Donald Iwerks, Disney Camera Technician and Co-Founder of Iwerks Entertainment, Dies at 96
Iwerks spent over six deacdes on projects for The Walt Disney Company, along with his own studio, Iwerks Entertainment. Those original hand casts became a...
Key points
- Iwerks spent over six deacdes on projects for The Walt Disney Company, along with his own studio, Iwerks Entertainment.
- Those original hand casts became a standard for Disney’s Audio-Animatronics figures, earning the nickname the “Iwerks Hands” and appearing on many similar figures in Disney parks around the world.
- As the eldest son of Disney Legend Ub Iwerks and Mildred Iwerks, he inherited his father’s inventive spirit.
- There, working alongside his father, the self-taught engineer helped develop cameras, optical printers, special effects systems, and innovations that would shape Disney films, attractions, and theme parks for generations, from the original Circle-Vision camera system, refinements to the sodium traveling matte process used in “Mary Poppins” and numerous projection technologies for Disney attractions around the world.
What happened
Iwerks spent over six deacdes on projects for The Walt Disney Company, along with his own studio, Iwerks Entertainment. Those original hand casts became a standard for Disney’s Audio-Animatronics figures, earning the nickname the “Iwerks Hands” and appearing on many similar figures in Disney parks around the world. As the eldest son of Disney Legend Ub Iwerks and Mildred Iwerks, he inherited his father’s inventive spirit. There, working alongside his father, the self-taught engineer helped develop cameras, optical printers, special effects systems, and innovations that would shape Disney films, attractions, and theme parks for generations, from the original Circle-Vision camera system, refinements to the sodium traveling matte process used in “Mary Poppins” and numerous projection technologies for Disney attractions around the world. He co-founded Iwerks Entertainment with former Disney executive Stan Kinsey. At age 90, he wrote the biography, “Walt Disney’s Ultimate Inventor: The Genius of Ub Iwerks,” published by Disney Editions in 2019, preserving his father’s legacy as the co-creator of Mickey Mouse and one of motion picture history’s greatest technical innovators.
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