"Disneyland Handcrafted" Documentary Release Date Announced, New Poster Revealed Featuring Walt Disney
Learn more about how Walt's original Magic Kingdom was built in Southern California.
Disney fans who are interested in learning more about the fascinating history of Disney Parks are going to want to fire up their Disney+ accounts in just a couple weeks, when the new documentary Disneyland Handcrafted by Leslie Iwerks is set to debut. More information below.
What's happening:
- The new documentary Disneyland Handcrafted is set to debut on Disney+ about two and a half weeks from today, on Thursday, January 22nd.
- Disneyland Handcrafted is directed by Leslie Iwerks, who previously made The Imagineering Story for Disney+ and is the granddaughter of animator Ub Iwerks, who worked alongside Walt Disney on the creation of both Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Mickey Mouse.
- Leslie's father, Don Iwerks, is also a Disney Legend, having worked as a camera technician and technological innovator for The Walt Disney Company for more than three decades.
- The new documentary focuses on the construction of the original Disneyland in Anaheim, California under the supervision of Walt Disney himself and through the hard work of hundreds of talented craftspeople.
- For this project, Iwerks unearthed never-before-seen footage and original audio recordings from the Walt Disney Film Archives.
- A new poster was also released today in promotion of the documentary, and it features the famous photo of Walt Disney himself scouting the orange grove in Anaheim that would later become Disneyland. An image of Sleeping Beauty Castle has been superimposed over the clouds in the background, providing a tease of the magic that would follow.
More images:
- A trailer for Disneyland Handcrafted was also released back in August of 2025:
More news about Disneyland Handcrafted:
- Check out our post from last August, when the trailer for the documentary was first released.
- A premiere for the documentary will be held later this week on the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank.
- Disneyland Handcrafted ranked among Laughing Place's most highly anticipated Disney things coming in 2026.