Originally conceived as a retrospective special to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the beloved park, Disneyland: Secrets, Stories and Magic has become one of the most recognizable journeys into the history of Disneyland. A “docutainment” program hosted by Julie Andrews, Disneyland: Secrets, Stories and Magic takes a fresh approach to the history of Disneyland, as key participants in the formation and continual supervision of this incredible piece of Americana tell the story through their own experiences.

George Lucas, Pixar’s John Lassiter and Pete Docter along with head Imagineer Marty Sklar and many others join Julie Andrews in the telling of the tale.

Notes from co-director and editor Pete Schuermann:

“This is just a sample of arguably my most prestigious work done to date. Thanks to former Disney Execs, producer/co-director Bob Garner and Executive Producer Jim Garber (both great friends to this day), I was given the proverbial shot at big time.

In the past, most Disneyland retrospectives were hosted TV specials, and my main contribution to the strategy was to shoot more documentary style; handheld often, with the story told by the actual people who built the park. From the postive critical response, one example being Werner Weiss’ (Yesterland) comment below, I’m happy to say the tactic succeeded.  The MOST fun was combing the vast archive of Disney stock footage from old TV specials and era promos, though.

 The opening [SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW] was a “test” of my edit abilities, a very real sense. The producers and execs at Disney Home Video had duties elsewhere for a few days and I was left with the instructions to ‘just cut an open’ and we’ll see what you come up with. Well, what you see here is basically that with very few changes. Upon return, the team was ecstatic – which of course was reciprocated in my reaction. What a relief!”

 NTSC 480p – please excuse the poor quality from a DVD source.