What's The Adventures of Li'l Bill & Hill and Friends?

The Adventures of Li'l Bill & Hill and Friends was an amazing Saturday Morning cartoon that ran for 8 seasons, beginning in 1993.  In the tradition of such classic cartoons as A Pup Named Scooby Doo, Muppet Babies, and The Flintstone Kids, The Adventures of Li'l Bill & Hill and Friends featured child-sized versions of the grown-up characters we already loved.  Its humor, well-developed characters, and creative writing made it a very popular show with quite a large following.   Although the show's creators (the geniuses at Any Nation Animation) insist with tongue in cheek that the resemblance is purely coincidental, it is quite obvious that the program was based on the real people surrounding the Clinton presidential administration.

So who are the characters?

The main characters are: Li'l Bill, Li'l Hill, Al, Messy Monica, Janet, George, Linda, Ken, and Socks the Flying Cat.  Socks's age is never revealed, but all the other characters are 10 years old (except for Messy Monica, age 8 and a half).  There were other recurring characters, teachers, etc, and I will certainly add information about them to this site when I do the next major update.

Where do they go to school?

The kids all attend White House Elementary School at 1600 Pencilvania Avenue.

What station was this show on?  And at what time?

I'm amazed at how often this is asked, considering the popularity of the show, and how many years week after week we all woke up early on Saturdays to watch it.  But for those who don't remember, The Adventures of Li'l Bill & Hill ran every Saturday morning at 8:00 on the network whose logo you see here:

How did the theme song go?

Coming Soon: Complete lyrics, and a downloadable mp3 of the theme song.

How many episodes were there?

Each season had just 12 episodes, plus one prime time Christmas episode in 1997, making 97 episodes total.

Is the show available on video or DVD?

No, unfortunately, they are not available at this time (officially, anyway).  I might start a petition, though.  From time to time episodes taped from the original airdates are sold on eBay, so you might try looking to buy them that way. UPDATE: An e-mail from splitsville899 alerts us to an article in last Thursday's Variety, in which Steve Caliente (show producer for the final 3 seasons) suggests the official DVD might be released as soon as they secure the rights to some special supplemental DVD-only extras.  Could this mean we'll finally get to hear the original cast recordings for the pilot (in which Eric Stoltz provided the voice of George)?  Only time will tell.

Who are each of the characters based on?

For a more detailed answer, check the characters pages.  But the short answer is:

Li'l Bill = Bill Clinton
Li'l Hill = Hillary Clinton
George = George Stephanopolous
Linda = Linda Tripp
Messy Monica = Monica Lewinsky
Al = Al Gore
Ken = Ken Starr
Janet = Janet Reno
Socks the Flying Cat = Socks the Cat

Why doesn't Al ever talk?

Al did talk in one episode (actually, he screamed in pain, in "That's Al, Folks", episode 2.05), but that's the only time audiences ever heard his voice.   The character Al was introduced in the pilot as a wacky silent sidekick to Bill, but fans of the show didn't really take to him.  His role diminished over the years, and there were even episodes in later seasons in which he didn't even appear.

Why have I seen so many episodes without Messy Monica?

The character Messy Monica was introduced only for the last two seasons.  The producers felt that adding a cute young character like Monica would help boost ratings, and it worked.  But due to her late introduction into the series, most episodes don't have Monica at all.

What was The Bill & Hill Adventure Hour?

In 1997, the ratings for The Adventures of Bill & Hill and Friends were so high that the network pressured the studio (Any Nation Animation) into producing a full hour of animation for Saturday morning.  Thus was created The Bill & Hill Adventure Hour.  The hour consisted of one half-hour program as usual, followed by two 11-minute cartoons starring Socks the Flying Cat.  Only rarely did any of the White House Elementary School characters make an appearance in the Socks cartoons.   The 11-minute segments were designed and animated by a division of Any Nation Animation that was created specifically for the task and did not follow the style, look, or feel of the original series.  While Socks remained a very popular character, these 11-minute shorts did not catch on and were dropped the following season.  One of the 11-minute shorts ("Flying and Frying") was shown in cinemas before Any Nation Animation's first feature film, the animated version of the Hans Christian Andersen tale The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf, but was pulled after the first week when parents complained about a scene in which Socks appeared to become stoned after smelling daisies.

What is a Li'l HillBilly?

Li'l HillBillies (sometimes just called HillBillies) are what die-hard fans of The Adventures of Li'l Bill & Hill and Friends call themselves.  They usually gather at animation conventions, frequently dressed like their favorite characters, argue over the finer points of the show, and trade video tapes, memoribilia, fan fiction, and other related paraphenalia.

Is there a Fan Club?

There sure is.  Members of the fan club receive a lifetime membership, a Fan Club t-shirt, and a handsome 8" x 10" certificate suitable for framing, that looks like this:

And that's all just for one lifetime membership fee of $35.00!  For more information, contact fanclub@lilbill.net.

What celebrities have lent their voices as guest stars on the show?

Over the years, all sorts of stars have done guest spots.  The most popular episode featuring guest celebrities was in the seventh episode of the seventh season (episode 7.07, "They Might Be Big, Big, Fake, Fake, Lies"), which diverged from the show's usual format and instead featured all the characters in animated music videos set to the tunes of rock band They Might Be Giants.  Some of the other celebrities who have provided voices for The Adventures of Li'l Bill & Hill and Friends include Dabney Coleman, Charles Barkley, Davy Jones, Elizabeth Taylor, Chubby Checker, Robert Duvall, Little Richard, Conrad Bain and Dana Plato, Tim Conway, Courtney Love, Candice Bergen, Troy Maclure, John Ratzenburger, Abe Vagoda, Parker Posey, Buzz Aldren, Chris Gaines, "Grandpa" Al Lewis, Dick Van Patten, Peter MacNicol, Bob Balaban, Stubby Kaye, Penn and Teller, David Hasselhoff, Doug Henning, Jackie Chan, Dr. Demento, Reba McEntyre and Trent Reznor (who could forget that episode), Robert Altman, Alfred E. Newman, Agnes Moorehead (posthumously, using audio clips from throughout her career), Debbie Reynolds, The Bacon Brothers, Charo, Barry Bostwick, Mr. T, Mindy Cohn, Doug E. Doug, Robert Wuhl, Shadoe Stevens, Martin Mull, Ricki Lake, Cloris Leachman, Harry Hamlin, and Martha Plimpton.  This is just a partial list, of course, but covers most of the major guest spots.

Is it true that Charlie Brown appeared on an episode once?

No.  There seems to be a widely-circulated rumor that Charlie Brown appeared on the show once, playing a 10-year-old James Carville.  It's not true at all.  I'm not sure how this rumor started.