Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959)

Directors:

Les Clark
Hamilton Luske

Writers:

Milt Banta (story) &
Bill Berg (story) ...

Release Date:

26 June 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Donald the adventurer discovers mirth in math!

Plot:

Disney used animation here to explain through this wonderful adventure of Donald how mathmatics can be usuful in our real life...

Plot Keywords:

Musician | Surrealism | Hopscotch | Billiards | Cartoon Duck

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Paul Frees	...	The True Spirit of Adventure / Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Clarence Nash	...	Donald Duck (voice) (uncredited)

Runtime:

27 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Argentina:Atp | UK:U

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

Originally released on a bill with Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Despite this being a mathematics educational film, a character incorrectly recites the value of the mathematical constant pi. The character states, "Pi is equal to 3.141,592,653,589,747, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera." The correct value of pi (to the same number of digits) is actually 3.141,592,653,589,793. (The last two digits are different.)

Quotes:

[first lines]
Donald Duck: [entering Mathemagic Land] Mighty strange.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Disneyland: An Adventure in Color/Mathmagic Land (#8.1)" (1961)

Discovering God's Alphabet

A Walt Disney DONALD DUCK Cartoon.

While looking for true adventure, DONALD IN MATHMAGIC LAND learns a great deal about the vital importance of mathematics in the Universe.

Loosely based on Lewis Carroll's ALICE books, this short film uses fun & fancy to teach some pertinent facts about the wonder of mathematics. Some of the ideas of Pythagoras are examined, the mysteries of the 'Golden Rectangle' are explored and the mathematical principles of the games of chess & billiards are exposed. The voice of Paul Frees as the Spirit of Adventure makes a fine counterpoint to Clarence Nash's vocalization of the Duck.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a storm of naysayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.