Created by David McCall
Voices By Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg, Lynn Ahrens, Tom Yohe
With it being an election year, this is the perfect time for this collection of animation and songs from Schoolhouse Rock. Schoolhouse Rock: Election Collection was recently released on DVD by Walt Disney.
The Collection
Schoolhouse Rock brings back fond memories for me. I mean, come on, Three is the Magic Number is a great song. Right up there with Conjunction Junction and I’m Just a Bill.
This collection just focuses on the animated shorts that schooled you on how your government works and American history. Included in this release are the following shorts from Schoolhouse Rock archives:
Energy Blues, Tax Man Max, Walkin’ On Wall Street, I’m Gonna Send Your Vote to College, Tyrannosaurus Debt, The Shot Heard Around the World, No More Kings, Fireworks, Mother Necessity, The Great American Melting Pot, The Preamble, Three Ring Government, Sufferin’ Til Suffrage and the one that everyone loves, I’m Just a Bill.
There is not a bad one in the bunch. I really enjoyed the songs and getting a refresher on government process and American history with a healthy slice of 70’s pop and refreshingly simple yet expressive hand drawn animation.
If you are feeling disheartened and disappointed at our current political climate here in the States, this might get your toe tapping and help you remember when you were a kid and you learned all of this history about your country. It made you feel excited and proud too. Before you learned that not all politicians were as visionary and upstanding as Abraham Lincoln and before you learned that George Washington’s teeth weren’t wooden, after all ( they were made out from Hippopatamus ivory). This collection takes you back to a simpler place and time.
I can’t imagine wrapping history, science, grammar and other lessons with catchy tunes for today’s youth. I guess it just really wouldn’t appeal. Today’s kids seem much more detached and uninterested in anything other than new cell phones, video games and taking pictures of themselves for MySpace profiles. But, even though Schoolhouse Rock was not your favorite animated show back in the early seventies, I know my friends and I didn’t race to turn the channel either when they began to play. We knew the words and had fun with it.
So, all thing considered, if you were a fan then, you are going to enjoy this trip down memory lane now.
8/10
The Video
Schoolhouse Rock: Election Collection is presented in the original full frame aspect ratio. I did not notice any grain or artifacts.
7/10
The Audio
Schoolhouse Rock: Election Collection is in the original stereo mix, with opening menus having a 5.1 mix. The audio restoration is nicely done with absolutely clean dialogue and crisp sounding music.
7/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features
Schoolhouse Rock: Election Collection is presented in standard amaray case.
There are a few bonus features to explore on this release. There are two “presidential minutes” and an “election tracking kit”. What does the kit include, you ask?
The kit is a folded map of the United States, what each state has for delegate counts and two sheets of stickers. The idea behind this is that on election night, parents and children can sit down and place red stickers on the Republican states and blue stickers for the Democrat states.
So, not much as far as bonus features but a fun collection of animated shorts from your past to peruse.
4/10
Overall ( Not an Average) 7.5/10
The Review
The Collection 8/10
The Video 7/10
The Audio 7/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 4/10
Overall (Not an Average) 7.5/10