Schoolhouse Rock!

Schoolhouse Rock!
Schoolhouse Rock!
Created by	David McCall
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	64 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	3 minutes
Production companies	Scholastic Rock, Inc.; ABC
Distributor	Disney-ABC Domestic Television
Release
Original network	ABC (1973–2002); Direct-to-video (2009)
Picture format	NTSC (1973–2002); HDTV 1080i (2009)
Original release	January 6, 1973 –; March 31, 2009
External links
	Website

Schoolhouse Rock! is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, videos) that aired during the Saturday morning children's programming block on the U.S. television network ABC. The themes covered included grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and civics. The series' original run lasted from 1973 to 1984; it was later revived with both old and new episodes airing from 1993 to 1996.^[2] Additional episodes were produced in 2009 for direct-to-video release.

History[]

Development[]

The series was the idea of David McCall, an advertising executive of McCaffrey and McCall, who noticed his young son was struggling with learning multiplication tables, despite being able to memorize the lyrics of many Rolling Stones songs. McCall hired musician Bob Dorough to write a song that would teach multiplication, which became "Three Is a Magic Number."^[3] , an illustrator at McCaffrey and McCall, heard the song and created visuals to go accompany it. Radford Stone, who was in charge of ABC, suggested they pitch it as a television series, which caught the attention of Michael Eisner, then vice president of ABC, and cartoon director Chuck Jones.^[4]

Original series[]

The pilot episode of the series, "Three Is a Magic Number," originally debuted during the debut episode of Curiosity Shop on September 2, 1971.^[5] The Curiosity Shop version is an extended cut which includes an additional scene/verse that explains the pattern of each set of ten containing three multiples of three, animated in the form of a carnival shooting game.^[6] This scene has never been rebroadcast on ABC, nor has it been included in any home media releases.

Schoolhouse Rock! debuted as a series in January 1973 with Multiplication Rock, a collection of animated shorts adapting the multiplication tables to songs written by Bob Dorough. Dorough also performed most of the songs, with Grady Tate and Blossom Dearie each performing one during this season. General Foods was the series' first sponsor; later sponsors of the Schoolhouse Rock! segments also included Nabisco, Kenner Toys, Kellogg's, and McDonald's.^[7] During the early 1970s, Schoolhouse Rock was one of several short-form animated educational shorts that aired on ABC's children's lineup; others included Time for Timer and The Bod Squad. Of the three, Schoolhouse Rock was the longest-running.

George Newall and were the executive producers and creative directors of every episode, along with Bob Dorough as musical director. This first season was followed in short order by a second season, run from 1973 to 1975, entitled Grammar Rock, which included nouns, verbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech (such as conjunctions, explained in "Conjunction Junction"). For this second season, the show added the services of Jack Sheldon, a member of The Merv Griffin Show house band, as well as Lynn Ahrens; both of them contributed to the series through the rest of its run. Blossom Dearie returned for a second episode, and Essra Mohawk joined the cast as a recurring singer.

To coincide with the upcoming United States bicentennial, a third season, America Rock, airing in 1975 and 1976, had episodes covering the structure of the United States government (such as "I'm Just a Bill") along with important moments in American history (examples include "The Preamble" and "Mother Necessity").

A fourth series, titled "Science Rock," followed in 1978 and 1979, and included a broad range of science-related topics. The premiere episode of this season, "A Victim of Gravity," parodied elements of the hit film Grease and featured a rare guest appearance from a pop band, with recently reunited doo-wop group The Tokens providing the vocals. In addition to episodes describing the human body's anatomical systems (the nervous, circulatory, skeletal and digestive systems each received an episode), episodes describing physical sciences such as astronomy, meteorology and electricity were also included, as was "The Energy Blues," an environmentalism-themed short.

A fifth follow-up series, titled "Scooter Computer and Mr. Chips," featuring the titular characters (the only episodes in the series to feature any recurring characters), premiered in the early 1980s and comprised just four segments about home computer technology, then just emerging onto the scene. As the references and depictions became quickly outdated, due to the rapid advance of technology, these segments stopped airing along with the rest of the series after 1985 and were not released on home video until the 30th anniversary DVD in 2002.

1990s[]

After leaving the airwaves in 1985, the original team reunited to produce two more Grammar Rock segments ("Busy Prepositions" and "The Tale of Mr. Morton") for television in 1993 with J. J. Sedelmaier Productions, Inc. of White Plains, New York.^{[citation needed]} This was followed in 1995 by a new series, "Money Rock," which discussed themes related to money management on both the personal and governmental scale. The first cartoon (also a J. J. Sedelmaier Production, Inc. production) was "Dollars & Sense." Episodes from the new series aired in rotation with the original segments from 1993 to 1996.

The Walt Disney Company acquired Schoolhouse Rock in 1996 along with its acquisition of ABC owner Capital Cities/ABC Inc.; Schoolhouse Rock was one of only two children's shows (The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show being the other) to continue airing (albeit in reruns) after the transition to One Saturday Morning. The series as a whole (after 27 years, shortly before the show's 30th anniversary) ceased airing on television in 2000, with newer episodes being released directly to home video. However, reruns occasionally aired on Toon Disney's Big Movie Show block in 2004, but were soon removed from the schedule.

21st century[]

Starting in 2002, the team once again reunited to produce a new song "I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College," written by George Newall and performed by Bob Dorough and Jack Sheldon for the 30th Anniversary VHS and DVD releases. For the new song, Tom Yohe Jr. took over as lead designer for his father, Tom Yohe Sr., who had died in 2000.^[8] Another contemporary song, called "Presidential Minute," also written by George Newall which explained the process of electing the President of the United States in greater detail, was included on the 2008 DVD Schoolhouse Rock! Election Collection, which centered on songs relating to American history and government.

As the theory of climate change was put forth, a new series entitled "Schoolhouse Rock Earth"^[9] was created by the original production team, premiered in 2009, and featured 11 environmentally-themed songs.

On January 6, 2013, George Newall and Bob Dorough appeared at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as part of their ongoing series of free concerts on the Millennium Stage. It was deemed the largest attendance to date of the venue. Dorough played five songs, accompanying himself on the piano: "Three Is a Magic Number," "Figure Eight," "Conjunction Junction," "Preamble," and "I'm Just a Bill." (Dorough had only performed lead vocals on the original version of "Three Is a Magic Number.") He also performed "Interjections!" accompanied by DC-area kids' band Rocknoceros. Rocknoceros also performed "Electricity, Electricity," "Unpack Your Adjectives," "Energy Blues," and "Fireworks."

On March 20, 2019, it was announced that Schoolhouse Rock!: The Box Set (1996) was added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in its 2018 class.^[10]

Episodes[]

Multiplication Rock[]

Episode title	Subject	Music by	Lyrics by	Performed by	Animation & design	First aired
My Hero, Zero	Powers of 10	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Focus Design/Tom Yohe	January 6, 1973
Elementary, My Dear	Multiplication by 2	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Jack Sidebotham	January 13, 1973
Three Is a Magic Number	Multiplication by 3	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Focus Design/Tom Yohe	January 20, 1973
The Four-Legged Zoo	Multiplication by 4	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough with kids chorus	Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Bob Eggers	January 27, 1973
Ready or Not, Here I Come	Multiplication by 5	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe	February 3, 1973
I Got Six	Multiplication by 6	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Grady Tate	Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe	February 10, 1973
Lucky Seven Sampson	Multiplication by 7	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Rowland B. Wilson	February 17, 1973
Figure Eight	Multiplication by 8	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Blossom Dearie	Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe	February 24, 1973
Naughty Number Nine	Multiplication by 9	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Grady Tate	Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe	March 3, 1973
The Good Eleven	Multiplication by 11	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Focus Design/Jack Sidebotham	March 10, 1973
Little Twelvetoes	Multiplication by 12, base 12	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Rowland B. Wilson	March 17, 1973

No shows were produced featuring the number 1 explicitly, though "Elementary, My Dear" do include this number. "My Hero, Zero" introduced the subject of how to use zero for multiplying by 10, 100 and 1,000. "Little Twelvetoes" introduced the subject of how math arranged on base 12 rather than on base 10 would work, as well as covering multiplication by 12.

In 1973, Capitol Records released a soundtrack album of Multiplication Rock (SJA-11174), featuring all 11 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, uncut forms. Also, the album version of "The Four-Legged Zoo" has an ending slightly different from the television version. Released with the album was a single (Capitol 3693) with the two Grady Tate–sung tracks ("Naughty Number Nine" b/w "I Got Six"). This album was re-released^[11] on red/blue-colored vinyl on Record Store Day 2019.

Grammar Rock[]

Episode title	Subject	Music by	Lyrics by	Performed by	First aired
A Noun is a Person, Place, or Thing	noun	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	September 15, 1973
Verb: That's What's Happening	verb	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Zachary Sanders	September 22, 1973
Conjunction Junction	conjunction	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Jack Sheldon, Terry Morel and Mary Sue Berry	September 29, 1973
Interjections!	interjection	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Essra Mohawk	January 5, 1974
Unpack Your Adjectives	adjective	George R. Newall	George R. Newall	Blossom Dearie feat. Bob Dorough	February 2, 1974
Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here	adverb	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	March 2, 1974
Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla	pronoun	Bob Dorough	Kathy Mandary	Jack Sheldon	March 6, 1976
Busy Prepositions	preposition	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Jack Sheldon and Bob Dorough	September 11, 1993
The Tale of Mr. Morton	subject and predicate	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Jack Sheldon	September 11, 1993

This segment introduces Jack Sheldon and Lynn Ahrens as series regulars. "Conjunction Junction" and "A Noun Is A Person, Place, Or Thing" were Sheldon and Ahrens' debuts on Schoolhouse Rock! respectively.

"Busy Prepositions" (a.k.a. "Busy P's") and "The Tale of Mr. Morton" were produced for Schoolhouse Rock!'s return to ABC in 1993 with J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, Inc. producing the animation.

America Rock[]

Episode title	Subject	Music by	Lyrics by	Performed by	First aired
No More Kings	American Independence	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens & Bob Dorough	September 27, 1975
The Shot Heard Round the World	American Revolutionary War	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	October 14, 1975
The Preamble	United States Constitution	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	November 4, 1975
Sufferin' 'til Suffrage	Women's suffrage	Bob Dorough	Tom Yohe	Essra Mohawk	February 24, 1976
I'm Just a Bill	Legislative process	Dave Frishberg	Dave Frishberg	Jack Sheldon	March 13, 1976
The Great American Melting Pot	Immigration in America	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lori Lieberman	April 17, 1976
Elbow Room	Territorial evolution of the United States	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Sue Manchester	May 1, 1976
Fireworks	Declaration of Independence	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Grady Tate	May 22, 1976
Mother Necessity	Invention	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough, Blossom Dearie, Essra Mohawk, and Jack Sheldon	July 6, 1976
Three Ring Government	Branches of government	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	March 27, 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	August 27, 2002
Presidential Minute (The Campaign Trail)	Voting for the President	George R. Newall	George R. Newall and Tom Yohe Jr.	Jack Sheldon	August 27, 2002

"I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College" and "Presidential Minute" were produced for DVD.

Science Rock[]

Episode title	Subject	Music by	Lyrics by	Performed by	First aired
Victim of Gravity	Gravity	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	The Tokens	September 2, 1978
Interplanet Janet	The solar system	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	October 7, 1978
The Body Machine	Nutrition and digestion	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Bob Dorough and Jack Sheldon	January 2, 1979
Do the Circulation	Circulatory system	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Joshie Armstead, Mary Sue Berry, and Maeretha Stewart	March 3, 1979
The Energy Blues	Energy conservation	George Newall	George Newall	Jack Sheldon	March 17, 1979
Them Not-So-Dry Bones	Skeletal system	George Newall	George Newall	Jack Sheldon	April 21, 1979
Electricity, Electricity	Electricity	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Zachary Sanders	May 12, 1979
Telegraph Line	Nervous system	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Jamie Aff and Christine Langner	June 2, 1979
The Greatest Show on Earth (The Weather Show)	Weather	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Bob Kaliban	July 7, 1979 ^[12]

In the Disney+ version of "Electricity, Electricity", the flashing light visuals for the "electricity" text are toned down to reduce the risk of anyone with photosensitive epilepsy.^[13]
Sometime after its initial airing, "The Greatest Show on Earth", also known as "The Weather Show", was pulled from broadcast rotation because the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus objected to its use of their trademark slogan (which was in the questioned title) and filed a lawsuit against the network for copyright infringement.^[12] As a result, the 1995 VHS of the program (and subsequent VHS reissues) deleted the song. However, it was included in the 1987 Schoolhouse Rock! VHS release, and in 2002 it was included on the bonus disc of the Special 30th Anniversary Edition DVD (see below).

Money Rock[]

Episode title	Subject	Music by	Lyrics by	Performed by	First aired^[12]
Dollars and Sense	Interest and loans	Dave Frishberg	Dave Frishberg	Val Hawk and Bob Dorough	September 10, 1994
Tax Man Max	Taxes	Stephen Flaherty	Lynn Ahrens	Patrick Quinn	June 26, 1995
Where the Money Goes	Family bills and expenses	Rich Mendoza	Rich Mendoza	Jack Sheldon	July 13, 1995
$7.50 Once a Week	Personal budget	Mark Chapalonis	Dave Frishberg	Dave Frishberg	October 23, 1995
Tyrannosaurus Debt	Budget deficit and United States national debt	Tom Yohe	Tom Yohe	Bob Dorough and Bob Kaliban	January 21, 1996
This for That	Barter and the history of currency	George R. Newall	George R. Newall	Bob Dorough	May 6, 1996
Walkin' on Wall Street	Stock exchange	Dave Frishberg	Dave Frishberg	Dave Frishberg	September 12, 1996
The Check's in the Mail	Using checks	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Luther Rix and Bob Dorough	November 22, 1996

Earth Rock[]

Episode title	Subject	Music by	Lyrics by	Performed by	First aired
Report from the North Pole	Climate change	Bob Dorough	George R. Newall	Bob Dorough, Jack Sheldon, Bob Kaliban, Jordan Nagai and Barry Carl	March 31, 2009 (2009-03-31)
The Little Things We Do	Energy conservation	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens, Jack Sheldon, Bob Dorough, Jordan Nagai, Bob Kaliban, Val Hawk, Vicki Doney and Nancy Reed
The Trash Can Band	Recycling	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens, Luther Rix, Bob Dorough and Eric Weissberg
You Oughta Be Savin' Water	Water conservation	Sean Altman and Barry Carl	George R. Newall	Barry Carl, Sean Altman, Elliott Kerman
The Rainforest	Rainforests	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Tituss Burgess
Save the Ocean	Oceans	Sean Altman	Sean Altman	Sean Altman, Inna Dukach, Jon Spurney, Patti Rothberg, Barry Carl and Eric Booker
Fat Cat Blue: The Clean Rivers Song	Marine debris	Andy Brick	Andy Brick	Jack Sheldon, Bob Kaliban, Val Hawk, Jordan Nagai, Vicki Doney and Nancy Reed
A Tiny Urban Zoo	Gardens	George Stiles	Anthony Drewe	Barrett Foa, Shoshana Bean, and George Stiles
Solar Power to the People	Solar energy	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens	Lynn Ahrens, Val Hawk, Vicki Doney and Nancy Reed
Windy and the Windmills	Wind power	Bob Dorough	George R. Newall	Bob Dorough, Jack Sheldon, Val Hawk, Vicki Doney and Nancy Reed
Don't Be a Carbon Sasquatch	Carbon footprints	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough	Bob Dorough and Jordan Nagai
The 3 R's	Reduce, Reuse, Recycle	Bob Dorough	Jack Johnson	Mitchel Musso

These songs did not air on ABC. They premiered on a DVD released in 2009.^[14]

Tie-ins[]

Several tie-ins were released in 1995:

Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks, a tribute album featuring covers of Schoolhouse Rocks songs performed by popular music artists
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 Weather Show" was shown with all the other Science Rock episodes in 1979.
The Schoolhouse Rock Songbook (Cherry Lane Music), containing sheet music for 10 songs.
Schoolhouse Rock! Soundtrack The 4-CD release with bonus tracks on each CD was released on June 18, 1996, by Rhino Records.

The Best of Schoolhouse Rock (ISBN 1-56826-927-7) was released in 1998 jointly by American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. and 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.

Home video[]

A 1987 production of the series for VHS tape released by Golden Book Video featured Cloris Leachman opening the collection and some songs with child dancers and singers. Three songs (namely "Three Ring Government," "The Good Eleven," and "Little Twelve Toes") were not included on the videos.^[8]^[15]

In 1995, ABC Video and Image Entertainment released two volumes of Schoolhouse Rock! on LaserDisc, Schoolhouse Rock! Volume 1: Multiplication Rock and Grammar Rock (ID3245CC), and Schoolhouse Rock! Volume 2: America Rock and Science Rock (ID3383CC). For both volumes, the first side was in the CLV Extended Play format and the second was in the frame-accessible CAV format, and both contained CX-encoded analog and digital audio soundtracks. The "Grammar Rock" volume included the 1993 shorts "Busy Prepositions" and "The Tale of Mr. Morton."

In 1994, ABC/King Features sold exclusive licensing rights for apparel to Coastal Concepts, Inc. of Vista California, the first company to produce Schoolhouse Rock! apparel. Tom Yohe worked with contemporary artist Skya Nelson to create over 50 new designs and update the Schoolhouse Rock! image for a new market, which sold $1.1 million in its first year and exploded selling over $12 million the next year. A variety of bands working with Rhino Records were furnished with newly minted Schoolhouse Rock! T-shirts for the music videos youth market. The licensing rights were expanded to include other manufacturers in 1996.

In 1995, ABC teamed with Paramount Home Video and re-released four segments of Schoolhouse Rock! on VHS with alternative covers and opening.

In 1997-1998 for the show's 25th anniversary, Walt Disney Home Video released five segments on VHS, along with "Money Rock" being released in 1998.

On August 27, 2002, Walt Disney Home Entertainment released a 2-DVD set to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the show. The set features 52 of the 53 episodes that had been produced up to that point, including three of the lost "Computer Rock" segments, with the exception of "Introduction." "The Weather Show" and "Presidential Minute" are found on the bonus disc, the former in modified form with the problematic lyric removed, and the latter viewable only upon completing the "Earn Your Diploma" Trivia Game. An abbreviated VHS, featuring 25 episodes (ranked on the tape in order of popularity) and "I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College," was released at the same time.

In 2008, DVDs of the individual Schoolhouse Rock! series were released for classroom use.^[16]

On September 23, 2008, Schoolhouse Rock! Election Collection was released, including 14 songs about American history and the government and a "new to DVD" song.^[17]

On March 31, 2009, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released Schoolhouse Rock! Earth, including 11 newly written and animated songs, as well as "Energy Blues.”^[9]

On June 5, 2020, a majority of the shorts were made available for streaming on Disney+, with a disclaimer stating the shorts contain "outdated cultural depictions.”

DVD name	Ep #	Release date	Additional information
Schoolhouse Rock! Special 30th Anniversary Edition	52	August 27, 2002	All 46 original episodes Audio Commentary "I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College" Making Of "The Weather Show" Top 10 Jukebox Top 20 Countdown "Earn Your Diploma" Trivia Game (plays "Presidential Minute" once you have earned your diploma) 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 "Computer Rock" segments
Schoolhouse Rock! Election Collection	14	September 23, 2008	Includes all of the "America Rock" songs except Elbow Room, plus The Energy Blues from "Science Rock", and Tax Man Max, Walkin' On Wall Street and Tyrannosaurus Debt from "Money Rock" Bonus song: "Presidential Minute" Map of the United States
Schoolhouse Rock! Earth	13	March 31, 2009	11 all-new songs about conservation Bonus Song: "Energy Blues" Music video: "The Three R's" by Mitchel Musso