Don Hahn regards the late Bob Hoskins as a "miracle guy".
The world was left shocked after the legendary actor died of pneumonia in April aged 71. His role as London gangster Harold Shand in 1980 movie The Long Good Friday propelled him into the limelight and he went on to star in a host of hit films.
One of Don's first producing jobs was on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, in which Bob played private detective Eddie Valiant alongside a cast mainly made up of cartoon characters. Don was thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with the late star and blown away by Bob's talent.
"It was a hard role [for Bob] in itself. It was a very physical role, and a role that required so much imagination. He was acting opposite nobody. He had to imagine the characters into existence," Don explained to denofgeek.com.
"I'm sure other actors could do it, but he was so workmanlike, and so professional, and so willing to trust [director] Bob Zemeckis. And then to act on top of it all. So he was able to perform as an actor on top of all the other stupid mechanical things we had him do. He was a miracle guy. He'd come to the animation studio too."
Don has a colourful history of producing and has worked on many Disney flicks, including The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. His latest offering comes in the form of Maleficent, which tells the back story of the villain in popular fairytale Sleeping Beauty.
Rather than relying on special effects Don believes the film's main stars make the best focus.
"Well, the most important part of the movie, and the heart of the movie is not the effects or the spectacle. It's keeping the movie simple and small. In other words the relationship between Maleficent and Aurora had to work on every level, and then we knew the audience would enjoy it," he added. "We knew by casting Angelina and the amazing Elle Fanning - who is extraordinary - that the two of them together have a chemistry on and off the screen that really helped us."
