Leslie Iwerks | The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan
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How did Leslie Iwerks get started in documentary filmmaking?
I love to travel. I love to meet people. I love to interview people. I love to, you know, what other career really allows you to travel the world and meet all sorts of people you'd never get to meet?
Your grandfather was Ub Iwerks, who started basically Disney animation.
Ub always said, you know, anyone can draw a mouse. It's what you do with it that counts.
First thing that comes to mind is it seems so honorable that you wanted to tell his story. I think it's such a beautiful thing.
Without Ub, there would have never been a Mickey.
What legacy did Ub Iwerks leave in Disney animation?
So he literally saved Disney animation of did that's insane. Yeah.
Like it's truly insane.
It is.
Leslie I works. Thank you so much for being on my show. I'm so appreciate you being here. Um, a quick resume because I think it sort of sets up the thing. So, uh, you're a very accomplished documentary filmmaker. Is that a fair thing to say? Or just filmmaker?
I always take accomplished. I wouldn't.
Okay. Uh, Just a quick resume on you. And this isn't complete. I'm just cherry picking. Hand Behind the Mouse, the Ub Iwerks story, which also involves your family. Recycle Life, the Pixar story. Dirty Oil, Ella Brennan. Industrial Light and Magic, Creating the Impossible. Pipe Dream, Citizen Hearst, the Imagineering story. Superpower, the DC story. 100 Years of Warner Brothers. And of course, the latest Disney handcrafted. That's quite a resume you got going. Thanks.
It's kept me out of trouble.
Did you, I know you went to film school, but I mean, did you want to be a documentary filmmaker? Because it seems to me it's a very particular discipline.
Yeah, well, not really. I went to film school thinking I'd be doing narrative, and never took a documentary class in film school at USC.
What motivated Leslie to tell her grandfather's story?
But I graduated, and I had this burning desire to tell my grandfather's story, because the people that worked with him were passing away. And I had never known him. I mean, I
He was like, maybe you were like one year old when he passed away.
Yeah. So, you know, I thought, well, this will be an opportunity for me to get to know him through other people. And so I ventured to make my own documentary about him.
So real quick, your grandfather was Ub Iwerks. Correct. He started basically Disney animation with Walt. Right. Going all the way back to Kansas City and all this stuff. Yes. I mean, he's a true pioneer for people who don't know their Disney history.
Exactly.
But was Disney involved in the making of the Upward Eye Works documentary?
Yes, they funded it.
Okay. Which was awesome. So let me finish what you were saying because I know it was important.
So that was my first documentary, and it was a passion project. And then that was successful enough for Disney to put it up for Academy Award. And then John Lasseter saw it, screened it up at Pixar, and said, would you tell our story? Oh, wow. And so that led to the Pixar story. And then it went from there. It was like ILM saw it and said, will you tell the George Lucas story of ILM? And then it led to actually Recycled Life was right after that, though. That was about people living in the largest landfill in Central America in Guatemala City. So that was my second film. That I directed and shot and edited and pretty much did all of it except produce it. And that led to an Oscar nomination and then Pixar story got Emmy nominated.
So I think between the two back to back, it kind of solidified this future path of dots, which I really enjoy doing.
But did you at any point feel like, do I really want to do this or this is like my calling? Because obviously it's working. Just walk me through that a little bit.
I mean, I think it was both. I love to travel. I love to meet people. I love to interview people. I love to, you know, what other career really allows you to travel the world and meet all sorts of people you'd never get to meet and interview them in depth. So to me, that's been really fun. And, you know, do I still want to do narrative? Am I still pursuing narrative?
How did Leslie's first documentary impact her career?
Yes.
I was talking to a documentarian recently involving myself, but, you know, I'm watching this person really wrestle with the idea of asking me to come into their life for two years.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Leslie Iwerks get started in documentary filmmaking?
0:00–0:30
2
What legacy did Ub Iwerks leave in Disney animation?
0:30–1:47
3
What motivated Leslie to tell her grandfather's story?
1:47–4:12
4
How did Leslie's first documentary impact her career?
4:12–7:25
5
What challenges did Leslie face while documenting the making of Disneyland?
7:25–21:04
6
How does Leslie perceive the changes happening at Disneyland today?
21:04–21:52
7
How does Leslie view the evolution of documentaries in the modern era?
21:52–32:47
8
What role did Ub Iwerks play in the creation of Mickey Mouse?
32:47–1:02:34
Speakers
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