Disney Legend Don Iwerks, camera pioneer and son of Ub Iwerks, has died at 96
Don Iwerks, the Disney Legend whose camera and projection innovations shaped everything from Mary Poppins to EPCOT, and the son of Mickey Mouse co-creator Ub Iwerks, has passed away at 96. Here’s a look back at his remarkable six-decade legacy of Disney magic.
The Disney family has lost one of its quiet giants. Don Iwerks, the Disney Legend whose pioneering camera and projection technology helped bring some of the company’s most beloved films and attractions to life, has passed away at the age of 96.
Disney confirmed that Iwerks died the evening of July 9, 2026. The son of legendary animator Ub Iwerks, Don carried forward a family legacy of Disney innovation that spans nearly a century. Here’s a look back at his extraordinary life and work.
A legacy born into Disney history
Don Iwerks was, quite literally, Disney royalty. Born on July 24, 1929, in Dallas, Texas, he was the eldest son of Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney’s original business partner and the animator who helped bring Mickey Mouse into the world. Invention wasn’t just a career in the Iwerks household, it was a way of life.
Don followed his father into the family business, joining Walt Disney Productions in 1950 as a laboratory technician. After a two-year interruption to serve in the Korean War, he returned and, in 1953, moved into the studio’s famed Machine Shop, where he began working side by side with his father. That partnership would go on to produce some of the most important technology in Disney history.
The innovations that shaped the magic
Over a 35-year Disney career, Don Iwerks left his fingerprints on countless classics. He served as a camera technician on 1954’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, his first major film, and went on to lead the studio’s Machine Shop, Camera Service Department, and Technical Engineering and Manufacturing Division.
His most celebrated achievement was the development of the 360-degree Circle-Vision camera, the technology behind immersive films like America the Beautiful, which surrounded guests with wraparound imagery at Disney parks around the world for decades. He also helped perfect the sodium vapor process used to seamlessly blend live-action and animation in 1964’s Academy Award-winning Mary Poppins, engineered the projection system for the fan-favorite Star Tours attraction, and developed 3D camera work for Captain EO. In a charming piece of Disney trivia, his hands even served as the model for the Abraham Lincoln figure in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.
Building his own legacy
After nearly 35 years with Disney, Iwerks set out on his own. In 1986, he co-founded Iwerks Entertainment, a company that became a global pioneer in giant-screen theaters, motion-simulator rides, and immersive 3D experiences, the very kinds of attractions that now define theme parks worldwide. The company was later acquired by SimEx in 2001.
His contributions earned him some of the industry’s highest honors. He received the Gordon E. Sawyer Award, an honorary Oscar, from the Academy in 1998, along with an Academy Scientific and Technical Award. And in 2009, he was inducted as a Disney Legend at the inaugural D23 Expo, an honor he shares with his father. Fittingly, the two are memorialized together with a window on Main Street, U.S.A. at Magic Kingdom, reading “Iwerks-Iwerks Stereoscopic Cameras.”
A steward of Disney’s history
In his later years, Don became a devoted keeper of the very legacy he helped build. In 2007, Diane Disney Miller entrusted him with restoring many of Disney’s most historic camera systems for the Walt Disney Family Museum, including the original Multiplane camera, the Circle-Vision rig, and the underwater cameras from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
And at the age of 90, he authored a loving biography of his father, Walt Disney’s Ultimate Inventor: The Genius of Ub Iwerks, ensuring that Ub’s story, and the family’s foundational role in Disney history, would continue to be told for generations to come.
Remembering Don Iwerks
Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro paid tribute to Iwerks in a statement. “Don embodied that rare combination of heart, ingenuity, and passion that has always defined Disney,” he said. “Through his innovative contributions to some of our most iconic films and attractions, he helped create experiences that have delighted generations of fans around the world.”
Iwerks is survived by his wife of 54 years, Betty; his sons, John and Larry; and his daughter, Leslie Iwerks, an acclaimed documentary filmmaker who has continued the family tradition of chronicling Disney’s creative history. He was preceded in death by his cherished daughter, Tamara. In lieu of flowers, his family has asked that donations be made to the Community Memorial Continuing Care Center of Ojai and The Walt Disney Family Museum.
A lasting legacy: what it comes down to
From his father’s hand-drawn Mickey Mouse to his own boundary-pushing cameras, to his daughter Leslie’s documentaries preserving it all, the Iwerks family has helped shape and safeguard Disney’s magic for nearly a hundred years. Don’s particular gift was making the impossible feel effortless, building the unseen machinery that let audiences feel like they were soaring over America, walking through Mary Poppins’ world, or blasting off to a galaxy far, far away.
The next time you find yourself surrounded by a wraparound screen or swept into a ride that feels impossibly real, there’s a good chance you have Don Iwerks to thank. He spent his life building the tools that turn imagination into wonder, and that wonder will outlast us all.
Some legacies aren’t just remembered. They’re felt, every single day, by everyone who walks through the gates.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
The Walt Disney Company (official statement) and The Hollywood Reporter (July 2026), verified for the core facts (Disney Legend Don Iwerks passing away the evening of July 9, 2026 at age 96, born July 24, 1929 in Dallas, his being the son of Mickey Mouse co-creator Ub Iwerks, his 35-year Disney career beginning in 1950, and Josh D’Amaro’s tribute statement)
Variety, Deadline, and Laughing Place (July 2026), verified for his innovations and honors (the 360-degree Circle-Vision camera and America the Beautiful, the sodium vapor process for Mary Poppins, the Star Tours projection system, Captain EO 3D work, his first film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, serving as the hand model for the Abraham Lincoln Audio-Animatronic, founding Iwerks Entertainment in 1986 with Stan Kinsey, the 1998 Gordon E. Sawyer Award and Academy Scientific and Technical Award, his 2009 Disney Legend induction, and the shared Main Street U.S.A. window)
The Main Street Mouse and The Walt Disney Company (July 2026), verified for his later life and survivors (restoring historic Disney cameras for the Walt Disney Family Museum in 2007, authoring the Ub Iwerks biography Walt Disney’s Ultimate Inventor at age 90, being survived by his wife of 54 years Betty, sons John and Larry, and documentarian daughter Leslie Iwerks, being preceded in death by daughter Tamara, and the family’s request for donations to the Community Memorial Continuing Care Center of Ojai and the Walt Disney Family Museum)