Director Leslie Iwerks Takes Us Behind The Scenes Of Her New Documentary, Disneyland Handcrafted

Our exclusive interview with Director Leslie Iwerks sheds light on how this ambitious film, chronicling the creation of the iconic Disneyland theme park, came together

It’s hard to imagine a world without Disneyland, but once upon a time, The Happiest Place on Earth was just a seemingly impossible dream. Coming to Disney+ on January 22, Disneyland Handcrafted documents the challenges and triumphs of the year leading up to the Park’s Opening Day on July 17, 1955. Using rare, never-before-seen footage and audio recordings, the movie showcases the exceptional commitment and artistry of the hundreds of workers who came together to turn that dream into a reality.

Explore Disney+ met with Director Leslie Iwerks to discuss making this film, including the happy accident that led to it being made in the first place. Through Leslie’s firsthand storytelling, including several of our favorite quotes, we’re able to take you into the process of working with archival footage, the meaning behind the title, and more.

*This article is adapted from an interview with Leslie Iwerks.

How Disneyland Handcrafted Came To Life

The story came to Iwerks and her team by chance while working on The Imagineering Story, a 2019 docuseries about the cutting-edge technology that brings the Disney Parks to life. She shared that the team uncovered, “a couple hundred hours of behind-the-scenes footage of the making of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and other Parks.”

Countless hours of footage captured the creation of the first Disney Park, Disneyland in California. As part of making The Imagineering Story, they meticulously combed through the materials, matching clips to specific parts of the Disneyland Park and tracking the project’s time frame. Soon, they realized that another story was, “unfolding before their eyes.”

The Documentary That Almost Wasn’t

Iwerks credits her editor, Mo Stoebe, and co-producer Mark Catalena, with bringing her the idea for Disneyland Handcrafted as a stand-alone feature. They crafted a proof of concept to share with senior members of The Walt Disney Company’s Original Documentary Film and Series division, and a development phase was greenlit.

However, after producing a 70-minute rough cut, COVID and other factors meant the project was put on hold indefinitely

Resurrection & First Cut

Luckily, one day, Iwerks decided to share the rough cut with Jason Recher, Vice President of Segment Content Creation and Digital Integration at Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products. Upon seeing the footage, he exclaimed, “My God, this needs to be seen,” and went on to secure funding for the film. Just like that, the documentary was back on track.

With new life breathed into the project, Iwerks and her team were ready to embark on the arduous cataloguing process, pulling clips from reels of mixed footage where Iwerks explained, “we didn't know where it was, who shot it, or what timeframe it was.” With forensic precision, the team isolated each clip from every reel, organizing them by location and time until a coherent chronology started to form.

Knowing the film needed to be shaped into a compelling story, Iwerks gave her editor free rein.

“Mo has an emotional sensibility and knows pacing really well, so I was like, do your thing, I know it’s going to be great.”

Upon seeing their joint vision brought to life, Iwerks was moved to tears, and the team began fine-tuning the initial cut. 

“When I first saw it, I was blown away, I was crying.”

To enhance and bring credibility to the project, Iwerks assembled a roundtable of Disney legends, including Tony Baxter (former Senior Vice President of Creative Development at Walt Disney Imagineering), Don Hahn (Producer behind major Disney films including Beauty and the Beast (1991)), Tim O’Day (author and Disney history expert), Tom Morris (former Imagineer), Jonas Rivera (Producer at Pixar Animation Studios), and Pete Docter (Oscar®-winning Director and Chief Creative Officer at Pixar Animation Studios).

“We had a brain trust of Disneyland experts that I brought in. It was wonderful to have [them] all in a room, looking at our rough cut.”

With their encyclopedic knowledge of Disneyland’s history, the esteemed group provided invaluable insight and feedback, ensuring each piece of footage was in the right place so the story could unfold with precision and authenticity.

How Disneyland Handcrafted Became The Title

“The title just came to me one day, this is handcrafted. It’s Disneyland Handcrafted.”

Thinking back on all the footage she’d seen, Iwerks was struck with how, “everything was so detail-oriented and laboriously cared for.” From, “sculpting brick and rock work, [to] painting the facades, [and] carving the details on the Mark Twain,” what made Walt Disney’s dream come to life was the tireless, meticulous work of hundreds of skilled craftspeople and artists.

What Viewers Can Expect From Disneyland Handcrafted

As for what she hopes audiences feel when they see the piece, Iwerks is encouraged that the archival footage will take viewers on an immersive journey.

“There’s a lot of little moments where visually, [you’ll] be like whoa, [and] really feel like you’re there in person.”

Of course, we know how the story ends. Disneyland opened and changed entertainment and the world forever. Still, Iwerks wants viewers to feel the tension and pressure those original visionaries faced in the 1950s as they made the impossible possible.

“Hopefully by three-quarters of the way in, [you’ll] feel relief when [you] see the Mark Twain [Riverboat] come around the corner.”