DAVID ADAMS takes at look back at The Flintstones…
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The Flintstone’s star on a ‘Google Doodle’ on the 50th anniversary of their first show hitting the airwaves. |
Icons of the cartoon world, the Flintstones have recently celebrated their 50th anniversary.
The family, which was originally called the Flagstones – a name later dropped because it was already taken, was the creation of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera who first looked at making the stars – Fred and Barney – hillbillies, pilgrims, Indians and even Romans before settling on a Stone-Age mileau.
The first show first aired (in black and white) on 30th September, 1960, and the series ran until 1966, following the lives of Fred Flintstone and his best friend Barney Rubble, their wives, Wilma and Betty, and their families who lived in the town of Bedrock.
The show became famous for catchcries such as Fred’s ‘Yabba Dabba Doo!’ and ‘Wiiiilllllmaaa, I’m home!’ as well as its opening theme music, Meet the Flintstones, which debuted in the third series and was accompanied by images of Fred knocking off work and sliding down a dinosaur’s tail.
Along with the ongoing play on Stone Age-related occupations, inventions and names (Cary Granite and Stony Curtis were two celebrities living in Bedrock), quirks of the show included the color of Dino – Fred’s pet dinosaur – which changed numerous times (although purple was its main color) as did the furniture in Fred and Wilma’s house, and that the show was originally written for an adult audience (complete with cigarette sponsor).
The Flintstones, who starred in two not very well received live action movies in more recent days, continued to hold the record for the longest-running prime time TV cartoon until it was elipsed by The Simpsons. Google used an image from the show as its ‘Google Doodle‘ on 30th September this year.
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