Disney’s latest documentary on the mechanics of turning screen stories into theme park environments arrives with a glimpse of its newest frontier. Worldbuilders, directed by Leslie Iwerks, examines how films and franchises move from cinema to physical attractions. Iwerks, whose grandfather Ub Iwerks co-created Mickey Mouse, has previously chronicled the company’s creative machinery in works on Imagineering and Pixar. This feature-length film follows that path, focusing on the translation of Avatar, Star Wars, Marvel properties, Pixar titles, Frozen and Zootopia into lands and rides.
The documentary premieres at D23 in Anaheim on 16 August before reaching Disney+ on 20 August. Among those interviewed are Bob Iger, Josh D’Amaro, James Cameron, Kevin Feige, Jon Favreau, Pete Docter, Jennifer Lee, Dave Filoni and Jared Bush. Their presence signals the usual mix of corporate oversight and creative voices that shape these projects. Iwerks frames her interest as a desire to understand what drives the people who adapt familiar stories into walk-through experiences. The result is less a pure celebration of invention than a record of a well-rehearsed industrial process.
For viewers in the Gulf, the draw lies in early footage of Disneyland Abu Dhabi. The trailer shows Iger walking the Yas Island site, echoing his January social-media post from the same location. He speaks of the need to dream on a large scale. The resort was announced in May 2025 as Disney’s seventh and its first in the Middle East. Miral is financing, constructing and operating the park under the company’s preferred capital-light arrangement, while Disney retains creative control and receives royalties. Iger has called the project authentically Disney yet distinctly Emirati, though no opening date has been set. Until gates open, this remains the most concrete public look at the ground.
Disney’s international expansion has long followed a pattern of partnerships rather than sole ownership. Tokyo Disneyland, the first outside the United States, opened in 1983 under a licensing deal that left construction and daily management with local operators. Paris, Shanghai and Hong Kong followed with varying degrees of corporate involvement and public subsidy. Abu Dhabi continues that model. Yas Island already hosts major attractions, and the Sphere is scheduled for 2029, suggesting a broader push to position the area as a regional entertainment hub. The timeline for Disney parks is rarely swift; announcements often precede reality by years, and local economic and cultural conditions shape the final product more than any single vision.
The documentary arrives alongside other Disney activity in the region, including theatrical releases and an expanding streaming catalogue. Disney+ UAE subscriptions begin at AED 29.99 a month. Worldbuilders itself sits within a longer tradition of company-sanctioned storytelling about its own methods. Such films offer access and polish, yet they also reinforce the commercial logic that turns proven intellectual property into repeatable attractions. The process is meticulous, costly and tightly managed. Whether the resulting lands feel like extensions of the original stories or carefully branded destinations remains for visitors to decide once the Abu Dhabi gates finally open.
