Bill Peckmann &Illustration &Story & Storyboards 29 Jul 2010 05:40 am
Schoolhouse Rock
- Schoolhouse Rock became a reality when advertising exec, David McCall, realized his son, who was doing poorly in school, had memorized the lyrics to many a rock song. He produced a record with a couple of quickly written songs.
Tom Yohe illustrated some of the songs and presented it to McCall. They decided to put together an animated version, and the rest became history.
How it came about by Tom Yohe.
Here’s the storyboard and information, right out of the guide, on one particular episode of the show, Unpack Your Adjhectives.
1(Click any image to enlarge.)
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Here’s the storyboard from Phil Kimmelman & Associates.
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Here’s the YouTube version:
All this material came to me from the collection of Bill Peckmann, and I couldn’t be more thankful.
on 29 Jul 2010 at 6:02 am 1.Steven Hartley said …
Didn’t Al Eugster do work on it or something?
on 29 Jul 2010 at 7:06 am 2.Michael said …
Al Eugster animated the spot.
on 29 Jul 2010 at 7:11 am 3.Mark Mayerson said …
I don’t believe that Al Eugster animated anything done at Kimmelman. Bill Peckmann could confirm that. Some of the Schoolhouse Rock and the Science Rock series was done at Kim and Gifford, and Al animated the jobs there. What’s below are from Al’s own records.
Kim & Gifford Productions
1974
Women’s Suffrage
1975
Elbow Room
1976
The Shot Heard ‘Round the World
1977
Pronouns (Rufus X. Sarsaparilla)
Mother Necessity
Great American Melting Pot
Victim of Gravity
1978
Interplanet Janet
Bones
Electricity
1979
Telegraph Line
1982
Software (Scooter Computer and Mr. Chips)
1983
Hardware (Scooter Computer and Mr. Chips)
1984
The Number Cruncher (Scooter Computer and Mr. Chips)
on 29 Jul 2010 at 7:50 am 4.Bill said …
Mark is correct about Al Eugster. The three animators that worked on SR at PK&A were Dante Barbetta, Sal Faillace and Jack Schnerk. Sal did the bulk of the spots and if memory serves me correctly he animated “Adjectives”. Tom Yohe’s SB’s like this one were always perfect little jewels and were much looked forward to. It’s worth remembering that Tom’s boards came from someone who came up through the ranks of “advertising” and not animation, he was one of the all time great/natural cartoonists.
on 29 Jul 2010 at 8:08 am 5.Michael said …
Sorry, I pulled Al Eugster’s name from the ID at YouTube. Stupid me. Since I worked at PK&A during the first round of Schoolhouse Rock, you think I would’ve been able to correctly ID the animator (or three.)
on 29 Jul 2010 at 8:09 am 6.Bill said …
One more note, the two characters pitching SR in the opening illo are Bob Dorough (pony tail) and Tom. Tom’s simplified cartoon caricatures were always bang on, an art in itself.
on 30 Jul 2010 at 3:31 am 7.Charles Brubaker said …
Ah, I have fond memories of Schoolhouse Rock as a kid. They continued to air on ABC all the way up to the late nineties, if I recall correctly.
on 30 Jul 2010 at 4:48 am 8.Greg Faillace said …
I have some fond memories of growing up with that as well.
on 30 Jul 2010 at 7:42 am 9.Michael said …
A short note, Greg (above) is Sal Faillace’s son. Sal Faillace was one of the key animators of these spots for PK&A.