Liberty's Kids

Liberty's Kids (stylized on-screen as Liberty's Kids: Est. 1776) is an American animated historical fiction television series produced by WHYY and DIC Entertainment, and originally aired on PBS Kids from September 2, 2002, to April 4, 2003, with reruns airing on most PBS stations until October 10, 2004.

The series was based on an idea by Kevin O'Donnell and developed for television by Kevin O'Donnell, Robby London, Mike Maliani, and Andy Heyward, initially under the name of Poor Richard's Almanac. It received two Daytime Emmy nominations in 2003 and 2004 for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program (Walter Cronkite, playing Benjamin Franklin). Its purpose is to teach its viewers about the origins of the United States. Like the earlier cartoon mini-series This Is America, Charlie Brown, Liberty's Kids tells of young people in dramas surrounding the major events in the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War.

The show features celebrity voice talents, such as CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite (as Benjamin Franklin), Sylvester Stallone (as Paul Revere), Ben Stiller (as Thomas Jefferson), Billy Crystal (as John Adams), Annette Bening (as Abigail Adams), Dustin Hoffman (as Benedict Arnold), Michael Douglas (as Patrick Henry), Arnold Schwarzenegger (as Baron von Steuben), Liam Neeson (as John Paul Jones), Whoopi Goldberg (as Deborah Sampson), Charles Shaughnessy (as King George III), Michael York (as Admiral Lord Richard Howe), Ralph Fiennes (as General Lord Charles Cornwallis), Don Francisco (as Bernardo de Gálvez), and Aaron Carter (as Joseph Plum Martin) who lend credence to characters critical to the forming of a free country, from the Boston Tea Party to the Constitutional Convention.

The episodes run a half-hour, including segments that include "The Liberty News Network" or LNN (a newscast delivered by Cronkite summarizing the events of the episode, with each including his trademark sign-off "that's the way it is"), "Mystery Guest" (a guessing game where the kids guess a historical figure, who often is a character in the episode), "Now and Then" (a segment comparing life in the Revolutionary Era and today), and "Continental Cartoons" (a rebus word guessing game). The LNN segment art was directed by designer Mike Bundlie. During syndicated airings, these are replaced by commercials.

Plot
Benjamin Franklin and four fictional associates experience the American Revolution. Although the series spans 16 years from the Boston Tea Party in 1773 to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution and George Washington becoming the first U.S. president in 1789, no main characters appear to age much, except for Dr. Franklin.

Fictional characters

 * Sarah Phillips (Reo Jones) is a bright-eyed, red-headed teenage girl from England who travels to the Thirteen Colonies in 1773 at age 15 in search of her father, Major Phillips, who was last heard exploring the region of Ohio. Upon her arrival, she is warmly welcomed by and lives as a guest of Benjamin Franklin. Her mother, Lady Phillips, remains in England and is a good friend to Dr. Franklin. With the possibility of a war between the American colonists and England, she decides to become a reporter for Franklin's newspaper to offer a more balanced perspective to the press. Sarah believes firmly in the power of words, equal rights, and is not afraid to speak her mind. At the start of the series, she is a firm loyalist, which sparks many arguments between her and James. Later, Sarah realizes how much she has come to understand the people of the colonies and ends up supporting the Revolution. Some men know the way to her heart – good manners; James can seem almost jealous when this happens. Throughout the series, Sarah and James grow closer. At the end, her mother, Lady Phillips, joins Sarah and her father in the United States and Sarah hopes to explore more of her adopted country. She is the only character to appear in every episode.
 * James Hiller (Chris Lundquist) is a 14-year-old (1773) American teenage colonist who works as an apprentice journalist for Franklin's newspaper. He holds a great deal of respect and admiration for Dr. Franklin and his works, particularly his invention of the lightning rod, as when he was an infant, his parents died in a fire caused by a lightning strike. Street-smart and impulsive, James pursues the revolution from a slightly one-sided perspective – something that prompts Sarah to counter his views. An apprentice in Franklin's Print Shop, James believes firmly in the American cause and will do almost anything to ensure the people receive an honest view of what is happening. In the process, he also faces the less positive aspects of the political conflict, which eventually forces his patriotic fervor into a new maturity. He highly values his friends, Sarah and Henri. He can be a little protective of Sarah while he attempts to keep Henri out of trouble, acting somewhat like an older brother figure to him. He is very laid-back and is constantly reminded of his bad etiquette and poor table manners by Sarah. At the end, James intends to start his own newspaper, following in the steps of his mentor.
 * Henri Richard Maurice Dutoit LeFevbre (Kathleen Barr) is an energetic, rambunctious 8-year-old French boy (1773). He shares a similar tragic story as James; when he was 6 years old and still living in France, his parents made an agreement with a merchant for seven years of labor in exchange for passage to North America. However, three weeks into the voyage an illness broke out aboard the ship, killing half of those on board, including Henri's parents. The merchant decided to make Henri his cabin boy and treated him very cruelly, until James and Moses discovered him locked in a cage while collecting a new printer from the merchant. Together they smuggled Henri off the ship, and he found a home in Benjamin Franklin's workshop. While he speaks French fluently, Dr. Franklin has insisted that Henri learn to speak, read, and write in English and French. Henri's small size has proved more than useful to Sarah and James, though he has a tendency to land himself in all sorts of trouble while not fully understanding the dangers of the war. His lookout on life is that of a "huge party for his benefit" and he has been labeled a "magnet for trouble". In later episodes, he serves on the drum/bugle corps of the Continental Army. Curious and fearless, the only thing Henri values more than his freedom is finding a family. At the end, he returns to France with Marquis de Lafayette, whom he had become close to almost as a son. It is implied that Lafayette adopts Henri as his foster-son.
 * Moses (D. Kevin Williams) was born in Africa, brought in chains to North America as a slave, and sold on the block in Charleston, South Carolina. Because of his ingenuity, Moses learned to read, forge metal, and buy his freedom, thus freeing himself from the slavery of the American south. To keep from being confused for a runaway slave, Moses is required to carry papers proving he is a free man. He eventually moved to Philadelphia and found work at Dr. Franklin's Print Shop. His brother, Cato, had not been so fortunate but later escaped, joining the British troops as a soldier to earn his freedom. Cato appears again when he does not tell on an African American Patriot spy, James Armistead, whose spying was crucial to the American victory at Yorktown, which ends the war for American independence. Moses looks out for Dr. Franklin's young wards, especially Henri. Like Henri, he values his freedom more than anything. Iron-willed Moses will never allow anyone to strip him of his dignity, despite his or her feelings on race. By working at the Print Shop, Moses hopes to educate children of all colors in the ideals of America so that everyone may one day be free. At the end, Moses reveals a plan to set up a school for free black children, but only to Dr. Franklin and Marquis de Lafayette. Cato goes to Canada with Mrs. Radcliffe, a British loyalist and friend of Sarah and her mother.

Continental Army, Navy, and American militia

 * George Washington (Cork Ramer)
 * Major General William Alexander
 * Colonel Ethan Allen
 * Brigadier General George Rogers Clark (Norman Schwarzkopf)
 * Major General Thomas Conway
 * Margaret "Molly" Corbin
 * Major General Horatio Gates
 * Major General Nathanael Greene (John Michael Lee)
 * Nathan Hale
 * Alexander Hamilton (Andrew Rannells)
 * Charles Lee
 * Colonel John Jameson – appears in "Benedict Arnold"
 * John Paul Jones (Liam Neeson)
 * Tadeusz Kościuszko – a Pole in Continental Army
 * Colonel James Livingston
 * Colonel John Laurens
 * Captain John Parker
 * John Paulding – appears in "Benedict Arnold"
 * Joseph Plumb Martin (Aaron Carter)
 * Israel Putnam – he appeared in the "Bunker Hill" and "The Turtle" episodes.
 * Colonel Joseph Reed
 * Deborah Samson aka Robert Shurtleff (Whoopi Goldberg)
 * John Sullivan
 * Benjamin Tallmadge – appears in "Benedict Arnold"
 * Isaac Van Wart – appears in "Benedict Arnold", no lines
 * Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (Arnold Schwarzenegger) – a Prussian officer in the Continental army.
 * David Williams – appears in "Benedict Arnold", no lines
 * Anthony Wayne
 * Udeny Wolf-Hutchinson (Carl Beck)
 * Dr. Joseph Warren
 * Samuel Prescott

British Army and Navy

 * John André
 * John Burgoyne
 * Guy Carleton
 * Henry Clinton
 * General Lord Charles Cornwallis (Ralph Fiennes)
 * Admiral Lord Richard Howe (Michael York)
 * General William Howe
 * Richard Pearson
 * Johann Rall – a Hessian officer in British service

French officers and politicians

 * Marquis de Lafayette (Ben Beck)
 * Comte de Rochambeau
 * Johann de Kalb
 * Admiral Comte de Grasse
 * Comte de Vergennes
 * King Louis XVI of France – appears in "Allies at Last", no lines

Spanish Army

 * Bernardo de Gálvez (Don Francisco)

Native Americans

 * Joseph Brant (Russell Means)
 * Cornstalk (Russell Means)
 * Abraham Nimham

Turncoats and spies

 * Benedict Arnold (Dustin Hoffman)
 * James Armistead
 * Edward Bancroft
 * John Honeyman
 * Paul Wentworth

American family members

 * Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams (Annette Bening)
 * John Quincy Adams, older son of John Adams
 * Thomas Adams, younger son of John Adams
 * Peggy Shippen, wife of Benedict Arnold (Maria Shriver)

American politicians

 * John Adams (Billy Crystal)
 * Jonathan L. Austin – appears in "Allies at Last"
 * Samuel Adams
 * Samuel Chase
 * Silas Deane
 * Benjamin Franklin (Walter Cronkite)
 * John Hancock
 * Patrick Henry (Michael Douglas)
 * John Jay
 * Thomas Jefferson (Ben Stiller)
 * Henry Laurens
 * Richard Henry Lee
 * James Madison (Warren Buffett)
 * Caesar Rodney
 * Edward Rutledge
 * Luther Martin
 * John Dickinson
 * Charles Pinckney
 * John Witherspoon

British politicians

 * King George III of Great Britain (Charles Shaughnessy)
 * Charles Fox
 * Alexander Wedderburn
 * Lord North

Other historical figures

 * David Bushnell
 * Elizabeth Freeman aka Mum Bett (Yolanda King)
 * James Craik – appears in "Lafayette Arrives", no lines
 * William Dawes
 * Josiah Franklin – appears in "In Praise of Ben", no lines
 * James Franklin
 * Moses Michael Hays
 * Edward Jenner
 * Sybil Ludington (Kayla Hinkle)
 * Thomas Paine
 * Paul Revere (Sylvester Stallone)
 * Theodore Sedgwick
 * Benjamin West
 * Phillis Wheatley

Episodes
The following table contains all 40 episodes of Liberty's Kids, with links to relevant historical articles.

Development
The show was originally known as Poor Richard's Almanac when the series was first announced in October 2000.

United States
The show was originally broadcast on the PBS Kids block on PBS and its 24/7 channel from September 2, 2002 to April 4, 2003, with reruns airing on most PBS stations until October 10, 2004, a day before the launch of PBS Kids Go!. It later reran on Cookie Jar-branded blocks, including Cookie Jar Kids Network (formerly DIC Kids Network) on syndication from July 8, 2004 to August 29, 2009, again from September 25, 2010 to September 15, 2011, Cookie Jar Toons on This TV from September 5, 2009 to September 27, 2010, again from September 26, 2011 to September 28, 2012, and Cookie Jar TV on CBS from September 22, 2012 to September 21, 2013, so that those respective stations, CBS, and This TV, that broadcast the blocks, could fulfill FCC educational and informational requirements. The show also reran on The History Channel on July 4, 2008. In 2017, it played on Starz Kids & Family, and, until August 2019, regularly aired on Starz Encore Family. Until July 4, 2021, the series only aired as a series-long marathon on Independence Day on Starz Encore Family.

International
In 2005, it ran on Spacetoon in the United Arab Emerates. This was the only other country to get the series other than Australia (where it aired on 9Go!).

Home media releases
PBS Home Video released a VHS/DVD boxset of the series in 2003 for educational purposes. The boxset contained 20 VHS's/DVDs which each contained two episodes each. The boxsets also came with resource guides. PBS also released a 6-DVD boxset of the series.

On April 24, 2004, Ten-Strike Home Entertainment, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann, acquired exclusive North American distribution rights to the series. On June 29, 2004, to coincide with Independence Day, the company released three VHS/DVD volumes - The Boston Tea Party: The Movie, Give Me Liberty and The First Fourth of July, each containing three episodes, with the former being made in a feature-length format. The DVD version also came with an assortment of bonus features including a character guide, Historical Biographies and DVD-ROM features which are a printable coloring book and a web link. These releases were made for public use. A pamphlet inside the releases also confirmed that three more DVDs - Heroes and Traitors, American Battles and Daughters of the American Revolution would be released in September 2004, but they were unreleased.

In October 2008, Shout! Factory released Liberty's Kids: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1. The 6-disc box set contains all 40 episodes of the series as well as several bonus features. This release has been discontinued and is out of print as Shout! Factory no longer has the distribution rights to the series.

In July 2013, Mill Creek Entertainment re-released Liberty's Kids: The Complete Series on DVD in a 4-disc set. Each disc contains 10 episodes each. Later in February 2017, Mill Creek Entertainment released Liberty's Kids: The Complete Series: Education Edition on DVD in Region 1. The 3-disc set contains all 40 episodes of the series as well as in-depth study guides for all episodes and activity pages.