The Flintstones is one of the only prime-time animated series until this current golden age of television animation arrived. It debuted on ABC in 1960 and ran for six seasons. It was and is revolutionary on many fronts, most notably, its ability to convey American life, circa the ever-changing 60s, through a family that had prehistoric beginnings. Not to mention that it was the first animated program to air in primetime.
The Hanna-Barbera produced show is now available on a stunning 10-disc Blu-Ray set that features all six seasons (167 episodes) and two bonus movies, The Flintstones and WWE: Stone Age Smackdown! and The Man Called Flintstone. The Flintstones Blu-Ray is a true treasure for the ears and eyes as Bedrock has never looked or sounded better. The Flintstones: The Complete Series is presented courtesy of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment
It was the quintessential “family” sitcom but told via the artistic beauty of the medium of animation. The Flintstones featured Fred (Alan Reed) and Wilma Flintstone (Jean Vander Pyl) and their BFFs across the street, Betty (Bea Benaderet) and Barney Rubble (the iconic Mel Blanc). They got into a myriad of situations and it all played into being truly an animated sitcom… a genre that had existed since the dawn of television.
It resonated because both the titular family and the Rubbles were approachable and dealt with modern-day situations from the perspective of a pre-historic family. Each member of each family had the most distinctive of personalities that grew out of the situational comedy, but also the heart of the screenplays that laid the foundation for each episode. It had been compared to The Honeymooners on its debut, a low hanging fruit given Fred, and the undeniable comparison to Jackie Gleason’s Ralph Kramden and Barney’s similarity to Art Carney’s Ed Norton. Where The Honeymooners lacked in personal awareness, The Flintstones practically bathed in it.
The show featured two couples who were the best of buds and across America, there were countless souls who identified with that kinship with neighbors that almost felt like family. There was an undercurrent of caring between the Rubbles and Flintstones that had to be seen as the ideal in the early to mid-60s. This was post World War II, post-fifties suburban expansion and as the show commenced, it was before the Vietnam War and racial discord dominated the headlines and the subject of many a conversation across the country. Of course, there are aspects of the 60s that appear throughout, prehistoric hippies, anyone?!
Many of the joys of the series was witnessing its use of “technology” where it allowed our Bedrock friends to do things like vacuum (with a woolly mammoth) and have Fred “drive” a car with his feet. That just scratches the surface and each successive element further illustrated the show’s creators’ innate pair of narrative curiosity meets unmatched imagination. The animal-driven tech was both hilarity and ingenious. Who needs a disposal? Just put a pig under the sink!
It was somewhat progressive for its time, but still firmly a product of those days. As such, look for a few “warnings” that the show has “racial and ethnic” characters that were “wrong then, and are wrong now.” That being said, there is an innocence to the insensitivity that never feels malicious but does make one cringe still with the benefit of history.
It did play its part in moving the social needle at times as later episodes illustrate what the homemakers (Betty and Wilma) got up to when their children (Bam Bam and Pebbles) were teenagers. They both got gigs at the local “slab” as journalists at a time when in the real world, there were few female reporters—just look at how Gloria Steinem was treated in The Glorias during that same time period.
It’s easy for a series that puts in so many episodes to get into a rut, yet The Flintstones never does that… instead, it may drift into becoming formulaic. But throughout there is a sprinkling of heart that is truly heartwarming and is just one of the reasons that the show was so popular and time has done nothing but increase that passion for the prehistoric families exponentially. Remember when Barney and Betty get a little bit envious of their pals when their baby Pebbles arrives? That is impeccably indicative of what I’m talking about. The Flintstones remembers that it doesn’t matter how crazy or out-there the plot lines may travel, it always comes back to a heartful place where we all can find great comfort. It’s comfort TV before we knew what that was and what it looked like.
All told, for fans of The Flintstones or fans of animation history, or quality television period, don’t miss The Flintstones: The Complete Series on Blu-Ray.
When it comes to the audio of the Blu-Ray release, it comes in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track. That’s OK. Given all the sound effects that those behind the scenes of The Flintstones managed to achieve, it might have been nice if it had been able to get a full audio upgrade to what similar era’s Blu-Rays have achieved. That being said, it still sounds terrific on the Blu-Ray… hey, it could have been stuck in mono! Speaking of sound and sonic succulence, for those of us who forgot, those early years of the show featured a different theme song than the one that you probably now have in your head, thanks to this review. Meet the Flintstones is about as iconic a theme song as it comes, but it was merely an instrumental theme song those first few seasons.
The video transfer and its brilliance should surprise nobody. After all, Warner Brothers Home Entertainment has delivered some incredible visual upgrades of late—most notably Full Metal Jacket and 300 in 4K. The Flintstones: The Complete Series comes with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. The sights of Bedrock are incredibly piercing now with the upgrade and it is another success story for WBHE. Given the color palette that Hanna Barbara worked with all those years ago, it just pops off the screen, in whatever form that takes.
When it comes to bonus features, seven of the 10 discs have content, and it ranges from the surprising to the sensational. Leading the latter is disc one’s The Flagstones: The Lost Pilot. It is merely a minute-thirty-five and the quality is lacking, but it does provide some interesting insight into a pilot for a show that never happened. A fun featurette arrives with How to Draw Fred Flintstone. The almost seven minute feature finds legends Hanna and Barbera themselves as your guide to drawing their iconic creation.
Disc Two’s featurette is a great documentary that looks at the show and its impact on our society at large. Carved in Stone: The Flintstones Phenomenon is a 20-minute enlightening whirlwind that possesses archival footage and some incredible behind-the-scenes stories from those who worked on the show.
Did you know that The Flintstones dropped an album? Disc Three finds Songs of The Flintstones Album with its compilation of songs from the series, presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono audio. It’s almost a half-hour of Bedrock Bandstand!
Disc Four has two extras, All About the Flintstones and Wacky Inventions. The latter puts a spotlight on some of that technology spoken of earlier that were simultaneously outrageous and inventive. The former takes a look back at the show and its place in the Hanna Barbera canon, featuring the pair discussing their thoughts on the prehistoric family and their place in our culture.
There is an entire legion of Flintstones fans out there that will utterly adore this set. Here’s betting a few of them have some collectibles from the show. Bedrock Collectibles: All Things Flintstones, on Disc Five, looks at many of the products that were released for the show, as well as a few that may surprise. Also, on that disc is The Flintstones: One Million Years Ahead of its Time is a delightfully entertaining featurette that has more interviews with Hanna-Barbera workers and their role in creating the series, as well as its impact.
Disc Six features an entire featurette devoted to the two families at the heart of our favorite pre-historic clans. Hanna-Barbera creative types chime in on the Rubbles and the titular family while Hanna-Barbera’s Legendary Music Director Hoyt Curtin spotlights the legendary music man behind the sonic sizzle of The Flintstones. It is among the best featurettes on the 10-disc set, if for no other reason than it is an overdue look at the music creators of that era.
The Flintstones Meet Pop Culture anchors disc ten. The almost 12-minute featurette has Stephen Baldwin waxing poetic about the many parodies of the Flintstones that pop culture has given us over the years. Meanwhile, The Great Gazoo-From A to Zetox is a cute and short spotlight on Earl Kress and the history of his season six character that folks just fell in love with.
Last, but not least, we have two bonus movies—The Flintstones and WWE: Stone Age Smackdown! and The Man Called Flintstone.
The first is a wrestling tie-in that works brilliantly if you’re a fan of both entertainment mediums. It also goes to show the breadth to which the Hanna Barbera created series can permeate into pop culture. Oh, and visually… this is stunning in Blu-Ray.
Second is The Man Called Flintstone, a ninety-minute feature-length (89 minutes) that is a wildly entertaining and surprisingly generous addition to this Blu-Ray package. I say surprisingly because it is the rare home video release that includes the entire catalog of a show’s run, but also additional feature-length content in addition. Cheers to that and to this entire package!
Series Grade: A
Bonus Features: A