The Flinstones
July 7th, 2008
The Flintstones is about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next door neighbor and best friend. The first prime time cartoon geared for adults, the show originally aired from 1960 to 1966, on the ABC network. It was also ABC's first series to be televised in color. While the show was originally syndicated by Screen Gems (until 1981, then DFS Program Exchange from, and then Turner Program Services), Warner Bros. Television later acquired the rights (through parent Time Warner's purchase).
The show is set in the town of Bedrock in the Stone Age era. The show is an allegory to American society of 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 co-exist with barefoot cavemen, who use technology equivalent to that of the mid-to-late 20th century, largely through the use of various animals. The characters drive cars made out of stone or wood and animal skins and powered by foot.
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, breaking the fourth wall, 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. Travel to "Hollyrock," a parody of Hollywood, California, usually involved an "airplane" flight—the "plane" in this case often shown as a giant pterodactyl. (Other familiar place names are similarly contorted: San Antonio becomes Sand-and-Stony-o; the country to the south of Bedrock's land is called Mexirock; and so forth.) Lifts are raised and lowered by ropes around brontosaurs' necks; "automatic" windows are powered by monkeys that dwell on the outside windowsill; birds configured as "car horns" are activated by pulling on their tails. An electric razor is depicted as a clam shell housing a honey-bee vibrating it as the edges are rubbed against the character's face.
Being set in the Stone Age allowed for various gags and puns that involved rocks in one way or another, including the names of the various characters being "rock" puns. These included celebrities of the 1960s such as "Cary Granite" (Cary Grant), "Stony Curtis" (Tony Curtis), "Ed Sulleystone" (Ed Sullivan)", "Rock Hudstone" (Rock Hudson), and "Ann-Margrock" (Ann-Margret). Other celebrity/puns on The Flintstones were "Alvin Brickrock" (Alfred Hitchcock); "Perry Masonite" (Perry Mason); and a new neighbor lady "Sam" (Samantha of Bewitched).
In the show's closing credits, Fred tries to put the "cat" (actually a saber-tooth tiger) out for the night. The cat jumps back into the house through the window, opens the back door, and deposits Fred on the doorstep. Fred 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!" (This gag was mentioned in the lyrics of the "Flintstones" theme song used for the closing credits. "Someday/Maybe Fred will win the fight/Then that/Cat will stay out for the night.")
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!"
On an extra note, the endings seen on currently in distribution are not the ones seen originally in the series' first airing. Videos exist of the original versions of the credits, where a short advertising sequence with the main characters is included as part of the ending. The ending in particular, a widely circulating video shows the ending commercial where the announcer states: "The Flintstones has been brought to you by Winston, America's best tasting, fast working cigarette", and Fred recites the brand's jingle. Then the sequence of everyone going to sleep occurs, with a sign with "Winston" flashes on and off outside of Bedrock. Then after Fred says "Wilma! Come on, Wilma, open this door! Willlllll-ma!", there is applause and then for its final title card it says "This has been an ABC Television Network presentation".
The ABC notice at the end was included in a 1995 laserdisc where the newly-rediscovered 1960 credits were first made available, but was later removed from TV distribution prints, as the show no longer airs on ABC. The final applause were erased in the process of cutting part of the music to remove the ABC notice. The color print of the ending has no advertising in it, as well as no credits (they were rewritten with all names found in the original black-and-white broadcast copies put together). Hanna-Barbera also produced short advertising scenes for their many sponsors, which appeared after the end of the episode and right before the credits, as well as commerical breaks.
The popularity of The Flintstones spawned a staged production which opened at Universal Studios Hollywood in 1994, developed by Universal and Hanna-Barbera Productions. It opened at the Panasonic Theatre replacing the Star Trek Show. The story consists with Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty heading for "Hollyrock".
According to FX Control Systems.com, the most extremely challenging stage effect for the show was the animated pterodactyl that transported Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty from “Bedrock” to “Hollyrock”. This technically demanding animated piece lifted four cast members off the stage and flew them out over the audience during a set change, after which they safely landed at their new destination.
The Universal Studios’ script called for Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty to board Pterodactyl World Airways and fly from “Bedrock” to “Hollyrock” over the heads of the audience. The project was technically challenging and presented many engineering hurdles. Further exacerbating the design was the need for full seismic analysis and a short schedule. Above all else was the absolute safety for the cast and audience during the Flintstones’ spectacular flight to "Hollyrock".
The show's Designer Mr. Valenze also designed and programmed the automated winch trolley that travels on a monorail mounted to the roof structure. On cue, the trolley positions itself over center stage and drops four cables and an electrical interface. Once attached to the animated pterodactyl, the trolley automatically pre-tensions and tests the cable attachments. The cast members board, wings start flapping, the on-board PLC performs a host of safety checks and the cast is off. The prop altitude and position are constantly monitored to assure proper clearance over the audience at all times. Then comes the hard part, landing four cast members at exact center stage, safely, softly and on cue.
The single-point failure proof design prevents the catastrophic failure of any single winch, lifting cable, connection or sensor from precipitating further failure or placing the cast or audience at risk of injury. The stage used in the Theatre also contained a Cat Walk with a stair case for the cast members to go into the audience to make them feel that they are apart of the show which makes it very entertaining.
Despite the attraction being somewhat successful among Tourists and Theme park fans, Universal closed the show on January 2, 1997 to make way for new shows such as Totally Nickelodeon (1997-2000) and The Rugrats Stage Show (2000-2002). Shrek 4D now performs in the Panasonic Theatre. After The Rugrats Show closed, the Cat Walk Stage used for the Flintstones show was removed completely as the Shrek Attraction was made up with new advanced Technology. Since the Flintstones show has closed, it hasn't been featured in any of the other Universal Themeparks. It is currently unknown if Universal will ever bring the show back to Universal Studios Hollywood or possibly open duplicate versions at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Japan in the near future.
In the 1960s the series had strong ties to a sponsor, Winston cigarettes, with the characters shown smoking the product during commercial breaks. This approach was not unusual for television at that time, either with tobacco or any other product. In one memorable advertisement, Fred and Barney relaxed while their wives did housework, smoking Winstons and reciting Winston's jingle, "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should!" In 1963, Winston pulled their sponsorship from the show when Wilma became pregnant; after that point, the main sponsor was Welch's Grape Juice. This is probably because of a shift from adult to family audiences.
Welch's advertised their product with animated commercials featuring the cartoon cast and they were often pictured in print ads and on grape juice containers. In a few episodes, Pebbles is given grape juice as a treat.
The series spawned three breakfast cereals: Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles, and the discontinued Dino Pebbles (later revived as "Marshmallow Mania Pebbles").
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 Miles Laboratories. Miles' corporate successor, Bayer Corporation, continues to market Flintstones vitamins.
More recently, the Flintstones have been seen in commercials for GEICO automotive insurance and Midas auto repair shops.
Still, let's hope that Flinstones follow the Simpsons way and release a new, improved movie!
Hanna-Barbera
June 9th, 2008
One of the most successful Hanna-Barbera production
After MGM shut down its animation studio in 1957, H-B Enterprises became Hanna and Barbera's full-time job, and the company was re-named Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1960. Over the next three decades, Hanna-Barbera Productions produced many successful cartoon shows, including The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Flintstones, Top Cat, The Yogi Bear Show, The Jetsons, Jonny Quest, Scooby-Doo, and The Smurfs, many of which would go on to become icons of Western pop culture. In the mid-1980s, the company's fortunes declined somewhat after the profitability of Saturday morning cartoons were eclipsed by weekday afternoon syndication.
In 1991, the company was purchased by Turner Broadcasting. Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera both went into semi-retirement, yet continued to serve as ceremonial figureheads for the studio. During the late 1990s, Turner turned Hanna-Barbera towards primarily producing new material for its Cartoon Network, which had been built around reruns from the Hanna-Barbera library. In 1996, Turner was bought out by Time Warner. With Bill Hanna's death in 2001, Hanna-Barbera was absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation, and Cartoon Network Studios assumed production of Cartoon Network output. Joe Barbera remained with Warner Bros. Animation until his death in 2006. The Hanna-Barbera name is today only used to market properties and productions associated with Hanna-Barbera's "classic" works such as The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo.
Melrose, New Mexico native William Hanna and New York City-born Joseph Barbera first teamed together while working at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio in 1939. Their first directorial project was a cartoon entitled Puss Gets the Boot (1940), which served as the genesis of the popular Tom and Jerry cartoon series. Hanna and Barbera served as the directors and story men for the Tom and Jerry cartoons for seventeen years, winning eight Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Cartoons) between 1943 and 1953 for their work.
Hanna, Barbera, and MGM live-action director George Sidney formed H-B Enterprises in 1944 while continuing working for MGM, and used the side company to work on ancillary projects, including early television commercials and the original opening titles to the popular 1950s television series I Love Lucy.
MGM closed their animation studio in 1957, as it felt it had acquired a reasonable backlog of shorts for re-release. Hanna and Barbera hired most of their MGM unit to work for H-B Enterprises, which became a full-fledged production company at this time. The decision was made to specialize in television animation. In order to obtain working capital to produce their cartoons, H-B made a deal with the Screen Gems television division of Columbia Pictures in which the new animation studio received working capital in exchange for distribution rights. H-B's first TV series was The Ruff & Reddy Show, which premiered on NBC in December 1957.
In 1958, H-B had their first big success with The Huckleberry Hound Show, a syndicated series aired in most markets just before primetime. The program was a ratings success, and introduced a new crop of cartoon stars to audiences, in particular Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear. The Huckleberry Hound Show won the 1960 Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming.
By 1959, H-B Enterprises was reincorporated as Hanna-Barbera Productions, and was slowly becoming a leader in television animation production. After introducing a second syndicated series, Quick Draw McGraw, in 1959, Hanna-Barbera migrated into network primetime production with the animated ABC sitcom The Flintstones in 1960. Loosely based upon the popular live-action sitcom The Honeymooners yet set in a fictionalized stone age of cavemen and dinosaurs, The Flintstones ran for six seasons in prime time on ABC, becoming a ratings and merchandising success.
Hanna-Barbera never had a building of its own until 1963, when the Hanna-Barbera Studio, located at 3400 Cahuenga Blvd. in Studio City, California, was opened. The Columbia/Hanna-Barbera partnership lasted until 1967, when Hanna and Barbera sold the studio to Taft Broadcasting while retaining their positions at the studio.
Over three decades, Hanna-Barbera produced prime-time, weekday afternoon, and Saturday morning cartoons for all three major networks in the United States, and for syndication. The small budgets television animation producers had to work within prevented Hanna-Barbera, and most other producers of American television animation, from working with the full theatrical-quality animation the duo had been known for at MGM. Instead, Hanna-Barbera modified the concept of limited animation practiced and popularized by the United Productions of America (UPA) studio. Character designs were simplified, and backgrounds and animation cycles (walks, runs, etc.) were regularly re-purposed. Characters were often broken up into a handful of levels, so that only the parts of the body that needed to be moved at a given time (i.e. a mouth, an arm, a head) would be animated. The rest of the figure would remain on a held animation cel. This allowed a typical 10 minute short to be done with only 1200 drawings instead of the usual 26,000. Dialogue, music, and sound effects were emphasized over action, leading Chuck Jones, a contemporary who worked for Hanna and Barbera's rivals at Warner Bros. Cartoons when the duo was at MGM, to disparagingly refer to the limited TV cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera and others as "illustrated radio".
In a story published by The Saturday Evening Post in 1961, critics stated that Hanna-Barbera was taking on more work than they could handle and were resorting to shortcuts only a television audience would tolerate. An executive who worked for Walt Disney Productions said, "We don't even consider competition." Ironically, during the late 1950s and early 1960s, Hanna-Barbera was the only animation studio in Hollywood that was actively hiring, and they picked up a number of Disney artists who were laid off during this period.
The studio's solution to the criticism over its quality was to go into features. The studio produced five theatrical features, among them higher-quality versions of their TV cartoons (Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!, The Man Called Flintstone, and Jetsons: The Movie in 1990) and adaptations of other material (Charlotte's Web in 1973 and Heidi's Song in 1982).
Around 1998, the Hanna-Barbera name began to disappear from the newer shows from the studio in favor of the Cartoon Network Studios name. This came in handy with shows that were produced outside of Hanna-Barbera, but Cartoon Network had a hand in producing, like a.k.a. Cartoon's Ed, Edd, and Eddy, Kino Films' Mike, Lu and Og, and Curious Pictures' Sheep in the Big City, as well as the shows the studio continued to produce, like The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and Samurai Jack and various original Cartoon Network shows.
When William Hanna died on March 22, 2001, an era was over. Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase featured a dedication to Hanna but the actual production was a Warner Bros. Animation production. After 2001, Hanna-Barbera was completely absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation and further Cartoon Network projects were handled by Cartoon Network Studios. Joseph Barbera continued to work for Warner Bros. Animation on projects relating to Hanna-Barbera and Tom & Jerry properties until his death on December 18, 2006.
Although the Hanna-Barbera name remains on the copyright notices of new productions based on "classic" properties like the Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, and others, the studio that produces it is Warner Bros. Animation; whereas most Cartoon Network series previously produced by Hanna-Barbera are copyrighted by the channel itself.
