
Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land (1959) [video] - DrScump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ZHsk0-eF0
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Cyranix
I absolutely loved this when I was younger! Looking forward to watching it
again after so many years.

On the rare occasions when I play a game of pool, a little piece of my brain
remembers the pool-table section from this video as I try to make bank shots.

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cmiller1
I don't have anything to add to this other than me too. I think I watched the
VHS about a million times in the 80s when I was a wee one.

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rhizome
I remember this being the kind of thing that I hoped would result in VHS being
invented.

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evincarofautumn
The first time I saw this as a young math nerd, I remember being _so_
indignant when the little man said π was equal to:

    
    
        3.141592653589747…
    

Rather than:

    
    
        3.141592653589793…
    

Didn’t they fact-check _anything_? :) Of course, the voice actor probably just
got it wrong. And this came out around the same time as Rocky and
Bullwinkle—it’s not as if anyone noticed or cared at the time that Boris and
Natasha don’t sound anything like Russians…

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tennysonmach
If you Google 3.141592653589793 then you'll find it cited as π in plenty of
places. I wonder what the cause of the discrepancy is?

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grapeshot
Looks like it's the result of taking exactly 19 terms of a certain Taylor
series expansion for π.

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shahbazac
Supposedly several writers for the Simpsons are formally trained
mathematicians. I've often wondered why they haven't gotten together to make
videos about math. Perhaps something like the Khan Academy, but done by folks
who have the perfect combination of academic knowledge, story telling ability,
great writing skills, access to animation/production, lots of money, etc.

~~~
chris_wot
They do have a lot of math jokes:

[http://gu.com/p/3tp38?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other](http://gu.com/p/3tp38?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other)

~~~
885895
One of my favorite math-related scenes in The Simpsons is where Prof. Frink is
standing on stage in front of a group of scientists and not getting attention.

Prof. Frink: "Looking for some order. Some order please with the eyes forward
and the hands neatly folded."

(Audience not paying attention.)

Prof. Frink: "Hrm..."

Prof. Frink: "Pi is exactly three!"

(Collective gasp from the audience. Prof. Frink now has their attention.)

\---

Edit: Went looking for part of the quote which I couldn't catch, found a book
which seems interesting. Simon Singh, 2013. _The Simpsons and Their
Mathematical Secrets_ [1]. Singh is also known for his 1997 book _Fermat 's
Enigma_ [2] and his 1999 book _The Code Book_ [3]. The former of the books
I've heard is interesting and the latter of which I enjoyed very much back
when I read it.

[1]: [http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17287021-the-simpsons-
and...](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17287021-the-simpsons-and-their-
mathematical-secrets)

[2]:
[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38412.Fermat_s_Enigma](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38412.Fermat_s_Enigma)

[3]:
[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17994.The_Code_Book](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17994.The_Code_Book)

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DrScump
I think every elementary school student saw the film in school (in the San
Jose, CA area anyway). They could have shown it monthly, and it would never
get old.

Odd thing is, as I looked for this on Youtube, there are numerous Donald Duck
cartoons labeled with this title that are completely unrelated. Clickbait?

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keville
This is the _only_ VHS cassette I own -- tracked down just a few short years
ago.

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monroepe
My math teacher would show that to us every year in high school. Love it.

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queryly
I remember seeing this when I grew up in China (translated into Chinese). Last
time I saw this film was 30 years ago. Thank you so much for sharing.

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defen
Does Donald Duck have his distinctive manner of speech when speaking Chinese?

~~~
Xophmeister
I have it on good authority that he does.

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xarien
I started showing this to my son when he turned 3.

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nsxwolf
My high school used to screen this film in the auditorium once a year. Every
math class would head over and watch it.

A good memory.

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emily130
DONALD DUCK - Chip and Dale NEW!!! Cartoons Full Episodes! 2015
[https://youtu.be/khrTRwzTJFQ](https://youtu.be/khrTRwzTJFQ)

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gcanyon
The creature gets pi wrong at 1:55. It says, "3.141592653589747 etc." The
right value is 3.1415926535897932 (etc.)

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pedro_delfino
I do not remember watching this episode when I was kid. But it is really cool.
Thanks for sharing!

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ryanmarsh
And now I know how to play pool...

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danieltrembath
Someone's been reading Jalopnik today.

