Producer Don Hahn Shares His Experiences Working on 'The Lion King'

I had a chance to interview "The Lion King" producer Don Hahn about the 3D and Blu-ray re-release of the film.

Talk about your trip to Africa to do research for the movie. What was the single greatest thing you saw there?

I was finishing "Beauty and the Beast" so I didn't make the trip. [Director] Roger Allers, [production designer] Chris Sanders, [visual development artist] Lisa Keene, and the team that went were blown away by the scope and scale of Africa. There is an epic feeling to the landscape in Africa that made the directors want to use it almost like another character in the film. The trip was a turning point in our thoughts about the look, sounds, and music of the film.

What has "The Lion King" gained by being put in 3D?

Everything and nothing. The film is well suited for 3D because of the style of direction. Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers, the directors, crafted the film with longer shots and a sense of Africa as an unspoken character in the film. 3D brings this to life even more and lets the audience step into the film in a unique way.

When I say that nothing is gained, I'm referring to the story. We worked hard to make the 3D reflect and support the story and not detract from it. There's a paradox to all this, which is the paradox of animation itself; you work for four years and spend millions of hours on a film with the goal of making the audience forget that they are looking at drawings. That's the magic of it all.

What is your favorite memory of making "The Lion King?"

[There's] so many. There was the day we brought live adult lions into the studio to study and draw and the day we first saw Chris Sanders' amazing storyboards for Mufasa's Ghost sequence. Probably the most memorable moment was when we went to Hans Zimmer's studio in Santa Monica and heard his arrangement of "Circle of Life" for the first time. It changed our perception of what the movie could be.

What was your biggest challenge bringing "The Lion King" to the screen?

Most people don't know this but the Northridge, Calif., earthquake struck us just six months before the film came out and the studio had to be shut down. For a few weeks, we were driving drawings to animators' homes around Southern California and making the film in garages and on kitchen tables. The crew was amazing. They were dealing with the stress of a major earthquake while finishing the film.

"The Lion King" has been number one two weeks in a row. Not bad for a movie that's 17 years old. How does that make you feel?

Insanely great; humbled; happy for the artists, musicians, and actors that made it all happen. [I'm] happy to have been there to see it all. It's so humbling to sit in the back of a theater and watch a new generation of kids enjoy the film.

Is there anything you wish you could change about how "The Lion King" came out? Something that was cut out of the movie you wish had been left in?

There is really nothing we would have done differently. Yes, there were songs written that were cut out and sequences like a scene of Pumbaa and Timon playing "bug football" that never made it to the screen, but these were all good choices. The film works as is and really doesn't need anything else.

For more articles by Eric Shirey, check out:

'The Lion King' Welcome at the Box Office, 3D or Not
Moira Kelly Talks About Voicing Nala in 'The Lion King'
Interview with Disney Film Restoration Team

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