Fairy Tale Spotlight: Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land

Did you know Donald Duck is my favorite Disney character? It's true! I actually own every single one of his shorts on DVD. But there was one cartoon that was not included in the set because it wasn't actually a short. It was a film from 1959 called "Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land."

Although this half an hour cartoon was intended to be educational, it goes down as one of the most fun and interesting exploration into the world of mathematics. I'll be honest that I usually find educational stuff boring. You'd be surprised how Disney was able to make stuff like this enjoyable. Let's talk a little about this. A link to the cartoon will be available at the bottom of the blog.

It seems like through the cartoon, the pentagram appeared to be the basis for a lot of designs and inventions throughout history. But although it started off suggesting that the shape was originally the invention of Pythagoras, the cartoon goes on to explain that this symbol was already prevalent in nature. I was always surprised at how many ways a pentagram can be broken down into other shapes, and this cartoon does extremely well in demonstrating this through carefully measured animation. Pentagons, golden rectangles, golden sections, and perfect spirals all seem to come from this unique design.

The cartoon also converted the pentagram into music which blew my mind. Sections of the pentagram became strings on an instrument and were plucked. It really worked! Of course, Donald didn't really appreciate Ancient Greek music and had to jazz it up in his own way. As silly as it was, this only led to an explanation of how music has merely evolved under the same principles over the centuries.

So, if you ever saw this cartoon in the past, you may have noticed the very odd pool table that lacked any pockets. As I child, I wondered what in the world was going on with that. Apparently this is a table for a game called "three-cushion billiards," and it is still played to this day but not really popularized in the US. As the cartoon explained, the idea if to hit one ball, strike three sides before hitting the 2nd ball. It's the only way to get a point. It requires a tremendous amount of skill and calculation to get even one point in the game which leads me to believe that the man in the cartoon was a freaking genius!

I loved how Donald thought it looked easy enough and tried to play three-cushion billiards himself. He got all scrambled in the head and made everything too complicated. I know that's how I would be. I really doubt I could do it without pen and paper handy, and even then, I'd just not have the skill to do the shot.

In my wrap-up section, I want to go into the setting of the cartoon for a moment. At the beginning, Donald appeared to be on a hunt and walks into a cave. The cave led into a strange world called Mathmagic Land where he was guided onward by a voice who called himself the Spirit of Adventure. This spirit draws the silly duck into the world of mathematics until Donald is actually able to imagine possibilities on his own. The doors of his mind open and he enjoys exploring them, but strangely he comes to a hallway where all the doors are closed. These were the scientific finds of the future that had not yet been opened. Smart phones anyone?!

The most surprising and rather tear jerking moment for me was the very end where they give a quote from Galileo:

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

You know what? I think he was right.

If you would like to watch this great cartoon, here is a link to the YouTube video: CLICK HERE!

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