History of Hanna-Barbera: "The Flintstones"

Flintstones ... Meet The Flintstones

Years: 1960–66

Seasons: 6

Episodes: 166

The year was 1960 and Hanna-Barbera Studios was on a roll. The previous year they debuted their third hit series in a row: The Quick Draw McGraw Show. Their first, The Ruff and Reddy Show, was winding down in production, and their second, The Huckleberry Hound Show, remained strong.

In a short span of time, Hanna-Barbera won an Emmy Award and was about to spin-off Yogi Bear into his own series. The studio had become a legitimate rival to the big league animation studios.

Aiming for Primetime TV

John Mitchell, president of Screen Gems, had been helping the duo from the start, and continued to do so when one day he called up Joe Barbera, pitching the idea about Hanna-Barbera producing a cartoon for primetime television. This was a virtually unheard-of concept; cartoons traditionally aired either in the morning or the afternoon.

The only examples of animated programs in primetime were package shows like CBS Cartoon Theatre, a compilation of Terrytoons shorts hosted by a then-unknown Dick Van Dyke, which aired on Wednesday nights during the summer of 1956.

But, that was a program filling a gap left by the cancellation of Brave Eagle, a short-lived western. Mitchell wanted a brand new original program. Not to mention, this would be a full half-hour show. Cartoons up to that point rarely exceeded seven minutes; even their own half-hour shows were made up of shorter segments.

Animation for Adults

There was also the idea that animation was kids territory, while primetime was for adults. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera agreed that if this new program was to survive in the primetime landscape, it had to incorporate the adult feel of other primetime series, while being toned down enough that kids would want to watch.

The most popular primetime shows at the start of the 1960s were sitcoms about suburban families, shows like Father Knows Best and Leave It to Beaver. That being the case, that's the direction they chose to go.

Creating a Modern Stone-Age Family

The Hanna-Barbera writing staff, who at the same time were hard at work on Huckleberry Hound and Quick Draw McGraw, struggled for several weeks to come up with a unique twist they could put on the sitcom formula. Many different ideas were thrown around, like a sitcom about gypsies or Pilgrims, but none of them caught on.

And then, in the midst of a heated conference, as tensions were running high, animator Dan Gordon sketched out a small drawing. It was two cavemen wearing animal skins alongside a primitive record player whose needle was the beak of a live bird.

The idea of cavemen living a modern lifestyle wasn’t entirely an original idea, it had been attempted two decades earlier with Fleischer Studios’ Stone Age Cartoons, but it had such obvious potential that the other writers immediately jumped on board.

The Honeymooners Influence

Soon enough, they had a concept worked out. The series focused on Fred Flagstone, an arrogant blue-collar worker at a stone quarry, and his wife Wilma, a tender-hearted redhead with a sharp tongue. They lived in the town of Bedrock, located in Cobblestone County, 250 feet below sea level.

A strong inspiration for the banter between Fred and Wilma was The Honeymooners, a popular 1950s sitcom starring Jackie Gleason, which happened to be the only sitcom that Bill Hanna enjoyed at the time. He enjoyed how the main characters were in a constant war of the sexes, whose marriage was much more realistic and relatable than the flawless marriages of other sitcoms.

In fact, the similarities between the two shows were so striking that Jackie Gleason’s lawyers initially suggested he sue Hanna-Barbera, before friends talked him out of it.

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Meet the ... Flagstones? Gladstones?

Hanna-Barbera produced a 2-minute test short for The Flagstones, which featured Fred and his friend, a short-statured man named Barney Rubble, interacting at his backyard pool. The short featured Daws Butler as Fred and Barney, Jean Vander Pyl as Wilma, and June Foray as Barney’s wife, Betty. For the final product, only Vander Pyl would remain a permanent cast member.

A slight snag initially halted development of the series, when copyright lawyers pointed out that the name “Flagstone” was dangerously close to “Flagston”, the last name of the characters from the comic strip, Hi and Lois. For a brief time, the series was changed to The Gladstones, but no one at Hanna-Barbera particularly liked that name. Eventually, it morphed into The Flintstones.

Pitching The Flagstones to ABC

In early 1960, Joe Barbera took The Flagstones short, as well as two storyboards which would later be made into the first and third episodes respectively, to New York City and pitched the show for eight straight weeks to as many sponsors and networks that would listen.

On the very last day, exhausted and discouraged—and threatening to toss the concept into the archives never to be seen again—he pitched the show to executives at ABC. Eager to take on risks and experimentation, ABC signed on to the show only fifteen minutes into his 90-minute presentation.

They picked the show up for a 28-episode first season, and The Flintstones began airing September 30, 1960, at 8:30 pm as part of ABC’s Friday night line-up alongside long-running detective series, 77 Sunset Strip, and a package show of Famous Studios cartoons entitled Matty’s Funday Funnies.

Audiences Enjoyed Show More Than Critics—At First

While all of Hanna-Barbera’s shows up to this point were critical successes from the start, The Flintstones was not, as hard as that is to believe today. Critics outright hated the show, with New York Times critic Jack Gould calling it “an inked disaster” and Associated Press writer Bob Thomas trashing on the laugh track which would become, for better or worse, a staple of most H-B shows for the next two decades.

It seemed as though their gamble on a primetime animated series was doomed to crash without ever taking off. Luckily, however, it gained traction with audiences, who felt it was a refreshing change of pace in the primetime landscape. They enjoyed the humor of the setting, with all of the sight gags that stone age interpretations of modern luxuries created—such as all vehicles being foot powered.

Audiences enjoyed the fact that characters found themselves in ridiculous situation while remaining deadpan, unaware of the comedy of the situation. By the show’s third season, even critics who once dismissed The Flintstones as “nondescript” were enjoying it.

Voicing Wilma and Betty

As mentioned before, from The Flagstones to The Flintstones, Jean Vander Pyl, who was on the radio/TV sitcom Father Knows Best, remained the only permanent voice as Wilma.

Betty Rubble was voiced by June Foray in the pilot episode, but for the series she was replaced by Bea Benaderet. Ironically, this was a reversal of what happened several years earlier at Warner Bros, where Benaderet was replaced by Foray for the role of Granny in their Looney Tunes shorts.

Benaderet stayed on the show for its first four seasons before leaving to work on the series, Petticoat Junction, and was replaced for the last two seasons by Gerry Johnson—who didn’t do much outside of The Flintstones.

The Birth of Yabba-Dabba-Doo

For the voices of Fred and Barney, a more extensive search was made to try to find the perfect permanent voices. Fred was voiced by TV actor, Alan Reed, who some often said resembled a real-life Fred Flintstone.

Fred’s iconic catchphrase was an improvisation by Reed during a script reading early in Season 1. The script called for Fred to shout, "Yahoo!” but Reed didn’t feel this didn't fully capture Fred's joy. He ran his alternate phrase by Joe Barbera and “Yabba-Dabba-Doo” was born!

Mel Blanc and Barney

Barney Rubble’s voice for the series was provided by Mel Blanc, "The Man of a Thousand Voices." Blanc had an extensive portfolio in animation, voicing iconic Looney Tunes characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Sylvester, and Yosemite Sam. With the animated short business drying up, The Flintstones marked Mel Blanc’s transition to television.

He was so dedicated to voicing Barney, in fact, that after a near-fatal car accident in early 1961, which left Blanc in a coma for two weeks and a full-body cast for months, a number of second season Flintstones episodes were recorded in his bedroom with a microphone dangling above him. (That said, for a few episodes recorded around the time of the accident, Daws Butler, who voiced Barney in the pilot, stepped in.)

Voicing Dino

Mel Blanc also voiced the Flintstones' pet Dino, a pinkish-red dog-like dinosaur who uttered unintelligible barking type noises. Actually, in Dino’s first appearance, he was a purple dinosaur voiced by Jerry Mann who spoke in complete sentences. After that episode, Blanc took over Dino. What caused the change was never explained, except perhaps to add more comedic elements of a dinosaur acting like the family dog.

Voicing Mr. Slate and The Great Gazoo

Rounding out the cast was Mr. Slate, Fred Flintstone’s boss at the quarry voiced by John Stephenson. Mr. Slate had a low tolerance of Fred’s antics and would often fire him, but always rehired him by the end of the episode.

Lastly, a late addition to the series came in the form of a small green alien with a large head who called himself “The Great Gazoo,” voiced by actor Harvey Korman. This character arrived in the final season of the show (Season 6) and has often been cited as the cause of the show’s eventual downfall.

For some, the idea of introducing science fiction elements into a series set in the stone age was a bridge too far. Thus, several plots for Season 6 involve time travel (to the 21st century, where the Slate Rock and Gravel Company is still in business!), cloning, advanced formulas, and various magic-like powers.

Breaking the Mold

Over its groundbreaking six season run, The Flintstones pioneered several plot elements that hadn’t previously been done in animation. Besides being the first cartoon made for primetime and the first TV cartoon to focus on one set of characters for a full half-hour, The Flintstones showed Fred and Wilma sleeping together in the same bed.

This was not the first time this had been done on television, TV’s first sitcom, Mary Kay and Johnny (1947–50), had a couple who shared a bed, as did I Love Lucy and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, but many TV shows of the time portrayed married couples sleeping in separate beds. The Flintstones was certainly the first time that a TV cartoon had done this.

The Birth of Pebbles

Most of the firsts, however, center around a plot that lasted the majority of season 3 and part of season 4. In the season 3 episode, “The Surprise,” Wilma announces to Fred that she’s pregnant. Over the next nine episodes, the show focuses on the pregnancy, with Fred worried if he’ll be able to provide for the new baby,

Wilma giving birth to a baby girl they name Pebbles, and then Fred handling being a father for the first time. This was both the first time that a pregnancy had been represented in a realistic manner in animation, as well as possibly the first ongoing story arc (lasting through several standalone installments without being strictly serialized) in a cartoon series.

The decision to give the Flintstones a child goes back to the conceptual stages of the series, where for a time they had a son named Fred, Jr. Ultimately they took the child out for the first two seasons, but brought the concept back for Season 3, going with a girl instead because a baby girl was much more marketable than a boy. Indeed, Ideal Toy Company released a Pebbles doll in 1964, which took in $20 million in sales in its first year.

Infertility and Adoption

In the Season 4 episode, “Little Bamm-Bamm,” we learn that Barney and Betty are unable to conceive children. The subject of infertility was almost never brought up on television, so this was a potentially controversial subject for an animated series to tackle.

By the end of the episode, the Rubbles adopt an orphaned baby named Bamm-Bamm (initially known as "Junior"), the "strongest baby on Earth" because of his unexplainable strength.

Introduction of "Rock" Stars

The Flintstones was one of the first cartoons to create an emphasis on guest stars appearing to voice versions of themselves, all with rock-themed names. Guest stars included Ed Sullivan (“Ed Sullystone”), Tony Curtis (“Stony Curtis”), Rock Hudson (“Rock Hudstone”), Cary Grant (“Cary Granite”), and most famously, Ann-Margret (“Ann-Margrock”).

At the time, being a guest star on the Flintstones was considered a mark of prestige, similar to the effect that guest starring on the live-action Batman series later in the decade would have on celebrities.

Flintstones Theme #1: "Rise and Shine"

The famous “Meet the Flintstones” theme was actually the second opening, and it didn't even debut until the third season. For its first two seasons, the opening was an instrumental entitled, “Rise and Shine,” which featured Fred driving around Bedrock and running errands before arriving at home in front of his television.

Oddly, Dino was blue in this opening, but this error was likely not a concern of the time, because while The Flintstones was produced in color, those first two seasons aired in black and white.

The closing credits for those two seasons continued thematically from the opening. It showed Fred shutting off the TV and heading to bed, before being locked out of the house by Baby Puss, the Flintstones’ saber-toothed cat who rarely appeared in the series.

Flintstones Theme #2: "Meet the Flintstones"

In the fall of 1962, a full six years after competitor NBC launched their color television campaign, ABC finally began experimenting with color broadcasting with two series: The Flintstones and The Jetsons.

For the third season of The Flintstones, the show was given a new opening which showed Fred leaving work, gathering up his family and the Rubbles, and heading to a drive-in theatre. The theme song, "Meet the Flintstones," was written by Bill Hanna and composed by Hoyt Curtin, like most Hanna-Barbera tunes.

The new closing credits show the family heading to their homes after the film in the drive-in, ultimately ending similar to the original closing with Fred getting trapped outside for the night by Baby Puss. This opening and closing were retroactively included on the first two seasons when the show eventually reran in syndication.

"Open Up Your Heart"

Some episodes from the final season provided an alternate closing, showing Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm performing “Open Up Your Heart (And Let the Sunshine In)." This song, written by Stuart Hamblen, was a hit in 1954 when it was performed by Hamblen and his family under the name “Cowboy Church Sunday School."

In the sixth season opener, “No Biz Like Show Biz,” Fred has a dream where Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm become a singing duo—singing voices provided by daughter/mother duo Rebecca and Ricky Page, respectively—with that song being their headlining act. Their cover of “Open Up Your Heart” reignited the song’s popularity.

Winston and Welch's

During its first two and a half seasons, the Flintstones, while produced for all audiences, was targeted by ABC towards adult viewers. This is made most clear by the show’s original sponsor, Winston Cigarettes.

During commercial breaks, the characters would be shown sitting around discussing Winston Cigarettes and lighting up a smoke, usually ending by reciting or singing the Winston jingle (“Winston tastes good like a cigarette should”).

Once the story arc leading up to the birth of Pebbles began, and the show gradually aimed more towards younger viewers (an obviously inappropriate demographic to be pushing cigarettes towards), Winston pulled out of the show and the sponsorship spot was replaced by Welch’s.

Welch’s went the extra mile and included the characters on their jelly jars, which were marketed as being reusable as drinking cups.

The Flintstones on ABC

The Flintstones ran in primetime on ABC for six seasons, occupying the 8:30pm Friday slot for half of its run. As noted above, the first two seasons aired in black and white, but beginning with Season 3, The Flintstones appeared in color. During its fourth season, it moved to Thursdays at 7:30pm, as its time slot was replaced by the detective series, Burke’s Law—and later The Addams Family.

Halfway through its fifth season it switched back to Fridays at the earlier time of 7:30pm, flipping timeslots with fellow H-B series, Jonny Quest. The Flintstones concluded its primetime run on April 1, 1966, with an impressive 166 episodes in the catalog.

The Man Called Flintstone

In August 1966, four months after the series wrapped on ABC, Hanna-Barbara released The Man Called Flintstone, a 90-minute spy movie parody that acted as the formal series finale. In fact, it was a spoof of a spoof, because the title is a play on Our Man Flint, itself a spy movie parody released early in '66 to tremendous acclaim.

Flintstones Inspire Animation Boom

Because of The Flintstones' success in primetime, the other networks jumped on the cartoon bandwagon, creating a mid-'60s primetime animation boom. ABC led the way with other Hanna-Barbera series like The Jetsons, Top Cat, and the aforementioned Jonny Quest, as well as Beany & Cecil and the obscure Calvin & the Colonel.

Meanwhile, over at CBS, The Alvin Show (starring the Chipmunks) ran on Wednesday nights during the 1961 season, while NBC played new episodes of The Bullwinkle Show prior to Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. While a few of these shows were successful, none of them reached the heights of The Flintstones.

Syndication and Reboots

In the fall of 1966, The Flintstones jumped over to NBC for Saturday morning reruns, staying on the schedule until late 1970, 10 years after is debut! Afterwards, it enjoyed a long healthy run in syndication, continuing to be as popular with Gen Xers as it was with boomers.

It wasn’t long before audiences were asking for more Flintstones. While the show never returned to being called The Flintstones—minus a four-episode primetime run in the early '80s—over the next 50 years no less than nine brand-new variations of the series have aired, and a tenth, Bedrock, is in production for Fox as of late 2023.

The Flintstones on Film

The Man Called Flintstone was the only theatrical release until The Flintstones came out in 1994, a live-action reboot starring John Goodman as Fred, Elizabeth Perkins as Wilma, Rick Moranis as Barney, and Rosie O'Donnell as Betty. That movie was popular enough to spawn a 2000 prequel, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, which shows how Fred and Barney met Wilma and Betty.

Most recently, the Flintstones starred in the Direct-to-DVD film, Stone Age SmackDown, alongside WWE wrestling stars like John Cena (John Cenastone), CM Punk (CM Punkrock), and even Vince McMahon (Mr. McMagma).

Marketing The Flintstones

The Flintstones have also stayed in the public eye by advertising products that use the characters. In 1968, Miles Laboratories (later Bayer) released chewable multi-colored vitamins shaped like the Flintstones characters, and they remain widely available even today.

Another Flintstones-sponsored product is Pebbles cereal, introduced by Post in 1971, and the first cereal based directly on a TV show—rather than the characters endorsing an existing product. There are two main flavors, a rainbow-colored cereal (Fruity Pebbles) and its chocolate variant (Cocoa Pebbles), along with marshmallow versions of both cereals. Limited-run versions of other flavors have also appeared from time to time.

The Legacy of The Flintstones

While the original show has largely faded from the airwaves, it's still available to stream on a few platforms (Prime, Tubi, and Vudu). But, the fact that a new version of The Flintstones is being produced in 2023 means that the show long since transcended '60s television. It wasn’t just an incredibly popular cartoon, but an iconic part of American pop culture.

All of Hanna-Barbera’s early series jumpstarted the rise of televised animation, but The Flintstones influenced TV, movies, even the American diet. There have been multiple Flintstones video games (the first was released in 1986), a Flintstones musical ran for a few years in the '90s, and the last Flintstones-themed amusement park closed in 2015!

The Flintstones also proved that animation can work in primetime. Networks largely abandoned the format in the '70s and '80s, but primetime cartoons came back in full force during the '90s thanks to The Simpsons, which was directly influenced by The Flintstones and whose success spawned the next generation of primetime animators.

Further Reading

• History of Hanna-Barbera: "The Ruff and Reddy Show"
  Here's how the 1957 animated series "The Ruff and Reddy Show" came into existence.
• Hanna-Barbera History: "The Huckleberry Hound Show"
  Hanna-Barbera took a risk in 1958 making television's "The Huckleberry Hound Show," "Yogi Bear," and more, but it opened the doors wide for countless animated series to come.
• History of Hanna-Barbera: "The Jetsons" & "Wally Gator"
  Hanna-Barbera's 1962 hit "The Jetsons" was accompanied by another launch that same year: "Wally Gator."
• History of Hanna-Barbera: "The Yogi Bear Show" & "Top Cat"
  Hanna-Barbera gave Yogi Bear his own show in 1961; at the same time, they also produced a new series for prime-time called "Top Cat."
• History of Hanna-Barbera: "The Quick Draw McGraw Show" & "Loopy de Loop"
  Hanna-Barbera was already on a roll in 1959 when they added "Quick Draw McGraw" and "Loopy de Loop" to their lineup.

© 2015 Josh Measimer

Comments

Guest on April 08, 2020:

Anonymous, I have a question about this cartoon. Did Fred say Help! Help! when he was locked out of the house by the sabre tooth cat? What song was Pebbles singing in the Season 6 episode? What theme song was used in the first 2 seasons of the show?

Mario500NOW on October 02, 2019:

(response to series of comments posted here under the name "JonathanSteed")

I would suggest correcting this part of the series by changing its texts of "Vanderpyl" to "Vander Pyl" and its text of "1994" to "1999":

"The picture you chose of Wilma and Betty here is a fan altered screen grab. Their pink and green dresses are fictional. Where you describe the original voice casting of the pilot and then the series, you cite that Jean Vanderpyl was the only one that was in both. That is true and it’s also interesting to note that that would always be true. Only Vanderpyl ever voiced Wilma where other actors voiced all the other characters at different times, Vanderpyl was always Wilma until her death in 1994."

JonathanSteed on February 29, 2016:

Hi Josh,

Nice, just a few corrections, if you don’t mind.

Most people talk about the stone-age gags and humorous story lines but to delve into what made the show so relevant is to understand the time in which it aired. The stone-age gadgets are funny to us now but at the time, luxury gadgets were relatively new to American households and all the rage. While Wilma is using a pelican powered washing machine it was very likely that washing machines were advertised during the show. These gags were extremely relevant in an ad driven culture of selling luxury items, which also made the sponsorships such an integral part of the show like Pebble’s Building Boulders for example. It’s not enough to say that the stone-age gadgets were just funny, they were topical and timely satire. It’s no wonder The Jetsons would soon work in the same way.

The picture you chose of Wilma and Betty here is a fan altered screen grab. Their pink and green dresses are fictional. Where you describe the original voice casting of the pilot and then the series, you cite that Jean Vanderpyl was the only one that was in both. That is true and it’s also interesting to note that that would always be true. Only Vanderpyl ever voiced Wilma where other actors voiced all the other characters at different times, Vanderpyl was always Wilma until her death in 1994.

While Dino’s color fluctuated during the show’s run, he is known as purple. The comparison photos you chose of Dino is far more recent in which you can't accurately compare colors as many colors have been changed since the original show. Dino first appeared as green and blue as you noted in the Rise & Shine opening sequence. These colors are obviously a hold over from the Little Golden Book treatment of the dinosaur, Harvey and not a mistake as you mention. Both the opening sequence and the very early Golden Book shows that Dino was conceived as a dog-like character before the Snorkasaurus Hunters episode in which the Phil Silvers, speaking dinosaur is only referred to as Dino by Wilma in the last act. H-B were producing these episodes so fast there was little room for continuity and many episodes were gag-oriented first and continuity, rarely. However that wasn’t Dino’s first appearance, really making that whole thing even more confusing.

The character of Mr. Slate developed over time, originally called Mr. Boulder and not always voiced by John Stephenson. To say that he would fire Fred only to hire him back at the end of every episode is not true or a simplification at best.

With the introduction of Pebbles, by season three the show already started to change. Situations were becoming more outlandish even before the introduction to Gazoo, he just became an easier way to facilitate such ideas. You mentioned time travel as one of the more science fiction elements the character brought but the gang had already gone to the 1964-65 World’s Fair via a scientist’s time time machine. Other outlandish situations were the cause of a dream such as an adult Pebbles marrying Arnold the paperboy. Gazoo simply provided an easier way to facilitate such story lines. In fact, about half of the season six episodes were still relatively family-oriented. The final season also saw a major re-design by rising H-B star Iwao Nakamoto. His designs would stay with the characters for decades. It’s easy to blame the show’s demise on the great Gazoo, but the show had already long strayed from its original model.

I see this everywhere but Fred and Wilma did not sleep in the same bed, I challenge anyone to provide a screen grab from the original show where they sleep in the same bed. Sometimes the two beds may be pushed more together but they are always in separate beds.

The Little Golden Book was developed from early concept art before the series aired. Fred Junior also appeared in some early ABC advertising. Paper products were usually the first roll out based on their lead time. The Little Golden Book looked so much like Ed Benedict’s original models because those models and concept drawings were the reference.

When it was time to introduce a child for the Flintstones, it was the Ideal Toy Company that had the idea of a girl from the start.

The prime-time birth of Pebbles was second only to the birth of Little Ricky on I Love Lucy. It’s no wonder, if you watch both those episodes they are very, very similar, a habit of borrowing that Hanna-Barbera was known for and would continue even copying from themselves.

Bamm-Bamm was not introduced a few episodes after Pebbles. Pebbles came about in season three and had nearly 12 to 15 episodes by herself until Bamm-Bamm came along in the following season.

The casual comparison to the Honeymooners is an understatement. Not only is the bombastic relationship between wife and husband portrayed but the character designs resemble each Honeymooner character right down to the girl's hairstyles. Did you ever see Alan Reed in anything else? His speaking voice is nothing like Fred’s, that’s because he’s doing his best Jackie Gleason. There are episodes where he even mimics some Jackie Gleason’s well known stylings. If you don’t think Jean Vanderpyl s doing Audrey Meadows, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s no wonder Jackie Gleason wanted to sue, they had direct plots lifted from Honeymooners episodes and while it was Jackie Gleason who wanted to sue, it was his lawyers who asked, if he wanted to be known as the guy who killed the Flintstones, not Jackie himself. I had the good fortune to speak with some H-B veterans and they willingly admitted to lifting concepts from other shows. The Flintstones was the Honeymooners, Top Cat was The Phil Silver’s Show, Scooby Doo was based of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, etc.

-Jonathan

peachy from Home Sweet Home on August 02, 2015:

honestly, I love the flinstones till now