Leslie Iwerks’ documentary premiered at D23 on Sunday and reaches streaming August 20. It features Bob Iger, James Cameron, Kevin Feige, and Josh D’Amaro on how Disney turns films into places.
Disney Worldbuilders streams on Disney+ beginning August 20. It had its world premiere at D23 on Sunday, August 16, screening for attendees in Anaheim.
Leslie Iwerks directed the film, looking into how Disney turns films into physical places. The first season covers Avatar, Star Wars, the Marvel films, Pixar, Frozen, and Zootopia.
Who appears in Disney Worldbuilders
Bob Iger, credited as former CEO and senior advisor. James Cameron. Kevin Feige. Jon Favreau. Jennifer Lee. Pete Docter. Dave Filoni. Jared Bush. And Josh D’Amaro, the current CEO.
Iwerks has said the thread connecting nearly all of them was walking through the gates of Disneyland as a kid.
Why the timing works the way it does
The D23 screening landed on Sunday, one day after the Horizons parks panel on Saturday night.
Disney waited until after the major announcements because the film includes a look at new worlds on the way. If released earlier, it would have spoiled the panel.
Anyone who watched Horizons already knows what got revealed.
Leslie Iwerks and the family behind the camera
Iwerks is the granddaughter of Ub Iwerks, Walt’s original animator and Mickey Mouse’s co-creator, and the daughter of Don Iwerks, a studio camera technician and inventor. Both are Disney Legends and both won Academy Awards.
She previously made The Imagineering Story, The Pixar Story, Industrial Light & Magic: Creating the Impossible, and Disneyland Handcrafted. She herself is Oscar and Emmy nominated.
Three generations of one family have now documented or built the same company.
What to watch for Thursday
Two things worth keeping an eye on.
The Avatar material, given that Disney’s earnings materials still list an Avatar experience in development and it received no notable stage time Saturday. What the documentary says about it may be the most current information available.
And Iger’s segments were filmed while he was still running the company. He stepped down in March and was inducted as a Disney Legend on Sunday, the same day this premiered, five days after agreeing to buy the Lakers.
Thursday, on Disney+. It’s the last piece of a D23 weekend that will be revealed to everyone. Well, everyone with a Disney+ subscription.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
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Disney+ Press and The Walt Disney Company (July and August 2026), the August 20 premiere date, the August 16 D23 world premiere, the interview list, and Iwerks’ background
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Variety (July and August 2026), Jazz Tangcay’s reporting and the interview with Iwerks
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Disney Tourist Blog (August 2026), the observation that the D23 screening was scheduled after the parks panel
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ABC News / Good Morning America (August 17, 2026), Iger’s Disney Legends induction
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