According to Hahn, "Kirk and Gary have become friends and are really like brothers. The thing I have always loved about working with them as directors is that they're great storytellers. And that's all there is. Some directors are great illustrators and others are great with the camera, but unless you can engage the audience and entrap them into some emotional connection with your characters and your setting and the story that you've decided to tell, it's for naught. And I think what Kirk and Gary are really good at, first and foremost, is revealing story to us. It's almost like peeling back the layers of an onion. For example, in 'Atlantis: The Lost Empire,' the characters reveal to us who they are slowly throughout the movie. They seem like a hardened bunch of mercenary explorers, and then we find that each has a past. And then we find that their past is meaningful to them. And then we find out what their plans are for the future."
Trousdale returns the compliment: "Nobody knows the business like Don. And he literally knows it from both the producing side and the creative side. He knows the art form. He is very much a creative partner and is always the third guy in the room making the movie with us. He's also great fun to have around. He has a very devious mind."
Wise adds, "Don is also a really good coach. He's always encouraging us to make it a little bit better, a little funnier, a little more dramatic. He's got excellent instincts. He's definitely a full service producer."
Summing up his relationship with the directing duo, Hahn observes, "I'm like the Jimmy Cricket to their Pinocchio. My job as producer is to pull together a great team, and to be their conscience. I like to sit in a recording session and say, 'Well, don't you think we should try this?' or 'How about that?' They'll disagree with me half the time easily but the idea that they tolerate that conscience speaking to them is to their credit." Adding insight to his successful partnership with Trousdale, Wise observes, "I think the reason Gary and I work so well together is that we try to keep it fun and lighthearted, even at times of dire story crises. It also helps that we're both very much on the same wavelength with things like humor and staging."
Trousdale adds, "Usually, we both don't crash at the same time. If I'm really depressed about something, he'll say something like, 'It's not so bad! We can fix it."'
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