From giant screens to giant leaps, Don Iwerks spent a lifetime proving that the best storytellers are often the ones behind the camera. The Oscar-winning film pioneer, Disney legend and one of the industry’s great engineering minds died peacefully on 9 July, just days before his 97th birthday.
For more than six decades, Donald Warren “Don” Iwerks pushed the boundaries of cinema and themed entertainment, turning technical breakthroughs into unforgettable audience experiences. Whether it was 3D filmmaking, large-format projection, motion simulators or immersive attractions, Don was rarely content with the way things were. He preferred to build what came next.
The eldest son of Mickey Mouse co-creator Ub Iwerks, Don inherited the invention almost by osmosis. Born on 24 July 1929, he grew up in Southern California before joining The Walt Disney Studios in 1950. After serving as a photographer with the US Army Signal Corps during the Korean war, he returned to Disney, where he spent more than three decades developing cameras, optical printers, projection systems and special-effects technologies that became the backbone of Disney’s films and attractions.
His fingerprints were everywhere, quite literally. Among Disney fans, the hands of the Abraham Lincoln Audio-Animatronics figure in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln were modelled on Don’s own. The casts became the benchmark for generations of Disney Audio-Animatronics figures, affectionately known as the Iwerks Hands.
In 1986, Don co-founded Iwerks Entertainment with former Disney executive Stan Kinsey, launching a second act that was every bit as groundbreaking as the first. The company became a global leader in giant-screen theatres, motion simulators and immersive 3D experiences, installing attractions in nearly 300 venues across 38 countries and helping redefine location-based entertainment.
His innovations earned some of the entertainment industry’s highest honours, including the Academy’s Gordon E. Sawyer Award, an Academy Scientific and Technical Award, the Themed Entertainment Association Lifetime Achievement Award, Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award and recognition as a Disney legend in 2009.
Retirement never slowed him down. In 2007, he restored several of Disney’s historic camera systems for display at The Walt Disney Family Museum, including the iconic Multiplane Camera and the original Circle-Vision rig. At 90, he authored Walt Disney’s Ultimate Inventor: The Genius of Ub Iwerks, ensuring his father’s remarkable story would inspire future generations.
He leaves behind his wife, Betty; sons Larry and John; daughter Leslie; and great-nephew Mike. His daughter, Tamara, died before him.
The cameras may have stopped rolling, but Don’s inventions will keep audiences looking up in wonder for generations to come. Some people leave behind films. He left behind the future of how films are experienced.
