D:\!Radovi\animacija\new\[A.-Bowdoin-Van-Riper,-A.

-Bowdoin-Van-Riper]-Learn(z-
lib.org).pdf

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Norden, M. F. (2014).“A Journey Through the Wonderland of Mathematics”

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Strange, indeed. So begins Donald in Mathmagic Land, a 27-minute featurette
produced by the Disney studio and released in late June 1959. Starring the epony-
mous Donald Duck, this episodic, Oscar-nominated film combines animated and live-
action sequences to introduce its viewers to basic math concepts, a history of
mathematical thinking, and the relevance of math to music, art, architecture,
nature, sports, board games, and other aspects of everyday life. Supplemented by a
similarly titled Dell comic book published a few months later,1 Donald in Math-
magic Land remains one of the Disney studio’s best-known educational films.

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In a number of respects, Donald in Mathmagic Land is a transitional film in the
Disney canon. Following in the tradition of the many didactic animated shorts
produced by the studio during World War II and the years thereafter, Donald in
Mathmagic Land was designed as a theatrical film. Initially paired with the feature
movie Darby O’Gill and the Little People in 1959, it was an instant hit.

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The Disney studio had absorbed many lessons as a result of its experiences
creating wartime prop- aganda and instructional films, and it codified what it
learned into a workable set of principles that included: (1) an instantly familiar
and popular character to which the studio already owned the rights and who could
serve as a stand- in for the audience, (2) a male narrator whose “voice of
authority” would make unequivocal statements, (3) a visual style that could
facilitate relatively quick and inexpensive production, and (4) the Alice-in-
Wonderland idea of placing the lead character in an unfamiliar environment in the
hope that the audience will share that character’s sense of wonder and discovery.

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“The cartoon,” said Walt Disney in late 1959, “is a good medium to stimulate
interest. It is an ideal medium for teaching and it has always been my hope that
we could do something that way. But it would have to be of general interest, yet
helpful in teaching. It should be used for opening people’s minds and meeting
their needs. We have recently explained mathematics in a film and in that way
excited public interest in this very important subject. Donald in Mathmagic Land
stimulated interest in mathematics and turned out very well.”6