A lovingly assembled look at how Walt Disney's dream became a theme park icon
"...it all started with a mouse". And with those famous words, Walt Disney reminisced about the cartoon character that helped him build his fortune and his empire. Year after year, that simple concept is celebrated all over the world, and as each aspect of the Disney franchise matures, milestone after milestone becomes a celebrated event. Three years ago, it was the 100th anniversary of the Walt Disney Company, and in 2025, it was the 70th anniversary of Walt's first theme park, Disneyland. To help celebrate the momentous occasion, filmmaker Leslie Iwerks (The Imagineering Story) directed a documentary outlining the park's history called Disneyland Handcrafted.
The 78-minute movie begins with an empty parcel of land near Anaheim, California, back in 1954. With an extremely ambitious timeline, Disney set out to make an amusement park to open in one year - July 17, 1955, to be exact. He leveraged all of his money and assets - and then some - in the hope that families would want to come and experience rides and fun built upon the idea of said mouse and friends. A fantasy of fun, if you will, that was broken up into different "lands" where people could experience the past in Frontierland, the future in Tomorrowland, and everything in between.
Since Walt documented the park's progress, he occasionally offered updates on his weekly television show. At first, there was nothing but piles of dirt and various construction trucks moving said piles. Footage was captured by a time-lapse camera perched on a platform, as well as from helicopter trips flying overhead. As time went on, there were updates showing crews working on creating lakes and putting in trees for landscaping, all while discussing the increasing costs of the proposed park. As the film heads towards the end of the year, we see more and more workers on hand building attractions and painting, cementing, and all manner of construction. We also get a backstage view of attractions being built off-site and then being delivered piece by piece to the park's location and assembled.
The documentary utilizes sound clips from interviews with Disney, his nephew Roy E. Disney, Milt Albright - accountant, Harriet Burns - Model Maker, Bill Evans - Landscaper, and Bob Gurr- Vehicle designer, as well as others involved with the project. Having these rare insights into the building of the park, as well as Walt Disney himself, makes the film seem more intimate and personable rather than just showing some home movies with narration incorporated. These clips offer a first-person perspective that the audience wouldn't otherwise have, and that makes this documentary more special than others that tackle aspects of the Disney Corporation.
The film also uses footage of the same moments from various sources. Not only does this allow the viewers to see things from different angles, but with different video quality levels. Some cameras are in black and white, while others are in color, and some pictures look grainy, while the same scene is bright and colorful when viewed from a different source. This becomes most obvious when comparing on-site cameras with the broadcast cameras used by ABC television to live broadcast the opening to viewers all over the country.
Iwerks emphasizes the budget and time constraints of the project while still offering an accurate view of the obstacles presented during the build. She balances these issues with the idea that this park was one of Disney's dreams while still presenting the realistic view of Disney's naysayers and those who literally thought this idea was "crazy".
The documentary is presented in a straightforward manner using archival footage and voice recording, but adds that sense of wonder and whimsy that Disney brought to every project he undertook. This is a must-watch movie for any Disney enthusiast.
Disneyland Handcrafted is available to stream on Disney+.
Grade: A-
