George Newall

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George Newall enrolled at Florida State University in 1955 after spending two years in the Army’s11th Airborne Division Band at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He studied composition with John Boda, winning Florida Composers League awards in 1958,1959 and 1960. After graduation, Newall moved to New York City and took a $50 per week job in the mailroom of an advertising agency. Shortly afterward, he became a copywriter starting an advertising career that would span almost forty years. His agency experience includes stints at Ogilvy & Mather; McCaffrey & McCall; Wells, Rich, Greene; and Grey Advertising.

While Co-Creative Director of McCaffrey & McCall, Newall "invented" Hai Karate, an off-the-wall spoof of cliche after shave lotion advertising. Hai Karate became the most successful men's toiletry introduction of the sixties. In 1970, Newall became the catalyst in the creation of ABC's Schoolhouse Rock. McCaffrey & McCall President, David McCall asked him to help develop the concept of setting rote learning to rock music. Newall found Bob Dorough, a composer of uniquely eccentric jazz tunes and lyrics and introduced him to McCall and Newall's creative partner, Art Directorcartoonist Tom Yohe. Later that year, the group took their educational idea to Disney CEO Michael Eisner, then Director of Children's Programming at the ABC Television Network. Eisner immediately bought the idea and in 1972, 3-minute Schoolhouse Rock segments starting running on ABC seven times each weekend.

In 1978, Newall left McCaffrey & McCall with his Co-Creative Director, Tom Yohe, to start Newall & Yohe, Inc., intent on producing animated educational programs for commercial television. In addition to winning four EMMY's for Schoolhouse Rock, Newall & Yohe also won an EMMY for Drawing Power, a Saturday morning educational series they created for NBC. Newall & Yohe won numerous other awards for its work, including EMMY nominations for its Nutrition Spots for ABC, The Metric Marvels for NBC, "When You Turn Off Your Set, Turn On a Book" for NBC, and an Action for Childrens' Television Act Award for (in the words of the citation): "Cartoons with a Conscience," animated segments in "Drawing Power," which prove that cartoons can be nonracist, nonsexist, informative... and funny."

In the mid eighties, Newall returned to advertising at Wells, Rich, Greene, where he added to the long list of movie and television personalities he created commercials for by writing twenty-two spots for Alan AIda extolling the educational virtues of Atari Computers.

In 2002 The Walt Disney Company released a Schoolhouse Rock 30th Anniversary Edition DVD featuring the complete library of episodes. Newall composed a new song for the event, I’m Gonna Send Your Vote College, an explanation of the electoral college. Disney filmed the recording session for the new song for inclusion in the “behind the scenes” section the two-disk set. Over one million copies of the DVD were sold over the Christmas holidays.

Despite not having been on the air since the mid-nineties, Schoolhouse Rock remains a nostalgic staple for Generation X’ers and their children. It also continues to garner critical acclaim including: a “Kids First” Award from The Coalition for Quality Children’s Media, being selected as one of “100 Musical Moments that Rocked TV” by VH-1 2003, one of “Best 100 Disks Ever” by CD ROM Today and “One of the 50 Greatest Cartoons Ever” TV Guide Magazine.

Newall now presents educational seminars entitled Schoolhouse Rock: Lessons Learned for the Web Generation with composer Bob Dorough and educational Consultant Dr. Odvard Egil Dyrli. He is a member of ASCAP and The Directors Guild of America. He lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, with his wife, Lisa Maxwell and stepson, Lake Wolosker. Newall, George