''Donald in Mathmagic Land'' is an American live-action animated

featurette In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film. Medium-length film ...

produced by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

and featuring

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...

. The short was directed by

Hamilton Luske Hamilton Somers Luske (October 16, 1903 – February 19, 1968) was an Americans, American animator and film director. Career Luske joined the Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions animation studio in 1931 and he was soon trusted ...

(with

Wolfgang Reitherman Wolfgang Reitherman (June 26, 1909 – May 22, 1985), also known and sometimes credited as Woolie Reitherman, was a German-American animator, director and producer. As a member of the "Disney's Nine Old Men, Nine Old Men" at Walt Disney Animati ...

, Les Clark, and Joshua Meador as sequence directors) and was released on June 26, 1959. It was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the

32nd Academy Awards The 32nd Academy Awards ceremony was held on April 4, 1960, at the RKO Pantages Theatre, to honor the 1959 in film, films of 1959. William Wyler's Bible epic ''Ben-Hur (1959 film), Ben-Hur'' won 11 Oscars, breaking the record of nine set the 3 ...

, and became a widely viewed

educational film An educational film is a film or movie whose primary purpose is to educate. Educational films have been used in classrooms as an alternative to other teaching methods. History Determining which films should count as the first educational fil ...

in American schools of the 1960s and beyond.

Plot

The film begins with

, holding a hunting rifle, as he passes through a doorway to find he has entered Mathmagic Land. This "mighty strange" fantasy land contains trees with

square root In mathematics, a square root of a number is a number such that y^2 = x; in other words, a number whose ''square'' (the result of multiplying the number by itself, or y \cdot y) is . For example, 4 and −4 are square roots of 16 because 4 ...

s, a stream flowing with

number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

s, and a walking pencil that plays

tic-tac-toe Tic-tac-toe (American English), noughts and crosses (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), or Xs and Os (Canadian English, Canadian or Hiberno-English, Irish English) is a paper-and-pencil game for two players who ta ...

. A geometric bird recites (almost perfectly) the first 15 digits of pi. Donald soon hears the voice of the unseen "True Spirit of Adventure" (

Paul Frees Solomon Hersh Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986), better known as Paul Frees, was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass and Walt Disney the ...

), who will guide him on his journey through "the wonderland of mathematics". Donald is initially not interested in exploring this foreign land, believing that mathematics is just for "

egghead In U.S. English slang, egghead is an epithet used to refer to intellectuals or people considered out-of-touch with ordinary people and lacking in realism, common sense, sexual interests, etc. on account of their intellectual interests. A similar ...

s" until "Mr. Spirit" suggests a fascinating connection between math and music. Intrigued, Donald discovers the relationships between

octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...

s and string length which form the

musical scale In music theory, a scale is "any consecutive series of notes that form a progression between one note and its octave", typically by order of pitch or fundamental frequency. The word "scale" originates from the Latin ''scala'', which literal ...

of today. Next, Donald finds himself in

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

, where

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (; BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of P ...

and his contemporaries are discovering these same relationships. Pythagoras (on the

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

), a

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

player, and a

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

player hold a "

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

" which Donald joins after a few moments using a

vase A vase ( or ) is an open container. It can be made from a number of materials, such as ceramics, glass, non- rusting metals, such as aluminium, brass, bronze, or stainless steel. Even wood has been used to make vases, either by using tree specie ...

as a

bongo drum Bongos ( Spanish: ''bongó'') are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger ''hembra'' () and the smaller ''macho'' (), which are joined by a wo ...

. Pythagoras' mathematical discoveries are, as the Spirit explains, the basis of today's music, and that no type of music could have ever existed without "eggheads." The segment ends with a sequence of

live-action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

musicians playing both

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

and Pythagoras' acquaintances magically disappearing. After shaking hands with Pythagoras, who then vanishes, Donald finds on his hand a

pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle around ...

, the symbol of the secret Pythagorean society. The Spirit then shows Donald how the mysterious

golden section In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their summation, sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities and with , is in a golden ratio to if \fr ...

appears in this ancient magic star. Next, the star itself is shown to contain the pattern for constructing golden rectangles many times over. According to the Spirit, the golden rectangle has influenced both ancient and modern cultures in many ways. Donald then learns how the golden rectangle appears in many ancient buildings, such as the

Parthenon The Parthenon (; ; ) is a former Ancient Greek temple, temple on the Acropolis of Athens, Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the Greek gods, goddess Athena. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of c ...

and the

Notre Dame cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It ...

. Paintings such as the ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...

'' and various sculptures such as the ''

Venus de Milo The ''Venus de Milo'' or ''Aphrodite of Melos'' is an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek marble sculpture that was created during the Hellenistic art, Hellenistic period. Its exact dating is uncertain, but the modern consensus places it in the 2nd ...

'' contain several golden rectangles. The use of the golden rectangle is found in modern architecture, such as the United Nations building in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Modern painters have also rediscovered the infinite mathematical magic of stars and golden rectangles. The Spirit shows Donald how the golden rectangle and pentagram are even related to the human body and nature themselves. The human body itself contains the "ideal proportions" of the golden section. However, Donald, overinterpreting the Spirit's advice, tries to make his own body fit such a proportion, but his efforts are to no avail; he ends up "all pent up in a

pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

". The pentagram and pentagon are then shown to be found in many flowers and animals, such as the

petunia ''Petunia'' is a genus of 20 species of flowering plants of South American origin. The popular flower of the same name derived its epithet from the French, which took the word , 'tobacco', from a Tupi–Guarani language. A tender perennial plan ...

, the star jasmine, the

starfish Starfish or sea stars are Star polygon, star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class (biology), class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to brittle star, ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to ...

, the waxflower. Then, with the help of the inside of a

nautilus A nautilus (; ) is any of the various species within the cephalopod family Nautilidae. This is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and the suborder Nautilina. It comprises nine living species in two genera, the type genus, ty ...

shell, the Spirit explains that the magic proportions of the golden section are often found in the

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

s of nature's designs, quoting Pythagoras: "Everything is arranged according to number and mathematical shape." Donald then learns that mathematics applies not only to nature, architecture, and music, but also to games that are played on geometrical surfaces, including

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

hopscotch Hopscotch is a playground game in which players toss a small object, called a lagger, into numbered triangles or a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces and retrieve the object. It is a children's ...

, and three-cushion billiard. In

, Donald suggests the game

checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), is a group of Abstract strategy game, strategy board games for two players which involve forward movements of uniform game ...

, but the Spirit does not pursue this option. Donald even volunteers the game

Tiddlywinks Tiddlywinks is a game played on a flat felt mat with sets of small discs called winks, a pot, which is the target, and a collection of squidgers, which are also discs. Players use a squidger (nowadays made of plastic) to shoot a wink into fl ...

, but the Spirit also rejects this option. Instead, the Spirit challenges Donald Duck to the ancient and challenging game of chess, as made famous by Lewis Carroll's 1871 novel ''

Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' is a novel published in December 1871 by Lewis Carroll, the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a mathematics lecturer at Christ Church, Oxford, Christ Church, University of Oxford. I ...

''. In this exciting and imaginative scene, Carroll is portrayed as both a writer and a

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

. Then, the extended

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

scene features a non-speaking live actor shows the calculations involved in the game's "diamond system", and Donald eventually learns how to do the right calculations to hit ten cushions all while needlessly making it tough for himself. The Spirit then asks Donald to play a mental game, but he finds Donald's mind to be too cluttered with "Antiquated Ideas", "Bungling", "False Concepts", "Superstitions", and "Confusion". After some mental housecleaning, Donald plays with a

circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...

and a

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

in his mind. He is then able to transform them into a

sphere A sphere (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ) is a surface (mathematics), surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

and a

cone In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the '' apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines ...

, and he proceeds to rediscover some of man's most useful past inventions, such as the

wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

magnifying glass A magnifying glass is a convex lens—usually mounted in a frame with a handle—that is used to produce a magnified image of an object. A magnifying glass can also be used to focus light, such as to concentrate the Sun's radiation to create ...

drill A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a drill bit for making holes, or a screwdriver bit for securing fasteners. Historically, they were powered by hand, and later mains power, but cordless b ...

, spring,

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

, and

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

. Donald then discovers that pentagrams can be drawn inside each other indefinitely, almost as if by magic. In the end, he learns that numbers provide an avenue to consider the concept of

infinity Infinity is something which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is denoted by \infty, called the infinity symbol. From the time of the Ancient Greek mathematics, ancient Greeks, the Infinity (philosophy), philosophic ...

itself. The Spirit states that scientific knowledge and technological advances are unlimited, and the key to unlocking the doors of the future is mathematics. By the end of the film, Donald understands and appreciates the value of mathematics and the boundless powers of human imagination and invention. The film closes with a beautiful and inspiring quotation from

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

: "Mathematics is the alphabet with which God has written the universe."

Cast

Clarence Nash Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash (December 7, 1904 – February 20, 1985) was an American voice actor and impressionist. He is best remembered as the original voice of the Disney cartoon character Donald Duck. He was born in the rural community of W ...

(voice) *

as The True Spirit of Adventure / Narrator (voice), and the Pi creature (voice) *

June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American Voice acting, voice actress and radio personality, best known as the voice of such animation, animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha F ...

as the Chess Queen (voice) *

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera ...

as the Chess King (voice) * Roman Yanez as The Billiards Player

Production

The film was directed by

. Contributors included

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

artists John Hench and Art Riley, voice talent

, and scientific expert Heinz Haber, who had worked on the Disney space shows. It was released on a bill with ''

Darby O'Gill and the Little People ''Darby O'Gill and the Little People'' is a 1959 American fantasy adventure film produced by Walt Disney Productions, adapted from the ''Darby O'Gill'' stories of Herminie Templeton Kavanagh. Directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Lawrenc ...

''. In 1959, it was nominated for an

for ( Best Documentary – Short Subjects). In 1961, two years after its release, it was shown as part of the first program of ''

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology series, anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 onwa ...

'' with an introduction by Ludwig Von Drake. The film was made available to schools and became one of the most popular

s ever made by Disney. As

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

himself explained: "The cartoon is a good medium to stimulate interest. We have recently explained mathematics in a film and in that way excited public interest in this very important subject."

Releases

* 1959 - theatrical release * 1961 - ''

'', episode #8.1: " An Adventure in Color/Mathmagicland" (TV)

Home media

The short was released on November 11, 2008 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume Four: 1951-1961''. Additional releases include: * 1988 - ''Walt Disney Mini Classics: Donald in Mathmagic Land'' (VHS) * 2007 - ''Donald in Mathmagic Land'' (DVD exclusive to the Disney Movie Club) * 2009 - ''Donald in Mathmagic Land'' (DVD)

In other media

* A

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

adaptation was made, scripted by Don R. Christensen, pencilled by Tony Strobl, and inked by Steve Steere. This version differs in some ways from the original film version, providing a better context for Donald's excursion into Mathmagic Land. * The '' Figment'' comic book miniseries from

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

has the outcast sound sprite Fye mention Mathmagic Land as one of the other countries in the Realm of Imagination. * The ''

House of Mouse ''Disney's House of Mouse'' (or simply ''House of Mouse'') is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001 ...

'' episode "Gone Goofy" features an advertisement for Mathmagic Land at the end. * In the 2023 ''

Ted Lasso ''Ted Lasso'' ( ) is an American sports film, sports comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence (TV producer), Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly. It is based on a character Sudeikis portrayed in a series ...

'' episode " Sunflowers", Lasso consumes what he believes to be psychedelic drugs and begins to hallucinate about the geometry of triangles. The style of animated hallucination sequence is visually similar to that of ''Donald in Mathmagic Land'', and Lasso also hears the voice of The True Spirit of Adventure (voiced by

Corey Burton Corey Burton is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Captain Hook, Ludwig Von Drake and others for The Walt Disney Company, Shockwave on '' The Transformers'', Brainiac in the DC Animated Universe, Count Dooku and Cad Bane in ...

) explaining the significance of the triangle.

References

External links

*
''Donald in Mathmagic Land''
at

Disney.com disney.com is a website operated by Disney Digital Network, a division of The Walt Disney Company, that promotes various Disney properties such as films, television shows, and theme park resorts, and offers entertainment content intended for ch ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donald in Mathmagic Land 1950s educational films 1959 animated short films 1950s Disney animated short films Disney educational films Donald Duck short films 1950s English-language films Short films with live action and animation Films scored by Buddy Baker (composer) Animated films set in ancient Greece Films set in Athens Animated films set in New York City Animated films set in Paris Films about mathematics Animated films about music and musicians Films adapted into comics Animated films based on Alice in Wonderland Films directed by Les Clark Films directed by Hamilton Luske Films directed by Joshua Meador Short films directed by Wolfgang Reitherman Films produced by Walt Disney Cultural depictions of Pythagoras American animated featurettes 1950s American films Baseball animation Basketball animation Disney animated films based on fairy tales English-language short films