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Referenced By / Schoolhouse Rock!

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Advertising

  • A 1997 commercial for Nike's Air Total Max Uptempo sneakers has "Three is a Magic Number" playing throughout. Interestingly enough, this was a bonus feature on the official 30th anniversary DVD set.

Films – Live-Action

  • The Squid and the Whale features the song "Figure Eight" (as sung by Blossom Dearie) in vocal and instrumental forms.

Literature

  • In the The Magic School Bus book Lost in the Solar System, Arnold's cousin Janet joins the class on a trip to visit the planets... making her "Interplanet Janet".

Live-Action TV

  • Saturday Night Live: An infamous TV Funhouse sketch from Season 23 is about a song from Conspiracy Theory Rock! about a "Media-opoly".
    • They also had a regular skit spoofing how Obama's "Executive Order" would do things much faster than the time it takes for a Bill to become a Law, featuring Kenan Thompson as Bill.
  • Mad TV occasionally ran "Public Schoolhouse Rock", which poked fun at and exaggerated troubles often faced in overcrowded urban community schools including corporately-backed and unhealthy school lunches, unsafe hallways, unwilling classroom students, and uncaring substitute teachers.

Web Animation

  • Homestar Runner: In the 2019 Halloween cartoon, "The Homestar Runner Enters The Spooky Woods", Homsar dresses up as Bill.
  • In the Brain Dump episode "TOP 10 REASONS THE GRINCH IS SCAMMING YOU", Max does a pretty accurate rendition of "Hardware", even down to the animations in the background.

Webcomics

  • In the Free Spirit (2014) issue "Song of the Siren", Winnie gets everyone to sing "Conjunction Junction" in order to stop a ship from crashing into rocks.
  • Captain SNES: The Game Masta: During Max Force's flashback from when he was with the Power Team, Johnny Arcade befriends the Bill on Video City's Capital Hill. In this case, the latter is meant to aid poor farmers. Kwirk the tomato attempts to kill him because farmers attacked his kingdom and worse, but Kwirk's teammates stop him. And while the Bill makes it to committee, his co-sponsor Senator Vader uses the Jedi Mind Trick to force it to the Senate floor for a vote without being looked over first. He altered it behind his co-sponsor's back at the president's request.

Western Animation

  • American Dad!: In "Stanny Slickers II: The Legend of Ollie's Gold", Stan sings a SHR-styled song about Oliver North and his role in the Iran-Contra scandal.
  • BoJack Horseman: In "See Mr. Peanutbutter Run", the scene where Katrina drafts a pork-filled bill to make the gubernatorial race decided by a skiing competition is styled like Schoolhouse Rock!.
  • Drawn Together: In "Foxxy vs. The Board of Education", the titular board is drawn like a Schoolhouse Rock! character. Later on, when Foxxy prevents a load of grape-flavored pencils from being delivered to schools, they were being stored in train cars from "Conjunction Junction."
  • Family Guy:
    • In "Running Mates", one of Peter's new policies as school board president is to make sex ed class more fun by having it taught SHR-style. Jack Sheldon has a bit part in this gag.
      Vagina junction, what's your function?
      Taking in sperm and spitting out babies
    • In "Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington", we see a parody of Bill singing his song on the steps of Congress before betting picked up by a janitor.
    • In "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows", the "Knowledge is power!" catchphrase is said by patrons at a chicken restaurant.
  • Johnny Bravo:
    • The episode "The Sensitive Male" is an extended homage to Schoolhouse Rock!, with Jack Sheldon providing guest vocals.
    • In "Red Faced in the White House", Johnny is visiting Washington and sees a "sad little scrap of paper". The President's daughter tells him "it's just a bill" and the bill says (but doesn't sing) it's "just a hill on Capitol Hill" and hopes to be a law someday. The bill turns out to have been pushed by a fire extinguisher lobby to make children's toys flammable. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't become a law. A guy with a flamethrower says "Tough luck, kid" and burns away the bill. Feeling awkward about what she and Johnny saw, she took him away to "see some of the sights".
  • The Powerpuff Girls: There is an episode titled "Schoolhouse Rocked".
  • Robot Chicken:
    • A sketch from "I'm Trapped" features a SHR-like song about homonyms and how you can use them to get away with saying offensive words.
    • A sketch from "Robot Fight Accident" features the Schoolhouse Rock! characters taking a more confrontational approach to basic learning.
  • The Simpsons:
    • In "The Day the Violence Died", The Itchy & Scratchy Show is replaced by a parody of Schoolhouse Rock!; the song is a spoof of "I'm Just a Bill" and depicts the passing of a constitutional amendment banning the burning of American flags.
    • "Poorhouse Rock" is a Parody Episode entirely based on the Schoolhouse Rock! format, but addressing the very real issues of inequality and capitalism.
  • Teen Titans Go!: The musical number in the episode "Knowledge" is done in the style of this show.
  • VeggieTales: The Silly Song in "Sumo Of The Opera" is "Schoolhouse Polka", a song where Larry tries to teach homophones through a song, similar to the concept of Schoolhouse Rock!. The end teases polka songs about pronouns, prepositions and adjectives, which were all covered by the Grammar Rock episodes of Schoolhouse Rock!.
  • Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?: The show's art style is based on that of Schoolhouse Rock!.

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