...the one that should have been made.
Posted on 12/08/2022 9:08:36 PM PST by lowbridge
George Newall, the co-creator of the educational musical cartoon series “Schoolhouse Rock,” has died. He was 88.
Newall’s wife, Lisa Maxwell, told the New York Times he died of cardiopulmonary arrest Nov. 30 in a New York hospital.
Born June 17, 1934, the advertising executive and jazz pianist was the last living founding member of “Schoolhouse Rock.”
The children’s series — which ran from 1973 to 1984 before being revived in the 1990s — set math, civics, science and grammar lessons to music.
The idea stemmed from a conversation Newall, then a creative director at the McCaffrey & McCall advertising agency, had with agency president David McCall in which McCall expressed frustration that his young sons couldn’t multiply, “but they can sing along with Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones.”
“I asked Ben, and he said, ‘Oh yeah, my partner, Bob Dorough — he can put anything to music!’ ” Newall told the New York Times Magazine in 2018.
“He told me Bob had written a song based on the words on the mattress tag that say, ‘Do not remove under penalty of law,’ ” Newall recalled. “So I brought Bob in, and David gave him the assignment. He came back about two weeks later with ‘Three Is a Magic Number,’ and we were all knocked out by it.”
That tune taught kids about tripods, triangles and counting by threes. Multiplication inspired a number of memorable ditties. Other fan favorites include “Interjection!,” “Unpack Your Adjectives” and “The Preamble” to the US Constitution.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I am such a huge fan of those.
I loved them, as a kid, and still find myself repeating parts of them, today.
They are available online and at Disney+.
All children should watch them.
Those and many cartoon theme songs from childhood are forever etched in my brain and will survive even the worst case of dementia when I forget everything else...
He made it double “figure eights”. Loved watching them as a kid.
[Executive order is smoking] And that’s it.
Conjunction junction... R.I.P.
I remember Tom Terrific though.
Back when Schoolhouse Rick showed the British trying to disarm the Americans at Lexington and Concord, but an armed militia turned them back .
"Take your powder, take your gun report to General Washington"
Just imagine the woke version if this was produced now.
...the one that should have been made.
I’m Gen X and watched them as a child. My kids are are Gen Z and I showed them all to them. Might die with that generation. “I’m just a bill on capital bill” is very good stuff. RIP.
We watched Schoolhouse Rock when I was a kid, and my kids watched them on videotape.
RIP, Mr. Newall.
One of the last times before SNL went totally woke and totally unfunny.
LOL. Never saw that one before.
They had some excellent, well-known musicians perform, such as Blossom Dearie (Figure 8, etc.), Bob Dorough (Ready or Not, Three is a Magic Number), and Grady Tate (I Got 6).
Looking forward to watching the episode about the Presidency: “I’m a Demented Grifter”
I’m a fan too. They’re so well done and there’s such a goodheartedness about them including genuine patriotism in the history episodes. Bob Dorough really poured himself into the making of the music and the lyrics. To me the masterpiece is “Figure 8” with a bunch of others nipping closely at its heels. I’d like to see the passing of George Newell bring renewed attention to the Schoolhouse Rock series that he helped bring about, because it is a great achievement and a national treasure IMO. Little did we know that we were being enriched on those Saturday mornings as we munched our Fruit Loops in front of the TV but indeed we were thanks to Newell and Dorough and the others involved in that project.
"I'm Just a Bill (2021 Version)
Seriously though, let's not forget that some of those old hippies were patriotic and of pure heart. Thanks, guys.
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