'Tron: Uprising' Star Bruce Boxleitner on the Animated Series: 'It's Not a Kiddie Show' (Video)

After Tron: Legacy failed to live up to commercial expectations when it was released in December 2010, fans feared that the franchise might be abandoned. But the film’s distributor, Walt Disney Pictures, proceeded with plans to launch an animated series, Tron: Uprising, which original Tron star Bruce Boxleitner says should satisfy viewers of all ages who are interested in further exploring the Grid.

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“The animated series has lessons in it, but I think this is something that all Tron fans will enjoy,” says Boxleitner, who plays Tron. “It’s not a kiddie show. It’s the next facet of the Tron mythology.”

Not unlike fellow film-to-animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Tron: Uprising is an interstitial series which connects the 1982 Tron to 2010’s Legacy. While the show focuses on a young program named Beck, it will also reveal how Tron transformed into Rinzler, CLU’s henchman. “We’ve come a long way with Tron,” Boxleitner observes. “I do know, because this falls between the first movie and Tron: Legacy, where ultimately he’s going to end up: wearing that black suit and working for the man.”

Boxleitner says that he finds that saga interesting -- even if it’s not going to give him many opportunities to make Tron more fun than he’s been portrayed in the past. “It all depends on the story, and I think so far we’ve been blessed with some very good writing,” he says. “[But] Tron, he’s never going to be Flynn. And as a human, Alan Bradley doesn’t have a lot of humor either.”

Watch the video above for more details from Boxleitner about Tron: Uprising. The show premieres on Disney XD on June 7, 2012.