12 interesting facts about the animated series "The Flintstones" (11 photos)

The animated series essentially depicted American society in the mid-20th century, but in Stone Age conditions.





1. Despite the fact that the heroes live in the Stone Age, this does not stop them from celebrating Christmas and dressing up in the red Santa Claus suit.



2. Initially, the animated series was called "The Flagstones", but so that this surname would not be associated with the same surname of the main characters from the series "Hi and Lois", it was decided to change the surname, as well as the name.

3. The first seasons were sponsored by the famous brand of cigarettes "Winston", so in the credits the characters lit a cigarette and said all sorts of kind words towards cigarettes. But after tobacco advertising was banned in 1970, subsequent seasons no longer included cigarette advertising in the credits. Moreover, the earlier seasons were also re-released without this advertising.





4. Fred Flintstone's signature "Yabba-Dabba Do!" was not written into the script at all. The script called for Fred to shout "Yahoo!" But when voice actor Alan Reed asked if he could replace "Yahoo" with "Yaba-daba-doo," co-creator Joseph Berbera didn't mind. I don’t remember why Alan wanted to use such a cry, but in the end it became iconic.

5. The animated series "The Flintstones" became the first American animated series where a married couple slept in the same bed. Before this, spouses in cartoons always slept in separate beds.



6. Games based on the animated series were released on NES, Sega Mega Drive 2, SNES and other gaming platforms. The first of them was released in 1988 for Amig, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Sega Master System computers. And the last official game was released in 1994 for the SNES (Super Nintendo). Moreover, the game for SNES was made not based on the animated series, but on the 1994 film.



7. In 1994, a film of the same name was released, in which the roles of Fred and Barney were played by famous comedians John Goodman and Rick Moranis. Elizabeth Taylor played her last role in this film.



Film "The Flintstones" (1994)

With a budget of $46 million, the film grossed $341.6 million, which is a success. But nevertheless, the film earned two Golden Raspberry anti-awards in the nominations “Worst Screenplay” and “Worst Supporting Actress” (Rosie O'Donnell, who played Betty, Barney's wife).



Film "The Flintstones in Rock Vegas" (2000)

And in 2000, the film “The Flintstones in Rock Vegas” was released, which is a prequel to the first part, but with different actors. And unlike the first film, the prequel failed at the box office, grossing only $56 million against a budget of $83 million. But despite this, the film did not win a single Golden Raspberry, although it participated in four nominations.

8. In the early 00s, vitamins based on the animated series were produced. But in addition to useful substances, they contained the sweetener sorbitol, one of the side effects is diarrhea and nausea. Moreover, during the examination it was discovered that the composition does not contain the most useful dyes. However, they were not removed from production.



9. “The Flintstones” is one of the first (and maybe the first) animated series that deals with the problem of infertility. In the story, the Flintstones' neighbor Betty is infertile and cannot have children. And in the end, the Rubble couple adopts a child.



10. Seth MacFarlane, who is the creator of the animated series Family Guy, wanted to restart the animated series The Flintstones in his own style. But in the end this did not happen.

11. The Flintstones has a crossover with the animated series The Jetsons. The animated series "The Jetsons" is in many ways similar to "The Flintstones" (they share the same creators), but the plot takes place in the future, not in the past.



According to the plot, after a failed experiment with a time machine, the Jetsons end up in the Stone Age, where they meet the Flintstones. This cartoon was released in 1987 and is called “The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones.”

Although, it is not even surprising that this meeting took place. In the cartoon world, there are often strange crossovers, for example, “The Simpsons and Futurama,” “Scooby Doo and Batman,” “Hercules and Aladdin,” etc.

12. Homer Simpson is often compared to Fred Flintstone. And in one of the episodes of "The Simpsons" the screensaver from "The Flintstones" was even parodied. Also, the Flintstones can be seen in one of the screensavers of "The Simpsons", where they settled down on the well-known sofa.