Posté le: Jeu 13 Mar 2014 19:46 Sujet du message: [Terminée] Tron
Inscrit le: 20 Aoû 2010 Messages: 534
Maudit soit Shaka pour ces « ! » que j'ai tranquillement supprimés. Et pour ces innombrables futurs. Je me suis donc permis quelques caprices.
(j'ai refusé de traduire la phrase « en 1980, les jeux vidéo n'existent presque pas »)
(et en tant que fan d'Asimov, j'ai pas eu trop envie de dire que discuter avec sa machine à laver paraissait révolutionnaire en 1982. J'ai dit que c'était pas un désir répandu à la place)
(« le Supercalculateur a gagné, sous Hopper, 2546 bits quantiques et XANA est devenu 2546 fois plus puissant. » Cette phrase est inexacte. Normalement, XANA est devenu 2 puissance 2546 fois plus puissant (si on considère qu'il a accès à un pourcentage fixe de la puissance du SC). J'ai sous-traduit « XANA's power grew accordingly »)
Dans l'ensemble, je n'ai pas traduit au mot près, mais j'essaye de retranscrire toutes les idées.
J'avais déjà essayé de regarder Tron sans accrocher. Merci à ce dossier de m'avoir convaincue de le faire : ça en vaut la peine (d'autant que le film est assez court en fait) !
Ne me reste plus qu'à dire aux gens qui reliront ce pavé : bonne chance !
TRON : THE MYTH
Code Lyoko's sources of inspiration
« Tron : the Myth »
Spoiler
Let's get started with a major part of Code Lyoko's source of inspiration ! It was acknowledged as such by Code Lyoko's writers, and by Tania Palumbo and Thomas Romain (the creators of Garage Kids), and its influence was notably spotted by the French Wikipedia, which resulted in the following formule : « Tron, the Myth »
Which is precisely the object of this page !
Though this page may seem unattractive, I testify that any proper Lyokofan should know a little more about Tron.
So, what is Tron, nutshell version !
Tron is a movie that was made in the 80's, using for the first time CGI and photoshopping ! Well, those who are really keen on recent special effects and scenes in which everything happens very fast may not find what they are looking for ; nethertheless, Tron is an essential step in the history of CGI, as well as science-fiction !
This movie can be refered to as a groundbreaking achievement ! Remember, in 1980, video games were played on Atari and Commodore, or in Amusement Arcades – in other words, they were still at an embryonic stage ! Hence the (very modern) kind of flippers that famous gamers use during the movie, instead of gamepads connected with consoles.
As of the title « Tron », it is the name of one of the characters, though it's not the main protagonist's. Indeed, Tron is not human : it's a program, that lives inside a computer, and can access the network. Doesn't that already reminds you of our dead Aelita ? Well, don't get carried away ! Eventhough it is an intelligent being, Tron was never human : it is a 100 % artificial intelligence. Which doesn't imply that there are no similarities, on the contrary ! For instance, their purpose ? Reprograming everything ! [Translator's note : « Tout reprogrammer » is in the lyrics of the French Code Lyoko's opening]
Without delay, let's discover the main pieces of informations about the movie !
Title : Tron
Directed by : Steven Lisberger
Story by : Steven Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird
Produced by : Donald Kushner, Harrison Ellenshaw and Ron Miller
Studio : Walt Disney Productions
Budget : $17 million
Music : Wendy Carlos
Cinematography : Bruce Logan
Editing by : Jeff Gourson
Art Department : Jean Giraud, Syd Mead and Dean Edward Mitzner
Costumes Department : Eloise Jensson, Rosanna Norton and Lorry Richter
Country : United States
Genre : Science-fiction
Running time : 96 minutes
Release dates : 9 juillet 1982 in the United States, 8 décembre 1982 in France
Source : French Wikipédia
Well, in case you don't have the time to watch the movie, here is a short synopsis
In 1982, a big Compagny, ENCOM, created a whole universe in a video game : the Space Paranoids. This masterpiece is the outcome of the whole company's work, but it mostly exists thanks to one man : Kevin Flynn !
However, one of Flynn's coworkers, Edit Dillinger, double-crosses him, seizes his project, closes off all his accesses to his working files, and pretends to be the creator of this incredible game ! He achieves such a fame, that he becomes ENCOM's CEO.
Nethertheless, Flynn is not one to easily give up. With the help of two friends, who are still employees at ENCOM (Alan Bradley and Lora), he will break into his old company's place at night, in order to free Tron. Tron is a revolutionary and autonomous program, retained captive, yet able to disable the security center long enough for Flynn to get the documents proving that he is the creator of the game, wich are heavily guarded.
However, the security program, called the MCP (Master Control Program), is the ultra-powerful puppet of its programmer Dilligner.
Puppet ? Actually, not quite ! The very evening when Flynn tries to carry out his coup, the MCP, that is getting brighter and brighter, breaks its hains and turns out to be a threat. Dillinger has lost all control over it ! When Flynn attempts to free Tron, the MCP refuses to see a potential ennemy program like Tron wandering around ! It therefores use a laser, at the cutting edge of technology, to virtualize Flynn on ENCOM's Network, where it is sure that taking him down will be easy.
In the rest of the movie, Flynn manages to escape the MCP's minions. Since he created most of the Network in which he manœuvres, in particular the gaming platforms (Space Paranoids) where the MCP intended to suppress him, he manages to survive.
Flynn then meets Tron and other partners (programs rising up agains the MCP's tyranny) ; together, they find a program able to destroy the MCP. So they go and fight the terrifying Master Control Program and its lieutenant : Sark, another of Dilliger's programs.
Flynn breaks into the MCP and allows Tron to destroy it using the program. The human thus made possible the emancipation of the virtual world, and the destruction of the MCP. When the lattest disappears, Flynn is automatically sent back to the real world, through the same laser that had virtualized him.
As a bonus, the gets the document proving that he is the one who created Space Paranoids, and all the glory it entails.
So this is what you need to know to understand the file:
Flynn : creator of a famous gaming platform (the Space Paranoids) who was robbed of his rights by Dillinger. He wants to use Tron in order to get around the MCP and get back the file proving that he is the one who created the game. He is unwilligly virtualized by the MCP and has to make his way to survive the virtual universe ! Dillinger : usurper who stole the title of creator of Flynn's Space Paranoids, he still remains a brillant programmer since he created the MCP. Though he is a key element of the plot, his role during the movie is more that of an extra, since he doesn't participate the action much. MCP (Master Control Principal) : Extremely intelligent security system of the ENCOM company, it gets more and more clever, and rebels against Dillinger. It tries to exterminate anyone who can oppose it – in other terms, Tron and Flynn. Tron : Security program intended to protect ENCOM inependently from the MCP. It is the only program that can get around the MCP, which makes it MCP Ennemy N°1. Alan Bradley : Tron's creator, and Flynn's friend, he helps him to be acknowledged as the creator of Space Paranoids. Sark : Program bound to the MCP ; it makes sure its master's orders are executed in the Digital world. Also programmed by Dillinger.
Well, you are ready to face the challenge of going through this long file, so now…let's really get started !
I) Two series : two real worlds, and, most importantly, two digital worlds !
Spoiler
A] Real worlds
a) Earth as we know it…
There isn't much to say about the real universes of those two series.
On one hand, Code Lyoko shows junior high school students who spend most of their time at school, and go to a disused factory every time the world is in danger.
On the other hand, Tron shows us the world of adults. There is not a single child in the movie (while there is a scene in which women in underwear are quite…many) Advanced programs are created in broad daylight, by a major computing company that works on revolutionary projects.
Code Lyoko and Tron seem to take place in two very different contexts…
However, there is a similarity between those two real worlds.
First, those words are both contemporary of the time when Tron and Code Lyoko were created. I mean : Tron takes place in the 80's, and Code Lyoko around 2004-2005. Moreover…
b) …with over-advanced technology !
In those two real worlds, computing technology is way ahead of its time ! And I do emphasise on the words : « of its time » Why ? Because if you watch Tron from the perspective of an adolescent from the third millenium, some of its technology will seem out of fashion to you. Especially those famous racing games using flippers ! Graphics sure are far from our beautiful Wii's… **Notices Sony fans sherpening their knives** …or those of our dear Playstation 3…
**Stands aside while Sony and Nintendo fans fiercely battle !**
But keep in mind that in 1980, video games were still at an early stage. So to the people of the 80's, Tron was showing an incredible revolution (that still hasn't stopped, even today…)
An anecdote to help you understand how those graphics were perceived at the time : during an awards ceremony, the movie Tron was not accepted in the « Special Effects » category. The reason ? Well, directors had used computers ! Nowadays, special effects without computers sounds crazy ; at the time, it was the other way around.
As of Code Lyoko, less explications are needed : you already know that Supercomputers exist, but that they are far from having the same kind of power as Hopper's !
What's mort, both the return to the past and virtualization remain impossible. Well, some people say that they are possible, but anyhow, they'd require massive amounts of energy, far beyond what we have at our disposal.
See Mister Guy's file for more precise explanations about the possibility of Lyoko's existence.
I could keep, saying how amazed I am at Tronian avant-gardism and Lyokoian avant-gardism, but I don't wanna take away your pleasure when you see the movie and search by yourself for all those differences in viewpoints, that are called by the two decades that are between Tron and Code Lyoko.
Just…one last remark !
In the movie Tron, Alan Bradley, Tron's programmer, declares at some point that one day, machines will think by themselves. At the time when Tron was released, it sounded really unconceivable. Outside of Asimov's stories, there were not many people who'd fancy themselves chatting with their washing machine one day.
Nowadays, Artificial Intelligences have already been created, and eventhough they don't have XANA or Tron's MCP abilities, there are few people who still doubt that one day, human beings will be able to create A.I. that will be brighter that himself. Some people even see there a possibility of humanity's decline and its replacement by machines. And that's Matrix ! Incredible, those three universes really do match, don't they ?
What, carried away ? Who ? I ?
B] Digital worlds
a) The World…
From our perspective, the world of Tron is very difficult to conceive. In a few decades, the public's understanding of computing underwent a remarkable evolution ; what's more, as Lyokofans, we are influenced by Lyoko's protrayal of a digital world.
Therefore, do understand that the representation of Tron's world is not official nor complete.
Since this movie has been a little forgotten since 1982, I'd better explain what Tron's world looks like. First of all, the world of Tron resembles more the real world than Lyoko : no Desert, Mountain, Forest or Ice Sector. It rather looks like an endless city : drives, walls, buildgins, vehicles, game arenas, armed forces…
The Network's appearance is more material than digital. In Code Lyoko, when there is an explosion, the environment flickers for a while and then reappears. However, in Tron, if a bike crashed into a wall, the wall is cracked like it would be in real life ; and contrary to what happens in Lyoko, the damage is not automatically repaired.
In this world, each computer's mainframe is a city, and each program is an individual fulfulling his job.
Tron takes place in the computer system of ENCOM comany, which is therefore represented as some kind of digital conurbation (set of cities linked together) composed of all the connected mainframes of the company's computers.
The network is a great number of digital cities that are connected with each other solely by long highways. Therefore, a city can cut itself apart from the rest of the network by shutting off its accesses. A computer with no access to the internet would a city with all its in and out accesses shut, and no possible exchange with any other city.
This Tronian representation perfectly fits the words « Web » or « Net » ! The network is a large spiderweb that links together all the computers in te world.
Still in a Tronian perspective, one who wants to get in a system has to try and get a program inside the computer to work for him. That's what Flynn first tries, at the beginning of the movie, since he doesn't know about Tron : he creates a programm and tries to smuggle it into ENCOM's network, in order to get his documents.
Conversely, when ENCOM attacks, the MCP sends « fighting » programs to invade another city. Sark alludes to it when it is first shown. The « the weaklings he has to attack » refer to the security systems of other digital towns (that represent, just to remind you, the circuits of a computer mainframe) or conurbations (networks).
One last question : what is both outside of the digital towns, and outside of the Web's highways ?
Aha ! But actually, it's simple. What is there between digital bubbles like Lyoko and the Replikas ?
The Digital Sea !
Tron also has its own version of a digital ocean :
**two images**
b) …and its inhabitants
Inside those cities (mainframes), every program serves a purpose. Well, one could say they're public servants. [Translator's note : I tried to translate the pun between « avoir une fonction » (fulfill a function) and « fonctionnaire » (civil servant)]
For example, Sark is both an antivirus…and a virus. It can destroy foreign programs that break into ENCOM, or break into the security systems into which the company hacks. Those are its functions.
However, as a digital society, it could be seen as an instance of totalitarism. Useless programs are exterminated ! At best, they serve one last purpose before disappearing : entertaining people from the real world, as toys in a game arena – in other words, as gaming avatars ! However, in Tron, programs have only one life, and no backup nor save can bring back to life a program that was eliminated during a game !
To sum things up, when you carelessly uninstall a program, delete its files, or clean up tour hard drive, in Tron, the MCP deals with killing and eliminating the obsolete programs without notifying you.
Another class of programs that are savagely destroyed, the system's ennemies. At the time when Tron went out, those were not widely known, but you've surely heard of Trojan Horses or viruses.
But what really makes this digital dictatorship look like the real world is that in Tron, every program is personified : they are embodied by actors, in an appropriate costume. Therefore, looking at programs who think, talk with each other feel pain and sadness and even kiss…all those human emotions make them full-fledged live beings ! It's as if uplanned artificial intelligences had already been created. Well, at least, as far as the most advanced programs are concerned : Tron, its « girlfriend », the MCP and its lieutenant Sark…
We will come back to this interesting question in the next part.
II) Human beings in a computer : from shattering to virtusalization !
Spoiler
A] Reminders and Comparison : the virtualization and materialisation processes
a) Virtualization and dematerialisation
Now we're getting to the main aspect that Code Lyoko and Tron share : the virtualization process !
Developed by Hopper and his Scanners in Code Lyoko, it is, in Tron, the fruit of the work of a team made of brillant scientists, including Lora, one of Flynn's two allies.
It is a lifelong teamwork that made possible the creation of a laser that would decompose matter. Just at the beginning of Tron, the team tries the laser on an orange, that they send to the digital world. However, since they don't even know about the existence of such a world in their computers, they just think they managed to make the orange disappear !
That's why they use the term « dematerialisation » instead of « Virtualization » [Translator's note : of course, check the movie to make sure that I'm not using the wrong term]
While in Code Lyoko, virtualization is two for a penny, only one virtualization occurs in Tron – that is, Flynn's.
This virtualization was intended by the bad guy of the story, on which we will come back later. Annoyed by Flynn's attempt to sabotage him from a real world's terminal, the MCP uses the laser beam, which was developed to experiment on objects. The effect, however, is not different : Flynn gets virtualized and changed into computer software. Which was exactly what the MCP wanted, since it was certain that this getting rid of this annoying human would be a piece of cake, once he had been reduced to being a program.
Devirtualization and rematerialization are also pretty different from what we can see in Code Lyoko. In Tron, they consist in some totally unexplained serendipity that happens by chance, when Flynn sacrifices himself to immobilize the MCP, thus leaving it at Tron's mercy.
Nonetheless, these processes are still pretty similar in the series and in te movie. Follows a juxtaposition of images, like I did in Matrix. You will see, it is even closer in Tron than it was in Matrix !
Also, see Korki's file to better understand and learn more about the virtualization and materialisation processes in Code Lyoko.
**images**
Not many remarks left, except that Flynn's virtualization is less developed than Lyoko Warriors'…
The scanning part is slower and requires the human body to be divided into little pieces : machines seem unable to scan and transfer in one row.
Moreover, the whole process seems really trying !
One last criticism : nothing explains how, once he has been changed into a program, Flynn retains his consciousness, his mind, his memories…Indeed, the body is virtualized, but what about the soul ? Are the thinking data saved in an informatic memory, as in Code Lyoko ? But ENCOM's computers don't seem to be able to handle such an amount of data…
…Mystery…
With Lyoko, only the rematerialisation is trying, not the process that give you a digital form.
But before we get to the rematerialisation, we still have to go through devirtualization and digital shattering !
b) Devirtualization/rematerialisation
Once inside the Digital World, Flynn is an exception. He's the only actual…errr…Network Warrior…of the movie, since he's the only digital character who came from the real world. He is, to a certain extent, an alien.
All the other inhabitants of the Network are programs. When they die, they have no body in which they can be rematerialized. They are more similar to XANA's monsters : their deaths in the digital word entails their immediate death. The proper trem would then be « scattering » : a devirtualization that is not followed by a rematerialization.
**images**
But Krabs, Hornets and other creatures aren't the only ones who had to face such devirtualizations. Remember all the times when our heroes faced the same situation !
In episode #22 « Routine », XANA hacked into the Supercomputer to make rematerialization impossible !
In episode #61 « Sabotage », it is the damage of the Supercomputer's components that makes the devirtualization deadly.
In episode #83 « Superstition », a mandelbug endangers defeated Lyoko Warriors.
As soon as rematerialisation becomes impossible, our heroes must fight under a lot of pressure ! Lyoko is not the « video game », as Ulrich puts it (#17) : their lifes are at stake !
Not to mention the fact that Aelita underwent this situation during seasons 1 and 2. It's only after Hopper gave her back the missing fragment that Aelita became a full-fledged human who would be sent back to Earth after the devirtualization, instead of duing as a program in the digital world.
Not being able to rematerialise is very dangerous, and WANA knows it well ! It even tries to cause this situation several times, in episode #7 « Image Problem », using a fake Yumi, or in episode #56 « False Lead »
In this respect, when our heroes cannot be rematerialised, they really do becomme programs. If they were to be devirtualizated, they would be lost forever, scattered like many programs in Tron…
But let's get back to Flynn. As of the process of rematerialisation itself, it is the exact opposite of virtualization, except there is no phrase during which the body is scanned. Lora's laser retrieves program Flynn's data, and brutally ejects them towards the real world, thus recreating the body.
Let's just point out that unlike virtualization, Tron's rematerialisation is as quick and brutal as Code Lyoko's.
B] Digital Appearance
a) Digital reality
The origin of our heroes' virtual avatars remained, for quite a long time, a mystery – until we learned that they were first defined by the analysis of the subconscious operated by the Supercomputer, and that then Jeremy could modify them as he wished.
Therefore, eventhough they have the appearances of elfs, geishas, samurais or Pig Purple Cats, our virtualized heroes look like the teenagers they are in the real world. They retain their personalities because souls are encoded and saved in the Supercomputers' memory (by souls, I mean their memories and all that they are).
Whence we can assert that Lyoko is a very different world from ours. Humans who enter it remain themselves, but there are little other common points between Earth and Lyoko.
The Ice Sector is pale in comparison to Greenland, and the Sahara is nothing like the Desert Sector…
The only actual inhabitants of Lyoko, that were born on Lyoko, have an immaterial form (like XANA), or were shaped by the imagination of their creator. Again, even if they share the same name, Krabs and crabs are as similar as a turnip and a beetroot.
In Tron, however, the Digital and Real worlds seem to be connected.
Flynn seems to bind by the same rules as our usual Lyoko Warriors ; but I will talk about the programs, the ones that actually are from the digital world.
First of all, those are humanoids. Except for their sense of fashion and their whitish skins that are paler than a dead man's, they just look like our twins.
It is but a way to represent programs, but from the first scenes in ENCOM's mainframe, we do have the impression that a whole little human world dwells in our computers.
This detail is a radical divergence between the concepts of Tron and Code Lyoko.
Which Lyokofan wouldn't shoot, whithout any hesitation, a Kankrelat that would happen to be wandering around on a sports field ? Surely none.
On the contrary, harming something that shares our human characteristics seems much more uncomfortable.
As of their behaviour, oddly, it is also pretty similar to ours.
There is, in the movie, a paradox. While they try to show that programs are not equal to human beings yet, in terms of intelligence, on the other hand, programs are performed by human actors. Therefore, visually speaking, we tend to see those programs are our equals.
Some hints, however, set us thinking the contrary if we pay close attention. In the end, only the most advanced programs (including Tron and his nemesis, the MCP) are endowed with an intelligence close to human beings'.
Last element that draws the two worlds even closer to each other : the programs have the same physical appearance and the same behaviour than their User.
Which means that there is only one actor for both the Program and the Programer ! For instance, Tron and Allan Bradley are performed by the same person, as are Sark and Dillinger, and so on…
To make things even more mixed up, the programs' destinies are similar to that of their Users ! Indeed, sentiments begin to sprout up between tho programs : Allan Bradley's program, Tron, and Lora's Yori. Funny, since the programers are, in the real world, engaged !
But in the end, these parallel loves can be explained by the fact that each program has the same personnality than his creator, whatever its function ! So it is only logical that the sympathies are the same in both worlds.
To conclude, unlike Code Lyoko, in which the idea is dubious, Tron tries to describe a universe that truly is parallel to ours.
b) The programs' blood
There is an odd mystery surrounding the color of the energy flowing through the programs' « veins ».
Initially, the color is a cold, metallic blue, like the Digital Sea – actually, it could be the same substance. Therefore, it is likely that Tron's Digital Sea is some representation of virtual energy…A representation of electricity, maybe ?
Yet, for some programs, there is a moment when the color of this flow turns red. It seems to be somewhat linked with the MCP. However, there can be but hypothesis about what this change of color means and what caused it, because Tron's universe is pretty abstract at times. What's more, the fact that a program turns red doesn't mean that it is controlled by the MCP…
At one moment, when Flynn knocks out one of the MCP's minions, his flow turns red. Which doesn't seem to affect him whatsoever…
Just like the programs, the highways connecting computers togethers can also turn blue or red.
Which reminds us of Code Lyoko's Network (that is, the Digital Sea), the blue color of which becomes red when XANA is present !
**images**
III) Code Lyoko : Tron's…Legacy …
Spoiler
and hidden easter eggs !
A] Two similar stories : Tron, Code Lyoko's ancestor
a) There is a world that is virtual and different ; and beyond, the infinite…
Blatantly, this is the first common point. Though they are nothing alike.
Because Tron's digital world was not created or designed. It's more like an abstract representation of what's going on in our computers and on the Net that links them ; thus, Tron's digital world would ressemble the Network rather than Lyoko or a Replika.
If the conception of those who made the movie Tron was to be applied at Lyoko, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, Aelita and William wouldn't be virtualized on our well-known Lyoko or in the Network : they would appear, as programs, inside a huge city representing the Supercomputer and all the programs there are inside.
However, there is something that dos resemble closely Lyoko in Tron…
Do you remember Odd's quote from the Prologue, « Am I in a video game ? »
Well, in Tron, games are the closest things to Lyoko. Usually, when Users (or programers) write programs, they don't even know anything about their appearances ! Yet, there is a special category : the creators of video games, such as Flynn. Those create game arenas connected to the real world, that humans can explore and in which they can enjoy themselves.
So, for each new video game, an « arena » appears, in which everything looks exactly as it was planned by the programmer.
In short, each time a video game is developed, some kind of mini-Lyoko appears in Tron's universe.
Even shorter :
Code Lyoko's Network => Tron's Digital World
Lyoko => Space Paranoids' gaming platform
a) A similar foe : the program is a bastard
**images**
Of course, those who read this file are Lyokofans who know well about the characeristics and essence of XANA. Those who don't should check out the XANA section in the Code Lyoko menu, to find out more about it.
I'll try to make it succint :
XANA is a multi-agent program that is able to increase its own intelligence by itself. His power is also increased every time that the Supercomputers it controls gains a new quantum bit. Now its intelligence is comparable to that of a human being. It is able to communicate, manipulate, set traps, give or meet ultimatums…
The program XANA was created by Franz Hopper, a genius who ended up losing his control over his own creation. Even negociations were not sufficient to reason with the rebellious program.
Thirdly, XANA tries to destroy humanity, and protect itself from it.
Those are the 3 points I'm interested in, here. Its nature, how it became dangerous, its goal.
Since I'm notoriously lazy, I'll do the same with the MCP :
In spite of its bombastic name (that stands for « Master Control Programm »), well, the MCP remains but a program ! Like XANA, it was at first a really clever program, but it was harmless : indeed, it was merely a chess game !
How did it acquire so much cleverness ? The movie doesn't whow the answer to this question ; all we know is that when Dillinger started using it to hack into other systems, it had to face more and more complex defense systems. The MCP itself says that it « assimilated those defense programs », like a vampire that would copy its victims' abilities. It also gets the characteristics of the programs that are destroyed in game arenas.
When the movie starts, the MCP is able to speak and has acquired human emotions. The first emotion it shows is indignation. Indignation and disappointment when it learns that its Master plans to have another autonomous program to assist it. The MCP probably felt those emotions because it was originally designed as a chess program, and in chess competition has its importance.
But the most striking detail is a number.
Thanks to Hopper's diary, we know that the scientist launched exactly 2546 Returns to the Past.
Quote from episode 52 : « June 6th, 1994. Day 2546. The scanners and virtualization programs are ready ! In a few hours, I will go to Lyoko with Aelita. »
In other words, with Hopper, the Supercomputer increased its number of qbits by 2546, and XANA's power grew accordingly.
Now, here is a quote by the MCP : « Since the moment I was created, I became 2546 times brighter… »
Rings a bell, doesn't it ?
Now, about their genesis !
Though he doesn't bind by the rules of intellectual property and steals his colleague's work, Dillinger still is a brillant programmer ; he is the one who created the MCP.
Like Hopper, our unfortunate Dilliger is betrayed by his rebellious program without warning. The MCP, however, is much less harsh towards Dillinger than XANA towards Hopper : all it does is blackmailing him into accepting to do its will.
But one thing both creators try is trying to negociate with their rebellious creations. In episode #57 « Aelita », Hopper says to Aelita that he will try to persuade it to coexist peacefully ; XANA doesn't listen to what he has to say…
Just like Hopper, Dillinger tries to reason with his program, by reminding it that it was created by a human being and cannot replace him.
Proud of its progresses, the MCP contents itself with answering that it increased its own intelligence by itself.
At last, their goal !
The MCP's objective aren't clearly specified. It just seems to want control over the Real World and the Digital World.
It may seem less drastic than XANA's goal, which is destroying humanity. However, the MCP's methods are as…sweet as XANA's ! Just to threaten its User, the MCP will take control of computer system of Pentagon and Kremlin.
(Quick historical reminder – so quick I'm ashamed : the Pentagon and the Kremlin are two military centres in the USA and in the USSR, a confederation of socialist countries under Moscow's management. In 1982, the USA and the USSR were undergoing the Cold War, which was some kind of indirect conflict about shows of force. Indeed, actual war was to be avoided at all cost because of the tremendous firepower that was at both side's disposal.)
All that power in the hands of one megalomaniac program…The MCP is not less dangerous for humanity than XANA !
XANA has an other goal : protect itself. This is the reason why it flees into the Network at the end of Season 2.
The MCP is no different. As the master of its own digital real and as the brightest program in the world, it can easily take over the global network.
There is only one obstacle to its domination : Tron.
Created in order to replace the MCP in its defensive duties, Tron has the power to get around the MCP.
At the beginning of the movie, Tron is not a real problem for the MCP, since it is kept captive, under close surveillance. But, as I explained in Tron's nutshell version at the top of this page, Flynn wants to wreak revenge on Dillinger and get the documents proving that he is the one who created Space Paranoids. Since those documents are in Dillinger's possession, they are protected by the MCP's perfect defense. Therefore, Flynn needs to sabotage ENCOM's system from within, which is why he needs Tron.
Let's just point out that Flynn wishes no harm to the MCP : it's Dillinger he is after. But the MCP sees Tron as a threat, so it attacks Flynn when the human tries to free the program.
The means he use, that is taking possession of an object (the laser), is similar to some of XANA's attacks ; and the goal, once again, is merely to protect oneself.
In short :
XANA and the MCP : same nature, same origins, same rebellion and above all, same goals !
Same fate ? See the ending of season 4 !
c) The main antagonist is the head of an army. Here we come, MCP !
Like XANA, the MCP is quite an abstract entity, a special program. It rarely uses its own body, and always makes its minions execute its orders.
As of XANA, it has no body we know of.
Consequently, those two super-vilains need henchmen to act in their places.
There are no actual Kankrelats or any other digital monster in Tron.
However, some programs in Tron's universe seem to serve no other purpose than being tools for the MCP. Unlike the others programs, the energy that flows in them is red, and they are equiped with pikes. They are somewhat the equivalent of XANA's monsters, as far as their function is concerned. What's more, we can't see their face, which means they don't show any emotion, except a total submissiveness to the MCP.
Admittedly, those aren't blatant similarities. However…
There is, in Code Lyoko, one of XANA's servants who does show emotions : its grand lieutenant, William !
The same goes for Tron : all those programs without soul receive their orders from an other program that does have a really expressive face : Sark.
Another common point with William : Sark doesn't seem to serve the MCP willingly.
Remember episode #76, « The Lake », William returns to his senses thanks to Yumi, because he refuses to hit her. He then tries to fight back XANA ; unfortunately, XANA wins…
The same situation happens when the MCP orders his servant Sark to kill Flynn after his virtualization. Like all the programs that are not mere slaves of the MCP, Sark feels respect towards the « Users » : they are heir guides, almost their gods ! So when the receives this order from the MCP, Sark, that is merely a program, doesn't agree with the idea of killing one of the Users. Therefore, the MCP makes Sark suffer a shock treatment, like XANA did to William, in order to remind him the meaning of te words « duty » and « submission » !
**images**
d) Facing Evil, the good guy : program in spite of himself
Good guys will always arise against bad ones…
In both Code Lyoko and Tron, the bad guy is a digital enemy that dominates almost totally the digital world. To overcome such a terrible foe, what you need is other programs, a little less powerful (or else it would be too easy…) but endowed with precise abilities that allow them to cancel or bypass the SuperProgram's powers.
For instance, Aelita. Unable to use the towers as efficiently as XANA, she still has the ability to deactivate towers – the « Code Lyoko » power, if I may say so…
The other person who can oppose XANA in Code Lyoko is Franz Hopper. Though he appears late in the series (end of season 2), he regularly throws a wrench in XANA's gears in spite of his own vulnerable position.
So the scenario gives us vulnerable heroes who are yet a threat from the bad guy's perspective.
In Tron, the MCP must also be extremely cautious about two programs.
The first one is, of course, Tron. Created by Alan Bradley, this defense system dwells in the part of the digital network where are ENCOM's programs, including another security system, MCP. However, Tron is independent from the MCP, and able to bypass it.
Furthermore, Tron was endowed by its User Alan with the ability to reprogram the MCP, thus turning it back to its original state : that of a harmless chess program !
At last, in the Network, Tron has outstanding reflexes, much quicker than those of the MCP's puppets, including Sark ! Knowing that in this movie, you fight foes by throwing disks at them, Tron is a really fearsome opponent.
The other program to fight the MCP is…not quite exactly a program, since he's the hero of the movie.
Flynn, an unwilligly virtualized human, is closer to our Lyoko Warriors. In particular, he shares common traits with Hopper and his daughter.
Like Franz Hopper, the creator of Lyoko, Flynn is a creator of programs, and they name him accordingly (translator's note : in the french version of the movie, Users are called Creators). Therefore, he has two unusual skills : create and shape matter in the digital world. In a quite funny scene (well, as funny as the 80s could get…), Flynn clumsily operates some kind of ship and keeps colliding in walls here and there since he is unable to handle the ship properly. But since he can control matter, he just sticks back together all the pieces of his ship he loses at each collision ; thus, he spends a whole minute destroying and rebuilding his ship !
As of the other skill, it is pretty similar to Aelita's Creativity.
The is a scene in which Tron, Flynn and a third program (Lora's) travel in some kind of sailing boat that somewhat functions like a cable car : it dangles, hung by cables that carry it over emptiness.
Yet the real trouble begins when the MCP sends another vehicle on the cable to prevent the sailing boat's occupants from going further.
When everyting seems to be lost, Flynn surprises everyone : he creates another cable, links it to the cable they're on, and their vehicle quietly turns (and takes) off, thus avoiding a fight against the vehicle sent by the MCP.
This synthesis leaves Flynn much tired. (Didn't Aelita lose life points when she used this power during season 1?)
**images**
Flynn's last masterstroke is throwing himself inside the MCP's avatar in order to paralyze it and let Tron reprogram its functionment.
At the time when this article was written, there was an hypothesis running, that Franz Hopper would sacrifice himself that way, in order to neutralize XANA. Though he didn't enter his evil program's avatar, it turned out to be quite correct.
There is no doubt that without plagiarising Tron, Tania and Tomain did draw some inspiration out of this movie.
A] Two similar stories : Tron, Code Lyoko's ancestor
Word, word, word, too many words ! A little less to translate in this part (Phew ! ^-^)
Here, we're just going to point out some similarities between the two universes. We can't say those points are sources of inspiration : they are more like veiled references to Tron.
So let's juxtapose images from those two giants and briefly comment those examples :
**** An unidentified ennemy appearing in its avatar form
**** Throwing discs, ancestor of throwing fans ?
**** The MCP's activity is highlighted by a red color. Wen it is destroyed, all the zones it used to control turn back blue. Doesn't that remind you of some tower's halo ?
About the towers…In Tron, those are the only way programs can interact with the outside world. Oh ! doesn't that ring a bell ?
**** The luminous flux that they broadcast connect all the computers in the world together. Actuelly, those are data flow between computers ; don't you remember the way Carthage is linked to the others Sectors ?
**** Be it in 1982 or in 2004, scratches will make you go throug sizzling glitches !
**** Being fast doesn't prevent you from leaving a trail, on the contrary !
**** Not much love in the movie, but who could resist a digital kiss ? It's so beautiful !
**** To hell with digital stuff ! An IRL kiss, that's also beautiful !
And those two do remind me of Mr and Mrs Einstein, as far as their characters are concerned…
Conclusion
Spoiler
Though at the beginning of the movie, I felt somewhat skeptical, the more the story moved forward and greys areas were disappearing, the more common points I could find between Code Lyoko and Tron : there is plethora, enev more than with Matrix !
I find it quite regrettable that this old Disney movie is not known by a greater number, because many Lyokophiles with a sharp critical mind could enjoy watchinf this movie and see how much it inspired Code Lyoko.
To conclude, I'll say that Tron remains, to connoisseurs, a mythical movie, and that it inspired many other movies, books or even video games. Tributes and hints were and still are made, so you may find Tron even in a universe such as Kingdom Hearts 2 !
Certainly, this file on Tron doesn't say everything there is to say on movie because I had to stick to comparing it with Code Lyoko. If you want to learn more, Wikipedia may help you (you can see a whole list of science-fiction works it influenced), or, for Lyoko's sake, watch the movie !
File written by Shaka, 23/10/2007 _________________
Premier commandement :Tous les êtres humains naissent libres et égaux en dignité et en droits. Les distinctions sociales ne peuvent être fondées que sur l'utilité commune. Troisième commandement :Tout individu a droit à la vie Quatrième commandement :Nul ne sera tenu en esclavage ni en servitude; l'esclavage et la traite des esclaves sont interdits sous toutes leurs formes.
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