Reading "Flintstones"

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____ Somewhere in the world, every hour of every day, "The Flintstones" is being broadcast. An icreadible 300 million fans tune in to watch it regularly. Whether you like them or not, Fred, Wilma and their neighbours, Barney and Betty Rubble, are impoissble to avoid. Recently, all 166 episodes were broadcast non-stop on TV across the USA. Not bad for a cartoon which was badly received by the critics on its first run 38 years ago

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_____Cartoonists Bill Hanna and Joseph Barbera are the men responsible for "The Flintstones". Screen Gems approached them in the late 1950s with the idea of producing an animated prime-time programme.It had never been done before, but with the fast growing popularity of their "Quick Draw McGrawand Huckelberry Hound", the cartoonists gave it a go. It was a decision they were never to regret.

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____They decided to create a family and give them the same problems as contemporary suburbian families but with something very different about them. "Bill and I invented six different families, however, none really pleased us", recalls Barbera."We drew them as pilgrims, Romans, Eskimos, cowboys and everything imaginable. Then an artist came up with a sketch using leopard skins on Neanderthal-type characters," says Hanna. "That was it. That's what we wanted them to look like."

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____Then they threw an average married couple into a Stone Age environment. Drawing the characters with everyday objects wasn't funny, so they tried stone and other prehistoric materials.The result was a whole lot of clever Stone Age gadgets and endless jokes about rocks, which is why the Flintstones' neighbours got to be called"Rubble", and why they all live in "Bedrock". Fred Flintstone's famous yell-'yabba dabba doo'-wasn't originally in the script. It was the man behind Fred's voice, who made it up.During recording he said to Barberra, "Joe, where it says "yahoo", can I say "yabba dabba doo"?

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____Joe Barbera explains the cartoonists' detailed preparation:"We researched into prehistoric times, learning about the animals and other natural elements and surroundings characteristic of that period. All this helped in the creation of the series." Hanna adds:"it was originally called "The Flagstones", until we received a letter from a cartoonist who already had a comic strip of that name. Reluctantly, we changed it to "The Flintstones'

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____Story lines were based on other TV series about families, and many episodes depended on audience fears, like unemployment and the dentist. Plenty of modern day characters made an appearance too, like the actor "Stony Curtis" and the conductor "Leonard Bernstone". Rock Hudson did not, of course, have to change his name, and one day the famous American president "Bill Clinstone" is bound to make an appearance.

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____Armed with the new cartoon family, Barbera set off to New Yourk to try and sell the idea to a TV network. It was hard work and the series came close to never being made at all. After eight weeks of hard sell, still no one was interested,but an hour before Barbera was due to fly home, ABC looked at it. They took to it at once and agreed to broadcast the show. On 30 September 1960, the first episode was shown. Most of the reviews were negative, some even hostile,but the viewers absolutely loved it. Since then it has been translated into 22 languages and has been seen in nearly every country in the world.

Somewhere in the world, every hour of every day, "The Flintstones" is being broadcast. An icreadible 300 million fans tune in to watch it regularly. Whether you like them or not, Fred, Wilma and their neighbours, Barney and Betty Rubble, are impoissble to avoid. Recently, all 166 episodes were broadcast non-stop on TV across the USA. Not bad for a cartoon which was badly received by the critics on its first run 38 years ago.

What is surprising about "The Flingstones" success?

Cartoonists Bill Hanna and Joseph Barbera are the men responsible for "The Flintstones". Screen Gems approached them in the late 1950s with the idea of producing an animated prime-time programme.It had never been done before, but with the fast growing popularity of their "Quick Draw McGrawand Huckelberry Hound", the cartoonists gave it a go. It was a decision they were never to regret.

How did 'The Flintstones" come about?

They decided to create a family and give them the same problems as contemporary suburbian families but with something very different about them. "Bill and I invented six different families, however, none really pleased us", recalls Barbera."We drew them as pilgrims, Romans, Eskimos, cowboys and everything imaginable. Then an artist came up with a sketch using leopard skins on Neanderthal-type characters," says Hanna. "That was it. That's what we wanted them to look like."

Why did Hanna and Barbera chose a Stone Age family? Because

Then they threw an average married couple into a Stone Age environment. Drawing the characters with everyday objects wasn't funny, so they tried stone and other prehistoric materials.The result was a whole lot of clever Stone Age gadgets and endless jokes about rocks, which is why the Flintstones' neighbours got to be called"Rubble", and why they all live in "Bedrock". Fred Flintstone's famous yell-'yabba dabba doo'-wasn't originally in the script. It was the man behind Fred's voice, who made it up.During recording he said to Barberra, "Joe, where it says "yahoo", can I say "yabba dabba doo"?

What do the names "Rubble" and "Bedrock" have in commom?

Story lines were based on other TV series about families, and many episodes depended on audience fears, like unemployment and the dentist. Plenty of modern day characters made an appearance too, like the actor "Stony Curtis" and the conductor "Leonard Bernstone". Rock Hudson did not, of course, have to change his name, and one day the famous American president "Bill Clinstone" is bound to make an appearance.

The Stone Age families   

Armed with the new cartoon family, Barbera set off to New Yourk to try and sell the idea to a TV network. It was hard work and the series came close to never being made at all. After eight weeks of hard sell, still no one was interested,but an hour before Barbera was due to fly home, ABC looked at it. They took to it at once and agreed to broadcast the show. On 30 September 1960, the first episode was shown. Most of the reviews were negative, some even hostile,but the viewers absolutely loved it. Since then it has been translated into 22 languages and has been seen in nearly every country in the world

What was the reaction to the first episode?

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