Don Iwerks, the Academy Award-winning special effects pioneer who invented and revolutionized theme parks for movies and Disney, died peacefully on Thursday at the age of 96, the Walt Disney Co. announced.
For Disney and his studio, Iwerks Entertainment, Iwerks helped develop technologies and techniques such as Circle-Vision, the 360-degree camera behind “America the Beautiful” and other early Disney attractions, and the 3-D effects used in attractions such as Captain EO and the Star Tours ride.
“There was a 'can do' attitude that I learned from Walt and my dad,” Iwerks said, according to a statement shared by Disney Co. “Walt gave everyone the feeling that they were creating things that others had never thought about before, that they were part of history.”
Born on July 24, 1929, Iwerks received his first camera at the age of 14 as a gift from his father, animator Ub Iwerks.
The elder Iwerks met fellow artist Walt Disney when both men were teenagers working in a Kansas City, Mo., art studio. They would go on to work together at the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, where Iwerks designed and animated “Plane Crazy,” the first Mickey Mouse cartoon.
After a stint at his own animation studio, Ub returned to Disney as a special effects engineer, pioneering techniques such as the 360-degree motion picture camera.
“He really inspired me because he had a technical mind. He made my friendship and growing up years the best times of my life,” Don Iwerks. he told The Times in 1998.
The Iwerks family moved to the San Fernando Valley in 1936, where Don graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1947.
He served as a photographer in Germany during the Korean War and joined his father at Disney following his discharge from the US Army in 1952. An allergy to the chemicals used to make the film led to his transfer to the Company's Machine Shop, where he spent the next 34 years.
Don spent three months in the Bahamas manning underwater cameras for the 1954 Disney film “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” He then worked as a camera technician on “A Tour of the West,” the first Tomorrowland attraction at Disneyland's soon-to-open. The 360-degree immersive film was shot on the Circarama camera system invented by his father.
Together, Don and Ub developed technologies such as the “endless loop” system that allows a single film print to run up to 10,000 plays with minimal intervention and the development of photography processes used in “Mary Poppins” (his favorite Disney films) and other movies.
His hands were used as a model for the Abraham Lincoln Audio-Animatronics figure in “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln,” which opened at Disneyland in 1965. “Iwerks Hands” can now be seen in similar figures at Disney parks around the world, according to his family.
In 1986, he founded Iwerks Entertainment, which quickly became a major player in the film and theme park industries. The company specializes in large-format films and builds the 3-D projection system used in the Terminator ride at Universal Studios parks in Hollywood and Florida.
His innovation has been recognized with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Gordon E. Sawyer Award and the Academy Scientific and Technical Award, among other awards.
“It's clear that computers are playing a huge role in motion pictures today. Digital technology in film is able to combine elements of a scene on film and make it look lifelike. It's hard to know where that's going to go,” Iwerks said. in a 1998 interview.
“My opinion is that technology should support a good story and add to it. Technology for technology's sake?” he said with a shrug. “You still need good movies.”
Iwerks is survived by his wife of 54 years, Betty; his sons, Larry and John; John's wife, Chris; his daughter Leslie, and his nephew, Mike, who both worked for Disney, according to the report. a funeral shared with his family. His daughter Tamara preceded him in death.
“Like his father, he was a humble genius, a problem solver, and enjoyed sharing knowledge, encouraging others, and meeting all challenges with confidence and grace,” his family said in a statement from Conejo Mountain Funeral Home in Ventura.
Both Don and Ub Iwerks are commemorated in a storefront window on Main Street USA at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Located above Main Street Bakery, i the window it's a lasting memory of the family that made some of the park's magic happen.
“Iwerks-Iwerks Stereoscopic Cameras,” read the text. “No Two Are Exactly Alike.”
