Schoolhouse Rock Special 30th Anniversary Edition DVD with Lauren Yohe, Bob Kaliban, Darrel Stern (NR) +Movie Reviews +Used DVD available for Swap

Part of the American Consciousness

Daniel L Edelen | Mt. Orab, OH USA | 10/05/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Schoolhouse Rock is an unusual American cultural phenomenon. Nearly every person who grew up after the late Sixties is familiar with the series. How ubiquitous is it? I would predict that if you started humming "Conjunction Junction," "I'm Just a Bill," or "Three Is a Magic Number" in a room of a dozen people, three-quarters would know the reference and at least a couple would probably join in humming or singing the words.

This is unimpeachable stuff. To say that this 2-disc set is definitive is to do injustice to the word "definitive." EVERYTHING you would ever want to know about Schoolhouse Rock is here. All forty-six cartoons ever done for the series are included, even the "Scooter Computer and Mr. Chips" series that looked at computers. The electoral college toon that was done later is part of this collection, too.

The extras on the second disc are outstanding. In addition to Scooter Computer and the rarely seen "The Weather Show," you get a behind the scenes look at the electoral college song, a Top 20 countdown of the best in the series, a puzzle game that features the songs, four music videos of the songs arranged by contemporary pop/rock groups, a feature on the Emmy Awards won by the series, commentary by the creators, and more.

The navigation design of the DVD is superb. Only want to see the "Multiplication Rock" or "America Rock" toons? You can select the specific series you want, play all within a series, or pick each specific toon from a series. You can also choose to play all forty-six toons or just the ones chosen by fans as the top ones. There's a built-in shuffle feature as well. Every DVD should be this easy to navigate and use.

Even the booklet that comes with this edition is helpful. The lyrics for the top ten toons are included as is the history of Schoolhouse Rock. A chapter breakdown is included at the end of the booklet.

Schoolhouse Rock is virtually impervious to review due to its unbiquitous nature within a whole generation or two of Americans. The cleverness of the animation enlivens the topic discussed, not to mention holding the attention of young children. The songs are exceptionally catchy; I'm still amazed at how they managed to do such a great job marrying the Preamble of the Constitution with a hummable melody. Definitely a reflection of the musical styles of the day, songs like "Verb: That's What's Happening" (done in the style of the soundtrack of "Shaft") or "The Preamble" (70s Folk/Rock) capture the era perfectly. It makes those of us who grew up in those days misty-eyed for a return of that AM radio sound to today's music.

If you have kids (or are just nostalgic at heart), this DVD is essential. I'm using it as homeschool material for our kids. When my son sings the songs, it's great to know another generation will appreciate the merits of Schoolhouse Rock. No question, this 30th anniversary edition of Schoolhouse Rock is truly worthy of five stars."

The Good-For-You Cartoon DVD

hkwrites | Southern California, United States | 03/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After hearing my preschooler memorize and recite pointless nursery rhymes, I decided to put her brain to better use. Enter "Schoolhouse Rock." Now, instead of hearing about four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie, I'm hearing "12x8 is the same as 10x8 plus 2x8... 80 plus 16 is 96." Yes, really. Her grandmother was equally impressed when asked "What's a conjunction?"Schoolhouse Rock presents Multiplication, Grammar, American History, and Science and Computers in all it's emmy-winning glory. The music -- rock, jazz, bluegrass and country -- are masterfully produced and yes, danceable. The cartoons are hip, funny, well-crafted and support the curriculum well. It's education with attitude.Here's the best part: it is fun! Give your children the remote and let them repeat their favorites over and over again. Before you know it, they'll have a brain packed full of good stuff. I can't tell you how many grammar quizzes I passed by remembering the lyrics "Lolly Lolly Lolly get your adverbs here," "then I unpacked my adjectives," and "a noun is a person place or thing." Many of my friends hummed the tune of "the preamble" to the constitution during history exams. There is only one drawback -- some of the songs use improper English like "ain't." There is a jukebox feature on each component which allows you to select which tracks to play, so you can omit those if you like.I'd also recommend the CD Box Set or the individual CDs to reinforce the material, but not in place of the DVD."

Nothing out there today compares with these short vids

Charles P. Lloyd | Salt Lake City, Utah USA | 03/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I read a bunch of the reviews for the Schoolhouse Rock DVDs before buying them, but knew I would get them anyway. And I'm glad I did.

Our three kids, 11, 8, and 5, all love these and have hardly stopped watching them since they arrived. That's fairly typical with new videos or DVDs, but this is the first one we've bought where the kids walk around singing about adjectives, the shot heard 'round the world, how electricity works, and interplanet Janet.

Face it. Anyone who watched Saturday morning cartoons in the 70s and 80s probably can still recite the preamble to the US Constitution. And tell you where the piece of paper in "I'm just a Bill" is sitting. And with a bit of coaching, could tell you what the function of conjunctions is. ("Hookin' up words and phrases and clauses," for those who never saw them.)

I haven't seen anything out there today that compares with these as far as teaching kids useful information in an entertaining way. My kids love them. My wife and I still love them. And there are a couple of new ones, including one about the electoral college, and an even better one about Tyrannosaurus Debt, the US deficit, how it started, and how it keeps growing.

I had no trouble with the jukebox format or navigating my way around. I was surprised how easy it was based on some of the other reviews, but no problems here.

If you ever watched these when you were a kid, get these DVDs. If you have kids, get these DVDs. If you've never heard of them but want to watch some entertaining, short, educational cartoons, get these DVDs.

Darn, that's the end."

This Is So Cool--Facts can be Fun!!

ROGER L. FOREMAN | Bath, Maine | 10/10/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"And it's even educational! I was so pumped (now that I have a DVD player) to hear that they were releasing a big-time anniversary edition of Schoolhouse Rock in its entirety. I've had four of the videos for years, but this set is so much better. Disc One has all of the original songs--you can play them in order, randomly, just the top ten--and an all-new song about the Electoral College (inspired, no doubt, by the 2000 presidential election). The way you can navigate your way through any and/or all of the songs is very easy and great for when you don't just want to hear about grammar (or history, math, etc. . .).What really puts this over the top, though, is Disc Two, with a bucket load of extras: the lost "Weather Show," a new computer three-song set, a making-of feaure, top 20 countdowns, an interactive trivia game, music videos by contemporary artists, audio commentaries, Emmy Award footage, etc. . . . I can't wait to explore even more than I got to last night! This will be such a great tool for my 21-month-old daughter (who will know how a bill becomes a law and how to use a conjunction in a sentence!) and a ton of fun for me in the process.The video quality isn't MONSTERS, INC., but it doesn't have to be. The old animation holds up just fine, as does the audio, which audiophiles could probably complain about if they want to poop the party for the rest of us. What really stands up to the test of time, aside from the basic content, is the music. These guys (primarily) did some really good arranging, little of it in the rock 'n roll genre, ironically. Jack Sheldon delivers some spectacular jazz vocals on several of the more famous tunes. Complicated yet catchy melodies are the strength--that's why we all remember "I'm Just a Bill" and "Conjunction Junction"--with great backing vocals and instrumentation to boot. The contemporary artists' renditions didn't hold up to the originals, but they were pretty interesting to hear. The interactive stuff will be great for kids hearing these songs for the first time. The interviews and commentaries are really interesting, especially in hindsight. Great new additions, discoveries, and formats all add to the charm of the original forty-six songs. How they managed to get all of that factual information into essentially a music video, while keeping the kids (and me) entertained, is still a mystery to me.Bottom Line: You'll be hard-pressed to find a better combination of education and entertainment. If there are any factual inaccuracies, they are minor enough to overlook and could actually spark interesting conversations. The basic content is right on-the-money. The fact that they'll actually be talking about and be interested in the grammar, history, science, and economics is important enough to overlook any minor flaws.
The fact that my daughter, who two years (and a couple of months) old, actually knows that "Wow!" is an interjection, a fact that most of my juniors (I'm a teacher) wouldn't know off the top of their heads, speaks volumes. . . !"

Interjection...HEY! This Is Great For Kids!

Sky | New York | 09/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Are you a parent now that remembers these from your childhood and you're asking yourself, "Could Schoolhouse Rock! possibly still be as captivatingly educational as it was in the 70s?" or perhaps you're saying to yourself, "These are so dated my kids would never stay tuned." Let's put it this way...This is one of my kids' most requested DVDs (ages three through seven), and they walk around the house singing about nouns, the branches of the government, counting by 5s, electricity and the National 'Tyrannosaurus' Debt.

The songs in this compilation of shorts that used to run between regularly scheduled shows on Saturday mornings on ABC mainly during the 70s actually helped me in school. Schoolhouse Rock! is a series of 46 educational shorts featuring easy to sing along to songs about grammar, science, math, economics, history, and politics. Money was added in the 90s and computers to the 2002 DVD release.

My preschooler--because of this DVD--can count to 100 by 5s and my second grader knows what a noun is and that all he needs to do to describe nouns is "unpack his adjectives".

Each song is apx 3 minutes or less of straightforward education. And since the songs are so brief and the lyrics are so easy to remember, kids retain a lot of information from some very short, simple lessons.

This is an essential purchase if you have young children.

Side note: The ads at the beginning of the DVD are indeed a pain, but easily circumvented by pressing the STOP button TWICE on your remote as soon as the first ad starts, then pressing your MENU button instead of PLAY to get the DVD going again; this brings you right to the main menu where you can play the DVD by topic, mix up the songs or play them in order.

"

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