We Call It Imagineering is a delightful and insightful 30-minute documentary that peels back the cobwebs of mystery surrounding one of Disney’s most beloved attractions: The Haunted Mansion along with all of its future iterations.
With lots of insightful information that Disney fans will absolutely love, with lots of secrets shared I feel as though this sit-down and chat style of show breezes through at a rapid pace and 28 minutes is soon over before you know it.
There’s a great deal of history and behind the scenes magic being shared that the casual viewer could also enjoy the show in equal measure but it’s nice to have old and new imagineers discussing the history and its current form from Walt’s original idea of always wanting a ‘retirement home for the world’s ghosts’ placed within his beloved theme park.
Seeing all of the sculptures of the original Marquettes of the hitchhiking ghosts including a look at one ghost that sadly didn’t make the final cut.
The documentary explores how art, technology, and storytelling collided to create something that feels as spooky as it is whimsical. What stands out most is the sense of reverence everyone has for the project; you can feel the deep respect for Walt’s vision and the playful innovation that has kept the Mansion relevant through generations.
Whilst the show is beautiful in its execution there’s a music that plays throughout the vocals that gets pretty grating the more and more the episode goes on. I’m trying to hear imagineers talk and there’s this annoying behind the scenes music that feels like a Segway background music to a cheap Halloween talk show drowning out the vocals, it just needs dialling down a bit but that was my only gripe, everything else is wonderful!
The film touches on so many fascinating aspects—audio-animatronics, sound design, architectural choices—that viewers are left wanting more. A longer format could have allowed deeper dives into individual Imagineers or the cultural legacy of the attraction but in that regard the voice-over / face-to-camera stuff would have to be cut down more so it didn’t feel like one long overdrawn monologue.
Seeing other iterations of Haunted Mansion such as Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris and Mystic Manor at Hong Kong Disneyland is a nice piece to add towards the latter half of the documentary and it’s great to see the changes made per location as the original concept branches out in weird and wonderful ways.
Of course the show spins off towards more Disney property as the Haunted Mansion Parlour on the Disney Treasure is shown and rightly so, it’s rather beautiful and deserves its own feature as a little slice of the Haunted Mansion comes alive on this wonderful cruise ship.
Overall, We Call It Imagineering is a love letter to the dreamers who built—and keep building—the Haunted Mansion. It’s equal parts nostalgic, informative, and inspiring, reminding us that imagination isn’t just a spark from the past—it’s a force that continues to haunt, delight, and inspire.
Check out the episode for free on the Walt Disney Imagineering YouTube page below:
