Today at Destination D23, Leslie Iwerks announced a brand-new documentary titled “Disneyland Handcrafted.” The acclaimed filmmaker who created “The Imagineering Story” revealed that she’s working on another project, and shared the first trailer.
Capturing the construction of the DNA of Disneyland more than 70 years ago, you’ll get a chance to peek through the orange groves and experience the making of the park like never before. This archival footage provides an unpolished perspective for viewers to see and hear what was actually happening during Disneyland’s construction via first-hand accounts of the real artists, craftsmen and Imagineers on site.
For this unique documentary, Iwerks and her team unearthed never-before-seen footage from the Walt Disney Film Archives combing through binders of 16mm film reels that were unused from the making of “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color” and sitting in various vaults for years.
Iwerks comes from a family steeped in Disney legacy. Her grandfather, Ub Iwerks, was Walt Disney’s original animator, designer, and co-creator of Mickey Mouse; her father, Don Iwerks, was a camera technician and inventor; both were Oscar winners and Disney Legends. Leslie Iwerks carries on that legacy as an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker herself, well-known to Disney fans as the creator of the Emmy nominated series “The Imagineering Story.”
You can watch the Leslie Iwerks’ “Disneyland Handcrafted” trailer here:
The full “Disneyland Handcrafted” documentary will be released later this winter on Disney+ and Disney YouTube.
If you’re newer to the fandom or somehow haven’t seen it, we want to highly recommend checking out “The Imagineering Story.” That six-part docuseries premiered on Disney+ back in 2019, and was produced via unprecedented access to archival documents, firsthand insights, and never-before-shared Imagineering projects.
“The Imagineering Story” is the must-watch programming on Disney+ for anyone reading this blog. The series chronicles key moments in the design of the parks, from the opening of Disneyland through Shanghai Disneyland and beyond. The best episode is unquestionably “Hit or Miss,” which is far more candid and honest than you’d ever expect–and will disabuse diehard fans of the notion that Disney is infallible. The final two episodes teeter too much into marketing puffery, but it’s still an exceptional docu-series.
We’re equally excited for “Disneyland Handcrafted.”
It’s interesting that Iwerks announced this in a panel alongside Don Hahn, one of the the authors of The Happiest Place on Earth: The Incredible Story of Walt Disney’s Disneyland. In our review of that new Disneyland 70th Anniversary book, we praised it for not simply going along with the myth and mystique of some tall tales about the creation of Walt Disney’s original magic kingdom, and instead presenting the unvarnished reality.
As a general matter, Disney has actually been better about revealing its own real history, presenting less of a sanitized version of events and not necessarily sticking to the script. They’ve also recruited more interesting authors and documentarians, who share fascinating and fresh stories as opposed to remixes of the same subjects they’ve covered in countless other titles.
“Disneyland Handcrafted” should be more of that, especially as it allows archival footage to speak for itself, rather than relying on talking heads. This should provide an unpolished perspective into the creation of Disneyland and, like that new book, we’re optimistic that it’ll provide a fresh perspective into a topic that’s otherwise been covered repeatedly. Just from the trailer and Iswerks’ presentation, there’s already reason to believe this will be another winner.
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and many other SoCal cities!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of the “Disneyland Handcrafted” documentary? Excited that Iwerks is following up “The Imagineering Story” with this? Optimistic about this documentary? Thoughts on the trailer? If you’ve watched “The Imagineering Story,” what did you think of that? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!