It has been quite a journey. This series chronicled over sixty years on history and took us right through to today, even giving us brief looks on the future.
The final episode takes us first into the early development of Shanghai Disneyland, along with the creation of its famous slogan "Authentically Disney, Distinctly Chinese" by CEO Bob Iger himself.
We see the challenges of adjusting to a Chinese market, causing the park to break with tradition, and get more footage of the creation of some of Shanghai Disneyland's rockwork as well as the largest Disney Castle yet, specially designed with nods to traditional Chinese culture in the details of the castle.
As part of the Shanghai Pirates of the Caribbean section, we get amazing footage of the testing of both the ride system and special effects.
The Tron section will be familiar to anyone who has visited the Magic Kingdom recently, as the construction is shown at about the stage the Magic Kingdom version is currently at, then skipping to when it is almost finished. It made me excited for the Magic Kingdom version coming in a few years as the documentary makes you feel the passion that went into it.
Even something seemingly as simple as a carousel gets so much passion put into it.
The amount of construction footage all in one place was truly astonishing, from the earliest groundbreaking to the final days when the park is preparing for the opening.
This international park was the first unquestionable success outside of Tokyo Disneyland and it is treated as such.
We then jump into Joe Rhode describing translating the CGI world of Avatar into a physical medium in Disney's Animal Kingdom, translating the theme of conservation into something people would stick with long after they left the park.
Rhode takes us through some of the tricks of Pandora, showing us the complex design and models of the features of Pandora.
Some of the best footage of this section is the testing of Flight of Passage, where we see the Imagineers accidentally discover the emotional experience that has been such a big part of the ride, and decide to lean into it, giving us the ride we know and love today.
For the Mission Breakout section, we get again more truly honest takes on the online Disney community that voiced outrage at the prospect before the Tower of Terror closed, before falling in love with it. We also see some great behind the scenes footage of the live-action filming of the new Marvel ride, with interviews from James Gunn and Joe Rhode giving us a look at creating the emotion of the ride.
The Galaxy's Edge section is one of the most in-depth and passionate sections of the entire series, giving us a look at the motivations of the Imagineers and the creation of much of the concept art we have enjoyed in the years leading up to Galaxy's Edge.
The test footage of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run shows just how innovative this technology was.
Then we move into the ride that has gotten so much buzz in the last few weeks, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. We get our first real look at how some of the special effects of this amazing ride were accomplished. If you have not ridden the ride and don't want it spoiled for you, you should stop watching when the Smugglers Run footage comes up.
This is where we leave Imagineering, on one of their greatest accomplishments yet, the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, and the Imagineers looking forward to tomorrow with a montage mixing the innovation of the past with the innovation of the future.
The documentary also gets dedicated to Marty Sklar, who passed a few years ago.
This documentary managed to in just six episodes provide a chronicling history of Imagineering and the Disney Parks in a way that appealed to superfans and casual fans, providing a mix of great storytelling, insightful interviews, and footage never before seen in such a public setting. This honestly has been the best and most consistent original series on Disney+ yet and it went out on a high note.
Did you enjoy The Imagineering Story on Disney+? What was your favorite episode and why? Let us know in the comments we would love to hear from you!
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