There was something undeniably awesome about Disney in the early 1980s. The company was expanding its theme parks in Flordia with EPCOT, a shrine to technological innovation. Meanwhile, a bunch of young kids sort of got left unattended at the studio. The result? Movies like Tron.

What a lot of people don't realize is that Tron was just one of Disney's many experiments in computer animation. In 1982, the same year that EPCOT opened and Tron hit theaters, Disney quietly released a documentary called Computers Are People, Too!. Watching it is an acid trip of an experience, but it's also a fascinating historical document that celebrates the newfound fervor for computers and computer-based art.


Motherboard's Jordan Pearson recently spoke with Michael Bonifer, the former Disney employee who was a publicist for Tron and witness to this magical moment in computer history. Bonifer explains the scene that gave rise to computer animation at Disney brilliantly. It was just a case of the parents going out of town, and the kids throwing a party:


Click through to Motherboard's story for the full interview. In the meantime, enjoy the psychadelic miracle that is Computers Are People, Too! You might just learn something. [Motherboard]

GIF via Motherboard