The real magic behind all those attractions, films, and moments we hold so close to our hearts is only made possible by the tireless work of the many craftspeople responsible for them, and now a new documentary from The Imagineering Story’s Leslie Iwerks puts that effort and dedication on display in a remarkable way never before seen.
Disneyland Handcrafted details how Walt Disney and his team turned a bunch of orange groves in Anaheim, California, into the Happiest Place on Earth in just one year. The documentary debuts on January 22, 2026, on Disney+ and YouTube and, ahead of its release, I was able to interview Iwerks about this fascinating tale that is so much more than the story of how Disneyland was built; it’s about the resilience, creativity, and ingenuity that we’re all capable of, and how, despite the overwhelming doubts we may encounter from some quarters, we really can achieve great things.
“At a time when there was so much strife in the world – the Korean War had just ended and the Cold War was looming – Walt created this place for people to come and enjoy and be happy,” Iwerks told me. “Despite the fact that amusement parks had been done before and were dying because they were dirty and unpopular, Walt believed in his soul that this could be created at a higher level, in a much more experiential and immersive way that had never been done before.”
To get the full picture, you can read our story about how a century of Disney began, but our tale starts on a bench in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park, where Walt Disney had a fateful adventure with his daughters that would change the world of entertainment forever.
“[Disneyland] came about when my daughters were very young, and Saturday was always Daddy’s day,” Walt said, as presented in The Official Walt Disney Quote Book. “I took them to different places and as I’d sit while they rode the Merry-Go-Round and did all these things – sit on a bench, you know, eating peanuts – I felt that there should be something built where the parents and the children could have fun together. So that’s how Disneyland started.”
Disney’s idea drew many skeptics, including his own wife, Lillian.
“But why do you want to build an amusement park?” Lillian asked, as told in The Story of Disney: 100 Years of Wonder. “They’re so dirty.”
Walt’s response? “I told her that was just the point – mine wouldn’t be.”
This mantra led to the creation of Disneyland in a year and a day. Construction began on July 16, 1954, and Disneyland Handcrafted tells the story – made up of over 200 reels of rare or never-before-seen footage – of the men and women who, against all odds, built this place in a way that hadn’t been done before.
What sets this documentary apart is how it doesn’t cut away from the action, letting you go back to 1954 and ’55 for an hour and change to experience a different time without talking heads interrupting the flow. Instead, it really transports you, with the voices of Walt and others heard over all the footage of the construction; this smartly puts the focus on the workers who don’t get the recognition that Walt or some of his most famous Imagineers often do.
The stars of this documentary are the people sweeping Main Street to get it ready for opening day; the man climbing the Rocket from the one-time attraction, Rocket to the Moon, in his socks so he wouldn’t scuff the metal after polishing and screwing on the tip that no one may ever get close enough to notice; and the countless craftspeople meticulously making every detail perfect so that Disneyland can reach the star it was soaring toward.
What’s even more impressive is that all of this footage was silent. Leslie and her team went to Skywalker Sound to enlist the help of supervising sound editor and re-recording mixer Bonnie Wild and her team to recreate every sound you hear. Yes, everything outside of the TV footage and interviews, from the hum of the vehicles to the ringing of the bell on the Mark Twain Riverboat, was recreated to make it feel as authentic as possible.
It’s also mind-boggling how talented and almost cavalier these builders were. We see them climbing up steel beams with no harnesses or support if they fell, construction vehicles toppling over and almost crushing a worker who pops up with a smile, and even – in one of my favorite scenes – an excavator carefully picking an orange off a tree to give it to someone who needed a snack. There was a sense of fun, fulfillment, and pride in the work that was being done, and it’s truly inspiring. This is also shown to great effect in what Iwerks calls her favorite scene, when that rocket from Tomorrowland’s Rocket to the Moon was lifted into place, almost as a beacon and symbol of what this group of people had accomplished.
“This is the moment when they've crossed over the threshold,” Iwerks said. “Finally, they're looking at the other side. Sure, it’s not done yet, and there is still tons of pressure, but they've shown success and that they can do it. I think it was symbolic of everything Walt did prior to this moment in his entire career and what he would achieve going forward with Walt Disney World and EPCOT, and then how that created his legacy going forward.”
"I feel like Walt handcrafted this land based on hope and a sense of optimism for the future.”A big part of his legacy was the people he brought along with him, and they are on display in great fashion at Disneyland Handcrafted. Alongside the supremely talented construction workers, a big part of the team that built Disneyland were the Imagineers from the company once known as WED Enterprises, now called Walt Disney Imagineering. What set many of these people apart from others who worked on theme parks in the past is that Walt recruited many of them from his animation studio despite their lack of experience in this field.
“Unbeknownst to them at the time, an animator would become the sculptor who created characters that would live on for generations,” Iwerks wrote in her book, The Imagineering Story. “A background artist would become a master at ride layouts. A man known for his ability to draw would write lyrics that park visitors would be humming their whole lives. A woman who painted props and sets would help build castles and create lifelike singing birds from piles of feathers. Imagineering grew beyond the confines of Walt’s mind, but it has never stopped coaxing out hidden talents from artists, craftspeople, scientists, and technicians who were, like Walt, unfettered dreamers.”
Even though Walt wasn’t everywhere at once, his vision, dream, and beliefs were there thanks to the people who chose to execute them, even if they didn’t believe they could do it… yet.
"[Walt Disney] was never interested in what you did yesterday,” former Imagineer and Disney Legend Marty Sklar said in The Imagineering Story. “He was only interested in what you were going to do today and tomorrow, because he was moving on, he was doing new things, he was challenging us constantly. That was exciting... Imagine that you have no idea whether you can perform, whether you can live up to that, but he had faith in you, so you did it."
Iwerks reflected on this and shared what Disneyland really means, why it has endured for over 70 years, and why it has become the blueprint for Disney’s other parks around the world.
“I feel like Walt handcrafted this land based on hope and a sense of optimism for the future,” Iwerks told me. “I think it’s sort of a shared experience we all can have and a sort of a belief in optimism and that he's creating, especially in Tomorrowland, an optimistic look at the future we should all be excited about. He wants us to think about what our legacy is going to be in contributing to this future. Walt was very inspirational in his ideals, and his hope for Disneyland was to inspire generations to come to a place that is ‘feel-good,’ that’s rooted in nostalgia, and that’s also rooted in the future.”
“He was also always reinvesting. He wanted to use his money. He wanted to do something with it. That hits home in a way that these ideas he had now live on all these years because he never stopped when failures arose.”
And Walt did have many failures along the way, including when Universal Pictures stole Oswald the Lucky Rabbit – one of Disney’s earliest successes – and most of his animators. Instead of stopping, he pushed forward with the help of Leslie’s grandfather, Ub Iwerks, and created the iconic character known as Mickey Mouse.
Disneyland was no different, and we see that here in stunning clarity thanks to all the work by Leslie and her team. The documentary ends on what many called “Black Sunday,” Disneyland’s opening day on July 17, 1955, and it was not as magical as one might imagine.
The blacktop wasn’t fully dry and women’s high heels were getting stuck, counterfeit tickets caused way too many people to be in the park, electrical fuses blew out on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, the Tea Cups were falling apart, and even the Mark Twain Riverboat was sinking as it had too many people on it! Despite this, 22 television cameras broadcast Disneyland’s opening to the world, and 83 million people watched from their homes. Just two months later, the park welcomed its one millionth guest.
Even with the success, Disneyland still had its doubters, and they jumped on the fact that certain attractions weren’t open yet while existing ones like Dumbo remained closed for modifications. Instead of letting that get to him, Walt masterfully turned the story and said something that would become a core belief and driving force of the company.
“Disneyland will never be completed,” Walt said, as presented in The Official Walt Disney Quote Book. “It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.”
And that imagination was there because of these people in Disneyland Handcrafted. We may not know their names, but their contributions and craftsmanship can now be celebrated in a new way that may change how you view Disneyland forever; I know it did for me.
We may not know their names, but their contributions and craftsmanship can now be celebrated in a new way that may change how you view Disneyland forever; I know it did for me.“It's fascinating to me to travel to all these parks around the world, document them, and now look back at the origin story of when it all started and how it all happened,” Iwerks said. “It’s just very moving that one man could have this vision and, against all odds, overcome it. It was a high-wire act, both financially and reputationally for Walt, and I don't think people really remember that. I think that was part of what I wanted to bring out – a renewed appreciation for what one person and the people around him could do.”
“Walt was building something to last. So much of today is defined by a disposable lifestyle. It's here today, and it’s gone tomorrow. So, given all the conflicts he faced, to me, Disneyland is one of the greatest achievements of all time.”
For more, check out our Disneyland in 2026 guide, our exclusive interview with Disneyland President Thomas Mazloum on the park's past, present, and great big beautiful DisneylandForward, and what to expect from Walt Disney World in 2026.
Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst, Instagram, and TikTok, and listen to his show, Talking Disney Magic.
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