AllMovie

Coproduced by the DiC animation firm and PBS, Liberty's Kids was a half-hour historical cartoon series set during the American Revolution. The principal characters were Sarah Phillips and James Hiller, apprentices both to the multifaceted Benjamin Franklin. The fact that Sarah was loyal to the British and James was a 100-percent "Yankee Doodle" added to the cultural diversity of the series, as did the presence of James' friend Moses, a freed slave, and Henri, an eight-year-old French street urchin unofficially adopted by James and Moses. The series' real drawing card was its stellar cast of voice actors, portraying the many historical personages with whom Sarah, James, Moses, and Henri came into contact. For example, Ben Franklin was voiced by veteran newscaster Walter Cronkite (who even got to say "That's the way it is" on occasion); Michael Douglas was heard as Patrick Henry; Sylvester Stallone enacted Paul Revere; Dustin Hoffman interpreted notorious turncoat Benedict Arnold; and Arnold Schwarzenegger managed to sneak an "I'll be back" into his characterization of Baron Von Steuben. Geared for children aged seven to 12, Liberty's Kids joined the PBS daytime manifest on September 2, 2002.