Imaginerding: Disney books, history, links and more!: Author: Don Hahn

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Monday, June 6, 2011

Inspiring Creativity, Book Review: Brain Storm by Don Hahn

Brain Storm: Unleashing Your Creative Self by Don Hahn. 2011. pp 320.

As I sat down to write this review, I ruminated on the advice tendered by Don Hahn. I looked at the blank screen and wondered how to properly express the corporeality of the book as I knock about on my own journey to understand my creativity.

The main thrust of this book is about inspiring creativity in our daily life; the driving force behind recognizing where your creativity wants to be: cooking, painting, blogging, gardening, creating marketing reports, etc. Hahn takes us on a gentle, amusing and thought-provoking path towards a self-enlightenment, of sorts. A self-enlightenment of creativity and where it might reside within us.

To the initiated, it is obvious why Don Hahn is qualified to write a book about creativity. He produced some of the most successful animated films of all time and is considered to be one of the driving forces behind the rebirth of Disney Animation, (To the uninitiated: Beauty and the Beast. The Lion King. Hello!?!)

Hahn's style is very affable and never very sententious. He writes from the heart and it is obvious that he fosters a true desire to help us become a more creative self. The book is replete with anecdotes from the span of Hahn's life. When he paints the picture of his much younger self sneaking a colander to bed to fashion impromptu constellations, you can sense the wonder and trepidation he must have felt. Disney enthusiasts will love the stories Hahn relates about his years in the Disney Animation Studios. We meet legends that mentored him, co-workers that dazzled him (and us) and people that fostered (sometimes unintentionally) his creativity in his youth.

For myself, Hahn's work made me stop and think about how I like to be creative and what strategies might work best for me. I love writing and I seem to work best with a notepad when I gather my thoughts. I can take months to get a good article going as I devour resources and fine tune the project in my mind. I have great ideas in the car, so I carry a voice recorder with me. Hahn never wrote about those specific things, but he does offer admonition about how to find our own creative roots. Even if that is sitting on a beach in Hawaii while eating dark chocolates.

Brain Storm is a book that I recommend to anyone thinking about the creative process, especially if you believe that you don't have a creative bone in your body. Hahn is a natural storyteller and the lessons he imparts flow so much better than an off-the-shelf self-help book. It is a great resource for when you want to take your first steps in finding your personal creativity or if you have lost your way creatively.

Don Hahn is the award-winning producer of Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and the documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty (read my review here). He has also authored The Alchemy of Animation (read my review here) and he edited the two-volume Walt Stanchfield Lecture series, Drawn to Life: 20 Years of Disney Master Classes (read my review here).

I received a copy of this book for review purposes.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Book Review: Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: Volume 1: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures

Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: Volume 1: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures edited by Don Hahn, 448p, 2009.

When I received my review copies in the mail (it is a two-volume set), I was very excited to get a closer look at them. I reviewed Don Hahn's previous work, The Alchemy of Animation, and thoroughly enjoyed it. With Don's history of award-winning animation, it is very obvious that he has a passion for animation and for mentoring new animators.

Walt Stanchfield (1919-2000) spent the bulk of his professional career at the Walt Disney Studios. Before Disney, he spent time at the Charles Mintz Studio and the Walter Lantz Studio. At Disney, he had a hand in every animated feature from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad to The Great Mouse Detective. In the 1970s, Stanchfield and Eric Larson started a training program for the new breed of animators: Bird, Bluth, Clements, Dejas, Keane, Lasseter, Musker and many more of Disney's best modern animators. Stanchfield began compiling his notes from the weekly classes in the 1980s, these handwritten notes were passed among the animators that created the Disney films of the second Golden Age (The Little Mermaid - The Lion King). Don and his talented team (including Dee Stanchfield) transcribed over a thousand pages of notes. Included is illustrative artwork from Stanchfield and renowned Disney artists from the past 80 years.

I am not an animator. If left to my own devices, I can muster a passing face or a simple drawing of a still life--a very still life. My review of this book is based on my love of animated films and the Walt Disney Company. At a cursory glance, this work is a must for any serious animation student. Once you delve deeper into the individual sections, you realize that you are learning about the process of animation and the details of bringing lines and drawings to life. You are also discovering an artist as he shares a lifetime of experiences with students and artistic disciples.

The images of the pages I have posted are how the book is represented. Sketches and drawings permeate the text and bring the words to life. You can see the techniques jump from the page and a true sense is related on how animation works--and why Disney animation has always worked so well. The section headings are representative of the animation process: Basics, Gesture, Seeing, Analysis, Creativity and Thinking. Not only will you gain invaluable artistic skill from following Stanchfield's lessons, but you will learn the intricacies of emotion and life in the animated form. Spending any time with this book will give you a deeper appreciation of animation as an art form.

In the foreword, Don sums up the work perfectly:

Drawn To Life is one of the strongest primers on animation ever written. The material spares no detail on the craft of animation, but also digs deep into the artistic roots of the medium.

I reiterate--this book is a must for animators of any caliber.

This book reminds me of the Tao of Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee. It is an incredible work for martial art students to study and learn new techniques to deepen their skills. It is also a valuable work for fans of Bruce Lee and readers interested in broadening their understanding of the human body and what can be attained.

Drawn To Life is a master work on animation. Imagine sitting at the feet of a master as he pours forth on animation, life and philosophy. That Hahn has presented Stanchfield's work to us--and that we can hold it in our hands--is amazing. This is a two-volume set that should be on every animator's shelf, dog-eared, thumbed-through and within reach for serious study and joyful glimpses of life.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Book Review: The Alchemy of Animation

The Alchemy of Animation: Making an Animated Film in the Modern Age by Don Hahn. 144 p. 2008.

Don Hahn is heralded for his animation production work at Disney: The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. He is also the first producer of an animated film to be nominated for an Academy Award (Beauty and the Beast). Hahn started his animation career at Disney under the tutelage of Wolfgang Reitherman, one of Walt's Nine Old Men. He is currently at Disney working on his next animated feature.

I wasn't sure what I would find between the covers of this book, at first. Due to the subtitle, I inferred that it would be similar to The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation (Thomas and Johnston)--the seminal work on animation. Hahn's book is a quarter the size of Thomas and Johnston's work; it really acts as a supplement, an animation Cliff's Notes and an update to The Illusion of Life.

Hahn takes us through the stages of creating an animated film, whether is is hand drawn, computer-generated or stop-motion. The principles outlined are the basics for creating an animated film and can be used as an animation primer. The focus is creating a film using today's standards and the book reflects that. A majority of the text (and lavish illustrations) centers on digital technology--not to the exclusion of the other arts, but since CGI has become so popular. Many of the jobs and duties in CGI are unique to that medium.

Another interesting take, is that Hahn has created a work that can be used by people interested in animation as a career. He covers almost every position in the hierarchy and offers details about their duties and general work. (Ever want to be a Look Development Artist?) The only information Hahn doesn't provide is a link to a pay scale and a road map to making it big. Hahn is able to break down each job and explain it in layman's terms. If you have a youngster interested in the field of animation, this title is for them.

Animation enthusiasts will relish the concept illustrations and artwork from all stages of animation. Hahn includes anecdotes from Disney animators young and old. The book has three major divisions: Act One (looking at the production team, the story and the major steps of every animated film); Act Two (the differences in production for 2D hand drawn, CGI and Stop-Motion); and Act Three (marketing, roll out and post-production). Hahn also includes a fantastic glossary and bibliography for additional reading. He treats the book just like an animated film and builds the story, layer upon layer.

Bottom Line: If you have any interest in animation or animated films, you will love this book. If you want to be part of the animation field, you need to own this book. It is a fairly straightforward look at creating an animated film with today's technology and work processes. Hahn's passion for animation shines and it is evident in The Alchemy of Animation.

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