The Flintstones (film)
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| The Flintstones | |
|---|---|
 Original 1994 Film Poster |
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| Directed by | Brian Levant |
| Produced by | Steven Spielberg Bruce Cohen Colin Wilson |
| Written by | Tom S. Parrock Jim Jennewein Steven E. de Souza |
| Starring | John Goodman Rick Moranis Elizabeth Perkins Rosie O'Donnell |
| Music by | David Newman |
| Cinematography | Dean Cundey |
| Distributed by | Universal Studios |
| Release date(s) | May 27, 1994 (USA) |
| Running time | 91 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $45,000,000 US (est.) |
| Followed by | The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas |
| IMDb profile | |
The Flintstones is a 1994 live-action movie based on the Hanna-Barbera animated television series The Flintstones. It is produced by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment.
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[edit] Plot
Cliff Vandercave, currently running Mr. George Nate Slate's quarrying company as executive vice-president, schemes to abscond with company money and flee with Sharon Stone to Rockapulco, Mexirock. He wants a patsy: someone to take the blame, an incompetent. Eying the workers, he decides to invent an executive placement program, and gives the workers an exam. Barney Rubble (who also works for the company now) and Fred Flintstone take their exams using the proper chisel (analog to pencil). When Barney offers to take Fred's exam to turn them in, he notices that Fred did miserably, and swaps the exams in a well meaning attempt to pay Fred back for loaning him the money to adopt his son, Bamm-Bamm Rubble. In fact, Fred had the worst results, while Barney had the best, and when Cliff and Sharon review them, they promote Fred to the executive suite - believing that he cheated - and tell him to fire Barney, after which Barney, his wife Betty and their newly adopted son come to live in the Flintstone home, even though they dislike the way their friends are changing after Fred's promotion.
Meanwhile, Cliff shows off the company's future, automation, and Fred is concerned about the loss of jobs. Cliff intends, however, that the machinery will be shoddy and fall apart... after he's gone from the country. Fred's strong relationship with Wilma spurs an unconscious feeling in Sharon Stone, that Fred has something wonderful that she wishes she was part of.
Fred and Wilma celebrate his promotion by going to the most exclusive restaurant in town, where the entertainment is provided by the BC-52s (the B-52's in stone-age garb) and Wilma lets her hair down.
An argument between Fred and Barney results in Barney telling the truth about the swapped exams, and the two of them stop speaking to one another. Barney and Betty lose their home and end up in the swamp, while Fred adds a second storey to his house, a hot tub, a large-screen television, and even a satellite dish. Following the argument with Rubbles, and the revelation of Fred signing documents that fired the workers - which he was tricked into doing - Wilma walks out on Fred and takes their daughter Pebbles with her, leaving Fred guilt ridden and lonely.
Fred eventually gets suspicious about what's going on, marches into the file room, and finds out the nasty business, so Cliff arranges to frame Fred. Fred goes on the run and is nearly lynched, but Wilma - who misses him - gets together with Betty to get the dictabird that can prove Fred's innocence, thus saving Fred from the lynch mob. In doing so, Wilma incurs the wrath of Cliff, who kidnaps Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm, forcing Fred and Barney to confront Cliff. However, during a confrontation in the gravel pit, Fred duplicates an accident he did on the model of the machinery, and produces a result that causes Cliff to be encased in a new and unknown substance. Mr. Slate shows up, asks what is going on, and decides to name the stuff after his daughter, Concretia. With Wilma and Pebbles back at his side, Fred asks to go back to his old job operating the big dinosaur machine, while also getting benefits for the other workers, and patches things up with Barney.
[edit] Cast
The film featured an all-star cast:
- John Goodman as Fred Flintstone
- Elizabeth Perkins as Wilma Flintstone
- Rick Moranis as Barney Rubble
- Rosie O'Donnell as Betty Rubble
- Halle Berry as Fred's assistant Sharon Stone
- Dann Florek as Mr. George Nate Slate
- Kyle MacLachlan as Fred's evil boss Cliff Vandercave
- Elizabeth Taylor as Wilma's mother, Pearl Slaghoople
- Harvey Korman as the Dictabird
[edit] Cameos and Appearances
In addition, some notable stars appeared in cameo roles:
- Jean Vander Pyl, the original voice of Wilma, as Mrs. Feldspar, a conga line dancer in the scene where Fred is given a party in honor of his becoming an executive at the quarry
- Jonathan Winters as Grizzled Man who leads the lynch mob after Fred
- The B-52's as the "B.C.-52's"
- Richard Moll as "Hoagie", one of Fred's co-workers
- Irwin Keyes as Joe Rockhead
- Jay Leno as a talk show host
- Joe Barbera as a Man driving a Mersandes
- Bill Hanna as the Executive in Boardroom who denounces steam power as madness
- Sam Raimi as Cliff look-alike
The character of Pebbles was split between two twins, Elaine and Melanie Silver.
Finally, Mel Blanc's voice loops for Dino from the original series were reused. The film was directed by Brian Levant.
[edit] Public and Critical Reaction
This film met with mixed reaction from fans and critics alike. While most felt that John Goodman's portrayal of Fred was on character, and Rick Moranis' portrayal of Barney was within tolerance, Elizabeth Perkins' Wilma was somewhat seen by some critics to be a bit lacking, and the casting of Elizabeth Taylor as Wilma's mother, Mrs. Slaghoople, while felt to have been made with the best intentions, was not a successful one as Taylor's physique was nowhere near that of what had been established for the character in the cartoons; Mrs. Slaghoople was easily a physical match for Fred, while Taylor was easily dwarfed by Goodman.
Physical appearance, it would turn out, would be the source of the most negative reaction that was universally reported by both critics and fans. The casting of Rosie O'Donnell as Betty, whose physique was considered far too obese to be acceptable for a character whose previous depiction had been that of a far more slender build. To O'Donnell's credit, she managed to recreate the tone and verbal mannerisms established by Bea Benaderet and Gerry Johnson in the original cartoon, but this was apparently insufficient to allow most fans to overlook the fact that she clearly did not fit the physical appearance of Betty Rubble. (O'Donnell also managed to take home the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her performance in this film, as well as for Car 54, Where Are You? and Exit to Eden.)
Nevertheless, the film was a box office hit, grossing over $130 million domestically, including the $29.6 million made during the Memorial Day weekend in 1994. It was also a major seller in the DVD market, and according to Netflix has been in their top 100 rentals since the company first went into business.
[edit] Trivia
- Halle Berry's character was named after actress Sharon Stone. According to pre-release publicity for the film, Sharon Stone was invited to play the role herself, but declined. She has since admitted her deep regret for turning down the role. After Sharon Stone declined, producers mulled changing the character's name to "Rosetta Stone," but decided most people would miss the archeological reference.
- According to Steven Spielberg, while John Goodman was intended to play Fred from the moment the film was greenlighted, Danny DeVito was the original first choice for Barney. DeVito eventually turned down the role as he felt he was too "gruff" to do the character properly, and reportedly suggested Rick Moranis for the role.
- Harvey Comics published a comic adaptation of the film in two different art styles that could be read through a pair of enclosed 3-D glasses - one style was drawn in the film's realistic style, the other in the style of the cartoon.
- According to industry estimates, this project employed the most amount of screenwriters on a single movie. A staggering 35 screenwriters took a crack at writing this script, while only 3 remain credited for doing so. In most cases, a large number of writers does not work, but in this case, the film which cost just $46 million grossed over $341 million worldwide at the box office, and has gone on to make even more money over the years on VHS and now DVD.
- Mr. Slate's reference to his daughter, Concretia, was the first time the Slates were ever noted for having a daughter. However, in the original series, Slate has a son named Arthur.
- Bedrock claims to be "First with Fire", in the theme of "First in Flight". Fred also remarks that there are a few thousand other people in the world.
- The film's main title comes out of the clouds with a chorus singing it, an obvious homage to the famous opening sequence of The Simpsons, the first successful prime-time animated series since The Flintstones. Interestingly enough, a movie version of The Simpsons wiil be released to theaters in summer 2007.
- The song played many times in the movie, "Twitch!" is a reference to an episode of the original series in which Fred and Barney met the writer of said song.
- Executive producer Steven Spielberg put his name as Steven Spielrock in the credits of the film.
- The ice cream truck's jingle is the theme to The Jetsons, another Hanna-Barbera cartoon.
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Fred Flintstone | Wilma Flintstone | Pebbles Flintstone | Barney Rubble | Betty Rubble | Bamm-Bamm Rubble | Dino | Baby Puss | Hoppy | The Frankenstones | The Great Gazoo | The Gruesomes | Mr. Slate | Bedrock TV: The Flintstones (Episodes) | The Pebbles an Bamm-Bamm Show | The Flintstones Comedy Hour | The New Fred and Barney Show | The Flintstone Kids | Cave Kids Specials, Films, & Releases: The Man Called Flintstone | A Flintstone Christmas | The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone | The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones | I Yabba-Dabba Do! | Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby | The Flintstones (film) | The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas | Cocoa Pebbles | Fruity Pebbles | Flintstones chewable vitamins |
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