Fred Flintstone

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Fred Flintstone.

Frederick F. Flintstone (usually called Fred) and also known as "Fred W. Flintstone" in at least one episode, is a fictional character, who originated in the popular television animated series The Flintstones. Fred has since appeared in various other cartoon spinoffs and commercials. He is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintstone. His best friends are his next door neighbors, Betty and Barney Rubble, who have a son named Bamm-Bamm.

Fred lives in the fictional prehistoric city of Bedrock, a world where dinosaurs coexist with modernized cavepeople and the cavepeople enjoy "primitive" versions of modern conveniences such as telephones, automobiles and washing machines.

Fred's personality was based on that of Ralph Kramden of the 1950s television series The Honeymooners and Chester A. Riley from The Life of Riley (he is also somewhat similar in voice and stature to Zero Mostel). Thus, much like Ralph, Fred tends to be loud-mouthed, aggressive, and constantly scheming ways to improve his family's working class lot in life, often with unintended results.

Fred works as a "bronto crane operator" at Slate Rock and Gravel Company (also known as Rockhead and Quarry Cave Construction Company in the earliest episodes).

Fred's interests include bowling, playing pool, poker, lounging around the house, and playing golf. Of the first two he is incredibly skillful, as seen in one of the episodes where he plays against Wilma's unsuspecting mother. Also, Fred has won championships for his incredible bowling skills; in one episode, he goes so far as to take ballet lessons in order to improve his game. Fred also is an excellent golfer. In one episode he wins the championship only to have Barney repossess the winning trophy cup because Fred is behind in his dues. Fred, like Barney, was also a member of the Loyal Order of Water Buffalos Lodge and a member of the Loyal Order of Dinosaurs (clearly modeled after Freemasonry, Blanc himself was a Mason). Fred also has a serious gambling problem; the mere mention of the word "bet" causes Fred to stammer "bet" over and over again and causes him to go on gambling binges.

Fred's catchphrase is "Yabba-Dabba-Doo!", which becomes the subject of a song by Hoagy Carmichael which the singer-songwriter performs in an episode of The Flintstones. Fred's ability to carry a tune was at first good. In fact he was a singer and went on tour. However as the series progressed, his voice became worse and worse, eventually to the point that his housekeeper quit rather than hear Fred sing. It was also referred to in the refrain of the George Jones song "The King is Gone".

[edit] In other media

Fred Flintstone appeared in the short movie trailer,Raging Fred, a redub of Flintstones clips with dialogue from the movie Raging Bull (parental discretion is advised).

Fred Flintstone appeared in the Johnny Bravo episode "A Page Right Out Of History" where he saved Johnny's ancestor of the same name. Johnny did chores for Fred as a way of repaying Fred.

In 2003, Fred Flintstone came in at # 42 on VH1's list of the 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons. Some of Fred's animated peers also made the list including Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Spider-Man, Charlie Brown, Scooby Doo, Batman, Superman and The Simpsons.

Fred Flintstone appeared in an episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law where he is suspected to be an organized crime boss. In this show, he is voiced by Maurice LaMarche.

Fred made a special guest appearance in the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy episode Modern Primitives, in which Billy finds him, frozen in ice, buried in his backyard. Upon being (accidentally) unfrozen by Grim, Fred is forced by Billy to adapt to the modern world until he finally goes on a senseless rampage. At the end of the episode, he is frozen again, this time due to sherbet ice cream. Billy also gets frozen (though not shown in the episode; only known because he tells Fred in another future world), due to realizing that there was sherbet ice cream buried in his yard. This version of Fred behaves like a caveman and can only say "Yabba-Dabba-Doo", shortening it to "YABBA-DABBA!!!" when he got really, really mad. When Billy asks him his name; he replies with "Oh, Fred", but Billy misinterprets it, thinking Fred is talking in another language, and renames him "Jake Steel." Here, Fred Flintstone is voiced by James Arnold Taylor.

Fred made a cameo appearance in the Family Guy episode "Dammit, Janet!", where he is shown on a news report, along with Wilma, when the news reporter described Peter and Lois as "a fat man inexplicably married to an attractive redhead." Fred made another appearance in the episode "Patriot Games". He is shown having placed a bet with Stewie and stammering "Bet-bet-bet-bet!" in the same way he does in the Flintstones episode "Betting Freddy".

English cricketer Andrew Flintoff is given the nickname "Freddie Flintoff" because of a similarity between their surnames.

In autumn 2005, Fred and Barney began appearing in Midas Muffler television commercials.

Fred makes a cameo in the Dexter's Laboratory episode "Beard To Be Feared" looking at Dexter's beard.

In the opening credits of an episode of The Simpsons, the standard joke in the title sequence with the couch has the Simpson family running to the couch, and being perplexed to see Fred and the Gang already there. Also, in Lady Bouvier's Lover, Mr. Burns mistakes Homer Simpson for Fred.
Fred and Barney appear as burglars in an episode of The Powerpuff Girls

[edit] Trivia

Alan Reed was the original voice artist of Fred until his death in 1977. Henry Corden, who had provided the singing voice for Reed (and Fred) in The Man Called Flintstone, took over until his death in 2005. In the first live-action Flintstones film, he was portrayed by John Goodman, while the second live-action film had the character portrayed by Mark Addy.

The notion of a rivalry between in-laws, as seen between Fred and Wilma's mother, is seen in various other sitcoms, including in The Flintstones's successor prime time animated series, The Simpsons---where Homer shares a rivalry with Marge's sisters Patty and Selma Bouvier.

With Barney Rubble, Fred has been a pitchman for Post Cereals' Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles breakfast cereals. The commercials typically feature Barney trying to trick Fred out of his cereal, usually ending with Fred bellowing, "Barney, my Pebbles!" as Barney runs off with Fred's cereal - with one notable exception of a Christmas-themed commercial in which Santa Claus reminds him that "'Tis the season for sharing, Fred." Fred then sheepishly shares his cereal with both Barney and Santa.

During the first several seasons of The Flintstones series, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble were pitchmen for Winston cigarettes, the show's sponsor at the time. In one Winston ad, Fred and Barney saw the men working hard at the quarry and decided to retire out of sight for a smoke break. After extolling the virtues of the Winston brand cigarette, Fred lit up his cigarette and delivered the catch phrase: "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should." Another similar ad for the cigarettes featured Wilma and Betty as well; the women were working hard mowing the lawn and beating dust out of a rug while Fred and Barney smoked behind the house. Vignettes also aired in which Fred lit Wilma's Winston cigarette, and the couple shared a smoke. Campaigns such as this contributed to cigarette advertising of all kinds being banned from television beginning in 1970.

In the crossover film The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones, Fred and Barney become spokesmen for Spacely Sprockets and Cogswell Cogs respectively.

When the series was broadcast in Spanish-speaking countries, Fred and Wilma's names became Pedro (Pedro, Peter in Spanish as being close to 'piedra' which means 'stone') and Vilma Picapiedra ('picapiedra' translating to something like 'stone chiseler' or 'stone hammerer'), and Barney and Betty Rubble became Pablo and Betty Mármol ('marble'), though in Portuguese (which is quite similar to Spanish), the names remained intact. The Spanish version featured Mexican actor Jorge "Tata" Arvizu doing the voice of Pedro Picapiedra, who frequently ad-libbed comments not traceable to the original English language script. Some critics (and a few Hanna-Barbera executives, Arvizu claimed once) found these ad-libbed comments funnier than those in the original English track: a classic example is that of Fred Flinstone suggesting Barney that two music-playing boarder youths who rented rooms at their respective houses be ejected from them, quote, "de una patada en la rabadilla" ("with a kick in their rumps"), a line not featured in the English script.

Fred was the spokesman for a Rhode Island bank until it went out of business in the 1980s-'90s. The bank, The Providence Institution for Savings, known as Old Stone Bank, featured Fred in its commercials, saying, "Yabba-Dabba-Doo! Love that Old Stone Bank!"