Gregory wrote: Sat Jul 11, 2026 3:36 pmDon Iwerks, 96. I was more familiar with his father, Ub, but it was interesting to learn of Don's technological innovations
I’ve met quite a few people who worked for Iwerks Entertainment and have looked up multiple articles about them. It was a direct competitor to Showscan, Douglas Trumbull’s company doing 70mm/60fps projections that he attempted to patent as a concept.
I’ve had the concept of “expanded cinema” on my mind a lot the last few years and it’s interesting to see the two biggest applications for this are gallery spaces (think of a Bill Viola installation for an early version of this) and theme parks. Iwerks Entertainment built and designed multiple film projection systems including the Soarin’ ride at Disney California Adventures, done originally with two 70mm projectors placed together and ran at an extra high frame rate to create a wide and immersive projection. Unfortunately, pictures are hard to source, but here’s a good blog post with information about them. Not sure who owns the drawings and films they help produced. Would be a great subject for a book one day.
Gregory wrote: Sat Jul 11, 2026 3:36 pmDon Iwerks, 96. I was more familiar with his father, Ub, but it was interesting to learn of Don's technological innovations
I’ve met quite a few people who worked for Iwerks Entertainment and have looked up multiple articles about them. It was a direct competitor to Showscan, Douglas Trumbull’s company doing 70mm/60fps projections that he attempted to patent as a concept.
I’ve had the concept of “expanded cinema” on my mind a lot the last few years and it’s interesting to see the two biggest applications for this are gallery spaces (think of a Bill Viola installation for an early version of this) and theme parks. Iwerks Entertainment built and designed multiple film projection systems including the Soarin’ ride at Disney California Adventures, done originally with two 70mm projectors placed together and ran at an extra high frame rate to create a wide and immersive projection. Unfortunately, pictures are hard to source, but here’s a good blog post with information about them. Not sure who owns the drawings and films they help produced. Would be a great subject for a book one day.
It’s a shame that those Iwerks Entertainment and Trumbull films are basically unusable now and sitting in storage (the Academy has ShowScan materials). If VistaVision projectors can come back to life, why not this stuff?
Lot of reasons why, unfortunately! Because of the high frame rate and scale of the 70mm frames, it required special cabinets where the film would essentially zip through barely touching the rollers. As a result, you were limited to specific lengths due to the scale of these cabinets. A lot of them used heavily modified projectors as well that used servo motors and replaced parts in order to both synchronize and run in unusual configurations. I experienced immersive projections like this the way I absolutely experienced IMAX documentaries back in the 90s, but had no appreciation for design, concept, or film as a medium as a kid. I remember the experience, but I was not looking at frame rates or image scales the way I do now.
One of the Iwerks technicians said the only place still operating one of their old systems was a theme park in Texas and that they still order 70mm prints from Fotokem when they need to change prints.
The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote: Sat Jul 11, 2026 4:20 pm
Lot of reasons why, unfortunately! Because of the high frame rate and scale of the 70mm frames, it required special cabinets where the film would essentially zip through barely touching the rollers. As a result, you were limited to specific lengths due to the scale of these cabinets. A lot of them used heavily modified projectors as well that used servo motors and replaced parts in order to both synchronize and run in unusual configurations. I experienced immersive projections like this the way I absolutely experienced IMAX documentaries back in the 90s, but had no appreciation for design, concept, or film as a medium as a kid. I remember the experience, but I was not looking at frame rates or image scales the way I do now.
One of the Iwerks technicians said the only place still operating one of their old systems was a theme park in Texas and that they still order 70mm prints from Fotokem when they need to change prints.
I wish I’d been able to experience more of those IMAX documentaries that were produced prior to the formatting being co-opted by Hollywood. I’ll never forget catching Beavers around 1995, and I almost had a panic attack because of how overwhelming the sound was
