In his interesting introduction to the piece, Leonard Maltin recalls how he and his friends would breathe sighs of relief at the "Walt Disney Presents" opening titles during educational films in school. The special begins discussing Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, with fullscreen footage of the 1954 Disney film.
Walt then comes on and tells how the subject of this is of great importance, so great that he reports on plans for an atomic exhibit at Disneyland.
Walt turns over to Dr. Heinz Haber, who opens with an animated story of a fisherman and a genie. The rest of the special relies on this analogy that atomic energy is like a genie that the fisherman ("society") finally has power over. Haber proceeds to discuss how tools like a Geiger counter and a microscope allow us to explore things that are unnoticeable to the human eye.
Certain well-known theories, formulas and experiments are brought to life, such as E=mc² and a light beam passing through a gold sheet. To illustrate chain reactions in nuclear fission, a table filled with mousetraps represents the atoms and pingpong balls stand in for the new neutrons created from the split.
Though the material may not greatly differ from a high school science class, Maltin's observation that these are the same people who made Snow White and Bambi is astute. Atomic science is a lot more fun the Disney way.
click here to see where to watch or .
Ready to Watch Walt Disney Treasures Tomorrowland, Season 1, Episode 5?