Discovering new facts is not the only way to learn. Sometimes, just putting facts together in a new way can unlock fresh understanding.
An example? Watching Leslie Iwerks’ wonderful new documentary, “Disneyland Handcrafted,” I realized that Disneyland (established 1955) is older than the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA, established 1971). You probably should keep that in mind when watching the outrageous things that workers did when building the park that changed everything for Disney, Anaheim and the entertainment business.
Sign up for our Park Life newsletter and find out what’s new and interesting every week at Southern California’s theme parks. Subscribe here.Iwerks — the granddaughter of Mickey Mouse co-creator Ub Iwerks — is the director behind “The Imagineering Story,” the Disney+ series that continues to inform and engage many Disney Parks fans. She surpasses that with “Disneyland Handcrafted,” which debuts Jan. 22 on the streamer as well as Disney’s YouTube channel.
A craftsman works on the main entrance at Disneyland before the park opened in 1955. (Courtesy of Disney)More from Robert Niles
Six Flags buys time to improve, but at what cost? Will a new record lead to a new focus at Six Flags? Crystal ball reveals top theme park stories of 2026 Epic Universe and Disney Abu Dhabi top 2025’s theme park news A Christmas wish list from a theme park fanThe feature-length documentary opens with a stark juxtaposition. Iwerks presents footage of a successful Disneyland one year after its opening, followed immediately by an image of the empty Anaheim field that would become Disneyland, one year before its debut. It’s a jarring reminder of how swiftly Walt Disney’s dream came to life.
Iwerks’ documentary shows you how that happens. It does not tell, however. There are no talking heads here — only archival audio over images of construction workers building the park. A few clips from the old “Disneyland” TV show, in which Walt introduced his park to the nation, provide all the context a viewer needs.
Walt hired a small team of filmmakers to record his park’s construction over the year that it was built. Iwerks and her team, with a huge assist from the Walt Disney Archives, have reassembled highlights of their footage into a love letter to the people who made Walt’s dream come true for hundreds of millions of visitors over the past 70 years.
“Handcrafted” is the perfect title for this work. It shows tight shots of workers carefully painting, carving and detailing park icons such as Sleeping Beauty Castle. It also shows not-so-careful moments, with workers tipping heavy machinery and using jerry-rigged lifts to work at height. It’s the sacred and the profane of construction. It’s also all manual, without any of the computer-aided design and manufacturing, or safety checks, that are common in the industry today.
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A business professor once taught me that ideas are worthless. It’s the successful execution of an idea that has value. Countless entrepreneurs have had the idea to build a Disneyland in their communities. But no one has attracted more visitors and made more money from their theme parks than Disney. “Disneyland Handcrafted” takes viewers back to that moment when the people of the Disney studio turned Walt’s crazy idea into now-cherished reality.
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