Liberty's Kids (stylized on-screen as Liberty's Kids: Est. 1776) is an American animated historical fiction television series produced by 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.

Characters

Fictional characters

Historical characters depicted

Continental Army, Navy, and American militia

British Army and Navy

French officers and politicians

Spanish Army

Native Americans

Turncoats and spies

American family members

American politicians

British politicians

Other historical figures

Episodes

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

Season 1 (2002–2003)

Development

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

Broadcast

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 Emirates. 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.