The DisGeek Podcast

Your Guide to the Happiest Place on Earth

Farewell ElecTRONica

By

Everyone who listens to the Podcast knows how I feel about ElecTRONica. But still, I won’t balk too much.

Mad T Party looks like mad fun, but I really, really, loved ElecTRONica so my default emotion here has to be disappointment.

Why do the powers that be at Disneyland have to mess up a good thing? Some, like my brother Daniel, think that ElecTRONica was getting “long in the tooth”. Some thought that ElecTRONica is not kid friendly. Some think that the film “TRON Legacy” was a ginormous flop and didn’t deserve such an awesome tribute. I say different.

The appeal of ElecTRONica is that, yes, it does seem to cater to teens, college kids and some grownups that still have a sense of fun. Why must you hard-core DLR fans think the place has to be all about your toddlers or about looking back on when you were a toddler? Why can’t teens and young adults have memories made?

Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are both safe places. Speaking for myself, when my kid reaches his teen years I would rather have something at the Disneyland Resort that will attract him, rather than have him scoffing at DLR as a place for babies and then getting himself shanked at Six Flags Magic Mountain by some gangbanger who got through the metal detector with a sharpened toothbrush.

I have a simple rubuttal for the people who think ElecTRONica is not good for kids. Observe:

If the programs in the TRON universe are so unfriendly to kids, why is this one playing I.D. Disc Frisbee with one  instead of derezzing him with an evil grin? I have a so many photos of kids having a blast at ElecTRONica, I have to laugh at any parent who thinks that young kids weren’t safe.

And for those of you who think that ElecTRONica was some kind of bad influence on them… the MOVIE was rated PG, so was ElecTRONica.

We Are Heroes ElecTRONica Performance 2-11-11

I have to admit I am biased. Many will disagree, but I think TRON is one of the best films Disney ever made. It was pioneering. It was groundbreaking. It pushed some real limits, and I imagine Walt would have been proud of it for those reasons.

When I hear that they were making TRON Legacy, I became very excited. When I saw the movie, well, it’s just not TRON. It did not push the limits, it was right inside the parameters of today’s film-making standards. None of that made it a bad movie. It wasn’t great either. It was what it was.

When DCA started ElecTRONica, I was blown away by it. To be transported into that world touched me in a way I think few could have been touched because I am such a huge advocate of the original TRON.

To answer the “long in the tooth” argument– those who think that ElecTRONica has run its course:

Some pass-holders think that everything that DLR offers is about them– their likes and dislikes. Just because they go to DLR once a week and burned out on ElecTRONica doesn’t make it long in the tooth or tired. Those people should go across the way to Carnation Plaza and swing dance, or go watch “Fantasmic!” for the billionth time. Go have a Dole Whip, or a Corn Dog and let the tourists who have NEVER seen it and the cool people who LOVE it enjoy the TRONness.

I can admit, that the pictures Daniel posted of the concept of the Mad T Party is curious. But it’s just a picture, and frankly it looks like it belongs in Mickey’s Toon Town. However,  I’m sure there will be plenty of goths and emos, you know, those peeps who will swallow any piece of crap Tim Burton does, to fill the place.

You think ElecTRONica is a bad environment for kids? Wait till those monumentally depressed Tim Burton fans cram up in there and start cutting themselves. You’ll wish you had ElecTRONica back!

I suspect that this Mad T Party will burn out and loose its allure far faster than ElecTRONICa would have. You want to talk about a movie that sucked hard? I think most of us would point the finger at “Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland” long before “TRON Legacy”.

And if “TRON Legacy” sucked, so hard, why is Disney making a 3rd TRON movie? Why is there an animated series coming to the Disney XD Channel. Observe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sakyg8srKU

 

While the Mad T Party, the pictures any way, looks like it might be a lot of fun too, there is something that ElectTRONica had that this simply won’t. I will miss the dark, futuristic feel of it. I’ll miss Flynn’s Arcade where they kept all the old video games I used to play as a kid. I’ll miss sitting at the End of Line Lounge, listing to the beat, watching the dancing and drinking a beer at a Disney park.

I’m sure the Mad T Party will have a lot to offer. I’m just venting. Losing ElecTRONica upsets me and what upsets me more is that Tim Burton is one of the least original, very worst storytellers walking the earth, and his “Johnny Depp  in Won–” oops… I mean “Alice In Wonderland” — the ridiculous failure that it is — is replacing something truly original and awe inspiring.

That they’re replacing a tribute to a film with a true legacy for one that simply sucked just creams my corn a little.

Farewell ElecTRONica, you were great while you lasted.

Comments

  2. I listened to this rant yesterday and almost pissed myself. I’ve never seen Electronica, maybe I’ll see Alice, but you had me cracking-up, no BLEEP! I laughed out loud no less than three times, love the passion you bring.