Don Iwerks

Don Iwerks joined his father, Ub Iwerks, in the pantheon of Disney icons when he was presented with the prestigious Disney Legends Award in 2009. Don began his career by following his father to the Walt Disney Studios in 1950. A year later, he was drafted into the U.S. Army Signal Corp Photographic Company and served in Germany, after which he returned to the Studio. For the next eighteen years, he worked closely with his father on many of his ingenious projects for the Studio, the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, Disneyland, and Walt Disney World. In 1966, Don was promoted to Manager of the Studio Machine Shop, where he was involved in the development of cameras, projectors, and other technical systems that are still used in Disney Parks around the world-among them Circle-Vision 360 , wide-gauge 3D film systems, and the projection system for the wildly popular Star Tours attraction. In recognition of contributions to the movie industry made by his innovations, in 1997, Don received the Gordon E. Sawyer Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Board of Governors. That year he was also awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Themed Entertainment Association.