WARNING: there are no spoilers here. This post is written only a few days after Tron: Legacy was released, and yes indeed I’ve seen it, and oh my goodness there’s a fun little speck of trivia happened upon by chance that’s totally worthy of a post. Who is Rinzler? That’s the question – where did the name come from? The character Rinzler is a gladiator, enforcer, and right hand man of Clu 2 in this new installment of the Tron series. There are many clues early in the movie as to what secret character he represents as a character, but where did the creators of the movie grab his name? Hint: Star Wars.
To explain the name used for this secondary yet extremely important character in the Tron: Legacy movie, presented here is a mister Jonathan Rinzler, or J.T.Rinzler, aka Lucasfilm Executive Editor and author of books you’ve almost certainly seen or otherwise own: The Making of Star Wars, The Complete Making of Indiana Jones, and the more recent Making of The Empire Strikes Back. Marvel at this lovely story and giggle with joy at the subsequent joy felt by the kids of JTR:
“Friends told me about the fact that there’s this character Rinzler in the new Tron movie,” says Rinzler. “So I went online to see if I could figure out where they got the name. But I couldn’t find anything. There aren’t many Rinzlers in the States and it’s not a name that means anything, as far as I know… Then when Joe Kosinski came as a guest speaker I was actually on my way to the event before I realized this might be a chance to ask him. So I waited till after the q-and-a, went down to the front, and said I had a strange question but had to ask where he got the name, or where the writers got the name. And he said that he was sitting with the two writers working, and there was a book on the table ‘a Making of’ he said… ‘Oh yeah, it was Making of Star Wars by someone named Rinzler.’ So I said ‘that’s me’, thanked him, shook his hand and said I had to go out and buy a few action figures — needless to say, my kids are thrilled.”
Hooray! Now go see that freaking movie and make sure your eyes and ears are cleaned out because it’s a trip!
[Via Official Star Wars Blog]