As part of their History's Heroes DVD series, American Animations Studios has released Patrick Henry: Quest for Freedom, a thirty minute 3-D computer animated look at the life of the fiery American Revolutionary patriot. Designed to specifically appeal to "media-literate students, 8 and up" (that's from the back of the DVD case), Patrick Henry: Quest for Freedom certainly has honorable intentions, but both as a history lesson and as an entertaining film, it's less assured.

Patrick Henry: Quest for Freedom looks at just a few aspects of Henry's life, including a few small moments from his youth, his successful application to the Virginia Bar after pursuing law studies for only three months (most lawyers spent three years studying), the "Parson's Cause" lawsuit from 1763, and his famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech at Saint John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, before the House of Burgesses in 1775. Naturally, with such a limited running time, big swathes of his life story had to remain out, but unfortunately, the makers of the film still had plenty of time to waste on "Boomer."

Boomer is an American bald eagle who serves, in the words of the animation company's president, as the "interface" between the story and the young viewers. Basically, he re-interprets the words of Patrick Henry and other characters, and makes them more "accessible" to the younger viewers. He also clowns quite a bit, which I assume is AAS's way of "deepen[ing] learning and increase[ing] retention through humor and entertaining storytelling" (again, from the back of the DVD case).

Personally, I found Boomer annoying. He's not particularly funny, and his antics, if you want to call them that, take up valuable space in that short thirty minute running time that could have been used on Patrick Henry. While Patrick Henry: Quest for Freedom is to be admired for using quite a bit of what I assume are Henry's own words, I don't think those stirring words need to be "reinterpreted" for younger viewers. If anything, I think that kind of pandering is exactly what is watering down public education today. That, as well as trying to include fictional, "fun" characters like Boomer doing silly things to make the history lesson supposedly go down easier. Good, exciting history, told faithfully and well, doesn't need any of that extra baggage or dumbing down to appeal to kids.

But as always when reviewing a DVD aimed specifically at kids, I grabbed one of my own within the desired age bracket, and had him watch, as well. He didn't find Boomer all that engaging, either. Actually, at one point, he became annoyed with Boomer, when Boomer kept interrupting Henry's famous "liberty or death" speech. I was gritting my teeth, too. I nor my son needed a fictitious, pseudo-Disney supporting character to keep reminding us that something important was coming up. The power of Henry's words were enough to convince us of that; having faith in that power to cross over to young viewers evidently isn't shared by AAS, so that's why we're stuck with Boomer.

My son also commented on the 3-D computer animation - unfavorably. And I had to agree. It's fairly ungainly, with vocal work (which isn't strong to begin with) mismatched often to the characters' mouth movements, and a less-than-believable approximation of human movement (there's an unintentionally hilarious moment when a British guard, supposedly motioning to Henry who's speaking inside the church, appears to be having severe neck spasms). The backgrounds are cheap and plain, and there's not much of a color range to the show, with a muted sameness to the design. While I admire AAS's good intentions, Patrick Henry: Quest for Freedom is a misfire.

The DVD:

The Video:
You have a choice of watching Patrick Henry: Quest for Freedom at 4 x3 or at 16 x 9; either way, it's a clear, strong digital picture.

The Audio:
The English 2.0 stereo mix is adequate for the job here.

The Extras:
There's an informative behind-the-scenes look at how Patrick Henry: Quest for Freedom was produced, with the creative force behind AAS giving their views on educational DVDs.

Final Thoughts:
The last thing I want to do is knock a company that is trying to help instill traditional American values and an appreciation of American culture, for young students. But good intentions don't make good films. I suppose Patrick Henry: Quest for Freedom may be of some use in a classroom, but I suspect there are other biographies and documentaries on Henry out there that would work just as well, and probably better. Certainly the average DVD buyer won't need it. Rent Patrick Henry: Quest for Freedom first if you're a teacher looking for additional materials on this fascinating American hero.