Brain Storm: Unleashing Your Creative Self

by Don Hahn

Whether you're writing a novel, painting with watercolors, composing a symphony, or baking peanut butter cookies, creativity plays a crucial role in achieving satisfaction and excellence. But, for many of us, accessing our creative core is difficult, if not impossible. Now, acclaimed film producer Don Hahn offers his own unorthodox, yet highly effective methods for reawakening the creative spirit.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Writing, Business, Self Help

325 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Alexandra Demers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts of this book were fantastic and really spoke to me. For other parts, I found myself asking “what the heck am I reading?”

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A review from my free e-magazine:
PopFam.com - Pop Culture for Families
http://www.popfam.com

Brain Storm: Unleashing Your Creative Self
(Disney Editions)

by Don Hahn

Reader Appeal: Adults
Genre: Self-Help
PopFam Rating: B+

Brain Storm is a great source of inspiration for those who want to dive into the creative aspects of work, play, and life.

In this self-help/memoir, Hahn (the director of Disney's The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast), discusses the experiences which led to his creative visions. He uses both funny and sad stories beginning from his childhood and stretching into his adult life and forces the reader to apply these stories and experiences to their own lives.

In one tale, Hahn talks about how, as a child, he used a colander or tin foil with poked holes placed over a flashlight to make stars on his ceiling. In another he talks about his first apartment and deciding to move out of his parents house. In both of these stories, he shares vision and meaning, letting the reader see the early stages of creativity and helping the reader decide on the best possible place to go to maintain the right balance in life.

Hahn's stories and insight are far different than most self-help books in that he tells a story even when giving a lesson. His tales travel from the very beginning of the creative process all the way through the means to channel your inspired flow.

Hahn discusses the (mostly generic) spiritual side of creativity as well as feelings, pain, pressure and talent to name a few topics. Brain Storm is easily recommended for anyone who needs a boost in their creative self.

Let’s Talk About It

If your family members are interested in this book, then encourage discussion about it afterward. You can use these questions to get started:

• What inspired you during childhood?

• How do you think the different aspects of life can affect your creativity?

• What steps can you take to begin the creative process?

--RM

[Steve Bullington · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I'm not creative."

How many times have you heard that phrase? How many times have you uttered that phrase?

I am confident that those words have come out of nearly everyone's mouth at one time or another. But what was the context that you said them? My guess is that when you said those words it was in direct response to art. You can't draw, you can't paint, you can't play an instrument, you can't sing, you can't write......

The reality is that we ALL have the capacity for creativity and creativity is NOT confined to the arts. Whatever your role in life, you have the opportunity to flex your creativity:

Sales Professionals - you can come up with an impactful prospecting message that helps you get in front of more customers you can help.

Presales Pros - you can create a compelling storyline for your software demo that focuses on helping your customer get where they want to go.

Leaders - you can develop engaging training that helps your team achieve more than they thought possible.

Parents - you can find ways to encourage your children that helps them to flex their creativity and growth.

If you need a kickstart to applying your creativity muscles, let me recommend Don Hahn's book Brain Storm - Unleashing Your Creative Self. Don is a Disney animator and director who lead the creation of movies like Beauty and the Beast and Who Framed Roger Rabbit so he knows a little bit about creativity.

But his is not a "how to" manual on being creative. This is a "think about" manual on how you can unleash your creativity, sidestep your self-doubt and ignore your negative inner voice. And it is delivered with the humor you'd expect from a Disney animator combined with the breadth of experience across art, technology, leadership, and struggle.

So as you look forward to 2022, think about how you can have a more successful year and life by looking at the points in your life that you can apply creativity.

PS - If you want to see creativity in action, let me recommend two videos currently streaming. The Beatles Get Back on Disney+ and Tick Tick Boom on Netflix. If you think creativity is inherently natural, these amazing shows will eliminate that false belief.

[Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

What drew me in: I make it a point to read a nonfiction book a little bit before I dive into a fiction work. This one was part of that goal! Plus, it’s always exciting to get a look into the brain of a successful creative.

What I enjoyed: The stories of Disney’s animation renaissance are so well crafted. I loved reading about the donut slingshot. It adds so much color to the self helpy part of the book. There is also a lot of good advice for reigniting the creative spark between the pages as well. Lots of great perspective; especially on the importance of research into a craft. That probably was my biggest takeaway - lay the foundation of work in the scholarly approach to it, and be OK that it’s not overnight gratitude but rather a lifelong pursuit.

What I didn’t love: The structure of this comes across as an ADHD fever dream, and it’s really difficult to follow the chaotic bouncing ball of thoughts. I wish there was a little more of a formulaic structure. He kind of lays one out, and then goes off the rails in his individual chapters. At moments also, it’s very evident this book was written in a different time when he talks about masculinity vs femininity; and especially when dealing with minority races.

Bottom line: I’d recommend this book if someone was interested in it already, but it wouldn’t be one I’d suggest unprompted.

[Leah B. Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this book years ago at Off The Page in Disneyland’s California Adventure. I’ve read bits and pieces of it through the years…finally decided to sit down and finish it.
It’s a very good read if you enjoy learning about the creative process and how to keep inspired throughout adult life.
There are a lot of “Disney nuggets” in here about various time periods and movies by the company (which I enjoyed). Towards the end the author (who was also the producer of Beauty and the Beast) speaks about Howard Ashman’s work on the movie. During this time Howard was fighting and unfortunately lost his battle to AIDS. These pages/paragraphs were beautifully written and my favorite portion of the book. They exemplified how artists create even through pain and until their last breath…that the act of creating and expressing is a need just like breathing or eating.

[Tate Stephan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like watching someone paint. They jump around a lot, creating an unclear mish mash of random shapes and colors, and you're like, "What is this dude making?". But then there's a moment when it clicks and you see their vision and understand what they're trying to say. But then you realize you actually don't know what they're making and have no idea what they're trying to say. And that cycle continues until they finish. That's what this book is like. In the end, the painting that is this book has enough useful golden nuggets/reminders to make it worthwhile to look at.

[Loren Cukier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Low rating only because its identical and uses many of the same anecdotes as its predecessor dancing corn dogs in the night. Understandably this has a wider appeal whereas as corn dogs doing the can can will only appeal to some people but those corn dogs helped me find myself!

[Jenny Hawley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book because I’m a big fan of Don Hahn and his work. I really enjoyed the book - it was funny, relatable, inspiring, and had some great Disney-related anecdotes. There was just a Little repetitiveness, but overall, it was great

[Kahin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not read a more down to earth self-help book!! Top of the list no doubt! Really funny and still very real.

[Tiffany Mathews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, inspirational read. Loved finding some of the stories of the people who worked on some of my favorite movies.

[Morgan Sprague · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve had this book on my shelf for quite some time. It’s written in an easygoing and casual voice, which is pretty cool, coming from a renowned Disney producer like Hahn. It’s already kind of dated and a product of it’s time, laden with pop culture references. Nevertheless, it excels at inspiring and encouraging readers to get started and start sharing their talents with the world!

Now off to craft I go.

[Bri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book from cover to back was phenomenally written.Each chapter described a moral in a simplistic way about the creative self.From each moral, led to a personal experience which was quite moving and inspirational.The beauty behind the personal experiences is that he not only stated his successes but his constant struggles. In this book it describes that everyone has a creative self, but many people listen to there logical (lizard brain) rather than taking that risk. The reason that people are afraid to take that risk is that people look for acceptance and permission rather than going out and doing what they love. This is the heartbreaking truth, but the only way to truly overcome this obstacle is by collaborating. The title itself speaks volumes about brainstorming not just by oneself, but with multiple people to reach a common goal. To reach that common goal a safe environment and lack of criticism needs to be established. Although criticism is a necessity at times for feedback, people need to trust the individuals around them in order for an idea to spring up. Even though it may be a struggle with working in a large group of people with different perspectives, it can be beneficial to making an idea come to life. By letting different individuals express their creativity, it opens up the doors for them to contribute to the project with open arms. It may be hard to get people to express their creative self, but creativity takes courage. Some abstract ideas may seem crazy to the world, but the individual must have the courage to go out there and pursue that idea no matter what the outcome.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe it's because it's "Disney", maybe because I bought it on vacation and I will always associate it with happy memories, but I found this to be an engaging, funny, and thought-provoking read on creativity. Although I have always considered myself "creative", I have been stuck in a (deep) rut for a couple of years and bought this book hoping for inspiration. I was not disappointed! Hahn provides a comprehensive look at creativity, from an exploration of what it is (and isn't) to be "creative", to explanations and descriptions of the process itself and the many ways it unfolds, to tips on how to make the most of the creativity within yourself -- something we ALL possess as human beings. I spent many hours on the road home from Disney staring out the window, considering one question or another that Hahn threw at me (fortunately, I wasn't driving).

Hahn produced "Beauty and the Beast" and " The Lion King", as other reviewers have noted, and as a Disney fan, I enjoyed the occasional anecdotes he includes about the back-stories in making films. We-the-audience forget, or don't ever consider, that the folks that make movies are just regular people that happen to work in artistic fields. Hahn's writing is engaging and funny; I enjoyed his dry wit as well as a couple of very moving recollections that I re-read several times.

I'm not going to run out and start making movies, but this book gave me some lasting points to think about and remember when my ideas aren't flowing, and was an entertaining read to boot.

[Noha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book by Don Hahn, the man who produced Lion King and Beauty&the Beast. This is a book about creativity and the creative process. When you combine those two sentences, your expectations can't help but skyrocket.

When I picked this book up, I was expecting to read something interesting and life changing. I didn't. I read what I already knew. But I guess that that is precisely his point. Creativity cannot be expected to come in sudden bursts, or 'aha' moments. It is the result of years of hard work, information gathering,learning, practice, cooperation, and failures combined with a lot of emotional and personal insight, an openness to constructive criticism, and a willingness to keep on trying. The encouraging part is that as he relates anecdotes(and he does mention a lot) from the making of some of the Disney favorites we all love, you realize that they did not start out great; that it was the process that made them what they are.

What I did not like about this book is the way it was constructed. It was a series of anecdotes from his personal journey and his experience with creativity, that all revolved around the same idea I mentioned earlier. And so halfway through, it felt a bit repetitive. Other books that tackle the ideas of creativity and success, for example the Outliers (which Hahn does quote) were a more useful read I think and served as a source of knowledge rather than the life experience of the author. It would really depend on your reading preferences and what you were looking for in a book I guess.

[Louis Prosperi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging and thought-provoking look into our creative selves. I was expecting more of a "how to", but I still enjoyed this, though it did take me a few chapters to really get into it. Once I got there, however, I was hooked, and really looked forward to reading a new chapter or section each day. As I got to the end, I wanted to go back and re-read the entire thing again (and will likely do just that at some point).

Don Hahn is the producer of The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, and has written other books about animation (The Alchemy of Animation is a great book for those interested), and offers lots of insights into the creative process, and our creative faculties.

One thing I would have liked is a bibliography. It's clear the author did a lot of research in writing this, and a list of his sources would be nice as a pointer to other sources. I noticed this mostly because I recognized some of the anecdotes and examples he used, including a few that I think came from the writings and speeches of Sir Ken Robinson (an expert on creativity). The lack of bibliography, however, is a minor point to be sure, and the book stands on its own quite well.

I recommend this to anyone interested in the creative process, or who considers themselves to be "creative" (hint: that means *everyone*).

[G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real Rating: 3.8


I really enjoyed this book! There were so many beautiful, useful gems of wisdom and inspiration strewn throughout these pages. I'm definitely planning on re-reading and meditating on a lot of the advice that he gave as well as inserting it into my daily practice as an artist.

This book loses stars for the random (and very minor) sexist things Hahn says - I mean, I understand that he's going for a congenial Heyyy I'm a guy! kinda tone, but I found myself rolling my eyes whenever I ran across something like that. Nothing bad but he does say things like "Men are obsessed with appliances in a way women aren't" and "A man's first car is incredibly important", like, why are you even making the comment, dude, just find a better analogy! He also undermines some of his most poignant thoughts with a silly, offhand comment or joke. It's the literary equivalent of somebody saying something great and then making a huge farting noise right after.

All in all, if you can ignore the stupid little comments and odd, out of place sexism, this book will change your life.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book in downtown Disney a few months ago. It sat on my bed waiting to be read, taunting me daily as the thoughts and dreams in my head do. A couple days ago I finally picked up the book and read.

The encouragement and advice in this book was just the boost I needed. Personally my biggest problem is procrastination, which leads to the stresses of needing to do something till I just about burst! In the book there are tips for dealing with this along with things like fear, criticism, and feeling like a copy-cat.

I wouldn't say this is just a book for those who wish to pursue arts. As Don says, creativity in general can lead to a happier more balanced life. Whether you are a budding musician, painter, photographer, etc, or a 9 to 5 worker, this book is worth the read.

[Jeffrey Falk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I rarely stop reading a book somewhere in the middle, but this is beyond disappointing (and spending the time writing--under any circumstances-- would be much more likely to achieve the subtitle's stated purpose). This rambling, intermittently (mildly) interesting book is more psuedo-philosophy primer, personal memoir, and trivia collection than anything else. The occasional fascinating factoid and specious idea (e.g., shortening the length of your "hour" to increase the amount in the day) are not worth the time. I'd say that I want my time and money back, but I suppose the author bought it from me with his work on "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King".

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel I can't judge this one too harshly because there were points I thought funny, poignant, or tear-worthy (the last was surprising), and because the author has an affinity for dark chocolate (that he mentions frequently, and that I love). That being said, there is no formula for creativity, or even for feeling more creative (a point Hahn makes a few times over) and this book felt really...anecdotal. I found some of the Imagineering books on creativity a bit more inspiring than this; but it did make me laugh.

[Andy Fletcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for so much more out of this book. It is heavy on anecdotes and cute stories. I guess I was looking for way more inspiration, but found essentially a lot of what I already knew, based on the writer's personal life.
In many ways, this book would have been a better powerpoint discussion. I think the material and his coverage would have been better in person, but didn't quite make the jump to a book
That being said, I think this would be a great book for a younger reader (upper high school), who has not had as much life experience.

[Baron Huang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book five stars and I do recommend it to my peers. This is because i very much do enjoy this book, and love to see how Hahn expresses his ideas and opinions. I like how he most of the time started off with the natural origins of that materials, and went future in time, and to discuss that matter.I like how he included quotes from important people in order to start of his writings, and used very good "hooks". This book tells Hahn's life and his opinions and ideas towards the human mind and philosophies. This book was well written and is very creative.

[Dave Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don Hahn doesn't write the same old stuff about creativity that we have all read many times before. Instead, he approaches it with a fresh, insightful approach. He comes from a place as a creative who has experienced many of the struggles, and triumphs, creative people will find familiar. He mixes in plenty of personal experiences from his Disney career to demonstrate that what he says is practical, and not just theoretical.
Brain Storm: Unleashing Your Creative Self is a useful, helpful, and fun book to read. I recommend it to anyone, especially creative folks stuck in a bit of a rut.

[Tyler · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a very fluffy (philosophy heavy)approach to creativity. Its easy to see that Mr. Hahn is a very right brained person and that is how he approaches the creative process. I enjoyed the lighthearted humor of this book and I found a few nuggets of useful advice, but generally I found this book saying a lot more about one person's creative views than offering advice in helping me improve my personal creativity.

4/10

[Ben Cohen]

I really enjoyed this book and every thing it taught me about approaching situations and thinking different on the spot. This is the first kind of book like this I have ever read. Its not in story form which is also interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in branching out to try a new kind of genre. I don't know if I can label this fiction, non-fiction, or realistic fiction. Overall this was a very eye opening book.

[Shawn Deal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book at looking at creativity as a whole. This wonderful book examines the creativity in each person, no matter what they are creative in, (ie. a painter, musician, writer) and discusses how to bring out that creativity and to maximize it. Told with experience and a fair amount of wit and humor, this book is easily readable and everyone is bound to get something out of it.

Hugely recommended.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's longer, messier, and not as powerfully motivational as "The War of Art," but "Brain Storm" is still very much worth a read for creatives. Hahn's voice is warm, funny, and engaging, and while I thought he could have made his point in fewer pages, the book includes a lot of really beautiful passages, and a lot of solid advice. I'm glad I read this.

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've seen this book often when I visit Disneyland so I decided to check it out because it must have some substance if Disney is pushing it. Overall not that enlightening. It had a few insightful tips and guidance but a lot of filler. Read if you think you need a push but really there are more inspiring books out there.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes you need a good dose of "why one must live a life with creativity." Admittedly, it also sometimes makes me think that I have the wrong job. Not sure what I'd do if I wasn't doing what I was doing...

[Soyelfedex]

anecdotario de un creativo de disney. divertido y hasta inspirador (en algunas partes)