Disney Worldbuilders finally has a name, a trailer, and a streaming window. Disney officially unveiled the title and first trailer for the new feature documentary from Leslie Iwerks this week, confirming on the Disney Parks Blog that it will stream on Disney+ this August after making its debut at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim.
The Worlds You Love And The Creators Behind Them
Disney Worldbuilders explores how Disney stories evolve into real places, featuring conversations with the creative minds behind the parks. The lineup of interviewees is a who’s who of the company: Bob Iger, James Cameron, Kevin Feige, Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Pete Docter, Jennifer Lee, Jared Bush, and Josh D’Amaro all appear alongside Disney Legends and Imagineers, reflecting on the inspirations and formative Disney memories that shaped their creative journeys.
The film also offers a behind-the-scenes look at what is coming next, including “rare glimpses of new lands, areas, and experiences currently taking shape.” While Disney has not confirmed which projects appear, the timing is hard to ignore, with major construction underway on lands like Monstropolis, Piston Peak, Villains Land, and Tropical Americas at Walt Disney World alongside projects at Disney’s international resorts. That access could make Worldbuilders the closest thing fans get to a preview reel ahead of the parks announcements expected at D23.
Leslie Iwerks Returns To Familiar Territory
The documentary comes from Leslie Iwerks, the filmmaker behind The Imagineering Story, the acclaimed Disney+ series chronicling Walt Disney Imagineering, along with documentaries on Pixar and Industrial Light and Magic. She is Disney royalty in her own right as the granddaughter of Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney’s original partner and the animator who first brought Mickey Mouse to life, which makes her the natural choice to document how the company’s storytellers and its parks feed each other’s imaginations.
The film gets its debut screening during a special panel presentation on August 16, 2026, the final day of D23, where several of the featured storytellers will discuss the art of worldbuilding before attendees see the documentary ahead of its Disney+ arrival later that month. The project was first announced as an untitled documentary in the D23 programming lineup earlier this month, as we covered when the D23 debut was revealed. Now, with a title, a trailer, and an August streaming date locked in, Worldbuilders is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated pieces of the D23 weekend for parks fans everywhere.
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