The Flintstones

The Flintstones, an American animated television series created by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, is one of the most successful animated television series of all time, originally running in American prime time for six seasons, from 1960 to 1966, on the ABC network.

Overview

The show is set in a town called Bedrock in the Stone Age era, but with a society identical to that of the United States in the mid-to-late 20th century; in the Flintstones' fantasy version of the prehistoric past, dinosaurs, saber-toothed tigers, woolly mammoths and other long extinct animals coexist with cavemen, who use technology equivalent to that of the 20th century, largely through the use of various animals. The characters drive automobiles made out of stone or wood and animal skins and powered by gasoline, although foot power is required to start the vehicles. Although the characters were set in the Stone Age, that never stopped the show's creators from producing a Christmas episode during the original series' run as well as several more Christmas specials in the decades that followed.

One source of the show's humor was the ways animals were used for technology. For example, when the characters took photographs with an instant camera, the inside of the camera box would be shown to contain a bird carving the picture on a stone tablet with its bill. In a running gag, the animals powering such technology would look directly into the camera at the audience, shrug, and remark, "It's a living," or some similar phrase. Another commonly seen gadget in the series was a baby woolly mammoth being used as a vacuum cleaner.

Being set in the Stone Age allowed for endless gags and puns that involved rocks in one way or another, including the names of the various characters being "rock" puns; some such names included celebrities such as "Cary Granite", "Stony Curtis", and "Ann-Margrock."

The series directly drew from The Honeymooners for its main quartet of characters: the blustering Fred Flintstone and his ever-patient wife Wilma Flintstone (née Slaghoople, though Pebble was also given on occasion) modeled after the Kramdens, and their friendly neighbors Barney Rubble and wife Betty Rubble (née Betty Jean McBricker) modeled after the Nortons. Later additions to the cast included the Flintstones' infant daughter Pebbles Flintstone and the Rubbles' abnormally strong adopted son Bamm Bamm Rubble. The Flintstones had a pet dinosaur named Dino (pronounced DEE-no, and which barked like a dog), and the Rubbles had a kangaroo-like animal named Hoppy. Fred Flintstone worked at a stone quarry and worked for several different bosses, the best known of which was the bald Mr. Slate.

In later seasons, the Flintstones cast expanded to include The Gruesomes, their strange next-door neighbors (inspired by the then-popular monster sitcoms The Addams Family and The Munsters), and The Great Gazoo, an alien exiled to Earth who helps Fred and Barney, usually against their will.

It has been noted that Fred Flintstone physically resembled voice actor Alan Reed. The voice of Barney was provided by legendary voice actor Mel Blanc, though five episodes in the second season used actor Daws Butler while Blanc was recovering from a near-fatal car accident. The similarities with The Honeymooners included the fact that Reed based Fred's voice upon Jackie Gleason's interpretation of Ralph Kramden, while Blanc, after a season of using a nasal, high-pitched voice for Barney, eventually adopted a style of voice similar to that used by Art Carney in his portrayal of Ed Norton.

In the show's closing credits, Fred tries to "put the cat out for the night" but winds up getting locked out and yelling for his wife to come open the door: "Wilma! Come on, Wilma, open this door! Willllll-ma!" By the time the theme song "Meet the Flintstones" was used, Fred cut the yelling to: "Willllll-ma!" Although the cat, Baby Puss, was seen in the closing credits of every episode, it was rarely actually seen in any of the storylines. This running gag of having the lead character of the series ending up being helpless during the end credits in every episode due to the hijinks of a family pet would later be repeated by Hanna-Barbera in the series The Jetsons in which George Jetson ends up being caught on a treadmill that ends up spinning out of control. He also (as does Fred in this series) cries out for his wife, by asking her to stop the mechanism with the line, "Jane! Stop this crazy thing!"

History

Originally, the series was to have been titled The Flagstones, and a brief demonstration film was created to sell the idea of a "modern stone age family" to sponsors and the network. When the series itself was commissioned, the title was changed, possibly to avoid confusion with the Flagstons, characters in the popular comic strip, Hi and Lois. After spending a brief period in development as The Gladstones, Hanna-Barbera settled upon The Flintstones.

Aside from the animation and fantasy setting, the show's scripts and format are typical of a 1950s American situation comedy, with the usual family issues resolved with a laugh at the end of each episode.

Although most Flintstones episodes are standalone storylines, the series was significant in being the first American animated series to feature story arcs. The most notable example was a series of episodes surrounding the birth of Pebbles. Beginning with the episode "The Surprise", aired midway through the third season, in which Wilma reveals her pregnancy to Fred, the arc continued through the trials and tribulations leading up to Pebbles' birth, and then continued with several episodes showing Fred and Wilma adjusting to the world of parenthood.

A postscript to the arc occurred in the third episode of the fourth season, in which the Rubbles, depressed over being unable to have children of their own (making The Flintstones the first animated series in history to address the issue of infertility, though subtly), adopt Bamm-Bamm. Another story arc, occurring in the final season, centered on Fred and Barney's dealings with The Great Gazoo.

The series was initially aimed at adult audiences as the first season was sponsored by the cigarette company Winston and the characters appeared in several commercials for Winstons. The famous theme song "Meet the Flintstones" was not actually introduced until the third season (1962–1963), although early versions of the melody can be heard as background music in many episodes.

The theme used for the first and second seasons, an instrumental called "Rise and Shine", was removed from all first and second season episodes in syndication from the 1960s through the early 1990s and replaced with the "Meet the Flintstones" opening, while a closing credits sequence taken from a later episode was substituted at the end. As a result, the closing credits for all first season episodes in syndication were incorrect for many years. New syndicated versions of the episodes in the 1990s restored the original first season credits and theme, albeit with cigarette and other advertising matter omitted. According to information provided on the DVD release of the second season, this decision was made because at the time syndicated programs were often aired out of their original broadcast order, and it was felt having the show jump between the different opening credits sequences would confuse audiences. Nonetheless, a number of later Flintstones episodes in syndication used an alternate version of the closing credits in which Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm are shown singing "Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sunshine In".

The first season of the original series, with the original opening credits, as well as "Rise and Shine" restored but not the cigarette ads, was released on DVD in late 2003; season 2 was released in December 2004; season 3 in March 2005; and season 4 in November 2005. The remaining two seasons are expected to be released in 2006.

Following the show's cancellation in 1966, a theatrical film based upon the series was released. The Man Called Flintstone was a musical spy caper that parodied James Bond and other secret agents. The movie was released on DVD in North America in March 2005.

The show was revived in the 1970s with Pebbles and Bamm Bamm having grown into teenagers, and several different series and made-for-TV movies—including a series depicting Fred and Barney as police officers, another depicting the characters as children, and yet others featuring Fred and Barney encountering Marvel Comics superhero The Thing and comic strip character The Shmoo have appeared over the years. The original show also was adapted into two feature non-animated films, in 1994 and 2000.

Only the advent of The Simpsons decades later brought cartoons back to American prime time network television with the kind of success The Flintstones enjoyed. And it was The Simpsons in 1997 that ultimately broke The Flintstones' record as the longest-running prime time animated series. A number of episodes of The Simpsons made explicit or implicit references to The Flintstones---for example, in one episode of The Simpsons ("Marge vs. the Monorail") the starting sequence parodies the opening and theme song of The Flintstones, and in another episode ("Treehouse of Horror XII") Homer and Marge Simpson dress as Fred and Wilma Flintstone in the opening. In addition, the character Barney Gumble from The Simpsons is based on Barney Rubble. Another episode ("Lady Bouvier's Lover") has Mr. Burns greeting Homer, Marge and Maggie as Fred, Wilma and Pebbles. Homer subsequently says "Yabba Dabba Doo!" when Mr. Burns gives him a box of chocolates. One episode's couch gag even featured the Simpsons running in and finding The Flintstones (as they were originally animated) sitting on the Simpsons' couch.

Music

The Flintstones was one of the more musical animated TV series, with many episodes featuring original, slightly rewritten, or actual popular recordings of the day, performed either by Fred, Barney, or a special guest star.

In the first season Fred knew how to sing. One of the first song performances in the series was the old spiritual "When the Saints Go Marching In" performed by Fred in the first season episode "Hot Lips Hannigan" in a vocal style strongly reminiscent of jazz crooner Mel Torme. A later episode, in which Fred takes on the persona of teen idol "Hye Fye" sees him performing "Listen to the Rockin' Bird" - a rewrite of the standard "Listen to the Mockingbird". Again, Fred's voice sounds so much like Torme's that it was speculated the singer provided the voice, although it is actually Reed singing these two songs. Also in the first season while Alan mostly created Fred's speaking voice in an unnaturally loud tone, on occasion he used his natural tone to voice Fred (episode 5 "Split Personality" for example).

In the second season, Fred was stripped of his singing ability (in the season premiere for season 2 "Hit Song Writers" Fred could not carry a tune when he attempted to sing "Stardust"). Fred was from then on depicted as being tone deaf, but a couple times sang a few tunes that had limited vocal range. Alan Reed himself sang several tunes in his loud tone in the coming years, including "Christmas is My Favorite Time of Year" and "Dino the Dinosaur" in the series' often-replayed Christmas episode. Mel Blanc also performed a few vocals, including a version of "Old Folks at Home", while Jean Van Der Pyl and Bea Benadaret sang two versions of "The Car Hop Song," one performing as a pair of young girls auditioning for a job with Fred and Barney's new hamburger stand, and a second version in character as Wilma and Betty.

Many of the original songs in the series were composed by Hoyt Curtin.

Many musical moments were provided by celebrity voice artists who lent both their vocal talents and their likenesses to characters. Hoagy Carmichael was the one of the first, introducing the original song "Yabba Dabba Doo!" in the second season premiere episode, "The Hit Songwriters" (in the same episode, Fred - on one of his tone deaf days - mangles Carmichael's "Stardust"). Ann-Margret, appearing in a fourth season episode, performed her single "I Ain't Goin' to Be Your Fool No More" and the lullaby "The Littlest Lamb". James Darren, appearing as "Jimmy Darrock" performed "The Surfin' Craze", while The Beau Brummels performed "Laugh Laugh" which was a real-life hit for the group. In the final season, space-rockers, The Wayouts appeared.

One of the most fondly remembered songs of the series was "The Bedrock Twitch", performed by staff voice actor Daws Butler and later performed in one of the first live-action Flintstones film by The B-52s. Two other songs became standards on their own and are not always identified as originating with the Flintstones -- the seemingly endless singalong "Happy Anniversary" which is often performed at anniversary parties, and the spiritual "Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sunshine In", the latter song being adopted as the series closing theme during the final season. The aforementioned "Littlest Lamb" also became a popular lullaby.

During 1961, the cast members recorded an album of songs, in character, aimed at children. One of these songs, "Meet the Flintstones", was later adopted as the series' theme song beginning with the third season.

In 1996, Rhino Records released The Flintstones: Modern Stone Age Melodies, an album containing a number of musical selections taken from the series.[1] Missing from the collection are the two Ann-Margret songs, which have been released on the Bear Family Records label of Germany.

The later series, The Simpsons, carries on a number of Flintstones traditions, including the incorporation of music into its storylines.

Cultural References

The series spawned three breakfast cereals: the popular Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles, and the discontinued Dino Pebbles. Commercials for these cereals featured a gimmick in the form of Barney (who seems much smarter in the commercials than in the show itself) tricking Fred out of his cereal, usually by way of disguising himself as something completely different. Eventually, Fred catches on and gives chase after Barney as the ad ends. Early ads used the closing tagline, "Yabba-dabba-delicious!", but the phrase was removed during the 1990s.

An enduring license has been a line of children's multivitamins called "Flintstones Complete" (more popularly known as Flintstones Vitamins); the first seasons of the series were, in part, sponsored by One-a-Day Vitamins. There has been a "Did You Know?" quiz circulating on the Internet for a number of years that asks which of the four main characters is not in Flintstone Vitamins. The answer, at one time, was Betty Rubble. However, since 1996, Betty has been in the bottle also. The Flintstones' car was removed to make room for Betty.

The England cricketer Andrew Flintoff is nicknamed "Freddie" after Fred Flintstone, on account of both his similar surname and his "larger-than-life" character.

"Weird Al" Yankovic released a single and video entitled "Bedrock Anthem" from his album Alapalooza featuring many clips of The Flintstones animated TV show on the video.

Trivia

While The Flintstones is generally considered the first cartoon to air in prime time, it was preceded by The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show, a cartoon based on an Academy Award-winning animated short. This half-hour show ran for a few months on Friday nights on CBS in 1958. However, it was a repeat of cartoons that had aired on Sunday afternoons in 1956. The Flintstones remains the first cartoon to have original programming aired in prime time.

Cast

• Fred Flintstone - Alan Reed (after Reed's death in 1977, the character was voiced by Henry Corden, who had provided Fred's singing voice at various times before then)
• Wilma Flintstone and (as of season 3) Pebbles Flintstone - Jean Vanderpyl
• Barney Rubble, Dino, and all the working animals - Mel Blanc, Daws Butler (five episodes of second season).
• Betty Rubble - originally Bea Benaderet, voiced by Gerry Johnson beginning in season 5
• Bamm Bamm Rubble (as of season 4) - Don Messick
• Mr. Slate - John Stephenson
• The Great Gazoo, and many other characters - Harvey Korman

Flintstones series and spin-offs

Television series

• The Flintstones (1960–1966)
• The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (1971–1972): features Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm as teens
• The Flintstone Comedy Hour (1972–1973): new episodes of Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm combined with new Fred and Barney segments, songs-of-the-week, and wraparounds. Rerun during the 1973–1974 second season as The Flintstones Show.
• The New Fred and Barney Show (1979): Saturday morning revival of the original Flintstones format. Reruns of its episodes are featured in the package programs Fred and Barney Meet the Thing and Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo.
• The Flintstones Comedy Show (1980–1982): 90-minute Saturday morning series featuring the following segments:
  • "Flintstone Family Adventures": a segment similar to the original series.
  • "Bedrock Cops": Fred, Barney, and the Shmoo as police officers.
  • "Pebbles, Dino, and Bamm-Bamm": The two young teenagers and Dino solving mysteries ala Scooby-Doo
  • "Captain Caveman": a Superman parody segment featuring Captain Caveman, from Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, as the flying superhero and Wilma and Betty as the helpless reporters in distress (à la Lois Lane).
  • "Dino and Cavemouse": A chase-formula segment similar to Tom and Jerry.
  • "The Frankenstones": featuring the situation comedy of the Flintstones' Munsters-like neighbors (similar to The Gruesomes from the original series).
• The Flintstone Kids (1986–1988): one of numerous Saturday morning series to feature child versions of famous classic cartoon stars; this one features the cast of the original series as ten-year-olds, with "Captain Caveman...and Son!" as a backup segment.
• Cave Kids (1996): a preschool series featuring Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm as toddlers

Theatrical animated feature

• The Man Called Flintstone (1966, released by Columbia Pictures): designed as a send-off for the original series; features Fred taking the place of a lookalike who happens to be a James Bond-type spy.

Television specials and telefilms

• A Flintstone Christmas (1977)
• The New Fred and Barney Show (1979)
• The Flintstones: Little Big League (1979): features Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm as pre-teens
• The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone (1979)
• The Flintstones' New Neighbors (1980): Introduces the Frankenstones
• Wind-Up Wilma (1981)
• Flintstones: Jogging Fever (1981)
• The Flintstones: Fred's Final Fling (1981)
• The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones (1987)
• I Yabba-Dabba Do! (1993): Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm marry
• Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby (1993): Pebbles gives birth to twins, making Fred and Wilma grandparents
• A Flintstone Family Christmas (1993): Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm with their children at Christmas
• A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994): a retelling of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol that features Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm as toddlers.
• The Flintstones On The Rocks (2001): Fred and Wilma face separation, but a jewel thief spoils things.

Home video releases

VHS

Most of these titles are out of print. Original broadcast or release dates and episode titles (where applicable) are listed in parentheses.

Original series

• The Flintstone Flyer (1960)
• The First Episodes (1960) (Flintstone Flyer, Hot Lips Hannigan, The Swimming Pool, No Help Wanted)
• The Best Of The Flintstones (Split Personality, Dress Rehearsal, Anne Margrock Presents, Stony Finger Caper)
• The Flintstones: How the Flintstones Saved Christmas (1964)
• The Flintstones: A Haunted House Is Not a Home (1964)
• The Flintstones: Stone-Age Adventures (Flintstone Flyer, Split Personality, The Twitch, Anne Margrock Presents, Ladies' Night At The Lodge)
• The Flintstones: Love Letters on the Rocks (1960)
• The Flintstones Meet Samantha (1965)
• The Flintstones: Pebbles, Babe in Bedrock (Dress Rehearsal, Most Beautiful Baby In Bedrock)
• The Flintstones: Bedrock 'n' Roll (The Girls' Night Out, The Twitch)
• The Flintstones: Hooray for Hollyrock (Hollyrock Here I Come, Anne Margrock Presents)
• Jealousy (1966)
• Dripper (1966)
• Rocky's Raiders (1966)
• The Flintstones: Page Right Out of History (Dress Rehearsal (1963), "Wacky Inventions" compilation)
• My Fair Freddie (1966)
• No Biz Like Show Biz (1965)
• The Flintstones: Fearless Fred Strikes Again (Buffalo Convention, Mother-In-Law's Visit)
• The Flintstones: Hop Happy (1964)
• The Flintstones: Ten Little Flintstones (1964)
• The Flintstones: Dino's Two Tales (Dino Disappears, Dino Goes Hollyrock)
• The Flintstones: Dino & Juliet (1964)
• The Flintstones: Wacky Inventions
• The Flintstones Meet The Great Gazoo (1965)
• The Flintstones: Gravelberry Pie King (1966)
• The Flintstones: Fred's Island (1966)
• The Flintstones: Surfin Fred (1965)
• Flintstones Adventures (The Girls' Night Out, Rock Vegas Story, Dino Disappears, Rip van Flintstone)

Spin-offs

• The New Fred and Barney Show (1970s)
• The Flintstones Comedy Show, Vol. 1 (1978)
• A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994)
• The Flintstones: I Yabba Dabba Do (1993)
• The Flintstones: Flintstone Files (1979)
• The Flintstones Meet Rockula & Frankenstone (1979)
• Flintstones' Little Big League (1979)
• The Flintstones Comedy Show, Vol. 2 (1979)
• The Flintstones: Fred & Barney Get In Shape/Fred, the Junk Collector
• The Flintstones Comedy Show, Vol. 3 (1980)
• The Flintstones Comedy Show, Vol. 4 (1980)
• Best of the Flintstone Kids
• Christmas In Bedrock (1996)
• The Flintstones: Hollyrock-a-Bye-Baby

Animated films

• The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones (1987)
• The Man Called Flintstone (1966)

Live action films

• The Flintstones (1994)
• The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000)

DVD

All titles and information listed below are based on Region 1 DVD releases. Original release or broadcast dates are listed in parentheses.

• The Flintstones (1994 live-action movie): Released March 1999
• The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000)
• The Flintstones: The Premiere: The Flintstone Flyer (1960): Released September 2003
• The Flintstones: The Complete First Season (1960): Released March 2004
• The Flintstones: The Complete Second Season (1961): Released December 2004
• The Flintstones: The Complete Third Season (1962): Released March 2005
  • Note: All episodes are in their original length except for "The Big Move," which is the syndicated version.
• The Flintstones: The Complete Fourth Season (1963): Released November 2005
• The Flintstones: The Complete Fifth Season (1964): Scheduled for release March 7, 2006
• The Man Called Flintstone (1966): Released in Canada April 2005 (US release canceled/postponed due to Columbia Pictures claiming ownership of the film)

DVD release date for the sixth season has yet to be announced, but is expected to arrive in 2006.