Schoolhouse Rock!

Schoolhouse Rock! is a series of animated musical educational short films that aired during Saturday morning children's programming on U.S. television network ABC. Topics covered include grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and politics. The series aired between 1972 and 1986, and infrequently during the 1990s and 2000s, with new shows created between 1993 and 1996, until its cancellation by ABC in 2001.

Origins and history

Schoolhouse Rock! began as a commercial advertising venture by David McCall. The idea came to McCall when he noticed one of his sons, who was having trouble in school remembering the multiplication tables, knew the lyrics to many current rock songs. The first song recorded was "Three Is a Magic Number," written by Bob Dorough. It tested well, so a children's record was compiled and released. Tom Yohe listened to the first song, and began to doodle pictures to go with the lyrics. He told McCall that the songs would make good animation.

When a print workbook version fell through, McCall's company decided to produce their own animated versions of the songs, which they then sold to ABC (which already was McCall's company's biggest advertising account) based on a demo animation of the original "Three Is A Magic Number" for its Saturday morning lineup. They pitched their idea to Michael Eisner, then vice-president of ABC's children's programming division. Eisner brought longtime Warner Bros. cartoonist/director Chuck Jones to the meeting to also listen to the presentation. The network's children's programming division had producers of its regular 30- and 60-minute programs cut three minutes out of each of their shows, and sold General Foods on the idea of sponsoring the segments. The series stayed on the air for 12 years. Later sponsors of the Schoolhouse Rock! segments included Nabisco, General Foods, Kenner Toys, Kellogg's, and McDonald's.

The last of the original series were four segments about the then-novel personal computer technology. The shorts featured two characters by the name of Scooter Computer and Mister Chips, and so these were the only episodes in the series to feature any recurring characters.

A 1987 production of the series for VHS tape featured Cloris Leachman opening the collection and some songs with child dancers and singers but "Three Ring Government," "The Good Eleven" and "Little Twelve Toes" were not included on the videos.

In the 1990s, the team reunited to produce Money Rock and two more Grammar Rock segments ("Busy Prepositions" and "The Tale of Mr. Morton").

ABC stopped regular broadcasts of this series in 2001.

In 2002, the team once again reunited to produce a new song, "I'm Gonna Send Your Vote To College" for the release of the 30th Anniversary DVD. The song teaches about electoral college. For the new song, Tom Yohe Jr. took over as lead designer for his father Yohe Sr., who had died in 2000. Another contemporary song, called "Presidential Minute", which explained the process of electing the President of the United States in greater detail, was included on a 2008 DVD collection centered on the America Rock subseries.

In 2009, the team produced eleven brand new environmentally-themed songs for the DVD "Schoolhouse Rock: Earth Rock". They also made a rendition of their 2006 song, The 3 R's by Jack Johnson.

Episodes

Multiplication Rock

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Episode Title	Subject	Music By	Lyrics By	Performed By	Animation & Design	First Aired
My Hero, Zero	0	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Focus Design / Tom Yohe	1972
Elementary, My Dear	2	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Focus Design / Jack Sidebotham	1972
Three Is a Magic Number	3	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Focus Design / Tom Yohe	1972
The Four-Legged Zoo	4	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough (and chorus of children)	Phil Kimmelman & Associates / Bob Eggers	1972
Ready or Not, Here I Come	5	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Phil Kimmelman & Associates / Tom Yohe	1972
I Got Six	6	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Grady Tate	Phil Kimmelman & Associates / Tom Yohe	1973
Lucky Seven Sampson	7	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Phil Kimmelman & Associates / Rowland B. Wilson	1973
Figure Eight	8	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Blossom Dearie	Phil Kimmelman & Associates / Tom Yohe	1973
Naughty Number Nine	9	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Grady Tate	Phil Kimmelman & Associates / Tom Yohe	1973
The Good Eleven	11	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Phil Kimmelman & Associates / Jack Sidebotham	1973
Little Twelvetoes	12	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Phil Kimmelman & Associates / Rowland B. Wilson	1973

No shows were produced featuring the numbers 1 or 10 explicitly.

In 1973, Capitol Records released a soundtrack album of Multiplication Rock, featuring all 12 songs. Two tracks, "My Hero, Zero" and "Three Is A Magic Number" had been edited for TV to keep each video within three minutes. This LP features both songs in their full, unedited forms. Also, the album version of "The Four-Legged Zoo" has a slightly different ending than the television version.

Grammar Rock

Episode Title	Subject	Music By	Lyrics By	Performed By	First Aired
Conjunction Junction	conjunction	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Jack Sheldon and Terri Morel	1973
Unpack Your Adjectives	adjective	George R. Newall	George R. Newall	Blossom Dearie	1975
Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here	adverb	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	1974
Interjections!	interjection	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Essra Mohawk	1974
Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla	pronoun	Bob Dorough	Kathy Mandary	Jack Sheldon	1977
Verb: That's What's Happening	verb	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Zachary Sanders	1974
A Noun Is A Person, Place Or Thing	noun	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	1973
Busy Prepositions	preposition	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Jack Sheldon and Bob Dorough	October 1993
The Tale of Mr. Morton	subject and predicate	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Jack Sheldon	December 1993

America Rock

• - Songs only seen in the 2002 edition.

Episode Title	Subject	Music By	Lyrics By	Performed By	First Aired
Elbow Room	U.S. territorial expansion	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Sue Manchester	1976
Fireworks	Declaration of Independence	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Grady Tate	1976
The Great American Melting Pot	immigration/melting pot	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lori Lieberman	1977
I'm Just a Bill	Legislative Process	Dave Frishberg	Dave Frishberg	Jack Sheldon	1975
Mother Necessity	American inventions	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough, Jack Sheldon, Blossom Dearie, & Essra Mohawk	1977
No More Kings	American independence	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens & Bob Dorough	1975
The Preamble	United States Constitution	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	1975
The Shot Heard 'Round The World	American Revolutionary War	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	1976
Sufferin' Till Suffrage	Women's suffrage	Bob Dorough	Tom Yohe	Essra Mohawk	1976
Three Ring Government	separation of powers	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	1979
I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College*	Electoral College	George R. Newall and Bob Dorough	George R. Newall and Bob Dorough	Jack Sheldon and Bob Dorough	2002
Presidential Minute*	Voting For President	Joshua Harisson	Samuel Elliot	Jack Sheldon	2002

"I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College" was produced for the 30th anniversary DVD collection.

"Presidential Minute" was promoted as produced for the Election DVD collection, but its presence as an Easter Egg on the 30th Anniversary DVD suggests that it was written before 2008.

Science Rock

Episode Title	Subject	Music By	Lyrics By	Performed By	First Aired
The Body Machine	nutrition	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Bob Dorough and Jack Sheldon	1979
Do The Circulation	cardiovascular system	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Joshie Armstead, Mary Sue Berry, & Maeretha Stewart	1979
Electricity, Electricity	electricity	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Zachary Sanders	1979
The Energy Blues	energy conservation	George Newall	George Newall	Jack Sheldon	1978
Interplanet Janet	the solar system	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	1978
Telegraph Line	nervous system	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Jaime Aff and Christine Langner	1979
Them Not-So-Dry Bones	skeletal system	George Newall	George Newall	Jack Sheldon	1979
A Victim of Gravity	gravity	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	The Tokens	1978
The Greatest Show on Earth/The Weather Show	weather	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Bob Kalban	1979

Scooter Computer And Mr. Chips

Episode Title	Subject	Music By	Lyrics By	Performed By	First Aired
Introduction	computers	Lynn Ahrens, Tom Yohe and Bob Dorough	Lynn Ahrens, Tom Yohe and Bob Dorough	Darrell Stern and Bob Kaliban	1983
Hardware	computer hardware	Dave Frishberg	Dave Frishberg	Darrell Stern and Bob Kaliban	1983
Software	computer software	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Darrell Stern and Bob Kaliban	1983
Number Cruncher	computerized statistics	Dave Frishberg	Dave Frishberg	Darrell Stern and Bob Kaliban	1984

Money Rock

Episode Title	Subject	Music By	Lyrics By	Performed By	First Aired
Dollars and Sense	interest and loans	Dave Frishberg	Dave Frishberg	Val Hawk and Bob Dorough	1994
Making $7.50 Once a Week	budget	Dave Frishberg	Dave Frishberg	Dave Frishberg	1995
Where The Money Goes	paying bills	Rich Mendoza	Rich Mendoza	Jack Sheldon	1995
Tax Man Max	taxes	Stephen Flaherty	Lynn Ahrens	Patrick Quinn	1995
Walkin' On Wall Street	stock exchange	Dave Frishberg	Dave Frishberg	Dave Frishberg	1996
This For That	barter	George R. Newall	George R. Newall	Bob Dorough	1996
Tyrannosaurus Debt	budget deficit	Tom Yohe	Tom Yohe	Bob Dorough and Bob Kaliban	1996
The Check's In The Mail	using checks	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Luther Rix	1996

Earth Rock

Episode Title	Subject	Music By	Lyrics By	Performed By	First Aired
Report From the North Pole	Global Warming	Bob Dorough	George R. Newall	Bob Dorough, Jack Sheldon, Bob Kaliban and Barry Call	2009
The Little Things We Do	Energy conservation	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens, Jack Sheldon, Bob Dorough, Bob Kaliban, Val Hawk, Vicki Doney and Nancy Reed	2009
The Trash Can Band	Recycling	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens, Luther Rix, Bob Dorough and Eric Weissberg	2009
You Oughta Be Saving Water	Water conservation	Sean Altman and Barry Carl	George R. Newall	Barry Carl, Sean Altman, Elliott Kerman	2009
The Rainforest	Rainforests	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Tituss Burgess	2009
Save the Ocean	Oceans	Sean Altman	Sean Altman	Sean Altman, Inna Dukachi, Jon Spurney, Patti Rothberg, Barry Carl and Eric Booker	2009
Fat Cat Blue: The Clean Rivers Song	Marine Debris	Andy Brick	Andy Brick	Jack Sheldon, Bob Kaliban, Val Hawk, Vicki Doney and Nancy Reed	2009
A Tiny Urban Zoo	Gardens	George Stiles	Anthony Drewe	Barrett Foa, Shoshana Bean, and George Stiles	2009
The Energy Blues	energy conservation	George Newall	George Newall	Jack Sheldon	1978
Solar Power to the People	Solar energy	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens, Val Hawk, Vicki Doney and Nancy Reed	2009
Windy and the Windmills	Wind power	Bob Dorough	George R. Newall	Bob Dorough, Jack Sheldon, Val Hawk, Vicki Doney and Nancy Reed	2009
Don't Be a Carbon Sasquatch	Carbon footprints	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	2009

Tie-ins

Several tie-ins were released in 1996:

• Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks, a tribute album featuring covers of Schoolhouse Rocks songs performed by alternative rock acts
• Schoolhouse Rock! The Official Guide (ISBN 0-7868-8170-4), written by Tom Yohe and George Newall, and including synopses, lyrics, and production notes about each of the shorts created to date, except "The Weather Show," which was the subject of pending litigation and so could not be included.
• The Schoolhouse Rock Songbook (Cherry Lane Music), containing sheet music for ten songs.
• Schoolhouse Rock! Soundtrack The 4 CD release with bonus tracks on each CD was released on June 18, 1996 by Rhino Records.

In addition to the above, Rhino Records also released Schoolhouse Rocks the Vote!: A Benefit for Rock the Vote, a tribute album containing covers and original songs in the style of Schoolhouse Rock, all with an electoral theme. It was released on August 18, 1998.

DVD releases

On August 26, 2002 Buena Vista Home Video released a 2-disc DVD featuring 51 of the 52 episodes (the only one missing being the presumed-lost Computer Rock segment) as well as many special features. The release coincided with the 30th anniversary of the show. An abbreviated VHS, featuring the "top 25" episodes plus "I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College," was released at the same time.On September 23, 2008, the "Schoolhouse Rock-Election Collection" was released, including 14 songs about the history and the government and a "new to DVD" song.On March 31, 2009, Buena Vista Home Video will release "Schoolhouse Rock-Earth", including 10 newly written and animated songs.

Cover Art	DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date	Additional Information
	Schoolhouse Rock!- Special 30th Anniversary Edition	51	August 26, 2002	All 46 original episodes Audio Commentary "I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College" Making Of Long Lost Song "The Weather Show" Top Ten Jukebox Top 20 Countdown "Earn Your Diploma" Trivia Game Arrange-a-Song Puzzle 4 Music Videos by Contemporary Artists Emmy Awards Featurette "Three is a Magic Number" Nike Commercial "I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College" in DTS 5.1 Surround Three of the four Computer Rock segments
	Schoolhouse Rock-Election Collection	14	September 23, 2008	10 America Rock songs, 1 Science Rock song, and 3 Money Rock songs Bonus song: "Presidential Minute" (includes two endings) Map of the United States
	Schoolhouse Rock!-Earth	13	March 31, 2009	11 all-new songs about conservation Bonus Song: "The Energy Blues" Music video: "The Three Rs" by Mitchell Musso

External links

• Template:Imdb title
• Lyrics and other information on Schoolhouse Rock
• Podcast on the history of Schoolhouse Rock

Also See

Schoolhouse Rock Songs

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page Schoolhouse Rock!. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.