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Summary: Schoolhouse Rock totally rocks!
Review: I'd been waiting to see if I'd get this for my birthday, but I couldn't wait anymore. I bought it today and had to pop it in. These great animated shorts helped kids learn multiplication, science, grammar, american history and money. You want an explanation of our national debt? - watch Tyrannosaurus Debt :-).The first DVD has all the original shorts categorized by groups, you can play them by group, or play them all in order or play them all or shuffle. If you choose a particular group, you can pick the ones you want to play in the playlist or select the Play All button. I was having a blast seeing remembering how many of these I could still sing. The 2nd DVD is the Extra Credit portion of the set. You can watch with Captions or Audio Commentary. I really had fun with the "Earn Your Diploma" Trivia and the Arrange A Schoolhouse Rock song. The Earn Your Diploma gives you a set of questions to answer to each group (Science, Money, etc). When you get them all right, you get a clue which when you solve all the groups you can then solve the Master Jumble to become a Schoolhouse Rock Graduate. The Arrange A Schoolhouse Rock Song has 3 of the Schoolhouse rock songs mixed up and its up to you to get the lyrics in order. When you get them right, the song clip will play. The music videos section was funny - the first 3 had the original animated shorts but the music/voices were redone by Better Than Ezra ("Conjunction Junction"), Lemonheads("My Hero Zero") and Deluxe Folk Implosion("I'm Just A Bill"). I didn't care for the last one by Goodness ("Electricity, Electricity"). That was just a music video but that one doesn't take away from the rest of the DVD. I saw one review here getting a little too deep in reviewing the american group. I say, don't worry about it - these were meant to help kids learn and I can say they definitely did me good. This collection was well done and it's worth the price :-)
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Summary: "Darn! That's the end!"
Review: I can't say this myself about the DVD collection (famous last words of the "Interjections" jingle), since there are still a lot of videos I still need to sit down and watch. I think all of us who grew up in the 1970's and 1980's learned from the catchy jingles. If it weren't for the countrified "The Preamble," I wouldn't have it recited nor known what a veto is had it not been for "I'm Just a Bill" (both from America Rock). "Electricity, Electricity" is really a rewrite of "Conjunction Junction" but no less informative or entertaining (from the Science Rock series). The "Victim of Gravity" song stands out with its 1950's doo-whop influence (the character in the video even has James Dean sideburns!). If it weren't for "Conjunction Junction", "Lolly Lolly Lolly," or the funky "Verb That's What's Happening," I probably wouldn't have been as successful with grammar (all from the Grammar Rock series). But most of all, I think I learned my multiplication tables thanks to Multiplication Rock. The songs "Three Is a Magic Number," "Lucky Seven Samson" (ya gotta love that long eared blackeyed bandit!) and "Ready or Not, Here I Come" were favorites(I used to count this way whenever I got tricked into playing another dreaded game of Hide and Seek!). The folky "No More Kings" almost sounds a little anti-British now, I suppose (and the animators goofed since the British flag did not include the red cross of Northern Ireland at the time; aside from that, still a very educational and catchy song/video!). Money Rock and Computer Rock introduced some new learning songs to an even younger generation (Mr Chips is introduced as a returning character and there's an interesting song about saving your money, which gives a nod to Reba, Wynnona and Dolly Parton). There are commentaries on "A Noun Is a Person, Place or Thing" (I like the mention of the Beatles, the Monkees and Chubby Checker!), "The Great American Melting Pot" and "Figure Eight," to name a few. In addition, "The Weather Show" (which was previously banned from syndication and VHS anthologies due to legal entanglements) and a "new" song "I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College" are included in this 48 song anthology. There are interviews with the producers, animators and some of the musicians and performers. While I was away at college, I read in our school newspaper there were picketers to bring Schoolhouse Rock back on the air (it worked!). I remember as a 29 year old watching intently "Energy" and my older brother said tongue firmly in cheek "You're the biggest kid I know!" If you have kids or are a teacher (or just a nostalgic buff or a kid at heart yourself), you'll want this generously packaged collection- indoubtedly (to quote Mr. Lolly)!
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Summary: The Good-For-You Cartoon DVD
Review: 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.
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Summary: Felt like I was 5 again
Review: I could not believe they finally released this gem on DVD. Schoolhouse Rock was the greatest thing ever to happen to Saturday mornings. I do not think there is any child born after 1970 who did not learn from this. Very rare is the product that educates+entertains at the same time. I learned about our country's beginning through "No More King"+"Shot heard round the World"+the Solar System from "Interplanet Janet". My personal favorites are "Preamble"+"Interjections". Along with Sesame Street+Mr.Rogers this was probably the most influential program for my Genereation. Parents of today have been given a great gift for thier own children. Schoolhouse Rock Rocks!!!
Rating:
Summary: Schoolhouse Rock ROCKS!!
Review: A good percentage of my childhood years were spent glued to the TV watching cartoons every Saturday morning and afternoon, but more than those, I LOVED Schoolhouse Rock! I can honestly say that I learned just as much (if not a bit more) from these classic episodes as I did in 8 years of Parochial school! While Schoolhouse Rock is not meant to be an alternative to a "proper" education, they succeeded in making learning a LOT MORE FUN! When I heard that Schoolhouse Rock was finally available on video, I practically rushed out the door to buy the DVD, and my fiancee and I spent the next few hours glued to the TV just like we were kids again! Classic episodes like "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly", "Conjunction Junction", and our all-time favorite "Interjections" filled us both with many wonderful memories, and we remembered the lyrics to EVERY one of the songs word-for-word without looking at the lyric sheet! It's amazing (but not surprising) how these things that we loved as children have had such a lasting impression and are still very much with us even into our adult years! We enjoy them even more now! Schoolhouse Rock is a bonafide classic that will never go out of style and transcends every generation...relive the memories you have and pass them on to your kids so that they too will make their own memories!
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Summary: Schoolhouse Rock! - Special 30th Anniversary Edition
Review: As a child of the 70's, Schoolhouse Rock was as much of a Saturday morning tradition as pajamas, cartoons, and cereal. Now, as a fourth grade teacher, I have rediscovered the value of these timeless cartoons. What was once simple entertainment wedged between The Wonder League and various other ABC cartoons is now a valuable educational tool! Each year my students learn and memorize the Preamble to the Constitution thanks to Schoolhouse Rock. And how interesting would the American Revolution be without No More Kings, Fireworks, or The Shot Heard 'Round the World? From a fourth grader's perspective, NOT VERY! This DVD is a must have for students, teachers, and parents. This fun, entertaining quick review of these necessary skills is a great way to learn with your kids/students. After all, how else would we know that a conjunction's purpose is, "Hooking up words and phrases and clauses"?
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Summary: A must have collection of terrific animation
Review: Just on the strength of the material alone, this DVD is a must-have for parents who grew up with these terrific, educational animations. The great shame is that most people only remember "Conjunction Junction" - "3 Is A Magic Number," "A Noun Is A Person Place or Thing," "Interjections!" ""Ready Or Not, Here I Come" and the classic "I'm Just A Bill" - if you heard these only once as a child, you'll be surprised at how much you retained. While the animation is very limited, adults and children alike will love watching Schoolhouse Rock. This DVD goes one step further, however: you can pick a mode in which to play the classics. You can play them by group (Grammar Rock, Multiplication Rock, etc.) or you can play the top ten favorites (voted on by fans - I'm only upset I didn't get to put my vote in for VERB) or you can shuffle play the whole disc. This feature naturally wouldn't be desirable on another DVD, but here ... what a great feature. Great educational material; great, intelligent songwriting, and an entire extra disc of supplemental material. This DVD is a worth every penny, and will have your kids singing the Preamble to the Constitution and counting by threes in no time.
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Summary: Re: Jason James Taylorville, KY
Review: Mr. James I hope you have learned a valuable lesson from this experience. Read the product information before you buy it. You can look at the picture and see that it's animated/a cartoon. Come on don't trash the video because you didn't bother to read the product information before you bought it. I'm sure that you saw the cover on the DVD after you took it out of the package. I can't believe you opened it and actually watched it. Well, to each his own.
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Summary: Re: Jason James
Review: School House Rock were little cartoon/music commercials on Saturday mornings in the 70's. You must have not been around back then judging by your comments. Please give School House Rock a chance! You didn't throw your money away. Your kids (and You!) would benefit from watching them! I have the School House Rock CD-Rom, but I'm buying the DVD today.
Rating:
Summary: Fun and Educational
Review: My son has loved this dvd from the moment we bought it. He has requested watching it over and over again. And the great thing is it is teaching him about our history and many other pertinent things.
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