Back in grade school in the 60s, we were shown numerous Disney educational films. They had two characters who carried over into each; one was an older bespectacled bald guy who just looked and talked like the ultimate patriarchal authority figure, and he was simply identified as “Professor.” (In a film about linguistics, he was ID’ed as “Professor Linguistic,” but in every other film he was just “Professor.”) His younger sidekick, who looked like a 30-ish Russell Johnson (but wasn’t) never seemed to have a name and wasn’t quite as bright.
In one film, they’d be on a planet with no clocks and tried to explain the concept of time. In another, they’d be inside the human bloodstream and debate with an intelligent white blood cell. I vaguely remember one about triangles, but that might have been a different series.
Anybody have any information on these films/actors?
I just recently bought and watched the Disney Treasure Tomorrowland DVd, which features several projections to the future that were featured on 1950s episodes of the TV show “Disneyland” (that eventually morphed into “Wonderful World of Color/Disney”). A lot of these ended up being shown or excerpted as educational films. Some of them featured actial scientists and engineers, like Werner von Braun and Willy Ley, and several other white-haird and/or balding guys I don’t know the names of, but who might be who you’re thinking of.
On the other hand, they were all identified in these films, and never called just “Professor”. But here’s a page on it, FWIW:
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/tomorrowland.html
No, these guys were definitely actors, not actual professors.
Werner Von Braun on a children’s show. Brr!
I beg your pardon – “Disneyland” wasn’t a children’s show, despite Disney’s use of animation. It was intended for audiences of all ages.
I think you’re thinking of Richard Carlson and Dr. Frank Baxter (who really was an english professor). They appeared in several Disney educational shows together (directed by Frank Capra) in the 50’s. Lots of us saw the shows later in school.
Hemo the Magnificent
The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays
The Unchained Goddess
Santos has the right films, but none of that series had any official Disney involvement.
Richard Carlson, the occasional sidekick, did resemble Russell Johnson.
The “clocks” one is almost certainly “It’s About Time” About Time (TV Movie 1962) - IMDb
“Hemo the Magnificent” doesn’t have them actually traveling through the bloodstream, IIRC, but there’s a good chance that’s the film you remember anyway.
No idea about the “triangles” one. Possibly “Donald in Mathmagic Land”, but the narrator is never shown.
These are definitely the guys! Seems to me there were more in the series, but the demand for these have to have tapered off in recent years.
Dr. Frank Baxter was da man!
I loved Dr. Frank Baxter. When I was a kid I watched all the Bell Laboratories educational films. My favorite Dr. Frank Baxter appearance, however, was not in the science series. He was the American host of the Shakespeare series An Age of Kings, and his enthusiasm and insight turned me on to Shakespeare when I was twelve years old. I’ve been a devoted Shakespeare fan ever since. Thanks, Dr. Frank.
Incidentally, An Age of Kings also introduced me to Sean Connery. He played Hotspur in “Henry IV, Part 1.”
