Hanna-Barbera

[Mo Frackle]

Jeff Bergman is also high on my list of Fred Flintstones. Kevin Michael Richardson's Barney sounds closer to Mel Blanc's season one Barney. Not that that's a problem. But I personally would have gone with Frank Welker.

Another Top Cat movie, supposedly with much of the same crew from the 2011 flick, is also in the works. Speaking of which, TC: The Movie could have been so much better. The voice acting was pretty solid (though I'm still mixed on the choice of 'updating' Spook and Fancy for modern viewers), but the script just screams "direct-to-video."

 

[Drtooth]

Jeff Bergman is also high on my list of Fred Flintstones. Kevin Michael Richardson's Barney sounds closer to Mel Blanc's season one Barney. Not that that's a problem. But I personally would have gone with Frank Welker.

Weird. I wonder if Frank's still doing any bit parts or animal noises. Sometimes he's just too expensive. Unless Warners decided to keep the On the Rocks cast as the official cast. I dunno. Personally, I'm glad that a Flintstones anything is happening. It's thankfully still on Boomerang, but as I said, an entire generation knows them from cereal and vitamins. I really miss syndicated animation reruns.

Another Top Cat movie, supposedly with much of the same crew from the 2011 flick, is also in the works. Speaking of which, TC: The Movie could have been so much better. The voice acting was pretty solid (though I'm still mixed on the choice of 'updating' Spook and Fancy for modern viewers), but the script just screams "direct-to-video."

Well, that stems from being not made for the US. It's a rarity to see an American cartoon produced exclusively for an overseas (or in this case, south of the boarder) audience. There was a weird TMNT OVA in Japan we never saw (legally and without the internet that is), and a weird Japanese Little Lulu series that we did get, and the dubbing was...just poor. Bad music and voice acting by people who have never seen the original cartoons. Top Cat the movie is a weird bird. A Mexican film that was never meant to get out of the Latin American market. Even when it got dubbed, the UK got a dub in first. Somehow that character is still popular in Latin America (even had a bad disco album back in the day). TC is virtually forgotten unless you're a die hard HB fan.

 

[Mo Frackle]

Personally, I'm glad that a Flintstones anything is happening. It's thankfully still on Boomerang, but as I said, an entire generation knows them from cereal and vitamins.

They're still on Boomerang for now, anyway. There's no telling where they'll be when that Boomerang rebrand kicks in next year. Scooby, T&J, and the Looney Tunes are staying, though I'm not sure if this exclusively means the 21st century era projects or not.

But either way, I'm glad any HB series that isn't Scooby or T&J is getting some attention. Proper attention, that is. No CGI flicks with celebrities voicing the characters.

 

[Phillip]

They're finally going to release the big WWE X Flintstones crossover movie. And I almost swore they dumped the concept to focus on multiple Scooby-Doo X WWE projects, since Scooby-Doo kids actually know outside of cereal and vitamins. I'm pretty happy to see a new Flintstones project since the Seth MacFarline version will never happen, and that the last one was well over 10 years ago. Meanwhile Scooby gets a couple DTV movies a year. Heck, the Flintstones characters don't even appear in their own cereal commercials anymore!

Thanks for posting this. I've always been a big fan of all things Flintstones and this is the first I've heard of the new production. Love the first season look to the animation that's present here. I'm looking forward to seeing this develop.

 

[fuzzygobo]

I think it's hysterical, my generation certainly remembers the Flintstones for cereal and vitamins, but my parents' generation remembers them for Winston cigarettes (the show's original primetime sponsor).
Fred and Barney turning their lungs black. Back when cigarettes were 35 cents a pack.

 

[Drtooth]

And contrary to popular belief, the only reason they were no longer the sponsors was because they pulled funding from the show because that's when Wilma was pregnant. But Welches stepped in and Pebbles loved her some grape juice.

Anyway, I give huge props to Boomerang by using the original openings to the show instead of just the generic final opening with the Rubbles going to the drive in with the Flintstones. I swear, I've never seen the one where Pebbles is playing with Legos and Fred only takes his family to the Drive in until recently. Not to mention the not even using the iconic theme version from the very start of the show. I've seen that one before, just never the variant of the popular one they used when Pebbles was first introduced.

 

[mr3urious]

Anyway, I give huge props to Boomerang by using the original openings to the show instead of just the generic final opening with the Rubbles going to the drive in with the Flintstones. I swear, I've never seen the one where Pebbles is playing with Legos and Fred only takes his family to the Drive in until recently. Not to mention the not even using the iconic theme version from the very start of the show. I've seen that one before, just never the variant of the popular one they used when Pebbles was first introduced.

Just like with I Love Lucy where the original network openings had little stick figures of Lucy and Desi hawking the show's sponsor Philip Morris, also courtesy of H-B. Most youngsters are familiar with the heart logo against a satin BG used in reruns (myself included), but were unaware of the original until the DVD release, and to a lesser extent the TV Land version that edited out that eeeeeevil tobacco plug, making a lot of people think that the intro was custom-made for TV Land itself.

 

[Drtooth]

What can I say? Syndication kills. Generic openings, scenes cut out... When I watched Flintstones anywhere else (I guess the DVD's had them uncut, and I wish I actually invested in them when they went deeply discounted), I got the standard "Meet The Flintstones" opening with Fred picking up the Rubbles on the way to the drive in. By that token, the ending was also different (not by much, Fred still orders the ribs and the car tips over, but you see their pets on the side).

Now, back to the subject of HB cartoons... while it was certainly an off shoot, anyone else think it's weird that up to a certain point, Ruby Spears cartoons are retroactively considered Hanna Barbera ones? I have the completely amazing and underrated 1979 Plastic Man cartoon, produced by RS, and the DVD back packaging credits Hanna-Barbera instead of RS, complete with the modern logo. Strangely, none of the Super Friends DVD's have that and they were produced by HB. Yet, The Chipmunks and especially Mega Man are considered something completely different, regardless of the copyright ownership. Strange. But I suggest checking out that Plastic Man series. It's quite good.

Also, for those of you with big enough wallets and wall space...

Mondo Hanna Barbera Prints

I agree with the comments. While I get what they were trying to do with Hong Kong Phooey, the others look much better and much more classic and retro. I'd love a Saul Bass inspired HKP piece instead of the wild one we have, even though I kinda like it. I especially like the Johnny Quest and Flintstones ones. Love how the Flintstone one is a movie poster for a specific episode.

 

[D'Snowth]

As long as it's not Seth MacFarlane trying to revive the Flintstones like he's been trying to for years - that would be a travesty.

 

[Drtooth]

He's too busy and there was no way that would have gotten of the ground. And it would have been far from a travesty. HB did much worse to the Flintstones since their first series. Pebbles and Bamm Bamm being bubblegum musicians, Pebbles and Bamm Bamm being preschool edu-tainers... heck, it's not pleasant to say that The Flintstone Kids is one of the good ones. The 70's really weren't kind to the stone age family, frankly (though the Cave Kids cartoon was from the late 90's, early 00's or something... but it is yeeeeeccccch). I had faith in his project, as he was a huge fan, but it's not happening and all we're getting is the WWE movie.

Which gets me to thinking... if the show did come back under Seth, I could totally see an episode where Fred and Barney get caught up in a house flipping get rich quick scheme. Everytime I hear that radio ad for house flipping seminars, I automatically shout "Do they think everyone is Fred Flintstone?!"