The Metric Marvels

Origins

President Gerald Ford signed the Metric Conversion Act into law on December 23, 1975, officially sanctioning U.S. conversion to the metric system. As part of this effort, the USMB sponsored public service announcements, including The Metric Marvels, which aired during NBC's Saturday morning cartoons. The shorts featured four animated metric superheroes—Meter Man, Liter Leader, Super Celsius, and Wonder Gram—who sang songs explaining differences between the English and metric systems.

Legacy

The series shared animation style, song quality, and voice actors with Schoolhouse Rock! on ABC. Incoming NBC president Fred Silverman, formerly of ABC, may have sought to replicate that show's success; Newall & Yohe also produced Saturday morning network IDs and the full-length Drawing Power! series for NBC. Despite this, The Metric Marvels was pulled after a single seven-episode season. Its separation from Schoolhouse Rock! prevented rerun afterlife, and NBC ranked third in viewership among the three major networks at the time.

A metrication deadline was never enacted into federal law, and the push lost traction after the U.S. Metric Board dissolved in 1982 under President Ronald Reagan. The National Institute of Standards and Technology now oversees U.S. metrication and later produced League of SI Superheroes, which includes a character named Meter Man with similarities to the one in The Metric Marvels.

Media

The Metric Marvels was released on VHS for educational buyers in 1979 by Newell and Yohe, Inc. and Center for Humanities, Mount Kisco, NY. The color videocassette ran approximately 17 minutes 30 seconds and included seven teacher's guides. It was previously issued as seven filmstrips by Xerox Films, consisting of seven 35 mm color filmstrips (about 200 frames), seven audiocassettes, and five teacher's guides. Xerox Films was part of The Xerox Education Group, producing films for schools and libraries.