Disney Worldbuilders, the newest documentary from filmmaker Leslie Iwerks, will be arriving on Disney+ on August 20, 2026. When it does, Disney fans will get to hear from people who build worlds for Disney and share how these things come to be. These intimate conversations will include people who have led the building of worlds from different arenas of The Walt Disney Company. This includes:

• Bob Iger
• James Cameron
• Jon Favreau
• Kevin Feige
• Jennifer Lee
• Pete Docter
• Dave Filoni
• Jared Bush
• Josh D’Amaro

All of these world builders will share memories that shaped them, along with the worlds they have built in the realms of television, film, games, and Disney destinations around the world.

This weekend at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, attendees will have a chance for a first look at the film. Disney+ subscribers can also watch a livestreamed panel discussion with Iwerks along with some of the featured storytellers in the film. This will take place at 10:15 AM PT on Sunday, August 16. Ahead of that, Leslie Iwerks took a few moments to share what “worldbuilding” really means, the surprising through-line she found throughout all of the interviews, and why storytellers shaping Disney’s future all started as fans. Disney shared the following email. Check it out here:

What drew you to Disney Worldbuilders as your next project, and how did the idea evolve from a concept about creative collaboration into a full-length documentary?

Walt once said Disneyland would never be complete as long as there was imagination left in the world. That idea has always stayed with me. After Disneyland Handcrafted, I kept coming back to it and wondering how it lives on in the storytellers working today and shaping tomorrow.

So, I sat down with the Disney filmmakers whose craft I’ve admired for a long time. What I heard, again and again, was how much of their own creative drive traces straight back to what Walt built at Disneyland and in the parks around the world. These are filmmakers who have achieved more than most people ever might, whether it be a top box office film, a #1 hit, winning an Oscar or getting their film made into an attraction or land. But what was refreshing was not only their humility, but once they completed that goal, they wanted to get right back into the thick of their next project, to evolve and advance.

The film’s title, Disney Worldbuilders, is a powerful one. What does “worldbuilding” mean to you in the Disney context — and how did you want that idea to land with audiences by the end of the film?

Worldbuilding, to me, is about the intention behind wanting audiences to feel something so powerful they don’t want to leave. As I talked with the filmmakers, I could hear that intention being carried from the moment these worlds are dreamt up and created in a filmmaker’s imagination, to when they are translated into a script, to the moment a story stops living on a page or screen and becomes something audiences can walk into and live in.

Walt’s legacy speaks to that idea, and I believe these filmmakers share that focus. My hope is that people finish this film with a new appreciation for that creative vision, and for the storytellers who bring these worlds to life.