engineering

Modern Inventions

Modern Inventions is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Modern Inventions rather than just read about it. In short: Modern Inventions is a 1937 American comic science fiction animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. It is also the final Disney short to be released by United Artists.

Key takeaways

Modern Inventions belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Modern Inventions to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Modern Inventions from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Modern Inventions is a 1937 American comic science fiction animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. It is also the final Disney short to be released by United Artists. In the cartoon, Donald Duck tours the fictional Museum of Modern Marvels. Jack King directed it in his first directing role at Disney, and Oliver Wallace composed the original music. The voice cast includes Clarence Nash as Donald, Billy Bletcher as the Robot Butler, Adriana Caselotti as the Robot Baby Carriage, and Don Brodie as the Robot Barber.

Plot Donald visits the Museum of Modern Marvels, which showcases futuristic electronic appliances and inventions. He drops a coin on a string in the admission box and yanks it out. Once inside, he meets the Robot Butler, a brass cyclops. The butler is programmed to greet guests and take their hats, but it has a flaw where it takes their hats whether they want to or not. It takes Donald's hat over his protest, but Donald does a magic trick to produce a top hat. He encounters a robot hitchhiker exhibit that thumbs a ride when he imitates a passing car, then pokes him in the eyes for tricking it. The butler appears and takes his top hat, but he does another magic trick to produce a bicorne. Donald finds a bundle wrapping machine. He ignores a sign that says not to touch it and pulls a lever, causing the machine to wrap him with cellophane and a red ribbon. After he frees himself, the butler appears and takes his bicorne. He does a magic trick to produce a kepi and taunts the butler, who chases him. He hides in a robotic baby carriage and swaps his kepi with a bonnet. The carriage coddles him and offers a milk bottle, which squirts milk at his face. As he tries to escape, the carriage thrashes him with a puppet toy, squirts more milk, and puts a diaper on him. When he finally gets free, the butler appears and takes his bonnet. After he does another magic trick to produce a bowler hat, he finds a robotic barber chair that he activates by using his coin. It tosses him upside-down and trims his tail while giving his head a shoe-polish. After he is released, he puts his bowler hat on his well-polished head. However, the butler appears and takes his bowler hat. Fed up with the butler taking his hats, he throws an explosive tantrum.

Production The story was originally conceived as Mickey's Inventions, a vehicle for Donald's co-star Mickey Mouse. As Donald's star began to rise in 1936, the short was reworked as a duck cartoon.

Voice cast

Uncredited Clarence Nash as Donald Duck Billy Bletcher as Robot Butler Adriana Caselotti as Robot Baby Carriage Don Brodie as Robot Barber Chair

Releases Source:

May 29, 1937 - original release (theatrical) c. 1992 - Mickey's Mouse Tracks, episode 7 (TV) c. 1992 - Donald's Quack Attack, episode 30 (TV) December 24, 1997 - Ink & Paint Club, episode 26: "Classic Donald" (TV)

Home media The short was released on May 18, 2004, on Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume One: 1934-1941. It was also released on VHS in 1985 on Cartoon Classics: The Continuing Adventures of Chip 'n' Dale Featuring Donald Duck.

Legacy The cartoon would later serve as inspiration for suicide booths, fictional contraptions appearing in the American adult animated sitcom Futurama. In an episode of the series House of Mouse, Minnie Mouse asks Goofy for the name of the cartoon. Goofy knows which Donald Duck cartoon she is talking about, but does not remember the name. Donald mistakenly tells them that the cartoon is called Donald's Haircut and made in 1945, only for Mickey Mouse to correct him.

See also Mickey Mouse (film series) Donald Duck (film series)

References

External links Modern Inventions at IMDb

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Modern Inventions

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Modern Inventions claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Modern Inventions before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Modern Inventions ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Modern Inventions

In research: Modern Inventions appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Modern Inventions in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Modern Inventions is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1930s Disney animated short films, 1930s color films, 1930s science fiction comedy films, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Modern Inventions outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Modern Inventions in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Modern Inventions means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Modern Inventions out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Modern Inventions in simple terms?

Why does Modern Inventions matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Modern Inventions?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Modern Inventions.