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28 Artscene By Ryan Bolton · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2009 Ukrainian festival Animated speaker comes to Sheridan Disney producer Don Hahn shares wisdom most films, rests on a solid story, said Hahn. Animation is about collaboration, he said, with SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER everyone, from voices to lighting and characHe's the man behind the animated classics ter design to editing, all working together to Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. He tell the story. And when it comes to the story, also produced The Hunchback of Notre Dame Hahn was adamant that it was OK to fail -- as and Who Framed Roger Rabbit -- all for good long as it was a learning experience. measure, of course. "And it sounds kind of obvious and glib, but Don Hahn, an Academy Award-nominated it's really true. You have to experience all the Disney producer for the past 30 years, was at possibilities of your story, and be willing to fail Sheridan College recently to speak about what to get to the story that works on the screen." drives him in the world of animation. Working with various mediums over the Naturally, he also treated the audience to the years, Hahn has an affinity with stop-motion behind-the-scenes workings of the Disney ani- animation. mation studios. He's currently working on a project with Having just screened his documentary film the industry's stop-motion aficionado, Tim Waking Sleeping Beauty about Burton, who has directed Disney in its peak years at the The Nightmare Before Toronto International Film Christmas and Corpse Festival, Hahn stopped by Bride. Sheridan, which he called a They are working on a "great institution", to speak to full-length stop-motion the horde of awe-inspired aniremake of Burton's 1984 mation and illustration stushort, Frankenweenie, dents. which is slated for a 2011 A visually-rich adventure release. It's just one of typiinto the creative world of cally four or five projects Disney animation, Hahn that Hahn is working on at showed never-seen-before any time. drawings, anecdotes and Having produced for the Don Hahn footage of classics like Sleeping behemoth animation stuBeauty, The Nightmare Before Christmas and dio for 30 years, Hahn said he has found the Cinderella from the Disney archive. secret to his profession -- casting. To warm up the full-house crowd, Hahn "Putting the best team of people together showed slide after slide of classical and modern that you possibly can, and then getting out of sketches by various artists like Peter de Sève, the way and doing what they tell you to do, Craig Mullins, and Walt Stanchfield, a person- that's the best description of a producer that I al mentor of Hahn's. have ever heard," he said. "I get really excited when I see a good drawAlthough the reasoning for his work as a ing," said Hahn. "That's what gets me excited." producer at Disney was clear throughout his The evening, in broad strokes, was about presentation, it came to the Q&A for Hahn to talking about the art of animation, but also, to precisely sum up why he gets up in the morn"get excited together about what we all do for ing. a living," said Hahn, whose 2008 book, The "I realized early on that I wasn't going to be Alchemy of Animation: Making an Animated some great draftsperson and be able to draw Film in the Modern Age is lauded for its like some of these guys do or tell stories like insight into the creation of animated pictures. they do, but I realized I had a huge appreciaTalking vividly and exhaustively about each tion for who these people were and wanted to drawing and its strengths, Hahn's passion in help them make their movies," said Hahn. art was easily detectable. For Hahn, "each And likening the producer tag as a coach drawing tells a story and has an attitude, quite for a soccer team, Hahn started to recruit and simply." pull teams together. Having experienced every facet of the "I really want to help those guys succeed," industry, the crux of a good animated film, like he said. MICHAEL IVANIN / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER DANCING DUO: Anna-Marie Bilokrely and Andrij Petriczko of the Ukrainian Dance School Barvinok perform on stage during the annual festival at St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church. The festival is a fundraiser for the church, with all participants donating their time, and others donating supplies and equipment. All proceeds are going to the new church building fund.