As somebody who not only enjoys visiting Disneyland, but also has studied it in depth, it’s rare for me to come across information I didn’t know or something I haven't seen about the iconic theme park. This is part of what makes Disneyland Handcrafted the new documentary film from Leslie Iwerks (available with a Disney+ subscription or free on YouTube) so special. It’s full of film footage of the actual construction of Disneyland, much of which has never been released before.
However, the construction footage isn’t the only thing to look at during Disneyland Handcrafted. There are also numerous scenes of Walt Disney himself hosting the television series Disneyland, which was created specifically to promote, and pay for, the theme park of the same name. While I had seen some of that before, I hadn’t seen it all, in part because it’s not available on Disney+.
