Schoolhouse Rock!

Whoever came up with Schoolhouse Rock was a genius. Part of the power of these little cartoons was that they were run like commercials between other shows on Saturday morning. You couldn't help but learn. It's been almost sixteen years, but to this day, I can still recite the preamble.

Someone put a lot of love and work into these cartoons. These are some of the cleverest and highest quality work done for children I've ever seen.

They teach people about language, science, math, and US history and politics. Most adults could learn from these cartoons as well as children. The entire time you watch, you're entertained and delighted and then when you're done you've learned something new and you'll remember it for a long time.

This is a prime example of talented people doing something they love and doing it well. For the most part, pure genius!

This was one of the Saturday Morning spectacular of special short presentations that won Multi-Emmy Awards during its astounding run on the air from 1972 to 1986. The show was called "Schoolhouse Rock". "Schoolhouse Rock" was indeed a timeless collection of animated songs that taught an entire generation that KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! This collection of musical interludes were part of a brilliant display of incredible stuff that ABC-TV put on during its intermission session of a huge lineups of Saturday Morning brand of informative educational programming that was between the regular standards of its own animated cartoons and live-action shows that were part of ABC's Sunshine Saturday Morning programming that dominated the entire decade of the 1970's well into the early and mid-1980's. "Schoolhouse Rock" consisted of various short animated cartoons that focused on the basis,and these were put into songs as well. Subjects ranging from Language Arts,Mathematics, along with Social Studies mixed in with United States History and Current Events were the order of the day. This was brilliant as well as educational,and guess what the formula for this went well with children as well as adults. The songs that were the focus of the short animated segments were brilliant,and nowadays they're timeless classics and can be shared by all. The songs here were magical with brilliant selections that included:"Conjunction Junction","I'm Just A Bill","Fireworks", "Lolly,Lolly,Lolly","Interjections","Nouns","Interplanet Janet","Verb", "The Shot Heard Around The World","The Great American Melting Pot", "The Preamble","Elbow Room","Three Is A Magic Number","Twelve Toes", "Zero,You're My Hero,How Wonderful You Are","No More Kings",and so much,much more. When "Schoolhouse Rock",left the airwaves in 1986,and returned later for a brief period in 1992,the show really changed course. Nowadays,if you really looked at the landscape of how ABC-TV's format of Saturday Morning Programming,some of the stuff that was really good and very informative has been since long abandoned,since most of it these days is in an all-Disney style that has dominated Saturday Mornings on ABC. Boy,do we need "Schoolhouse Rock" more than ever now!

Teachers will love to show this to their kids.Kids will like the jokes,the music,and much more.It teaches younger viewers a secret early education.It is a great tv show.So all I can say is that it is a picnic of education .Watch out for this tv show.Show it to younger kids.They will love it.better than barney,Blue`s clues,etc

Even though much of this series dates back to the Nixon-Ford era(!), the tunes are still fresh and the content is still relevant even if the garish Peter Max-ish backgrounds seem a bit much.

For example, "Energy Blues" still rings true today even though it was inspired by a political event.

Yes, I watched these when they first aired and I memorized the (slightly truncated) Preamble and more. Later, the set was restored and reissued on DVD just in time for my son to enjoy. Quite frankly, when it came time to help with science homework, I popped in the previously "banned(*)" Weather Show and in 3 minutes the "highs" and "lows" were as clear as a sunny day! I ripped the audio tracks and play them in the car...electricity, E-LEC-TRICITY! Watch the newest short too...considered "fair and square" my Aunt's fanny! ;) (*) This short was never aired because it contained the words "Greatest Show on Earth," trademark of that famous circus; the reissue cuts those works from the opening and replaces them at the end with circus music. They should have used the music for the opening also.