Disneyland Handcrafted Documentary Releases January 22 on Disney+ and YouTube

Written by Joshua Posted January 5th, 2026

If you’ve ever walked down Disneyland’s Main Street, U.S.A. and wondered how Walt and his team managed to build that greatness in just a year and a day, Disney has the documentary for you. Disneyland Handcrafted, a new feature film from Leslie Iwerks, is coming to Disney+ and YouTube on January 22, 2026.

Rocket to the Moon rocket waiting to be installed in Disneyland's Tomorrowland — Copyright Disney

Iwerks is the ideal person to tell this history. The Oscar-nominated filmmaker gave us The Pixar Story and The Imagineering Story, two must-see documentaries on Disney+. She’s also the granddaughter of Ub Iwerks – Walt Disney’s closest creative partner – and the daughter of Don Iwerks, an inventor and former Disney camera technician. Those are all the credentials we need.

For Disneyland Handcrafted, Iwerks spent countless hours inside the Walt Disney Film Archives, digging through more than 100 hours of 16mm film that had been previously locked away in the vault. Those reels were scanned in high resolution, preserving a critical piece of Disney history. According to the Disney Parks Blog, the footage offers an unvarnished look at what was really happening during Disneyland’s frantic construction.

“During Disneyland Handcrafted, this distinctive, archival footage will provide an unpolished, fly-on-the-wall perspective for viewers to hear and see what was actually happening during construction of The Happiest Place on Earth.”

I know what I’ll be doing in 17 days. Until then, I’ll be watching the Disneyland Handcrafted trailer on a loop.