Nostalgia for parents, and great fun for children, this fantastic and complete collection of Schoolhouse Rock song-videos will please all ages. It is hard to dispute the idea that music helps along the learning process, and Schoolhouse Rock is case in point. School fundamentals in math, grammar, science, and more—and especially the more difficult concepts—are easy to pick up with these catchy, clever, and entirely fun animated songs. All 46 tunes are included, as well as an all-new song by the original creators.
There are a few ways viewers can enjoy the animated songs on this 2-disc DVD set: they can opt to select any of the song categories (such as Money Rock or Multiplication Rock) or specific songs; play all of the animated songs in order ("The Whole Enchilada: Mild"); or opt for random play ("The Whole Enchilada: Spicy"). The second disc in the set features the "long-lost song", The Weather Show, behind the scenes footage, a Top 20 Countdown, puzzles, games, and more.
In the grammar segment, children learn about things like "busy" prepositions, the "function" of conjunctions, and subjects and predicates through a story-song about the lonely Mr. Morton. Plenty of science fundamentals, including nutrition basics, circulation, electricity, weather, gravity, energy conservation, and more, are served up with the series' characteristic catchy songs and engaging visuals. The Money Rock collection not only teaches some money basics, it encourages saving, money management, and general "cents sense". Also included are all eleven Multiplication Rock videos and the America Rock collection.
The enclosed booklet offers some history of the animated shorts as well as lyrics to the top 10 Schoolhouse Rock tunes, such as Conjunction Junction and I'm Just a Bill. The games included on the DVD are exciting: Arrange A Song Puzzles involves arranging six "pieces" of each of three Schoolhouse Rock favorites in the correct order (and kids love the results when they do this incorrectly); and Earn Your Diploma is essentially a trivia game.
With this DVD, turning to the subtitles option is especially educational for children learning to read—not to mention for parents who want to brush up on lyrics they may have missed or misunderstood.
Note that an equivalent title is not available on video. The VHS, entitled The Best of Schoolhouse Rock! 30th Anniversary Edition and released at the same time as this DVD, features a collection of 25 animated songs deemed the best of the series.
