Disney Worldbuilders, the new documentary from Oscar- and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks, is now streaming on Disney+, taking viewers behind the scenes of how some of Disney’s biggest stories have made the jump from the screen into theme parks around the world.
The film brings together an impressive roster of creative voices, including Bob Iger, James Cameron, Jon Favreau, Kevin Feige, Jennifer Lee, Pete Docter, Dave Filoni, Jared Bush, and Josh D’Amaro.
I had the opportunity to see Disney Worldbuilders early at D23, where Iwerks introduced an advanced screening following a Q&A with Pete Docter, Jon Favreau, Kevin Feige, Dave Filoni, and Jared Bush. Much like the documentary itself, the conversation centered on what it feels like for these filmmakers and storytellers to eventually walk through physical versions of worlds and characters they helped create, as well as any advice for future storytellers.
One of my favorite thoughts from the panel came from Favreau:
“Pay attention to your curiosity. It’s a compass directing you where you’re meant to be.”
From Walt Disney to Today’s Worldbuilders
Iwerks explained that Disney Worldbuilders is particularly close to her heart and was partly inspired by her previous documentary, Disneyland Handcrafted. While going through archival material for that project, she came across a photograph of Walt Disney riding Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland. She couldn’t get the image out of her mind.
What did it feel like for Walt to walk through the lands he helped create? What was it like to ride one of those attractions and experience Disneyland alongside the children and families visiting his park? Walt isn’t here to answer those questions, of course, but Disney Worldbuilders essentially asks them of the storytellers carrying Disney’s properties forward today.
Bob Iger summarizes the connection between the company’s films and theme parks by saying in the documentary that every great theme park attraction exists because a great storyteller first told a great story. From there, the film explores Avatar, Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, Frozen, Zootopia, and more, while also looking toward what’s next for Disney’s parks.
Pete Docter revisits his childhood trips to Disneyland, including the Super 8 footage he recorded at the park, before discussing Pixar’s continued presence in the parks. That includes the long-awaited Monstropolis project currently progressing at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
James Cameron discusses the emotional experience of riding Avatar Flight of Passage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the process of translating Pandora into a place guests can physically experience. A second Avatar-inspired land is also in development for Disney California Adventure, though Disney has not announced an opening date.
The documentary also looks ahead at projects including the Avengers Campus expansion and Disney’s planned theme park resort in Abu Dhabi.
— Iwerks and Feige at the site of Avengers Campus expansion
The Moments That Work Best
Visually, Disney Worldbuilders is beautiful. The cinematography and editing are among its greatest strengths, capturing Disney’s parks, attractions, technology, and environments in a way that reminds you just how much work goes into creating these places. Some of my favorite moments are the more simple ones:
Docter walks through Disneyland‘s Adventureland and discusses Pirates of the Caribbean, describing the attraction almost like experiencing a dream. “It’s just such great storytelling. You go in, you fall asleep, you experience this whole thing and then you come up and wake up out of it, and you’re like, did I just… did that just happen? It’s magic.”
He also compares the Disney experience to a music box: You hear it, experience it, and then have the ability to rewind and play it again for the people in your life through the stories you tell. In doing so, you get to feel a little bit of that magic all over again.
Another highlight follows Jennifer Lee seeing World of Frozen at Disneyland Paris for the first time. Watching someone who knows Frozen as intimately as Lee encounter the physical land is exactly the kind of material I wanted more of. Her reaction to seeing the Olaf Audio-Animatronic is particularly sweet, leaving her visibly taken aback before telling him:
“I wish I could spend the whole day with you.”
Beautiful… But We’ve Heard This Song Before
This is also where I find myself conflicted. Disney Worldbuilders is simultaneously one of the more unique documentary stories Disney has chosen to tell and something incredibly familiar. The premise Iwerks describes is fascinating. What does it actually feel like to see something that once existed in your imagination become a physical place where millions of people make their own memories?
Unfortunately, the finished documentary doesn’t always dig deeply enough into that question. Despite the promise of candid conversations, portions of Disney Worldbuilders feel closer to an extended commercial for Disney Parks than a true documentary. There’s no transparency of the compromises, abandoned concepts, failures, budgets, or creative disagreements that are inevitably part of bringing these massive projects to life.
Disney is unquestionably one of the world’s leaders in themed entertainment, and these completely immersive lands contain some incredible technology, attractions, environments, and design work. But they also arrived in an industry dramatically changed by Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter. These include Disney’s own Cars Land, Pandora – The World of Avatar, and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. As a theme park fan first, I feel that context is important. Leaving it out makes some of the documentary’s discussion feel more like corporate mythology than themed entertainment history.
Yet, it is genuinely inspiring hearing the people behind some of the world’s most recognizable stories discuss what happens when those stories leave the screen. Hearing Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau talk about their park time together, seeing Jennifer Lee meet Olaf or Pete Docter wander through Disneyland gets closer to the fascinating question that first inspired Iwerks to make this film. The way Disney Worldbuilders is shot and edited is fantastic storytelling in itself, and the documentary can be nostalgic for anyone who has formed their own memories inside these parks.
Iwerks has said she hopes some of the fans watching Disney Worldbuilders might eventually become Disney’s next generation of storytellers. In that respect, I think the film succeeds.
I’d recommend Disney Worldbuilders to any Disney fan, particularly anyone interested in Imagineering, filmmaking, and themed entertainment. Just don’t expect the kind of revealing historical deep dive found in Iwerks’ Disneyland Handcrafted.
