Leslie Iwerks has shared her process behind Disneyland Handcrafted, a documentary focused on the development and construction of Disneyland Resort during 1954 and 1955. The project examines how the park took shape during its earliest building phase, when design concepts were translated into physical structures on site. To assemble the film, Iwerks worked through a large volume of archival material, including more than 200 hours of raw footage. She used these primary sources to document construction progress, early design decisions, and the coordination between different creative and engineering teams involved in the project.
Her use of the raw footage highlights just what an undertaking the project was. With theme parks now scattered across the country and world, many people forget just how groundbreaking Walt’s ideas were. And what a challenge they were to bring to life.
Iwerks shared, “I think new generations are like, ‘Oh, it’s always been there.’ But they’re actually seeing the origin of it before they were ever born and seeing Disneyland in a whole new way.”
The Making of Disney: Handcrafted
The documentary is years in the making. Iwerks shared that while working on her 2019 documentary, The Imagineering Story, the team combed through over “a couple hundred hours of behind-the-scenes footage of the making of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and other Parks.”
The task was even more daunting considering that the archived 16mm footage was silent and out of order chronologically. Iwerks said that, while watching the reels, “we didn’t know where it was, who shot it, or what timeframe it was.”
Image from Disneyland: Handcrafted – YouTube, Disney
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Iwerks and her team carefully catalogued where and when each clip came from.
“We really started to see a common theme, which was: It was so challenging. The conflict really rose to the surface,” Iwerks shared.
Then came the difficult task to select from the hundreds of hours of footage to create the 79-minute film.
Bringing the Project to Life
In 2020, the team paused the project due to the global lockdown.
The project may have stayed that way except that Iwerks showed the emerging project to Jason Recher, Vice President of Segment Content Creation and Digital Integration at Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products.
At this point, the project was still a rough cut of the footage. However, Recher was amazed by what he saw, reportedly responding, “My God, this needs to be seen.”
With that, the project received the funding and the renewed vision it needed.
Image from Disneyland: Handcrafted – YouTube, Disney
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Mo Stoebe, editor of the film, got to work organizing the material. Iwerks said of her, “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.”
Iwerks then sought the advice and expertise of a host of Disney legends. Everyone from former Imagineers to Disney movie producers to historians on the parks. These names include Tony Baxter, Tom Morris, Tim O’Day, and more.
“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.”
Leslie Iwerks
Leslie Iwerks is a documentary filmmaker known for exploring animation history and theme park development through archival material. Her work often focuses on how large entertainment institutions developed over time. She uses studio records, interviews, and historical footage to build structured narratives.
Her documentary The Imagineering Story (2019) examines the evolution of Walt Disney Imagineering and its role in designing theme park environments. The series uses internal production archives and recorded interviews with designers and engineers. It avoids reenactments and relies on original materials.
Another major work in her filmography is The Pixar Story (2007), which documents the growth of Pixar Animation Studios. That film also follows a similar structure, using archival footage and interviews to explain technical and creative development inside the studio system.
Across her projects, Iwerks consistently builds narratives from primary sources. She organizes archival footage, concept art, and production documents into chronological storytelling. This method allows historical development to be shown through original records rather than recreated scenes.
Conclusion
Rather than using reenactments, Iwerks’ approach emphasizes original production assets. These include internal studio footage, planning sketches, and historical photographs. When applied to Disneyland history, this method highlights how ideas moved from concept drawings into the park that changed how families vacation and culture at large.
Viewers can see the story of Disneyland unfold on Disney+ or YouTube.
Have you had a chance to see “Disneyland: Handcrafted”? Let us know your thoughts about Leslie Iwerk’s work in the comments below.
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