Thomas George Yohe (1937–2000) was an American animator, known primarily as a co-creator of the educational animated television series ''Schoolhouse Rock!''.
Biography
Yohe was born in
Queens, New York
Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
, and graduated from
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
with a degree in
fine arts
In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...
.
His career began as an art director at
Young & Rubicam
VMLY&R was an American marketing and Marketing communications, communications company specializing in advertising, Digital media, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the 2020 mer ...
in 1961, and in 1964 he moved to McCaffrey & McCall.
In 1984, Yohe joined
Grey Global Group
Grey Group is a global advertising and marketing agency with headquarters in New York City, and 432 offices in 96 countries, operating in 154 cities. It is organized into four geographical units: North America; Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asi ...
, where he worked until November 2000.
Yohe co-created ''
Schoolhouse Rock!
''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, music videos) which aired during the Saturday morning children's programming block on the U.S. television network AB ...
'', an animated educational series developed to support ABC's children's programming efforts.
The series debuted in 1973 with "Three Is a Magic Number," which featured Yohe's animation.
The show gained widespread popularity and received an
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
.
''Schoolhouse Rock!'' consisted of around 40 segments aired between 1973 and 1985, each approximately three minutes long, teaching
grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...
,
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
,
science
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
, and
American history
The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...
.
Notable segments included "Conjunction Junction," "Three Is a Magic Number," and "I'm Just a Bill." In the 1990s, ''Schoolhouse Rock'' experienced renewed interest among college audiences.
Theaterbam Chicago created a live theatrical version titled Schoolhouse Rock Live!, which toured educational institutions and theaters. A follow-up production, ''Schoolhouse Rock Live Too!'', was also staged.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yohe, Thomas
1937 births
2000 deaths
American animators