| Creator: | David McCall |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 7 |
| Num Episodes: | 65 |
| List Episodes: | List of Schoolhouse Rock! episodes |
| Runtime: | 3 minutes |
| Company: | Scholastic Rock, Inc.[1] ABC |
| Producer: | George Newall Radford Stone |
| Network: | ABC (1973–1985, 1992–2000) Direct-to-video (2009) |
Schoolhouse Rock! is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, music videos) which 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 1985, it was later revived from 1993 to 1996.[2] Additional episodes were produced in 2009 for direct-to-video release.
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] Tom Yohe, an illustrator at McCaffrey and McCall, heard the song and created visuals to accompany it. Radford Stone, producer and writer at ABC, suggested they pitch it as a television series, which caught the attention of Michael Eisner, then the senior vice president in charge of programming and development at ABC, and cartoon director Chuck Jones.[4]
The first video 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 of 15 seconds in length 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; the longer version is, however, available on the soundtrack album, as is an extended version of My Hero Zero.
Schoolhouse Rock! debuted as a series in January 1973 with Multiplication Rock, a collection of animated music videos adapting the multiplication tables to songs written by Bob Dorough. Dorough also performed most of the songs, with Grady Tate performing two and Blossom Dearie 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 Tom Yohe 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 music videos 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 first video 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 a music video), episodes describing physical sciences such as astronomy, meteorology and electricity were also included, as was "The Energy Blues," an environmentalism-themed video.
A fifth follow-up series, titled "Scooter Computer and Mr. Chips," featuring the titular characters (the only music videos 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 after 1985 and were not released on home video until the 30th anniversary DVD in 2002.
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.[8] 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. 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 non-Disney 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.
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. 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.
In 2009, in response to the threat of climate change, a new series of shorts was released directly to DVD, with the title Schoolhouse Rock! Earth.[9] Animations were created by members of the original production team, and 11 environmentally themed songs were written and performed by a combination of veterans of the original series (including Bob Dorough, Jack Sheldon, and Lynn Ahrens) and newcomers such as composer George Stiles and performers Tituss Burgess, Barrett Foa, and Shoshana Bean, all of whom were veterans of Broadway theatre. In a first for the series, an additional 12th song, "The 3 R's," a reworked version of "Three Is a Magic Number" rethemed around the message "reduce, reuse, recycle," was included as a live action music video (starring singer Mitchel Musso) rather than as a new cartoon. Also unique to this iteration of the series was the inclusion of interstitial introductions featuring recurring animated characters created for the DVD, Jack, Bob, and Lou, a trio of Arctic polar bears.
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]
See main article: List of Schoolhouse Rock! episodes.
| Episode title | Subject | Music by | Lyrics by | Performed by | Animation & design | First aired | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Three Is a Magic Number" | Multiplication by 3 | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Focus Design/Tom Yohe | January 6, 1973 | |
| "My Hero, Zero" | Powers of 10 | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Focus Design/Tom Yohe | January 13, 1973 | |
| "Elementary, My Dear" | Multiplication by 2 | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Jack Sidebotham | January 27, 1973 | |
| "The Four-Legged Zoo" | Multiplication by 4 | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough with kids chorus | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Bob Eggers & Bill Peckmann | February 10, 1973 | |
| "Ready or Not, Here I Come" | Multiplication by 5 | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe | February 17, 1973 | |
| "I Got Six" | Multiplication by 6 | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Grady Tate | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe | February 24, 1973 | |
| "Lucky Seven Sampson" | Multiplication by 7 | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Rowland B. Wilson | February 24, 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/Phil Kimmelman & Bill Peckmann | March 17, 1973 | |
| "The Good Eleven" | Multiplication by 11 | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Focus Design/Jack Sidebotham | March 24, 1973 | |
| "Little Twelvetoes" | Multiplication by 12, base 12 | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Rowland B. Wilson | March 31, 1973 |
No shows were produced featuring the number 1 explicitly, though several of them, including "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 a slightly shorter ending compared to 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 on red/blue-colored vinyl on Record Store Day 2019.
| Episode title | Subject | Music by | Lyrics by | Performed by | Animation & design | First aired | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "A Noun Is a Person, Place, or Thing" | noun | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Jack Sidebotham | September 15, 1973 | |
| "Verb: That's What's Happening" | verb | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Zachary Sanders | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe & Bill Peckmann | September 22, 1973 | |
| "Conjunction Junction" | conjunction | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Jack Sheldon, Terry Morel, and Mary Sue Berry | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe & Bill Peckmann | November 17, 1973 | |
| "Interjections!" | interjection | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Essra Mohawk | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe | February 23, 1974 | |
| "Unpack Your Adjectives" | adjective | George R. Newall | George R. Newall | Blossom Dearie feat. Bob Dorough | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe | March 2, 1974 | |
| "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here" | adverb | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Jack Sidebotham | April 13, 1974 | |
| "Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla" | pronoun | Bob Dorough | Kathy Mandry | Jack Sheldon | Kim and Gifford Productions/Paul Kim & Lew Gifford | April 27, 1976 | |
| "Busy Prepositions" | preposition | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Jack Sheldon and Bob Dorough | J. J. Sedelmaier Prod./Bill Peckmann | September 11, 1993 | |
| "The Tale of Mr. Morton" | subject and predicate | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Jack Sheldon | J. J. Sedelmaier Prod./Tom Yohe Jr. | 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.
| Episode title | Subject | Music by | Lyrics by | Performed by | Animation & design | First aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "No More Kings" | American Independence | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens & Bob Dorough | Kim and Gifford Productions/Paul Kim & Lew Gifford | September 20, 1975 | ||
| "The Shot Heard Round the World" | American Revolutionary War | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Kim and Gifford Productions/Jack Sidebotham | October 11, 1975 | ||
| "The Preamble" | United States Constitution | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | George Cannata/Tom Yohe & George Cannata | October 25, 1975 | ||
| "Sufferin' 'til Suffrage" | Women's suffrage | Bob Dorough | Tom Yohe | Essra Mohawk | Kim and Gifford Productions/Paul Kim & Lew Gifford | February 21, 1976 | ||
| "I'm Just a Bill" | Legislative process | Dave Frishberg | Dave Frishberg | Jack Sheldon | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe | March 13, 1976 | ||
| "The Great American Melting Pot" | Immigration in America | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Lori Lieberman | Kim and Gifford Productions/Tom Yohe | April 17, 1976 | ||
| "Elbow Room" | Territorial evolution of the United States | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Sue Manchester | Kim and Gifford Productions/Paul Kim & Lew Gifford | May 8, 1976 | ||
| "Fireworks" | Declaration of Independence | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Grady Tate | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe | July 3, 1976 | ||
| "Mother Necessity" | Invention, American Industrial Revolution | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough, Blossom Dearie, Essra Mohawk, and Jack Sheldon | Kim and Gifford Productions/Jack Sidebotham | July 10, 1976 | ||
| "Three-Ring Government" | Branches of government | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Arnold Roth | March 6, 1979 | ||
| "I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College" | Electoral College | George R. Newall | George R. Newall | Jack Sheldon, Bob Dorough, Lisa Clark, Vicki McClure, and Sue Raney | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe Jr. | August 27, 2002 | ||
| "Presidential Minute (The Campaign Trail)" | Voting for the President | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Jack Sheldon | August 27, 2002 | This resource is inaccurate--> |
"I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College" and "Presidential Minute" were produced for DVD."Three Ring Government" had its airdate pushed back due to ABC fearing that the Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. Government, and Congress would object to having their functions and responsibilities being compared to a circus and threaten the network's broadcast license renewal.
| Episode title | Subject | Music by | Lyrics by | Performed by | Animation & design | First aired | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "A Victim of Gravity" | Gravity | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | The Tokens | Kim and Gifford Productions/Tom Yohe | September 16, 1978 | |
| "Interplanet Janet" | The Solar System | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Kim and Gifford Productions/Jack Sidebotham | November 18, 1978 | |
| "The Body Machine" | Nutrition and digestion | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Bob Dorough and Jack Sheldon | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe | January 6, 1979 | |
| "Do the Circulation" | Circulatory system | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Joshie Armstead, Mary Sue Berry, and Maeretha Stewart | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe | March 10, 1979 | |
| "The Energy Blues" | Energy conservation | George Newall | George Newall | Jack Sheldon | Kim and Gifford Productions/Tom Yohe | March 27, 1979 | |
| "Them Not-So-Dry Bones" | Skeletal system | George Newall | George Newall | Jack Sheldon | Kim and Gifford Productions/Tom Yohe | May 5, 1979 | |
| "Electricity, Electricity" | Electricity | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Zachary Sanders | Kim and Gifford Productions/Paul Kim & Lew Gifford | May 19, 1979 | |
| "Telegraph Line" | Nervous system | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Jamie Aff and Christine Langner | Kim and Gifford Productions/Tom Yohe | June 30, 1979 | |
| "The Greatest Show on Earth (The Weather Show)" | Weather | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Bob Kaliban | Gerry Ray/Tom Yohe | July 7, 1979[11] |
| Episode title | Music by | Lyrics by | Performed by | Animation & design | First aired | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Introduction" | Bob Dorough | Tom Yohe | Darrell Stern & Bob Kaliban | Kim and Gifford Productions/Tom Yohe | January 1, 1982 | |
| "Hardware" | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Darrell Stern & Bob Kaliban | Kim and Gifford Productions/Paul Kim and Lew Gifford | January 1, 1982 | |
| "Software" | Dave Frishberg | Dave Frishberg | Darrell Stern & Bob Kaliban | Kim and Gifford Productions/Tom Yohe | January 1, 1983 | |
| "Number Cruncher" | Dave Frishberg | Dave Frishberg | Darrell Stern & Bob Kaliban | Kim and Gifford Productions/Paul Kim and Lew Gifford | January 1, 1984 |
| Episode title | Subject | Music by | Lyrics by | Performed by | Animation & design | First aired | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Dollars and Sense" | Interest and loans | Dave Frishberg | Dave Frishberg | Val Hawk and Bob Dorough | J. J. Sedelmaier Prod./Tom Yohe | September 10, 1994 | |
| "Tax Man Max" | Taxes | Stephen Flaherty | Lynn Ahrens | Patrick Quinn | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Phil Kimmelman | June 26, 1995 | |
| "Where the Money Goes" | Family bills and expenses | Rich Mendoza | Rich Mendoza | Jack Sheldon | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Bill Peckmann | July 13, 1995 | |
| "$7.50 Once a Week" | Personal budget | Dave Frishberg | Dave Frishberg | Dave Frishberg | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Jack Sidebotham | October 23, 1995 | |
| "Tyrannosaurus Debt" | Budget deficit and United States national debt | Tom Yohe | Tom Yohe | Bob Dorough and Bob Kaliban | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe | January 21, 1996 | |
| "This for That" | Barter and the history of currency | George R. Newall | George R. Newall | Bob Dorough | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Phil Kimmelman | May 6, 1996 | |
| "Walkin' on Wall Street" | Stock exchange | Dave Frishberg | Dave Frishberg | Dave Frishberg | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Bill Peckmann | September 12, 1996 | |
| "The Check's in the Mail" | Using checks | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Luther Rix and Bob Dorough | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Bill Peckmann | November 22, 1996 |
| Episode title | Subject | Music by | Lyrics by | Performed by | Animation & design | First aired |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Report from the North Pole" | Climate change | Bob Dorough | George R. Newall | Bob Dorough, Jack Sheldon, Bob Kaliban and Barry Carl | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe Jr. | |
| "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 | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe Jr. | |
| "The Trash Can Band" | Recycling | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens, Luther Rix, Bob Dorough and Eric Weissberg | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe Jr. | |
| "You Oughta Be Savin' Water" | Water conservation | Sean Altman and Barry Carl | George R. Newall | Barry Carl, Sean Altman and Elliott Kerman | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Phil Kimmelman & Matt Sheridan | |
| "The Rainforest" | Rainforests | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Tituss Burgess | Buzzco/Candy Kugel | |
| "Save the Ocean" | Oceans | Sean Altman & Andy Brick | Sean Altman | Sean Altman, Inna Dukach, Jon Spurney, Patti Rothberg, Barry Carl, and Eric Booker | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Tom Yohe Jr. & John Aoshima | |
| "Fat Cat Blue: The Clean Rivers Song" | Marine debris | Andy Brick | Andy Brick | Jack Sheldon, Bob Kaliban, Val Hawk & Vicki Doney and Nancy Reed | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Bill Peckmann & John Aoshima | |
| "A Tiny Urban Zoo" | Gardens | George Stiles | Anthony Drewe | Barrett Foa, Shoshana Bean, and George Stiles | Kurtz & Friends/Philip Pignotti, Bob Kurtz & Matt Sheridan | |
| "Solar Power to the People" | Solar energy | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens | Lynn Ahrens, Val Hawk, Vicki Doney, and Nancy Reed | Phil Kimmelman & Associates/Jack Sidebotham, Matt Sheridan | |
| "Windy and the Windmills" | Wind power | Bob Dorough | George R. Newall | Bob Dorough, Jack Sheldon, Val Hawk, Vicki Doney, and Nancy Reed | W/M Animation/David Wachtenheim & Phil Kimmelman | |
| "Don't Be a Carbon Sasquatch" | Carbon footprints | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Bob Dorough | Michael Sporn Animation/Phil Kimmelman | |
| "The 3 R's" | Reduce, Reuse, Recycle | Bob Dorough | Jack Johnson | Mitchel Musso | N/A |
These songs did not air on ABC. They premiered on a DVD released in 2009. They were also available for purchase on iTunes.[13]
Several tie-ins were released in 1995:
The Best of Schoolhouse Rock was released in 1998 jointly by American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. and Rhino Records.
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.[14] [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, which became a sister company to ABC after their purchase in 1996, released five segments on VHS, along with "Money Rock" being released in 1998. The other four releases in the 25th anniversary collection each ended with a Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks music video.
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 |
| |
| Schoolhouse Rock! Election Collection | 14 | September 23, 2008 |
| |
| Schoolhouse Rock! Earth | 13 | March 31, 2009 |
|
In 1996, the album Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks was released by Rhino Records, with fifteen covers of Schoolhouse Rock songs including the theme. Covers by notable artists included "Three is a Magic Number" by Blind Melon, "No More Kings" by Pavement, "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" by Ween, "My Hero, Zero" by The Lemonheads and "Verb: That's What's Happening" by Moby.
On August 18, 1998, Rhino 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 as a fundraiser for Rock the Vote, an organization advocating for political awareness and voting among young people. Several well-known artists contributed tracks to the album, including Isaac Hayes, Joan Osborne, The Sugarhill Gang and The Roots, alongside original Schoolhouse Rock! performers Bob Dorough, Essra Mohawk and Grady Tate.
| Track | Title | Artist | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Rock the Vote" | The Virtuals | ||
| 2 | "I'm Just a Bill" | Cover | ||
| 3 | "Sufferin' Till Suffrage" | Cover | ||
| 4 | "The Campaign Trail" | Cover | ||
| 5 | "The Preamble" | Cover | ||
| 6 | "Do You Wanna Party?" | New | ||
| 7 | "Fireworks" | Cover | ||
| 8 | "Three-Ring Government" | Cover | ||
| 9 | "Get to Know Your Electoral College" | New | ||
| 10 | "Messin' With My Bill of Rights!" | New |
See main article: Schoolhouse Rock Live!. A musical theatre adaptation of the show, titled Schoolhouse Rock Live!, premiered in 1993. It featured a collaboration between artists Scott Ferguson, Kyle Hall, George Keating, Lynn Ahrens, Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg, and Kathy Mandry, utilizing some of the most famous songs of Newall and Yohe.[18]
A follow-up production entitled Schoolhouse Rock Live, Too, written by the same team as Schoolhouse Rock Live!, premiered in Chicago in 2000.
A musical television special celebrating 50 years of Schoolhouse Rock! titled Schoolhouse Rock! 50th Anniversary Singalong aired on February 1, 2023.[19]