'Schoolhouse Rock!' Co-Creator George Newall Dies
George Newall, one of the co-creators of Schoolhouse Rock!, has passed away at the age of 88. He died of a cardiopulmonary arrest on Nov. 30 at a hospital close to his home of Hasting-on-Hudson, New York, per PEOPLE. He was the last surviving original creator of the educational series that covered math, grammar, American government and history, and science.
The animated educational series ran on ABC from 1973 to 1985 and taught kids everything from the function of conjunctions and how three is the magic number. It made having to memorize the U.S. Constitution preamble for middle-school social studies class a breeze. It was a staple rerun on Saturday mornings during the ‘90s. Seriously, what ‘90s kid doesn’t know the tune to “I’m Just A Bill”?
Newall, who was a creative director at the McCaffrey & McCall ad agency, came up with the idea after agency president David McCall complained to Newall that his son “can sing along with Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones” but struggled with multiplication. Newall quickly reached out to musician Bob Dorough. Two weeks later, “Three Is a Magic Number” was written, and Schoolhouse Rock! was on its way to becoming the nostalgic TV show it is today.
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I grew up with these. I can actually still remember the lyrics to many of them.
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Such a prominent part of my childhood as well. So sad
I loved growing up with Schoolhouse Rock. I can't wait until my nephew and niece are old enough to enjoy it too.
