Disneyland Handcrafted

[LKing]

Disneyland Handcrafted

Leslie Iwerks was filming in the parks on July 17, 2025. She was outside of Walt Disney - A Magical Life, interviewing guests who had just watch the show.

https://disneyparksblog.com/disney-experiences/disneyland-handcrafted-trailer-revealed/

 

[irlandaise]

This documentary is now available on Disney+.
https://www.disneyplus.com/browse/entity-e23366be-f7a0-426e-9fbd-8911e7e528bb

Here's a short review in the NY Times (gift article link):
‘Disneyland Handcrafted’ Review: Making the Happiest Place on Earth

 

[OKW Lover]

Disneyland Handcrafted

Leslie Iwerks was filming in the parks on July 17, 2025. She was outside of Walt Disney - A Magical Life, interviewing guests who had just watch the show.

https://disneyparksblog.com/disney-experiences/disneyland-handcrafted-trailer-revealed/

Interesting! I was in the parks that day but didn't notice her. But a day earlier the ABD group that I was with (a DIS unplugged/Dreams Unlimited exclusive) met her at the WDI building in Glendale.

 

[wabbott]

watching now.

 

[wabbott]

Best part to me was hearing the voices of the original Imagineers - Roger Broggie, Richard Irvine, Adm. Joe Fowler, John Hench, Herb Ryman, Harper Goff, etc.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I'm only halfway through... But the amount of OSHA violations, wow
The imagineers, and Walt, were such risk takers and mavericks!

 

[DianaMB333]

amazing documentary!
It felt authentic, and a true dedication to the hard work of those who got the park done in one year!
(Despite all the safety risks!)

 

[wabbott]

I'm only halfway through... But the amount of OSHA violations, wow

Told Mrs. wabbott the exact same thing! I was around design and construction my whole working career, and seeing guys "riding the hook" is something that was NEVER done on a job.

 

[DianaMB333]

Seeing Walt Disney driving that car and smiling back at the camera as if he was racing
No man is perfect but boy how much I admire his creativity, passion and joy for life..

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Seeing Walt Disney driving that car and smiling back at the camera as if he was racing
No man is perfect but boy how much I admire his creativity, passion and joy for life..

I had similar thoughts during the moment, and generally about the man as well

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I thought the documentary was very well done. I think it's aptly titled. I liked seeing how much care went into every detail, however small, by all the artists. For instance, the guy who was hoisted up to place the pointy end of the TWA rocket proceeds to shine the pointy end with a rag before coming down... it's so high up, nobody's going to notice whether it's shiny so it shouldn't matter. But they cared, so it did matter. Lovely.

My favorite quote: Walt talking about what he thinks of money. Piles of it don't matter. It only matters if you're doing something with it that will bring joy. I hadn't heard that quote before. Again, lovely.

 

[hardcorestitch]

Here it is, in its entirety:

 

[Pluto468]

What a wonderful documentary. I loved seeing Disneyland come to life and it was so fun seeing Walt. I'm amazed he got everything done! I wish the documentary was longer lol.

 

[Tinkaboo]

OMG...so much emotion in this doc! I was smile
-crying all the way through. So much dedication from these workers and craftspeople to make my beautiful happy place...I will never walk through that tunnel again without thinking about them. This footage was absolutely incredible...how grateful I am that it exists and that Leslie Iwerks did such a fantastic job with it. I hope it wins a ton of awards!

 

[Primerz]

I was lucky enough to attend a screening with Leslie Iwerks and she mentioned something I found astonishing: none of the achieved film they used for this had sound. The audio was recreated in a very manual process. Talk about handcrafted!

 

[hardcorestitch]

I was lucky enough to attend a screening with Leslie Iwerks and she mentioned something I found astonishing: none of the achieved film they used for this had sound. The audio was recreated in a very manual process. Talk about handcrafted!

Disney ain’t bleeping around with this one!

 

[Pluto468]

I was lucky enough to attend a screening with Leslie Iwerks and she mentioned something I found astonishing: none of the achieved film they used for this had sound. The audio was recreated in a very manual process. Talk about handcrafted!

That's amazing!

 

[disneychrista]

I was lucky enough to attend a screening with Leslie Iwerks and she mentioned something I found astonishing: none of the achieved film they used for this had sound. The audio was recreated in a very manual process. Talk about handcrafted!

I listened to a podcast where Leslie Iwerks talked about having to recreate the sound to match the video. That is amazing.

 

[Tinkaboo]

All the archive footage of the building was shot with FILM cameras which didn't have sound...sound at that time was captured on a separate audio recorder which is why you used a "slate" (the little clapboard you've seen on old movies) so that the audio could be synced later with the film...just like when you see footage of them doing so on old movies. Walt was shooting all this footage like a newsreel and it would be voiced over later when shown in the Disneyland TV show.

The footage she included from the original broadcast of course had the original audio of Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings, Walt, etc.
The voiceover parts I 'm sure she pulled from various pre-existing interviews since many of those folks are gone now.

Though I was a film/television student, thank goodness it was during the early onset of video...I only had to do maybe five students films using actual film. I had a delightful career in the TV business...wish I would have been motivated enough or started my career earlier that I might have pursued a career with Disney.