Animated Hero Classics

We first meet Christopher Columbus as an exuberant boy of Genoa, Italy, who wants only one thing - an adventurous life at sea. As he grows into young manhood, he becomes an expert sailor. When King John offers a handsome reward for the captain who can find the fastest route to the treasures of India, Columbus realizes he has found his calling. Columbus is convinced that the most direct route to the Far East is by sailing due west around the globe. But King John only laughs at Columbus. "No one has ever sailed to the west on the great ocean. It cannot be done." Columbus' determination keeps his dream alive. Many years later, in search of support for his voyage of discovery, Columbus is in the court of Queen Isabella of Spain. He tells her, "I have met many men who say it is impossible to sail west. They all have one thing in common - none of them has sailed west." The Queen is intrigued by Columbus' determination, but Spain is at war. She can spare neither ships nor money for such an expedition. She asks her learned men, led by the comic figure of Talavera, to research Columbus' plan. Talavera rejects the idea of sailing west. "It is a child's dream," he declares. But the Queen believes in Columbus. When the war ends, she gives him a commission - three ships, a crew of ninety and money to make his journey. On the voyage Columbus has two strong allies - the great captain Pinson, and the young boy Rodrigo. The trip begins well, but as the days stretch into weeks, the men turn mutinous. Rations run short, and the men are convinced they will perish. Pinson is able to get the crew to agree to only three more days of sailing. Then they will turn back. At the end of the three days, Christopher Columbus kneels in prayer. "Dear God," he says, "There is nothing more I can do. Please help us." Suddenly, from high up in the crows' nest, Rodrigo shouts out, "Land ho!" Columbus has discovered a new world. Back in Spain, Queen Isabella honors Columbus. "I name you Admiral of the Ocean Seas. Your name will live forever. Because of you the world will never be the same."

In 1620, John Carver, William Bradford, Captain Standish and 99 pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower toward America in search of religious freedom. As disease and storms hit they are almost forced to return. William Bradford convinces Captain Standish to press on. Before landing, Bradford suggests everyone sign the Mayflower Contract designed to enact their own laws and elect leaders for a free government. John Carver is elected to govern for one year. The land they choose to build on becomes known as "Plymouth". Immediately, the winter sets in and the pilgrims face the harsh effects of the weather, hunger and disease. By the first signs of spring, half of the pilgrims have died. Soon a lone Indian appears on the horizon. Against Captain Standish's wishes, John Carver and William Bradford befriend Samoset of the Wampanoag tribe. Samoset sends the English-speaking Squanto and Chief Massasoit to the pilgrims who make a peace pact. Chief Massasoit offers gifts to seal the deal. Squanto and Samoset live with the pilgrims and teach them how to live off the land. As John Carver falls ill, he makes Bradford Governor of Plymouth. After the first successful crop, Bradford proposes a "Feast of thanksgiving" to honor God and thank him for his many gifts.

The young George Washington has to do much to take care of his family. Good with math and numbers, Washington becomes a surveyor. As a youth, Washington was close to his half-brother Lawrence. When Lawrence dies, George inherits Lawrence's land and home at Mount Vernon. George Washington is elected to the Continental Congress, and when fighting breaks out between England and the colonies at Lexington, the Congress names Washington commander of the new Continental Army. Washington is not sure he is up to the task, but he loyally accepts the Commission. At first the British win easy victories over the colonial army and capture New York City. But Washington turns into a great leader. He rallies his troops, and takes his army across the Delaware River on Christmas Eve, surprising the British and winning important victories. All through the long war, Washington shows discipline, persistence and courage, inspiring his soldiers, even in the desperate days of winter encampment at Valley Forge. At this lowest point he thwarts a plan by Inspector General Conway to have him removed as head of the army and and keeps his men motivated and unified for final victory. That ultimate success is assured by the arrival of troops and equipment from France. The combined French and American forces under General Washington finally defeat the British at Yorktown. The new nation will survive.

Benjamin Franklin knows that a traveling show "magician" is using an electromagnetic generating machine to perform the "tricks." Intrigued by the possibilities of electricity, Franklin buys the machine. On a wall at his home, hang Franklin's "many hats." He is- or has been - a diplomat, inventor, printer, postmaster and fire chief. Now he contemplates the power of electricity. He doesn't know what to do with it, but he knows it is important. "The power of the future," he says, "the friend of mankind." But right now mankind in Philadelphia is threatened by a series of thunderstorms. With regularity, lightning strikes, setting fires all over the town. Franklin's fire department, although equipped with the latest 18th Century fire-fighting equipment, is helpless against its power. Meanwhile, Franklin continues to play with electricity. He begins to understand how electricity flows from one place to another. Another lightning bolt sets fire to yet another house. Justice Hill declares that lightning is a "judgment from God against our wicked ways." Franklin, a man of deep faith and a man of science, doesn't think so. He observes that lightning tends to strike only the tallest buildings in an area. A short time later, on a night when lightning is setting fires everywhere, Franklin has a revelation. What if lightning were electricity? Then it might be controlled. Franklin conducts his famous experiment. Flying a kite in a thunderstorm, he confines the power of a lightning bolt in a leydon jar, a type of early storage battery. Now he knows how to control electricity. With lightning rods on top of their buildings and iron cables going down to the earth, the people of Philadelphia are protected.

The newly elected president, Abraham Lincoln, and his family are leaving their hometown for the journey to Washington. He bids his friends and neighbors farewell. In their life together we can see that Lincoln gains strength from his family, especially from his sons Tad and Willie. Abraham Lincoln needs all the strength he can find. His great cause-the American Union-is split asunder by civil war. But Mr. Lincoln is no ordinary man. With complete dedication to his cause, he leads his nation through its darkest hour, finding strength and solace where he can. His son Willie reads a poem to the President's cabinet, a poem in honor of a soldier who has died for the Union cause. It is clear that the poem is a reflection of his father's own deep commitment to preserving the Union. Abraham Lincoln struggles with the idea of abolishing slavery. His advisors ask, "How can you fight a war without attacking what started it?" But Lincoln is cautious. He knows that freeing the slaves is not without political and military risk. He is torn by a personal tragedy. His favorite son, Willie, is deathly ill. Despite the efforts of the doctors, Willie dies. Lincoln mourns his loss, believing, "He was too good for this earth." Reflecting on the sorrow and shortness of life, Lincoln comes to know what he must do. He issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves. The war drags on and on-hundreds of thousands die. Lincoln is invited to Pennsylvania to help consecrate a military cemetery at Gettysburg. Lincoln's short speech is a meditation on dedication to democratic principles which nobly expresses the reasons for all the bloody and costly struggle of ending civil war. There is celebration in the land when the war finally ends. But Lincoln is not to live to oversee the reunion of the nation he loved. Killed by an assassin's bullet, Lincoln becomes yet one more martyr to the cause he served so well. His was a life of courage, faith and supreme dedication.

We enter the world of a century ago, a world lit by gaslight. It is Menlo Park, New Jersey in 1877. Thomas Edison and his team are completing work on a new invention - the phonograph. Edison is a renowned inventor and is hailed as "The Wizard of Menlo Park." He declares that he will invent a practical electric light, a light that will be safer and cleaner than gaslight. He receives financial assistance from the financier J.P. Morgan for the undertaking. There are those who do not want Edison to succeed, but he toils on and on. He knows that the secret of electric light is incandescence - heating a filament with electricity until it glows. But what material should be used for the filament? His men try everything - but in each case, the filament shoots up in flames. The trials go on for months, yet Edison does not give up hope. The Warwick Institute tells the press that the electric light is an impossible dream and calls Edison a scoundrel. Edison declares that on New Year's Eve - only a few months hence, he will light up the area with 2,000 electric lights. The search for the elusive filament goes on and on. Ironically, each time Edison's light bulb fails, he must return to gas light in order to see. His men are ready to give up. "We have tried 1000 different types of filament." Edison says that the trick is to get up the courage to try 1001. At last they achieve success. The successful filament proves to be ordinary cotton thread, coated with carbon. On New Year's Eve Edison ushers in the year 1880 with a spectacular display of electric lights. His men and his supporters cheer.

Florence Nightingale is the child of wealthy parents in 19th Century England. She is uninterested in marriage, society life and money. She wants to help the poor. When she accepts a job as superintendent at a hospital in the slums of London, he parents threaten to disown her. But Florence knows what she was meant to do. She says that to marry would ruin the life that God intended her to have. War comes to the Crimea and British troops are involved in the action. The British Army hospital in Turkey is full of the wounded and the sick. In an effort to relieve the suffering, Florence and a small group of women are sent to help. At the hospital, Florence and the others face the contempt of the military officials. The head of the hospital, John Hall, does not allow the nurses to care for the sick. But he cannot stop the nurses from showing compassion to the wounded men. Finally, when the situation in the hospital grows desperate, John Hall reluctantly allows Florence and the other nurses to minister to the soldiers. Quickly Florence takes matters in hand. Conditions improve. The death rate falls. When "The Times" of London publishes stories about her work, they call her "The Lady of the Lamp." A woman full of compassion. On a trip to the front lines hospitals, Florence falls ill from exhaustion and seems near death. While still in a fever, she receives a brooch from Queen Victoria inscribed: "Blessed are the Merciful." From her parents she receives a letter expressing how proud they are of her. Florence recovers. She returns to the military hospital where the grateful men salute her.

Pocahontas is a beautiful, young Indian princess traveling with her husband, John Rolfe, and son, Thomas, to London to see John's birthplace. She is awed by the activity and the largeness of London. However, Pocahontas soon falls ill with the plague. Once, when Pocahontas and John are entering their hotel, they are approached by Captain John Smith. Pocahontas is extremely upset, having thought John was dead for a long time. Her husband apologizes on her behalf, explaining she is ill. She asks him to come again. Pocahontas is a young girl at the age of twelve when she first sees the English settlers of Jamestown. Curious and brave, Pocahontas befriends the colony and persuades her father to help them survive through the winter. This act of kindness brings peace between the Indians and the settlers. As food grows scarce for the settlers, they steal from the Indians. The Indians capture Captain John Smith, intending to kill him. Pocahontas saves his life by "claiming him for her own." Captain Smith sails shortly thereafter and is presumed dead. When Pocahontas grows into a young woman, she is captured by members of the Jamestown colony and is held as ransom for supplies from her father. John Rolfe is placed as her guard. As summer turns to fall, and fall turns to winter, John and Pocahontas fall in love. He teaches her to read the books John Smith had given her before he left. When Pocahontas is released to her father again, the settlers demand their supplies. Once again Pocahontas risks her life in order to maintain peace. Both the Indians and the settlers are forced to give in as the "peace of Pocahontas" is known.

The time is 1860, and cholera is beginning to spread throughout France's chicken population. Louis Pasteur and his assistant, Emile Roux, collect samples and deduce that disease can be transmitted through air. They then draw blood from the chickens and see an unidentified germ in the specimens. While Pasteur and Roux work with the samples of blood, Pasteur has a debilitating stroke. From his bed, he expresses his determination to live, and continues to work with Roux by writing him notes. He tells Roux to inject the chickens with the contaminated blood. The chickens die. When Pasteur finally comes back to the laboratory, they discover the blood has altered from time. When they inject this blood into the chickens again, the cholera germs are killed.They have created a vaccination for the chickens. Meanwhile, sheep begin to die from anthrax. Even though other scientists mock Pasteur's findings, they agree to let him experiment on 25 sheep. They are all surprised to see the vaccine work. Pasteur is determined for vaccinations to work on people. He and Roux continue to experiment for four years until a young boy, Joseph Meister, contracts rabies from a wolf and his father brings him to Pasteur. Although hesitant to experiment on a human. Pasteur agrees to give him the shot. After five long days of waiting and another shot, Joseph Meister recovers and the world's first human vaccination is introduced.

Young athletes are engaged in a wrestling match as the story begins. There is competition not only for the title but also for the culture. The Jews are being humiliated by the Greeks as the Greek government tried to overthrow the people and force the Jews to turn to the Greek religion. There is only one thing that a Jew can do. He can bow down and submit to the Greek authorities or he can run and hide and hope not to be caught as he practices the religion of his fathers. Mora is an old woman who has faith that all will be right in the end, and her long time young friend, Huron, gives up his Jewish heritage and pledges his loyalty to the Greeks. Mora and others of her belief run and hide in fear of being found and destroyed or punished. Huron becomes one of the Greek soldiers but cannot turn in the Jews when he has a chance. The Maccabees are leaders in the overthrowing of the Greeks. They take a group of Jews to the mountain to escape from the Greek overthrow of the temple. While in the mountain, they begin to build a retaining wall for the river water. When the Greeks feel threatened by the "mountain encampment" they decide to go up and take the mountain. The talks and negotiations are not successful; in fact, the Greeks are overthrown by the rushing of the water as the Maccabees open the floodgates. The Jews are now free to return to Jerusalem and restore the temple to its original beauty and use as a place of worship. There is not oil enough for the 8-day feast so the candles are lit with just one day supply of oil. The miracle of this victory is that the oil was sufficient to keep the candles burning for the entire 8-day celebration.