave the animators an unfair advantage.

9.  Director and writer Steven Lisberger actually teased some of the look (as well as the light discs) for "Tron" in his production company’s animated logo. If that looks familiar, it might be because you saw "Animalympics," a made for TV, cult classic, animated movie Lisberger made two years prior to "Tron." He actually borrowed against the future profits of "Animalympics" in order to get storyboards and other elements made so he could pitch "Tron" to Disney.

8. Most of the Disney animators at the time refused to work on "Tron" because they thought computers were going to put them out of work. One young “imagineer,” however, saw some early footage and was instantly hooked. His name was John Lasseter, and he would later found the computer-animated juggernaut Pixar. 

7. Lisberger was inspired to make "Tron" after seeing something so cutting edge, so state-of-the-art, and so mindblowing that he was left absolutely stunned. It was a little video game called Pong.

6. Before veteran British actor David Warner took on the role of villain Ed Dillinger/Sark, it was supposed to be played by Peter O’Toole, who bolted after seeing the sets and feeling disappointed. Lora/Yuri was going to be played by Debbie Harry. "Caddyshack" star Cindy Morgan apparently won that role because she was the only one to pass famed illustrator and "Tron" concept artist Syd Mead’s test to spell “chrysanthemum.” 

5. The exterior of Flynn’s Arcade still exists. It’s now a restaurant called Akasha in Culver City, Calif. 

4. When Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) first enters the digital world, he marches in single file with a bunch of other “programs” and sees Tron (Bruce Boxleitner) for the first time. Flynn asks “Who’s that guy?” One program answers, while another (behind Flynn) nudges him to keep moving. The silent nudger is "American Ninja" star Michael Dudikoff.

3. So what is a "Tron?" Nothing, really. Lisberger took the name and title from the word "electronic."

2. When Flynn and Tron escape on the “solar sailer” ship, if you watch closely at the geometric terrain over which they’re flying, you will see it momentarily forms the shape of Mickey Mouse’s head.