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Don Iwerks, an Academy Award-winning special effects pioneer whose innovations transformed film and Disney theme parks, died peacefully Thursday at the age of 96, the Walt Disney Co. announced<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n For Disney and his own studio, Iwerks Entertainment, Iwerks helped develop technologies and techniques like Circle-Vision, the 360-degree camera behind \u201cAmerica the Beautiful\u201d and other early Disney attractions, and the 3-D effects used in attractions like Captain EO and the Star Tours ride.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a \u2018can-do\u2019 attitude I learned from Walt and my father,\u201d Iwerks said, according to a statement<\/u><\/a> shared by the Disney Co. \u201cWalt gave everyone a feeling that they were creating things that others had never thought of before, of being a part of history.\u201d<\/p>\n Born July 24, 1929, Iwerks received his first camera at age 14 as a gift from his father, animator Ub Iwerks.<\/p>\n The elder Iwerks met fellow artist Walt Disney when both men were teenagers working at a Kansas City, Mo., art studio. They would go on to work together at the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, where Iwerks designed and animated \u201cPlane Crazy,\u201d<\/a> the first Mickey Mouse cartoon.<\/p>\n After a stint at his own animation studio, Ub returned to Disney as a special effects engineer, pioneering techniques like the 360-degree motion-picture camera.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was absolutely my inspiration because he was technically minded. He made my childhood and formative years one of the greatest times of my life,\u201d Don Iwerks told The Times<\/u><\/a> in 1998.<\/p>\n The Iwerks family moved to the San Fernando Valley in 1936, where Don graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1947.<\/p>\n He served as a photographer in Germany during the Korean War and joined his father at Disney following his 1952 discharge from the U.S. Army. An allergic reaction to chemicals used to develop film led to his transfer to the company\u2019s Studio Machine Shop, where he spent the next 34 years.<\/p>\n Don spent three months in the Bahamas manning underwater cameras for the 1954 Disney film \u201c20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.\u201d He then worked as the camera technician on \u201cA Tour of the West,\u201d an original Tomorrowland attraction at the soon-to-be opened Disneyland. The immersive 360-degree film was shot on the Circarama camera system his father invented.<\/p>\n Together, Don and Ub developed technologies like the \u201cendless loop\u201d system that enabled a single film print to run for up to 10,000 performances with minimal intervention and refinements to the photography processes used in \u201cMary Poppins\u201d (his favorite of the Disney films) and other movies.<\/p>\n His own hands were used as the model for those of the Abraham Lincoln Audio-Animatronics figure in \u201cGreat Moments with Mr. Lincoln,\u201d which opened at Disneyland in 1965. The \u201cIwerks Hands\u201d now appear on similar figures at Disney parks around the world, according to his family.<\/p>\n In 1986, he co-founded Iwerks Entertainment, which soon became a major player<\/a> in the film and theme park industries. The company specialized in large-format films and created the 3-D projection system used in the Terminator rides at Universal Studios parks in Hollywood and Florida.<\/p>\n His innovations were honored with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences\u2019 honorary Gordon E. Sawyer Award and an Academy Scientific and Technical Award, among other prizes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very obvious that computers are playing a big role in motion pictures today. The digital technology in film is able to put elements of scenes together on a film and have them look lifelike. It\u2019s hard to know where that will go,\u201d Iwerks said in a 1998 interview<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMy view is that technology should support a good story and add to it. Technology for technology\u2019s sake?\u201d he said with a shrug. \u201cYou still need good films.\u201d<\/p>\n Iwerks is survived by his wife of 54 years, Betty; his sons, Larry and John; John\u2019s wife, Chris; his daughter Leslie, and great-nephew,Mike, both of whom have also worked for Disney, according to an obituary<\/u><\/a> shared by his family. His daughter Tamara preceded him in death.<\/p>\n \u201cLike his father, he was a humble genius, a consummate problem solver, and delighted in sharing knowledge, encouraging others, and approaching every challenge with confidence and grace,\u201d his family said in the statement from Conejo Mountain Funeral Home in Ventura.<\/p>\n