Liberty's Kids facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Liberty's Kids
Genre	Historical fiction
Created by	Kevin O'Donnell Michael Maliani
Developed by	Andy Heyward Michael Maliani Kevin O'Donnell Robby London
Written by	Doug McIntyre
Directed by	Judy Reilly Marsha Goodman Einstein
Presented by	Walter Cronkite as the voice of Benjamin Franklin
Voices of	Kathleen Barr Reo Jones Chris Lundquist D. Kevin Williams
Theme music composer	Matthew Gerrard
Opening theme	"Through My Own Eyes" performed by Aaron Carter and Kayla Hinkle
Ending theme	"Through My Own Eyes" performed by Aaron Carter and Kayla Hinkle
Composer(s)	Eric Allaman Stephen C. Marston Craig Marks
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	40
Production
Executive producer(s)	Andy Heyward Michael Maliani Robby London
Producer(s)	Kevin O'Donnell Kaaren Brown
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	DIC Entertainment Corporation Melusine Productions
Distributor	DIC Entertainment
Release
Original network	PBS (PBS Kids)
Original release	September 2, 2002 (2002-09-02) – April 4, 2003 (2003-04-04)

Liberty's Kids (stylized on-screen as Liberty's Kids: Est. 1776) is an American animated historical fiction television series produced by DIC Entertainment Corporation, originally broadcast by PBS on its PBS Kids block from September 2, 2002 to April 4, 2003, with reruns airing on most PBS stations until October 8, 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. It received two Daytime Emmy nominations, in 2003 and 2004, both 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 cartoon mini-series This Is America, Charlie Brown earlier, Liberty's Kids tells of young people in dramas surrounding the major events in the Revolutionary War days.

The theme song was performed by Aaron Carter and Kayla Hickle.

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), and Don Francisco (as Bernardo de Gálvez), 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 commercials. During PBS airings, these are replaced by 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 segments were produced and art directed by designer Mike Bundlie.

Plot

Benjamin Franklin and four fictional associates of his in their experiences during the American Revolution. Although the series spans 16 years from the Boston Tea Party in 1773 to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1789, no main characters appear to age much, except for Dr. Franklin.

Characters

Fictional characters

• Sarah Phillips (voiced by Reo Jones) – A bright-eyed red-headed girl from England, Sarah 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. However, with the possibility of a war between the American colonists and the English mother country, she decides that she will become a reporter for Franklin's newspaper in order to offer a more balanced perspective to the press. Sarah believes firmly in the power of words and equal rights for all, 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 in the series, Sarah has a change of heart and 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; when this happens, James can seem almost jealous, although near the end of the series she appears to feel "more than friendship" for James. Throughout the series, Sarah and James grow closer. At the end of the series, her mother, Lady Phillips, joins Sarah and her father in the United States and Sarah hopes to explore more of her adopted country.
• James Hiller (voiced by Chris Lundquist) – A young American colonist who works as an apprentice journalist for Franklin's newspaper. James 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 both 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 that the people receive an honest view of what is happening. In the process, he also faces the less positive aspects of the political conflict that 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 Henri. He is very laid-back and is constantly reminded of his bad etiquette and poor table manners by Sarah, toward whom he shows feelings of what might be "more than friendship". At the end of the series, James intends to start his own newspaper, following in the steps of his mentor.
• Henri Richard Maurice Dutoit LeFevbre (voiced by Kathleen Barr) – An energetic, rambunctious French boy, Henri shares a similar tragic story as James. Several years earlier, when he was six 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, during the voyage an illness broke out aboard the ship, killing half of those on board, including both 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 the boy 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 both 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 and bugle corps of the Continental Army. Curious and fearless, the only thing Henri values more than his freedom is finding a family of his own. At the end of the series he returns to France with Marquis de Lafayette, whom he had become close to during the series almost as a son. It is implied that Lafayette adopts Henri as his foster-son.
• Moses (voiced by D. Kevin Williams) – Born in Africa, Moses was 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 from his master, 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 that 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 at the end of the series 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 of the series, Moses reveals a plan to set up a school for free black children, both boys and girls, 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.

Historical characters depicted

Episodes

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

Broadcast

The show was originally broadcast by PBS on its PBS Kids block from September 2, 2002 to April 4, 2003, with reruns airing on most PBS stations until October 10, 2004 to make room for PBS Kids GO!

Beginning in September 2004, DIC began to syndicate the series onto their DIC Kids Network block, so that those respective stations that broadcast the block, could fulfill FCC educational and informational requirements.

In 2005, it ran on Spacetoon.

In 2008, it ran on History.

The series also aired on This TV's Cookie Jar Toons block and on CBS's Cookie Jar TV block from 2012 to 2013.

In 2017, it played on Starz Kids & Family, and, until August 2019, regularly aired on Starz Encore Family. As of August 2019, the series only airs as a series-long marathon on Independence Day on Starz Encore Family.