Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Donald in Mathmagic Land" is a 27-minute short film which explores basic mathematic references in everyday life. 27 minutes may be long for cartoons from that era, but it's really short given the fact that there were no less than 4 directors and 3 writers working on it. I am sort of interested in maths and I've always liked Donald, but still somehow I did not find this one particularly interesting or funny. Then again I am not really big on Disney's works who take themselves seriously as an educational movie. The Academy thought otherwise and nominated it for an Oscar, but it lost to the Dutch entry from that year. Another mathematics meets cartoon idea won the Oscar, namely "The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics": if you enjoyed Donald's take here, you may want to check that one out as well. It's also not even half as long. This one here is already over 55 years old and yet it is far from being one of the early Donald cartoons. And also far from being among the best in my opinion. Not recommended.

Big Neil-2 This interesting failure shows us how Disney, never content with being an entertainer and businessman, had intellectual pretensions--sometimes magnificently realized (as in Fantasia), rather less well here.I say this as a great fan of this puzzling but lovable attempted documentary in cartoon form. The pool table sequence goes on for far too long, and contains very little actual math (the same could be said of the whole movie). Disney ultimately lacked the courage of his pretensions, and the movie positively drowns in these little pop culture references, possibly included to forestall charges of elitism. The closing sequence lurches into what we would nowadays call "Intelligent Design" territory, and a reference to God's guiding hand is squeezed in at the last minute, perhaps to placate red-state viewers.So what you are left with is a mishmash of elegant, graceful animation (some of the finest ever committed to screen) combined with a jarringly superficial treatment of the subject. And yet, and yet; the opening segment, with the waterfall of numbers and the jam session with the Ancient Greek mathematicians, has a sense of wonder and hallucinatory magic that has rarely been equaled. And there is always Donald, our favorite everyman, who learns that math isn't just for eggheads, after all.

Ron Oliver 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.

Robert Reynolds This animated documentary was an excellent combination of entertainment and education and is a real feather in Disney's cap. Most people have varying degrees of either disinterest or dislike of mathematics. This renders math comprehensible as well as making it fun and interesting-a combination most of my math instuctors were either unwilling or unable to accomplish. After 41 years plus, this doesn't feel the least bit dated. I'm glad to see it's available. Three cheers for the mouse (and the duck too, though I must confess that, for the most part, Donald leaves me cold. Not here, though.). Most recommended.