Don Iwerks was the son of Mickey Mouse’s co-creator, father of a Disneyland documentarian, innovator of ground-breaking theme park attractions and the linchpin of a three-generation family that has worked for Disney for more than 100 years.
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The Disney Legend and Oscar-winning film pioneer died on July 9 in Ojai at the age of 96.
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His father, Ub Iwerks, co-created Mickey Mouse with Walt Disney and animated the first “Plane Crazy” silent cartoon.
Don Iwerks inherited his father’s insatiable curiosity, inventive spirit, attention to detail and knack for problem solving, according to his family.
“There was a ‘can-do’ attitude I learned from Walt and my father,” Don Iwerks said, according to D23. “If you’re doing a really first-class job, you don’t need to worry about the money. It will come. Walt gave everyone a feeling that they were creating things that others had never thought of before, of being a part of history.”
Don’s daughter, Leslie Iwerks, is a documentary filmmaker who made “Disneyland Handcrafted” and “The Imagineering Story” for the Disney+ streaming service.
“Don embodied that rare combination of heart, ingenuity and passion that has always defined Disney,” Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro said in a statement. “Through his innovative contributions to some of our most iconic films and attractions, he helped create experiences that have delighted generations of fans around the world.”
Born on July 24, 1929, Don Iwerks grew up in West Los Angeles before moving to the San Fernando Valley and graduating from Van Nuys High School.
Iwerks worked in the Disney Studios film processing lab before serving as a Signal Corps photographer in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
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After his service, he spent the next three decades working on some of Walt Disney Imagineering’s earliest audio-animatronic innovations and shaping many of Disneyland’s film-based attractions.
Among Iwerks’ earliest projects was a miniature singing barbershop quartet developed prior to the opening of Disneyland that served as a predecessor to Imagineering’s Audio-Animatronics program.
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Iwerks was the hand model for the animatronic president in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln at Disneyland and “Iwerks Hands” have since appeared on animatronic figures in Disney theme parks around the world.
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Iwerks was the camera technician on “A Tour of the West” in Tomorrowland’s Circarama, which opened with Disneyland in 1955, and also worked on “America the Beautiful” that later played in the 360-degree theater.
Iwerks developed the 3D camera system and in-theater effects for the 1986 “Captain EO” musical science-fiction adventure film starring pop star Michael Jackson in Tomorrowland at Disneyland.
He built the 3D projection system for Disneyland’s Star Tours motion simulator attraction that brought Star Wars to Tomorrowland in 1987.
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Iwerks Entertainment developed 3D films and motion simulation attractions for theme parks around the world when Iwerks left Disney in the late 1980s.
Iwerks received the Themed Entertainment Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997, won awards for technical achievement in 1998 and 1999 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was named a Disney Legend in 2009.
Ub and Don Iwerks were honored with a commemorative window on Main Street USA at the Magic Kingdom in Florida.
Don Iwerks is survived by his wife, Betty, sons Larry and John, and daughter Leslie.
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