Meet the ‘unsung hero’ who helped Walt Disney build Disneyland

A retired Navy admiral who oversaw the construction of Disneyland and helped Walt Disney build what many regarded as a fool’s folly emerges as the unsung hero of a new documentary film about the birth of the Anaheim theme park.

The new “Disneyland Handcrafted” documentary by filmmaker Leslie Iwerks on the one-year blitz to create the first Disney theme park will debut Jan. 22 on YouTube and the Disney+ streaming service.

The blue carpet premiere of “Disneyland Handcrafted” took place on Thursday, Jan. 8​​ at the Walt Disney Studios Lot in Burbank.

Iwerks called retired Navy rear admiral Joe Fowler the “unsung hero” of the new documentary film after the premiere.

“Joe Fowler was really an unsung hero overseeing that whole park and that whole construction,” Iwerks said. “What an amazing feat that he did.”

Fowler can be seen throughout the documentary overseeing work on Disneyland during the rush to open the park by Walt’s self-imposed deadline.

“The budget started at four and a half million dollars,” Fowler said in the film. “In August, it was $7 million. In December, it was $11 million. By springtime, it was anybody’s guess.”

“Disneyland Handcrafted” shows Fowler proudly operating the Mark Twain Riverboat on opening day on July 17, 1955 in footage from the 90-minute live television broadcast on ABC.

“Walt right from the beginning, made up his mind that he would have something different,” Fowler said in the film. “He would have the concept of a family amusement park. We were highly criticized at the beginning by some of the old time operators for spending too much money and going into too much detail.”

Walt met Fowler in April 1954 while searching for a ship builder who could tackle the Mark Twain Riverboat project for Disneyland. At the time, Fowler was building large housing tracts in Northern California.

Walt showed Fowler early drawings for Disneyland and immediately became enamored with the retired admiral’s “Can do” attitude.

ALSO SEE: Will Disneyland’s Avatar boat ride use Shanghai’s ground-breaking Pirates technology?

“Look Joe, I’d like to have you come down and get the feel of Disneyland,” Walt said to Fowler, according to “Walt Disney: An American Original” by Bob Thomas.

When Fowler arrived at Disney’s Burbank studios, a secretary assigned him an office, gave him keys to a car and asked him to start talking to contractors. Fowler didn’t return home for three weeks.

In late winter of 1954, Walt persuaded Fowler to move to Southern California and become the construction manager of Disneyland, according to “The Disneyland Story” by Sam Gennawey.

By then, Walt had already committed to opening Disneyland by July 1955 — a deadline virtually everyone called impossible.

Fortunately, Fowler was accustomed to meeting impossible deadlines. He oversaw gunboat construction during World War I and the building of aircraft carriers during World War II as the supervisor of 25 West Coast shipyards.

He retired from the U.S. Navy in 1948 with the rank of Rear Admiral after 35 years of service.

After helping Walt build Disneyland, Fowler stuck around to manage the fledgling park for the first 10 years of its existence.

Walt would come to Disneyland on Saturday mornings to walk the park with Fowler and other managers to inspect operations and float ideas for new attractions and expansion plans.

One of the first ambitious projects was the 1959 debut of the Disneyland Monorail, Matterhorn Bobsleds and Submarine Voyage.

ALSO SEE: 70 new Disneyland eats and treats for the 70th anniversary party

Walt initially wanted real snow on what would become Disneyland’s Matterhorn mountain — and the job fell to Fowler to explain to the boss the complexity of maintaining the snow-making equipment in sunny Southern California, according to “The Disneyland Story.” Walt eventually opted for painted snow rather than the real thing.

Fowler told Walt just before the opening of the Matterhorn Bobsleds: “I think we’ll have it finished on time, but next time, when we have to build a mountain, let’s let God do it.”

Walt playfully honored Fowler for his work on the Submarine Voyage with a plaque designating him Commander-in-Chief of the Disneyland Navy.

“But don’t forget that I am still the overall Secretary of Defense,” Walt told Fowler, according to the Walt’s Folly website.

Fowler was known as “Can-Do Joe” during his 25-year career with Disney.

Disney Legend Bob MatheisonDisneyland files permits to begin construction on new parking garage recalled the construction of an Adventureland stage that featured a waterfall, according to the D23 Disney Legends website.

“Walt turned to Joe and said, ‘I’d like to part the water and let the entertainers come out and then have the waterfall close behind them,’” Matheison said. “Joe never batted an eye. He just said, ‘Can do, can do.’ I know he had no idea how he was going to part the water, but he said it without hesitation — ’Can do.’ And, by golly, he did it.”

Walt thanked Fowler for taking on the gargantuan assignment of making Disneyland a reality during a 10th anniversary event in 1965.

“We had to have somebody that could take ahold of this thing and really make it work,” Walt said during the event. “Little by little we got him sort of trapped into the thing.”

In the late 1960s, Fowler was charged with the Herculean task of planning and building Disney’s secretive Project X — which would become Florida’s Magic Kingdom.

Fowler retired in 1978 after a 25-year second career at Disney.

Fittingingly, the retired admiral has a dock named after him on Disneyland’s Rivers of America rather than a Main Street U.S.A. tribute window like other Disney Legends.

Fowler’s Harbor got its name as a backhanded compliment from Walt, who thought the dry dock Fowler insisted on for maintaining the Mark Twain Riverboat would be a waste of money, according to “The Disneyland Story.”

Walt derisively called the dry dock “Joe’s Ditch” during the construction of Disneyland, according to “Walt Disney: An American Original.” Walt later named the dry dock Fowler’s Harbor in a tribute to the admiral and called the nearby fish restaurant Maurie’s Lobster House after Fowler’s wife.

Fowler was named a Disney Legend in 1990. He died in 1993 at the age of 99.