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Jim Regan - Site Reviews

SchoolHouse Rock - The Unofficial Site

Jim Regan - Archive of Recent Site Reviews

Jim Regan has provided 'Today's Links' to csmonitor.com since its launch in 1996. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

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  • The Flying Clippers
  • The Smithsonian Institution's 'African Voices'
  • Yamaha Motor's Paper Craft and The Toaster Museum
  • Vivisimo -- the clustering search engine
  • FilmWise -- for movie buffs serious about their trivia
  • The Empire that was Russia: The Prokudin-Gorskii Photographic Record Recreated
  • Orion Online
  • 'arrrghhh! pirated sites' and 'Ghost Sites: The Museum of E-Failure'
  • The Newseum and 'War Stories'

    (For more columns, visit the Site Reviews archive)

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    • As a Canadian, there is no compelling reason for me to be familiar with the Preamble to the American Constitution. It wasn't taught in my schools, and (apart from a typically overacted delivery by William Shatner during a Star Trek episode) it doesn't often show up in the popular culture.

    And yet, I can recite the Preamble without hesitation. In fact I can sing the Preamble, thanks to Schoolhouse Rock -- that shining example of stealth education which used music and cartoons to teach unsuspecting Saturday morning TV viewers everything from Grammar to Politics. First run in the 1970's, Schoolhouse Rock now has a definite nostalgic appeal to add to its educational value, and surfers can experience both attractions at SchoolHouse Rock - The Unofficial Site.

    It's an interesting experience to see a familiar face for the first time in 20 years, and the SHR splash page, with its 'group shot' of cartoon characters from the series, definitely encourages flashbacks. On a more practical level, the splash page also exists to offer the option of viewing the rest of the site in a high- or low-bandwidth version - although the difference isn't extreme, amounting to the addition of animated GIFs and background music on the high bandwidth pages.

    Choose the high or low route, and the site presents five sub-categories of Grammar, America, Multiplication and Science Rock, as well as the more recent Scooter Computer and Mr. Chips. If you grew up with these cartoons, simply reading such titles as Conjunction Junction is going to bring the melodies back to mind, and clicking individual titles will open a full page dedicated to each song, with lyrics, recording facts and trivia about the piece, visitor ratings and, when you're ready to really relive your past, a choice between audio (WAV or RealAudio) or (QuickTime) video versions of the cartoon.

    As an example of Web design, the site compliments its multiple-choice accessibility with bright pages, generously populated with SHR characters. As a resource, it offers access to information about the creation of the series, as well as a catalog of CD's and videos. But first and foremost, SchoolHouse Rock is a nostalgic treat - that, and a convincing argument for the power of music as a memory aid.

    SchoolHouse Rock - The Unofficial Site can be found at http://genxtvland.simplenet.com/SchoolHouseRock/

    "Darn! That's the end!"

    Jim Regan provides 'Today's Links' to the e-Monitor. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

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