Alongside an exciting glimpse of the future, the most impressive part of Disney Worldbuilders is how it focuses on inspiring future storytellers.

When I think back on Disney Worldbuilders, the new documentary from Disneyland Handcrafted and The Imagineering Story’s Leslie Iwerks, I keep coming back to something Iwerks told me when I interviewed her at the film’s premiere – Vérité filmmaking. This is a style that aims to capture the real, non-scripted reactions of the stars of a documentary, and Iwerks masterful use of this while telling the stories of those bringing our favorite Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel stories to life has made this more than just a film for me, but a piece of important history and inspiration that shows there is no reason we too can’t make our dreams come true.

For those unfamiliar, Disney Worldbuilders centers on Bob Iger, James Cameron, Jon Favreau, Kevin Feige, Jennifer Lee, Pete Docter, Dave Filoni, Jared Bush, and Josh D’Amaro and focuses on how these worlds they once imagined in their minds not only came to the big screen, but also made it to Disney Parks and experiences around the world. While it’s great to see these… well… worldbuilders talk about their story and, in some cases, reveal an exciting glimpse of future experiences and projects, it’s the more human moments that will stay with me forever, especially that of Frozen’s Jennifer Lee.

The Real Power of Disney Stories Is the People Behind Them

Lee was the co-director on Frozen and Frozen 2, and the first female Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, but her segment made her story feel so relatable and powerful. We are so fortunate to get to witness the first time she visits World of Frozen at Disneyland Paris’ Disney Adventure World, and it’s made even more special that she was joined by her sister, who, as she puts it, is literally her Elsa. The best part? Iwerks didn’t know any of this going into this trip.

“[Jennifer Lee] could have just recreated that moment for us, but no, she actually had not been through the land yet,” Iwerks told me. “And I was holding her back. I said, ‘ok, we’ve got the camera crew on the other side, and we want you to just walk through and be natural. Just pretend we aren’t here.’ And so what you see was what actually happened.

“Then I learned right in the next moment that her sister was flying in, and I’m like, ‘let’s just extend this!’ I kept delaying everyone and trying to just slow it down and wait for her. Then, when she arrived, it was just such a beautiful experience. That was Vérité. That just happened.”

Unscripted Moments Reveal the People Behind the Filmmakers

There are so many of those moments throughout Disney Worldbuilders, including one where Pixar’s Pete Docter was walking through Disney California Adventure’s Pixar Pier and started rolling the large Luxo Ball water structure with a kid who was just walking through the park. Can you imagine what a special moment that was for both the kid and Docter? And it happened because Iwerks wanted to foster these emergent moments that you could never plan for. If you’ve ever been to a Disney Park, or really any place around the world, there’s a good chance you’ll agree it’s those moments that appear seemingly out of nowhere that tend to stick with you the most.

Photo by CJ Ayd

“These people are directors and filmmakers; they aren’t actors,” Iwerks told me. “They were all like, ‘Well, what do I do?’ I just told them to be yourself. Imagine yourself walking through this again, or even as a kid. Remind yourself of what that felt like for the first time, and I think they really enjoyed that. Their world is not like this. They’re in the film world. So, to be able to pull back and be appreciated for the accomplishment of their story being in the park now, I think, felt special. On top of that, I wanted to simply be with them and let the fans come in on that experience.”

Even Disney’s Greatest Worldbuilders Faced Rejection

What else Disney Worldbuilders does is show that the path to success is not an easy one. We learn that Docter was almost fired from directing Monsters, Inc. because he couldn’t get the story to a good place. You may also be shocked to know that Kevin Feige, the mastermind behind the MCU, got rejected from USC’s film school four times before finally being accepted. 

It smartly grounds each of these worldbuilders and also shows them as kids when their segment begins, reminding us they were once fans who had a drive to create something meaningful in this world, and that they wouldn’t let roadblocks, doubt, or negativity stop them from doing so. 

How Disneyland Handcrafted Inspired Disney Worldbuilders

It’s a rare look behind-the-scenes at Disney, and it also surprisingly is a perfect evolution of the story that Leslie began telling in Disneyland Handcrafted. What made that documentary so special was that it transported us back to the construction of Disneyland and Walt’s dream, the good, the bad, and the ugly. We learned so much about what it was actually like to defy the odds and doubters and build the Happiest Place on Earth, but Iwerks’ biggest frustration developing it was that she couldn’t just jump in and talk to them.

Photo by Adam Bankhurst

That sentiment was compounded when she came across a picture of Walt on Disneyland’s Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland. 

“Walt’s looking up, and all these kids are around him, and he’s just looking up with such awe of the excitement of this moment,” Iwerks said. “I just wish that I could go back in time and ask him, ‘What did it feel like to go through your own stories?’” These reasons were some of the driving forces behind Disney Worldbuilders.

Disney’s Next Theme Park Begins With an Empty Lot

While she couldn’t interview Walt, Disney Worldbuilders did allow her to chat with former The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger alongside his successor, Josh D’Amaro. We get a few moments of Iger’s story at the beginning of the documentary, but the grand finale is an unprecedented look at some of the pitch meetings and early discussions for Disney’s new Abu Dhabi theme park. As it stands, this theme park, which will potentially one day be the home of lifelong memories and happy moments, is just an empty lot on the water. But that’s the beauty of it, and Iger puts it perfectly in Disney Worldbuilders.

“You have to have great ambition, and you have to dream big,” Iger said. “You have to have a wild imagination that actually can turn a barren piece of land into a magical place.”

Tomorrow’s Worldbuilders Could Be Watching Today

What Disney Worldbuilders does so wonderfully is show that these magical places and stories could be built by you. This group of people on screen was once nothing but dreamers of a great big beautiful tomorrow, and there is no reason a person watching Disney Worldbuilders, visiting a Disney Park, or being introduced to a story that touches their heart can’t be the next visionary that changes the world for the better. 

Stories like Disney Worldbuilders matter because they inspire. They ground seemingly unrelated figures and show their vulnerabilities and doubts and remind us we are all the same and all have the capacity for greatness. To end, I want to return to Lee, because she said something else that stuck with me, and I wanted to share it with you in hopes it will make you believe anything is possible.

“This matters,” Lee said. “This is how we find who we are. It’s through these stories that connect us all that we find our potential. It’s how we get through our adversity… And it’s such a powerful feeling being able to immerse yourself in a park. It becomes a part of who you are, and it empowers you to build your own stories. It’s just an incredible thing.”

We may not know where our spark or that of a loved one comes from, but it’s stories like Disney Worldbuilders and the people and worlds it features that provide that possibility, and what’s better than that? 

Verdict: 9/10