I've been a bit slow to report this news, sorry about that.
A campaign to help save TRON Uprising from cancellation has appeared on the site
smgo.tv, which describes itself as a crowd-funding service that demonstrates fan interest in canceled shows: with the intention of presenting a campaign to the company that produces the series, showing them that there is still demand to continue with new episodes.
If voting for a show reaches its target, fans then put their money where their mouth is: pledging to help fund the production of new episodes. In return - in addition to seeing their show possibly renewed - people who pledge money will receive rewards, usually in the form of unique merchandise based on the show, made specifically for them as collector's items.
It's an interesting concept, and more about how the whole process works can be
read on the site. What makes smgo.tv different, and unique compared to another type of crowd-funding site like Kickstarter, is that people don't have to pledge money upfront. If the studio producing the series still doesn't show any interest even after they're made aware of the campaign, no one's money need be refunded.
This campaign probably has the greatest chance of succeeding, of any fan effort. Even more so than a petition. That being said, I'll still reluctantly state that it seems Disney is dead set against renewing TRON Uprising.
Although no official cancellation statement was ever made, it's more-or-less been confirmed in a quote from an
article on Variety.com.
Disney XD's visually impressive and pricey animated series "Tron: Uprising," based on the films, struggled to attract the channel's core viewers of 6- 11-year-old boys. The series' tone appealed more to an older audience that isn't yet watching the channel.
"It did well with many segments of the audience, but missed some of the key demos," DeBenedittis says. "It's one of those examples where if the bull's-eye is the Disney brand, and you go into the other rings, you take some risks in missing the magic of the bull's-eye. ("Tron: Uprising" took the right risk and we created a show to be so proud of, but it hit the secondary ring of the target.")
With a sequel to "Tron: Legacy" in the works at the studio, Disney Channels plans to eventually bring back "Tron," but it may not be returning as the same show, DeBenedittis says.
Paul DeBenedittis of Disney Channels Worldwide, from a Variety.com article
The key section to pay attention to is the third passage. Disney "plans to eventually bring back [animated] Tron, but it may not be returning as the same show".
Disney didn't attract the kind of audience they wanted, as I ruminated about in my
previous petition article. But rather than give TRON Uprising another chance on one of their other networks (Disney Channel, ABC, etc.), they've decided to simply give up on it. Truly shameful.
Here's hoping that, perhaps, the combined efforts of fan petitions and this campaign on smgo.tv, might make the difference.
Thanks to
deeahchur on the LDSO forum, and
bluelantern714 and
BanditTron on Tron-Sector, for the news.
1 Comment