Below you can read the second part of an interview with Disneynature’s “OCEANS” Executive Producer Don Hahn. Click here to read Part 1.

Q: How does producing a nature documentary like Earth and Oceans differ from your work on animated movies?

A: You know, it’s really different. I certainly don’t go out in the field and grab a camera and put on some scuba gear and shoot; that’s left up to some amazingly talented camera people and directors to pull that together. In a sense, it’s similar in that you’re trying to tell a story and you’re doing it in a milieu or genre that takes infinite patience.

Just like when you’re doing animation, doing a nature film takes infinite patience to sit out there with that camera and look for that special behavior. It might mean sitting for two weeks to wait until a bird jumps out of a tree or two weeks to wait until an otter comes by and cracks a shell on a rock on his belly. Those are the wonderful moments you look for.

At most I’m the host of the party and at best what you want at that party are great filmmakers, great cinematographers, and people that will go capture footage that allows us to tell a story.

Q: This question is an interesting question because I saw the movie The Cove and actually I couldn’t see the whole movie because it’s quite startling information, but how does a film like Oceans relate to a movie like The Cove, is there any similarities, do you think?

A: For your readers who may have seen both of them I think there are similarities. I think The Cove, which in my opinion is a brilliant movie and won the Oscar for best documentary last year, deals with a very difficult issue of slaughter of marine mammals, and dolphins in particular, and that is an important issue. It’s important to bring it to the public’s mind. It’s important to film it and show it although it’s very graphic and very difficult at times to look at.

I think what we’re trying to do in Oceans – the issues are parallel; you’re dealing with endangerment of environment, loss of environment. It’s not so much that you might damage or kill a piece of coral reef, it’s really we’re damaging the environment and the entire reef in many parts of the earth. It’s about issues of preservation and acknowledging our role in preserving what’s in the oceans.

I think certainly it being a Disneynature movie we’re trying to do it in a way that is accessible to families. The Cove dealt with information in a very graphic way because it had to because the subject was very graphic. I think what we’re trying to do is deal with the information in a way that is inspiring, and still doesn’t dodge the issues of preservation and keeping our environment working as a system with the ocean being at the center of that system.

Q: If this movie is profitable, which I’m sure it will be, do you think there is a chance for more movies like Oceans to be made, or are they already on the drawing board?

A: Well, I would certainly hope that there is room for more of these movies. There are some on the drawing board. What these movies do is – yes they’re a part of a business, but most importantly they’re part of kind of a give-back strategy for Disney and our partners because we have the tools and wherewithal to work with some of the best filmmakers on the planet and tell these stories. What a great way for us to contribute to our environment and to the education of our audience, and to the entertainment of our audience.

Next year we’re working on a film called African Cats. It’s about lions and the most amazing footage of natural environments with big cats in Africa. The year after that, we’ve been shooting for many years already on a film called Chimpanzee and it’s being shot in a nature preserve adjacent to Jane Goodall’s preserve in Africa. It’s a soap opera of a movie because you get to literally be there and experience many months in the life of a family and really a group, a town of chimpanzees in the wild.

The filmmakers have gone through hell to bring it to the audience but I think the results are unbelievable. The ability to get the cameras in and be with these creatures, whether it’s in Africa or whether it’s under the sea, or whether it’s with chimpanzees, it just allows us as an audience to go places that we’re probably not going to get to in our regular lives. I think that’s what’s cool about these movies and why we’ll continue to make them.

Q: How can a person who wants to make films like Oceans get involved in a filmmaking process like Oceans?

A: If you’re interested in filmmaking, particularly if you’re an up and coming young filmmaker, the age we live in is a huge benefit. You don’t have to worry about some of the obstacles that perhaps filmmakers 20 or 30 years ago had to worry about. You can go out this afternoon and buy or rent a camera and cut together and film a movie on your laptop at home. That technology allows you to put a film together in a really inexpensive way, and even distribute it on YouTube and get it out there so your friends and audience can see it.

I think the challenge for any filmmaker now that the technology is so accessible is trying to find a subject and a story that you can relate to as an audience. That’s why we go to the movies, we love it when the lights go down and it’s like telling stories around the campfire. It’s not enough to get a great shot of a lion or an elk or a coyote— what’s the story? Why are we focusing on that? Why bother to tell this story? What’s important to us and how can I relate to it?

It’s always about story whether you’re making a nature movie or an animated film or live action film. If your listeners or readers can learn by that I think it’s a great opportunity now to grab the tools that are so readily available and go out and focus and tell those stories that are really close to you as a filmmaker.

Stay tuned for the rest of the interview at DisneyDreaming.com!