The 729-page tome by Leslie Iwerks is gargantuan in length and rich in narrative, providing ambitious fans a complete history of Disney’s theme parks.
From Screen To Page
“The Imagineering Story” was a hit when it debuted as part of the launch of Disney+ in 2019. In the six-part docuseries, director Iwerks and narrator Angela Bassett take the audience on a journey from 1952 through present-day to discover the magic and misses, the success and failures of Disney’s decades-long work in themed entertainment. The series is refreshingly candid and exquisitely presented. Sleek, professional, honest, and inspiring, it can be enjoyed by hardcore theme park enthusiasts and casual viewers alike.
As thorough Iwerks was in the show’s six-hour runtime, she had to leave out a lot of incredible material. Along with Bruce C. Steele and Mark Catalena (the latter of whom scripted the show), Iwerks adapted and expanded the crux of the series into a book, “The Imagineering Story: The Official Biography of Walt Disney Imagineering,” published in November 2022 from Disney Editions.
As one of the most important projects of Bog Iger’s first CEO tenure, Shanghai Disneyland’s construction is greatly detailed in ‘The Imagineering Story.’
The show and the book exist separately from each other. You don’t have to be familiar with one to understand the other, but they complement one another well. In fact, many of the interviews from the series are upended and pasted verbatim in the book. The book keeps the series’ basic structure, with the same topics covered, just in greater detail and longer length.
An eclectic variety of disciplines and art forms comprise Walt Disney Imagineering. ‘The Imagineering Story’ takes a deep dive into the many fields and talents of the people who create Disney theme parks.
