Disney Legend Don Iwerks, Disney Camera Pioneer and Ub Iwerks' Son, Dies at 96
Laughing Place is sad to share that Disney Legend Don Iwerks has passed away at the age of 96. Iwerks passed away the evening of July 9th, following a career that spanned more than six decades and touched nearly every corner of Disney storytelling, from the underwater world of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to the wraparound screens of EPCOT's The American Adventure.
“Don embodied that rare combination of heart, ingenuity, and passion that has always defined Disney,” said Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro in a statement. “Through his innovative contributions to some of our most iconic films and attractions, he helped create experiences that have delighted generations of fans around the world.” He was preceded in this work by his father, Disney Legend Ub Iwerks, and is survived by a family that continues to carry that creative legacy forward.
Born Donald Warren “Don” Iwerks on July 24th, 1929, in Dallas, Texas, Don grew up in Southern California in a household where invention was simply a way of life. As the eldest son of Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney’s original business partner and the co-creator of Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Don absorbed his father’s self-taught, hands-on approach to problem-solving from an early age. He joined Disney in 1950 as a laboratory technician, though his career was soon interrupted by two years of service in the Korean War with the Signal Photo Corps. He returned to the studio afterward and, in early January 1953, transferred to the famed Studio Machine Shop, where he began working directly alongside his father.
That partnership produced some of the most influential technology in Disney history. Don served as camera technician on his first major studio film, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and went on to help develop the original 360-degree Circle-Vision camera system used in Circarama, U.S.A. at Disneyland’s 1955 opening. The Circle-Vision film America the Beautiful played at Disneyland for more than 17 years and, in a reshot version, delighted guests at EPCOT, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris. Don and his father also refined the sodium vapor traveling matte process that allowed live action and animation to blend seamlessly in Mary Poppins, including its iconic “Jolly Holiday” sequence, and he built film and projection equipment for the 1964–65 New York World’s Fair, Epcot’s The American Adventure, the 3D camera system for Captain EO, and the projection system for Star Tours. To generations of Disneyland guests, Don was also the hand model for the Abraham Lincoln Audio-Animatronics figure in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, casts that became the studio standard, still known today as the “Iwerks Hands,” and used on Audio-Animatronics figures throughout Disney Parks around the world.
After 35 years at Disney, where he eventually led the Machine Shop, Camera Service Department, and Technical Engineering and Manufacturing Division, Don co-founded Iwerks Entertainment with former Disney executive Stan Kinsey in 1986, building giant-screen theaters and 3D, motion-simulator attractions installed in nearly 300 venues across 38 countries; the company was acquired by SimEx, Inc. in 2001. His work earned him the Academy’s honorary Gordon E. Sawyer Award in 1997, the Themed Entertainment Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and induction as a Disney Legend at the inaugural D23 Expo in 2009. He and his father share handprints at Legends Plaza on the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, as well as a Main Street, U.S.A. window at Magic Kingdom Park honoring “Iwerks–Iwerks Stereoscopic Cameras.” In 2007, Diane Disney Miller entrusted him with restoring historic Disney camera systems for the Walt Disney Family Museum, and at 90 he published Walt Disney’s Ultimate Inventor: The Genius of Ub Iwerks, ensuring his father’s story would keep being told.
From Ub’s essential role in shaping the company’s earliest identity, to Don’s own groundbreaking innovations, to daughter Leslie’s work preserving Disney’s creative history across numerous documentary films and books, the Iwerks family has helped shape, safeguard, and illuminate Disney’s legacy for nearly a century. Don is survived by his wife of 54 years, Betty; sons John and Larry; and daughter Leslie. He was preceded in death by his cherished daughter, Tamara. Our thoughts are with the Iwerks family and all who were touched by his work.