Sadly Over-hyped

Don't listen to the negative reviews

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The stars aligned perfectly when this series of shorts came to ABC TV, in 1973. First, Fred Silverman was revolutionizing Saturday morning television, with a unified lineup, much like primetime. However, to appease watchdog groups, he needed educational content. Meanwhile, an advertising man was concerned about his sons trouble with math in school. He noted that his son could recite the lyrics to any Beatles song and hit upon the idea of setting the multiplication tables to music. His crew put together a pitch of a short cartoon, set to music: "Three is a Magic Number." Silverman loved the idea and snapped it up, requiring all shows to have a couple of minutes shaved to accommodate these cartoons. The series launched with Multiplication Rock and became a huge hit. This was soon followed by Grammar Rock; then, in time for the Bicentennial, America Rock. Later, Science Rock was added, with Money Rock still later.The cartoons are an excellent blend of creative visuals, catchy songs, and simple, repetitive delivery that really lets the info sink in. For those of us who experienced it firsthand, it became our hit music. All we had to do on the playground was say, "Conjunction Junction," and someone else would answer, "What's your function?" We knew the preamble to the Constitution by heart! We knew that a verb was "what's happening!" The cartoons led to some strange events. Teachers reported hearing humming when they administered the required Constitution tests. Congressional offices requested copies of "The Three Ring Circus," and "I'm Just a Bill," to train their staffs about the functions of the branches of government and the legislative process. A stage show was put together in the 90s, by a group of nostalgic fans.These cartoons are a must for any parent. They will do more to teach your children than anything from Baby Einstein, Sesame Street, Disney, or anything else. The songs are wonderful and the cartoons make learning fun and even inspiring. The only word of caution is in America Rock, which tends to over simplify some subjects, especially "manifest destiny," (Elbow Room) or the American Revolution (The Shot Heard Round the World); but they are still better than some of the jingoistic revisionism of the political pundits. If nothing else, they feature wonderful songs and entertaining cartoons that you and your child can enjoy together. Watch "Three is a Magic Number" and not feel a little emotional when you view the scenes of the man and woman holding their baby, then running together along the countryside.

I was looking through my workbook and I saw "Interjections" and something just went into my mind. "Interjections, show excitement, show emotion." I may not know the lyrics well but I remember the song. I started to remember the entire lyrics to the song. "Provide an exclamation point or a comma when the feeling's not as strong. So when you're happy.." and so on.Schoolhouse Rock is something I have seen for a long time, and children will enjoy it for years and years. I remember seeing it a long time ago when I used to live in New Orleans, my teacher then showed it to us again after a test because Schoolhouse Rock is such a fun movie to watch. Even teens enjoy it.This movie actually has one fault. Sometimes the songs can be distracting. It's so good that you can forget what it's saying. But that is usually rare. The songs will stay in your head and if you remember the lyrics, you remember what the song is teaching you. There are some songs that are too boring though. Example, I remember "Naughty Number Nine" or something like that. Something about a cat and a mouse and a pool table.I recommend this to anyone, also I recommend it for teachers to show to their students. Specifically Language Arts teachers!

When our oldest child was 3 and 4 years old, we let him watch the School House Rock video. It was entertaining, but educational and not just a lot of mindless nonsense purely for the sake of entertainment. When the time came for him to learn the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, he already knew it! When he was introduced to his times tables and needed to multiply by 3's, he already knew them! He already knew how to count by 5's too! The same thing happened for multiplying by 8's and 9's!! My suggestion to all parents is this, if you let your child watch videos, make sure this is one that they view often! Great job guys!! Happy Home School Mom

... and the whole series is magic as well! I remember watching these cartoons when I was a kid. Probably one of the reasons why I like history so much today was because of "Sufferin' Till Suffrage", "No More Kings" and "Great American Melting Pot". Since getting the DVD, I have watched the newer ones... love the Mr. Morton story! My 3 year old daughter loves singing the Preamble and the Electricity songs :).