The Flintstones

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Television series
German title The Flintstones
Original title The Flintstones
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 1960-1966
length 30 minutes
Episodes 166 in 6 seasons
genre Sitcom
idea William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
production Joseph Barbera , Alan Dinehart , William Hanna
music Hoyt S. Curtin, Ted Nichols , Will Schaefer
First broadcast September 30, 1960 on ABC
German-language
first broadcast		 July 1, 1966 on German television
synchronization
Wilma and Fred Feuerstein in an amusement park in Ankara
Betty and Barney Rubble

Flintstones ( english The Flintstones ) is an American , of Hanna-Barbera produced animated series . For a long time it was considered the most successful animated series until 1997 when the Simpsons caught up with it. First, six seasons ran from September 30, 1960 to 1966 on the American television station ABC in " prime time " (prime time) until the series was then part of the " Saturday morning cartoons ".

content

The series takes place in the Stone Age town of Steintal (in the new dubbing version Felsental ) (OT: Bedrock ), whose society is comparable to the American middle class of the 20th century.

Ice-age animals such as saber-toothed tigers and mammoths , but also dinosaurs (which were actually extinct for 65 million years when modern humans appeared) live in this city together with cavemen, who, however, have adapted modern technology. The figures drive vehicles made of stones, wood and animal skins, using their own feet as a "motor". The fact that the series is set in the Stone Age did not stop the makers from producing a Christmas episode and other Christmas specials.

Many gags are based on the fact that animals have to be used as tools, such as a mammoth as a tap or dishwasher, a turtle as a lawnmower, a heron as a hedge trimmer, or a woodpecker as a " record player " or as a sculptor in a " camera " . It often happens that these animals break through the fourth wall immediately after their “use” by looking into the camera and making comments to the viewer; mostly they complain about how much they hate their "job". Another feature is that the names of famous people are combined with expressions appropriate to the Stone Age and form a new name. So the actor Tony Curtis becomes Stoney Curtis .

With the division of the four main characters, the show refers directly to the series The Honeymooners from 1955. The quick-tempered title hero Fred Feuerstein (OT: Fred Flintstone ), whose exclamation Yabba Dabba Doo! is world famous, his patient wife Wilma Flintstone , born stockpiles (OT: Slaghoople ), and their friendly neighbors Betty , born McBackstein (OT: McBricker ) and Barney Rubble (OT: Betty & Barney Rubble ). Later, Fred and Wilma's daughter Pebbles (English for pebbles, see also rubble device ) and the adopted, unusually strong boy of the rubble, Bamm-Bamm , were added. The Feuersteins also have a house dinosaur called Dino and their neighbors have a kangaroo-like animal (Hopperuh from Steintralien) called Hoppy . Fred works in a quarry and has had various superiors over the years, the most famous being Mr. Schiefer (OT: Mr. Slate ).

In the later seasons, the Schaudersteins (OT: The Gruesomes ), neighbors of Gegenüber, who were heavily inspired by the series The Addams Family and The Munsters , as well as Galaxius vom Saxilus ( The Great Gazoo ), a little alien who on Earth has crashed and stands by Fred and Barney in all possible emergencies, even against their will. In the German version he speaks with a distinctive Saxon accent. In general, the dubbed version likes to play with dialects - gallant cavaliers and film producers often speak with Viennese , exotic characters often with Silesian language .

Fred's voice was lent to him by Alan Reed (in the first German version by Eduard Wandrey , then Heinz-Theo Branding in the second version) (later also by Engelbert von Nordhausen ) and Barney got his voice for five seasons of Mel Blanc (in the voice of Gerd Duwner can be heard in the German version ). In the first episodes of the second season, Barney was voiced by Daws Butler , as Mel Blanc had to lie in bed due to an almost fatal car accident. The similarities with the Honeymooners existed because Alan Reed spoke Fred Feuerstein based on the Jackie Gleason interpretation by Ralph Kramden and Mel Blanc's voice for Barney had the same style as that of Art Carney , who played Ed Norton in The Honeymooners .

During the credits, Fred tries to bring the young saber-toothed tiger (OT: Baby Puss ) outside for the night, but does not succeed because the tiger jumps back into the house through the window and then puts Fred in front of the door. Thereupon he pounds loudly on the door and yells: “ Wiiil-maaa! “In the 1962 series The Jetsons , the principle of the flint was carried over into space, here too the main character calls his wife Jane at the end of each episode because he is stuck on a treadmill that has gotten out of control.

Origin and production

William Hanna and Joseph Barbera , who had previously worked on feature films for MGM ( Tom and Jerry ) , started their own business in 1957. With Ruff and Reddy they produced their first animated series directly for television. This was followed by the breakthrough on the television market with Hucky and his friends (OT: The Huckleberry Hound Show ). With the series The Flintstones they then wanted to produce an animated series that should be interesting for both children and adults.

In the original, the Flintstones should first be called The Flagstones (such as Die Steinfliesen ) and a short animated film by a modern Stone Age family was shown to the sponsors and the broadcaster. After the series was commissioned, the family was briefly renamed The Gladstones (about The Freudensteins ), but Hanna-Barbera finally decided on "The Flintstones" (The Feuersteins) .

Although most of the episodes were stories in their own right, it could happen that there was an arc of tension over several episodes. The Feuerstein family was one of the first animated series to include this innovation. The best-known example of this is the pregnancy of Wilma and the subsequent birth of Pebbles, in the episode Joyful Surprise (OT: The Surprise ) in the third season. The Feuerstein Family was the first animated series to deal with the subject of infertility . In the third episode of the fourth season, Barney and Betty adopted the little muscle man Bamm-Bamm because of this sterility .

The series was initially aimed at the adult audience as the first season was sponsored by the Winston cigarette brand and the characters also appeared in several television commercials for Winston .

The famous title song Meet the Flintstones was not introduced until the third season (1962–1963), but earlier versions of the piece of music could already be heard as background music in various episodes. The instrumental theme for the first two seasons was called Rise and Shine and was based on the music of Bugs Bunny . Newer versions of the series have the theme Meet the Flintstones in each of the six seasons. In the 1990s, the first two seasons got back the original Rise and Shine including the cigarette advertising. Seasons one and two were still broadcast in black and white, only with the first episode of the third season Dino becomes TV star (OT: Dino Goes Hollyrock ) on September 14, 1962, the series became colored.

After the show was canceled in 1966, the first movie by the Feuersteins hit the screen. In Fred Flintstone Lives Dangerously (alternative title: Mister Flintstone Lives Dangerously , OT: The Man Called Flintstone ) Fred plays a secret agent and parodies James Bond, among others, with his portrayal .

The series got its first revival in the 1970s with the show Die Feuerstein Comedy Show (1972, OT: The Flintstone Comedy Hour ), in which Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm have already grown into teenagers . Further series emerged, with Fred and Barney as police officers, the Feuersteins as toddlers ( The Flintstone Kids , 1986), Fred and Barney as Marvel superheroes or Feuerstein Junior - The Adventures of Bamm-Bamm and Pebbles (OT: Cave Kids: Pebbles & Bamm Bamm , 1996).

In 1997, The Simpsons broke the Flintstone record for the longest-running animated series in prime time. There are obvious or hidden allusions to the Flintstones family in a variety of episodes from The Simpsons. For example, in the episode Homer gets going, the opening sequence, the opening and the theme song of the Flintstones are parodied. Based on Barney Rubble , the Simpsons have Barney Gumble .

Various print versions were published in Germany between 1967 and 2000.

music

Music always played an important role in the series. In many episodes, hits of the time were sung in the original or somewhat rewritten by Fred, Barney or a guest star. One of the first vocal interludes was the song When the Saints Go Marching In , sung by Fred in the second episode of the first season Happy Musicians (OT: Hot Lips Hannigan ).

As the series progressed, it became clear that Fred is a very talented singer and also a hard of hearing. The voices of Fred and Barney, Alan Reed and Mel Blanc, also sang a few lines themselves. For the remaining songs, the two main characters got their own singing specialists.

Many of the original songs were composed by Hoyt Curtin , who later also lent a hand with Scooby-Doo and Yogi Bär .

Songs that are fondly remembered are, for example, the song The Bedrock Twitch , sung on the one hand by the voice actor Daws Butler and on the other hand by the group The B-52’s in the first real film adaptation of the Feuersteins. Other pieces that are not immediately associated with the Flintstones are the songs Happy Anniversary and Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sunshine In . The latter is also on the sampler CD Saturday Morning Cartoon's Greatest Hits , played by the band Frente! , contain.

In 1961, a record was produced especially for children, on which the characters' voices sing different songs. The song Meet the Flintstones was then used as the title song of the series with the beginning of the third season.

The Simpsons carry on the tradition of music between the storylines.

synchronization

Role (German) Role Original speaker German speakers
(1960s) ARD 		German speakers
(1980s) Sat.1
Fred Flintstone Fred Flintstone Alan Reed Eduard Wandrey ,
Klaus W. Krause (5 episodes) 		Heinz Theo branding
Barney Rubble Barney Rubble Mel Blanc
Daws Butler (5 episodes) 		Gerd Duwner Gerd Duwner
Wilma Feuerstein Wilma Flintstone Jean Vander Pyl Ilse Kiewiet ,
Inge Estate 		Christel Merian
Betty Rubble Betty Rubble Bea Benaderet
Gerry Johnson 		Ingeborg Wellmann Ingeborg Wellmann
Bamm-Bamm rubble Bamm-Bamm Rubble Don Messick Constanze Harpen
Dino Dino Mel Blanc Wolfgang number
Mr. Slate Mr. Slate John Stephenson Herbert Grünbaum Karl-Ulrich Meves

The series was edited on behalf of ARD in the 1960s and 1970s at Telesynchron in Berlin. The script and dialogue direction were in the hands of Alexander Welbat . A total of 49 of the 166 episodes were broadcast. Fred is mostly spoken of by Eduard Wandrey in these episodes . In four episodes of the 5th season and one episode of the 6th season, however, Fred was dubbed by Klaus W. Krause . It is unknown whether Krause was hired as a substitute in the meantime or was heard in the first or last episodes of the ARD phase, as the exact data of the synchronization are not available. Ingeborg Wellmann and Gerd Duwner were the spokesmen for Betty and Barney Rubble in all episodes. Wilma Feuerstein was initially spoken to by Ilse Kiewiet before Inge Landgut took on the role.

In the 1980s the series switched to private television and was broadcast into German by the Berlin-based Arena Synchron on behalf of the PKS (or Sat.1) . The script and dialogue direction were in the hands of Thomas Keck . He spiced up the dialogues with his typical language creations ("Spruchweise"). Fred and Wilma received new votes with Heinz Theo Branding and Christel Merian , while the Geröllheimer family kept their ARD speakers.

The 1st, 2nd and 6th season each contain 7 episodes from the ARD phase, the 5th contains 12 episodes. Season 3 only contains episodes branded for Fred Feuerstein. In the fourth season, however, Eduard Wandrey can be heard in 16 of the 26 episodes.

In the 1990s, as an alternative to branding, Engelbert von Nordhausen was also used as Fred spokesman for various re-dubbing of specials and series offshoots, for which the Berlin company Deutsche Synchron was responsible.

On the German-language DVD versions, three episodes of season 1 can only be heard in a re-synchronization with branding for Fred and Michael Habeck for Barney. At that time, Habeck had already taken on several dubbing roles from the late Gerd Duwner. The first episode ( flight attempt ) was originally dubbed with Wandrey / Duwner; the 7th and 14th ( the babysitter and self is the woman ) with branding / duwner. The older synchronizations to these three episodes are still broadcast regularly by the pay TV station Boomerang . The resynchronization was shown on the last free TV broadcast on the Disney Channel .

Episode list

Flintstones family and offshoots

TV Shows

  • Flintstones family (Original title: The Flintstones , 1960–1966)
  • The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (1971/1972): Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm as teenagers
  • The Feuerstein Comedy Show (OT: The Flintstone Comedy Hour , 1972/1973): New episodes with Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm, combined with Fred & Barney segments, as well as the songs of the week
  • The New Fred and Barney Show (1979): Saturday morning revival of the original series. Repetitions of the old episodes, plus the new segments Fred and Barney Meet the Thing and Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo
  • Fred & Barney Meet The Thing (1979): The Feuersteins and the Marvel Universe, but without a crossover of both segments
  • Feuersteins Laughing Parade (OT: The Flintstones Comedy Show , 1980–1982): A 90-minute Saturday morning broadcast that included the following segments:
    • The adventures of the Feuerstein and Frankenstein family (OT: Flintstone Meet Frankenstones Family Adventures ): A segment with the monster-like neighbors similar to the original series
    • Captain Höhlenmann and the policemen from Felsental (OT: Captain Caveman and the Bedrock Cops ): Captain Höhlenmann, Gazoo, Mr. Police, Shmoo and the Stone Age director as policemen
    • Dino and the Cavemouse (OT: Dino and the Cavemouse ): Dino chases a mouse, similar to Tom and Jerry
    • Pebbles, Dino and Bamm-Bamm (OT: Pebbles, Dino and Bamm-Bamm ): The two teenagers and a pet dinosaur. Since the series in Germany was shortened from 90 to 30 minutes, there are not 18, but 54 episodes.
  • The Flintstone Kids (OT: The Flintstone Kids , 1986–1988): The characters of the original cartoon as children
    • Fred and his family (OT: The Flintstone Funnies ): Fred, Barney, Wilma and Betty and friends
    • The pet dinosaur Dino (OT: Dino Dilemmas ): A small dinosaur called Dino
    • Hauptmann Höhlenmann und Sohn (OT: Captain Caveman and Son ): Two superheroes of the Stone Age
  • Feuerstein Junior - The Adventures of Bamm-Bamm and Pebbles (OT: Cave Kids , 1996): A series for toddlers with pebbles and Bamm-Bamm as babies

cinemamovies

TV films and specials (excerpt)

Web links

Commons : Flintstones family  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Feuerstein family. In: German Comic Guide. Star Media, accessed May 18, 2013 .
  2. ↑ The Feuerstein family in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  3. ↑ The Feuerstein family. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on March 2, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Send data flight attempt 'on fernsehserien.de
  5. ↑ Fred and Barney Meet the Thing (TV Series)