Beck’s Beginning

Following the fall of Tron and Flynn, Clu begins to take over the entire Grid. A mechanic program, Beck, watches as one of his friends is derezzed for merely questioning the legality of Clu’s coup, and takes action: altering his appearance to look like Tron, he destroys a huge statue of Clu, drawing the attention of one of Clu’s generals, Tesler. As striking any blow for freedom is considered an act of terrorism under Clu’s regime, Beck’s career choices rapidly narrow. He’s capture by Tesler’s lieutenant, Paige, but manages to escape, landing in the middle of nowhere – but not alone. Beck is interrogated by another program who wants to know why he has chosen to impersonate Tron. And Beck’s interrogator has reason to ask, since he is Tron.

written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
directed by Charlie Bean
music by Joseph Trapanese

Cast: Elijah Wood (Beck), Bruce Boxleitner (Tron), Emmanuelle Chriqui (Paige), Mandy Moore (Mara), Nate Corddry (Zed), Lance Henriksen (Tesler), Reginald VelJohnson (Able), Paul Reubens (Pavel), Tricia Helfer (voice of the Grid), Charlie Bean (additional voices), Elizabeth Ho (additional voices), Meeghan Holloway (additional voices), Sam Riegel (additional voices), Keith Silverstein (additional voices), Fred Tatascione (additional voices), Keone Young (additional voices)

Notes: Originally broadcast in 10 mini-episodes, Beck’s Beginning garnered enough interest to be edited together to serve as a “prelude” to the series proper. Tron is shown to be in an extremely damaged state here, a condition that will presumably worsen until he becomes Rinzler (this animated series takes place before Tron Legacy). Bruce Boxleitner is the only cast member to have appeared in the live-action Tron franchise, starring as Tron (and his real-world alter ego Alan Bradley) in 1982’s Tron and 2010’s Tron Legacy. Elijah Wood is best known as Frodo Baggins from the 21st century big-screen Lord Of The Rings trilogy as well as the two Hobbit movies. Mandy Moore was the voice of Rapunzel in Disney’s all-CG movie Tangled, and has had recurring roles in Grey’s Anatomy, Scrubs, and Entourage, all while maintaining her career as a recording artist. Wood and Moore co-starred in 2002’s All I Want. Lance Henriksen’s genre resume could almost fill a book, with big-screen appearances in Aliens and several of its sequels, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, The Terminator, and The Right Stuff, and countless TV roles (including a three-year stint as star of the X-Files spinoff Millennium). Reginald VelJohnson will forever be known as Urkel’s dad from Family Matters, just as Paul Reubens will forever be associated with the character of Pee-Wee Herman. Tricia Helfer probably needs no introduction to genre audiences after starring as Number Six in the 21st century reboot of Battlestar Galactica. Director Charlie Bean worked on Batman: The Animated Series, Samurai Jack, Powerpuff Girls, Hercules & Xena: The Animated Movie and early episodes of Ren & Stimpy. Joseph Trapanese assisted Daft Punk on their soundtrack for Tron Legacy and takes over music duties here.