Customer Rating: 
Summary: Donald in Mathmagic Land
Comment: A classic. This video playfully engages children in the ideas of basic mathematics.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Available on Disney "educational" DVD
Comment: Saw this on a worn VHS some years ago, and have been looking for a copy ever since. The other reviews pretty much say why. :-)
I'm happy to report that Disney is now selling it on both DVD and VHS, albeit in pricey "teachers" editions. Afraid Amazon doesn't permit inclusion of links in reviews, but a quick google on Mathmagic Land should reveal the disney-go-com pages of interest.
Just ordered a copy over the phone -- for some odd reason they don't offer online ordering. However they also didn't have any problem with the fact that I'm not a teacher, and the phone call is free.
Not sure what their normal shipping times are -- the phone rep estimated a week or two for delivery. This might make somebody a great holiday gift.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Duh! Vinci Code
Comment: Thirty five years ago when I used to thread the 16mm version through a projector in my 4th grade classroom, I, and my students, thought it was the most entertaing, fascinating film we ever saw. After I stopped teaching, I searched for it for years, just wanting to have it in my collection. I finally found it used, on Amazon, watched it once just to bring back the memories, then put it on my shelf. Then I read The da Vinci Code. I couldn't believe it! All the reference to the golden rectangle, golden ratio, proportions of the pentagram, the Pythagorean Society, and even Disney himself! And to think I was teaching all that to my 9 year olds in the 60's before Dan Brown was even born! A fun video for any math lover.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Duh! Vinci Code
Comment: Thirty five years ago when I used to thread the 16mm version through a projector in my 4th grade classroom, I, and my students, thought it was the most entertaing, fascinating film we ever saw. After I stopped teaching, I searched for it for years, just wanting to have it in my collection. I finally found it used, on Amazon, watched it once just to bring back the memories, then put it on my shelf. Then I read The da Vinci Code. I couldn't believe it! All the reference to the golden rectangle, golden ratio, proportions of the pentagram, the Pythagorean Society, and even Disney himself! And to think I was teaching all that to my 9 year olds in the 60's before Dan Brown was even born! A fun video for any math lover.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Disney and Math - a classic for kids of all ages
Comment: I last saw this movie in 1980 in school - during the Science Fair in 6th grade no less! I loved it as a child and am proud to own it now.
"Donald in Mathmagic Land", a 1959 Disney short movie (27 mins), is narrated by Paul Frees, the voice at Disney World's famous Haunted Mansion.
Donald, on a hunting trip, wanders unknowingly into the dark and mysterious Mathmagic Land. Numbers float along the stream. A bird in a tree quotes the digits of Pi out to several decimal places. A pencil invites Donald to a game of tic-tac-toe.
The narrator (the spirit of adventure) attempts to convince Donald that mathematics is not just for eggheads. Donald learns from the ancient Greeks that music is based on math. He discovers the golden proportion (http://goldennumber.net/) and how it permeates architecture and nature. From games like three-cushion billiards, he uncovers the practical use of math.
Donald sees how modern inventions (as in 1959 modern) like the microscope and airplane propellors are based on mathematical shapes.
At the end of Donald's journey through Mathmagic Land, he has learned to appreciate math and how it has enriched our lives. The movie ends with a quote from Galileo: "Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe."
PROS
- Great for kids!
- Presents timeless concepts in an easy and fun manner
CONS
- Could this be MORE dated? "Modern" equipment like the searchlight and modern music like big bands... (it's fun to watch these classics from the past though)
THINGS YOU MIGHT MISS
Look for:
- the numbers in the stream. They will change. When a number floats down the river and encounters a rock in the stream, it divides itself into two smaller numbers to go around the rock.
- the roots of the trees. The roots come out of the ground in a square shape, looking very peculiar. Donald states, "Look! Square roots!"
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