Don Hahn and Interviewer Scarlett Stahl

Don Hahn and I had met several times at Disney animated film premieres and had discussed our doing an interview on those occasions. Finally we managed to coordinate calendars and I met him at his studio in the San Fernando Valley. Don is a giant of a man, both in stature as well as in reputation. However he is also an accomplished speaker, which made for an interesting and easy interview.

November 26, 1955, Don Hahn was born in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois to parents of German descent. His father, immigrated to New York City by way of Ellis Island in 1923. Don is the youngest of three children with an older brother, who lives in Colorado and is an industrial engineer as well as a ski instructor, while his sister is a home maker in California.

When Don was only three years old, his family moved to Bellflower, California, in the San Gabriel Valley very near Disneyland. His father was a Lutheran minister and was called to a church there. Don grew up amongst orange groves and ranch houses in early sixties California along with scores of immigrants coming out from the east as did his family.

�I remember driving to Disneyland and going thru a lot of orange groves and country side for a long time and looking for the Matterhorn. And when I saw it, I knew I was there and as a kid, I would simply come unglued and say Oh My God� said Don. �You�d pay your 50 cents to park and then go inside. I just grew up there. I simply loved it, that and the Sunday night TV show were one of the big reasons that I fell in love with what Disney stood for and wanted to work there some day.�

When Don was 15, his father was called to a church in Burbank and moved the family there, about a mile from Walt Disney Studios. After they moved there, he auditioned and was accepted for the Los Angeles Junior Philharmonic, and he played with them for a season. He was set on the path of becoming a professional musician or teacher.

�I loved music and played drums and cello at North Hollywood High and then went to L.A. Valley College and Cal State Northridge where I was a music major and an art minor� Don explains. �But I also liked to draw and was constantly drawing anything and everything, mainly Disney characters.�

A lot of the people who attended his father�s church worked at Walt Disney Studios. One of the parishioners,  Leroy Anderson, ran the Walt Disney Studio�s animation research library or the "morgue" which it was called back then. It was underground in the ink and paint building where all the old animation was stored. One day Don received a call from Leroy, who said that they had an opening in the department and asked if he would like to apply. So he filled out his application and got accepted.