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The Flintstones (film)

March 06, 2023

The Flintstones (also known as The Flintstones Movie or The Flintstones: The Live-Action Movie in the working title) is a 1994 American family comedy film directed by Brian Levant and written by Tom S. Parker, Jim Jennewein, and Steven E. de Souza based on the 1960–1966 animated television series of the same name. The film stars John Goodman as Fred Flintstone, Rick Moranis as Barney Rubble, Elizabeth Perkins as Wilma Flintstone and Rosie O'Donnell as Betty Rubble, along with Kyle MacLachlan as Cliff Vandercave, a villainous executive-vice president of Fred's company, Halle Berry as Sharon Stone, his seductive secretary, and Elizabeth Taylor (in her final theatrical film appearance), as Pearl Slaghoople, Wilma's mother. The B-52's performed their version of the cartoon's theme song, playing themselves as the BC-52's.

The Flintstones
Theatrical release poster by Drew Struzan
Directed byBrian Levant
Written by
Based onThe Flintstones
by William Hanna and
Joseph Barbera
Produced byBruce Cohen
Starring
CinematographyDean Cundey
Edited byKent Beyda
Music byDavid Newman
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • May 27, 1994 (1994-05-27)
Running time
91 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$46 million[2]
Box office$341.6 million[2]

The film, shot in California, was theatrically released on May 27, 1994, and earned almost $342 million worldwide against a $46 million budget, making it a huge box office success, despite mixed reviews from critics. Audiences and fans praised its faithfulness to its source material, visual effects, costume design, art direction, and performances (particularly Goodman as Fred), but criticized the storyline, tone (which they deemed too mature for family audiences) and casting choices on O'Donnell and Taylor. A tie-in promotion with McDonald's was made to promote the film. The movie was originally acquired by New Line Cinema, but then sold to Universal Pictures.

A prequel titled The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas was released in 2000.

Plot

In prehistoric suburban Bedrock, Slate & Co.'s new vice-president Cliff Vandercave and secretary Sharon Stone discuss their plan to swindle the company of its vast fortune, pin the theft on an employee, and flee. Fred Flintstone loans his best friend and neighbor Barney Rubble money so that he and his wife Betty can adopt a little boy named Bamm-Bamm, who can only pronounce his own name. Though initially hard to control because of his super strength, Bamm-Bamm eventually warms up to his new family and befriends Fred’s daughter Pebbles. Despite his mother-in-law Pearl Slaghoople's objections, Fred's wife Wilma remains supportive of his decision to loan the Rubbles money.

Cliff holds an aptitude test with the worker with the highest mark becoming the company's new vice president. Barney gets the highest score but switches his paper with Fred, whom he knows will fail. Fred receives the promotion, complete with executive perks such as a luxurious office and Stone appointed as his secretary. To test Fred’s willingness to follow orders, Cliff asks him to dismiss Barney who, with Fred's test paper, has the lowest score in the company. Though Fred is unwilling to fire him, Cliff warns him that he will fire both of them. Fred reluctantly accepts, but continues to help Barney support his family, even inviting the Rubbles to live with them so that they can rent out their house. However, Fred's job and newfound wealth eventually hinder his relationships with Wilma and the Rubbles. Cliff eventually tricks Fred into dismissing the other workers, over the objections of his office Dictabird. Later, Barney confronts Fred after seeing worker riots on the news and, after revealing that he switched tests with Fred, moves out with Betty. Wilma and Pebbles also leave for Pearl's house, leaving Fred behind.

Fred goes to the quarry, discovers Cliff's plan, and tries getting Mr. Slate to fire Cliff. However, having manipulated the events to make it look as if Fred stole the money, Cliff has reported the theft to the police. Fred flees, but a manhunt ensues by both the police and the fired workers. Wilma and Betty see this on the news and break into Slate & Co. to get the Dictabird, the only witness who can clear Fred's name, unaware that Cliff saw them from his office window. As a disguised Fred enters the workers' cave, he is discovered and the workers try hanging him. When Barney shows up as a sno-cone truck driver, the workers also try to hang him as well when he admits his role in the events. Fred and Barney reconcile before Wilma, Betty and the Dictabird save them and Wilma tells the workers that Fred was framed by Cliff.

When the Flintstones and Rubbles return home, they find it burglarized with Dino and Pearl tied up and Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm gone. The group finds a note from Cliff saying that he will trade the children for the Dictabird. Fred and Barney confront Cliff at the quarry, where Cliff has tied Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm to a huge machine. Though they hand him the Dictabird, Cliff activates the machine to stall them. Barney rescues the children while Fred destroys the machine. The Dictabird escapes from Cliff and lures him back to the quarry, where Stone incapacitates him, having had a change of heart after learning of Cliff's plan to betray her. The police, Wilma, Betty, and Mr. Slate arrive and Cliff attempts to escape, but he is petrified by a substance falling from the machine.

Fred and the Dictabird tell the police of Cliff's actions and all charges against Fred are dropped. Impressed with the substance that Fred inadvertently created by destroying the machine, Mr. Slate dubs the substance "concrete" in honor of his daughter Concretia and declares the stone age over. Mr. Slate asks for the workers to be rehired and makes plans to produce the concrete with Fred leading its division. Having experienced the negatives of wealth and status, Fred declines the offer and asks that the workers be given two weeks paid leave as part of their salary, preferring to return to his old life.

Cast

Production

Development and writing

In 1985, producers Keith Barish and Joel Silver bought the rights for a live-action feature film version of The Flintstones and commissioned Steven E. de Souza to write a script with Richard Donner hired to direct. De Souza's script submitted in September 1987 was eventually rejected and in October 1989 a new script by Daniel and Joshua Goldin was submitted.[3] Peter Martin Wortmann and Robert Conte submitted another draft in March 1990 before Mitch Markowitz was hired to write a script.[3] Said to be a cross of The Grapes of Wrath, Markowitz commented that "I don't even remember it that well, but Fred and Barney leave their town during a terrible depression and go across the country, or whatever that damn prehistoric thing is, looking for jobs. They wind up in trailer parks trying to keep their families together. They exhibit moments of heroism and poignancy". Markowitz's version was apparently too sentimental for director Donner, who disliked it.[4] A further draft was then submitted and revised by Jeffrey Reno and Ron Osbourne in 1991 and 1992. Eventually, the rights were bought by Amblin Entertainment and Steven Spielberg who, after working with Goodman on Always, was determined to cast him in the lead as Fred. Brian Levant was hired as director, knowing he was the right person because of his love for the original series. They knew he was an avid fan of the series because of his Flintstones items collection and the knowledge he had from the series.

When Levant was hired, all previous scripts were thrown out. In May 1992, Michael J. Wilson submitted a four-page story that became the basis for the film. This was turned into a script by Jim Jennewein and Tom S. Parker. A meeting of Levant, Bruce Cohen, Jason Hoffs and Kate Barker gave notes to Gary Ross, who produced another draft.[3] Levant then recruited what he called an "all-star writing team" which consisted of his writer friends from television shows such as Family Ties, Night Court, and Happy Days. Levant described as "a sitcom on steroids, just trying to improve it". The writers, dubbed the Flintstone Eight, were Al Aidekman, Cindy Begel, Lloyd Garver, David Silverman, Stephen Sustarsic, Nancy Steen, Neil Thompson plus Levant. The group wrote a new draft but four more round table sessions ensued, each of which was attended by new talent, including Rob Dames, Lenny Ripps, Fred Fox Jr., Dava Savel, Lon Diamond, David Richardson, Roy Teicher, Richard Gurman, Michael J. Digaetano and Ruth Bennett.[3] Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel worked on it next with Levant, taking home a reported $100,000 for just two days work.[5] Rick Moranis was also present at Levant's roundtables, and later described the film as "one of those scripts that had about 18 writers".[6] Levant made eight more revisions before finally registering a shooting script on August 7, 1993. Of the 35 writers, the Flintstone Eight were submitted for arbitration by the Writers Guild of America plus Wilson for story credit;[3] however, credit was given to the first script by De Souza and to Jennewein and Parker for their drafts.

The effects for Dino, the Dictabird and other prehistoric creatures were provided by Jim Henson's Creature Shop while most of the film's CGI effects were provided by Industrial Light & Magic after Levant was impressed by their work on the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park (another Universal/Amblin production released the previous year).

Casting

John Candy, Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Chevy Chase were all considered for the role of Fred Flintstone.[7][8] The last four actors were all deemed too skinny and a fat suit was deemed too inappropriate to be used. Goodman felt he was "sandbagged" into the role of Flintstone years earlier at the table read for the film Always, when Steven Spielberg announced: "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to say something before we start: I've found my Fred Flintstone". Goodman said it was "not a role I was looking forward to doing" but said the experience was "fun".[9] Had Goodman turned the role down, the film would not have been made.[7] Geena Davis, Faith Ford, and Catherine O'Hara were all considered for the role of Wilma, but Elizabeth Perkins eventually won the role.[10] Danny DeVito was the original first choice for Barney, but he turned down the role as he felt he was too gruff to do the character properly and reportedly suggested Rick Moranis for the role.[7] DeVito was also considered for Fred Flintstone.[11] Although Janine Turner was considered, Rosie O'Donnell won the role of Betty Rubble with her impersonation of the cartoon character's signature giggle.[7] Both Tracey Ullman and Daphne Zuniga were also considered for the role.[10] Sharon Stone was to play Miss Stone, but turned it down because of scheduling conflicts.[7][12] The role was also offered to Nicole Kidman.[7] Both Audrey Meadows and Elizabeth Montgomery were considered for the role of Pearl Slaghoople.[10]

Filming

Principal photography began on May 17, 1993, and wrapped on August 20, 1993.[13][14][15] Parts of the film were shot at Glen Canyon in Utah as well as Los Angeles County, California.[16] Sets that resembled a complete street from Bedrock were constructed adjacent to Vasquez Rocks in California. Before being totally demolished, visitors could tour the location.[17]

Reception

Box office

Despite the negative reviews, The Flintstones was a box office success, grossing $130,531,208 domestically, including the $37,182,745 it made during its 4-day Memorial Day opening weekend in 1994 (a then-record gross for the Memorial Day weekend). It performed even better internationally, making another $211,100,000 internationally, for a total of $341,631,208 worldwide, more than seven times its $46 million budget.[2] Along with Lethal Weapon 3, the film also had the biggest May opening weekend until it was taken by Twister in 1996.[18] In the United Kingdom, it had the second highest opening week at the time behind Jurassic Park, with a gross of $8.7 million.[19][20] In Mexico it had a record opening with $4.9 million in four days.[21] In Australia, it grossed $2 million in its opening weekend, also the second highest at the time behind Jurassic Park.[22] In Italy, it grossed $4.8 million in its first six days, again the second biggest opener in Italy at the time behind Jurassic Park.[23] It set opening records in Hungary and Poland.[22] It went on to gross over $15 million in Italy, $35 million in Germany and $31 million in the United Kingdom.[24] It did not perform well in France or South Korea.[25]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 21% of 47 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4/10. The website's consensus reads, "The Flintstones wastes beloved source material and imaginative production design on a tepid script that plunks Bedrock's favorite family into a cynical story awash with lame puns."[26] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, which indicates "generally unfavorable reviews", based on 15 reviews.[27] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on scale of A+ to F.[28]

On Siskel & Ebert & the Movies, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times and his colleague Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two thumbs down. Ebert gave it 2.5 stars out of 4 in his newspaper review, and Siskel gave it 1.5 stars out of 4 in his newspaper review. They both mentioned that its main storylines (embezzlement, mother-in-law problems, office politics and extra-marital affairs) were storylines for adult films, and ones that children would not be able to understand.

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film never had much potential and "has been carefully designed to be as bright and insubstantial as a child’s toy balloon". Comparing the film to The Addams Family, he called both films "clever, lively and ultimately wearying pieces of showy Hollywood machinery" that favor visuals over writing.[29]

Caryn James of The New York Times wrote that Goodman "goes a long way toward carrying The Flintstones over a script that is essentially a bunch of rock jokes and puns stretched to feature-film length", but James also said the film is too faithful to its 1960s source material and lacks modern pop culture references.[30]

Todd McCarthy of Variety said that "with all manner of friendly beasts, a superenergetic John Goodman and a colorful supporting cast inhabiting a Bedrock that resembles a Stone Age version of Steven Spielberg suburbia, this live-action translation of the perennial cartoon favorite is a fine popcorn picture for small fry, and perfectly inoffensive for adults".[31]

Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the film resembled "a mountain of production, a rock of a cast, [and] a pebble of thought".[32]

A few reviews were positive, including one from Richard Schickel of Time, who said that "nothing has been lost—or worse, inflated out of proportion" in the adaptation. He said it "doesn't feel overcalculated, over-produced or overthought".[33]

In a 1997 interview, Joseph Barbera, co-founder of Hanna-Barbera Productions and co-creator of The Flintstones, stated that, although he was impressed by the film's visuals, he felt the story "wasn't as good as I could have made it".[34]

Year-end lists

Accolades

O'Donnell won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her performance in this film. The film also won Worst Screenplay and was nominated for two others: Taylor as Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress (the second performance in the film nominated for this award) and for the film as Worst Remake or Sequel. At the 1994 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film was nominated for Worst Resurrection of a TV Show and Worst Actress for O'Donnell. The film also received four Saturn Award nominations, including Best Fantasy Film, Best Costume Design and Best Supporting Actress for O'Donnell's and Berry's performances.

Marketing

McDonald's marketed a number of Flintstones promotions for the film, including the return of the McRib sandwich and the "Grand Poobah Meal" combo with it, a line of premium glass mugs, and toys based on characters and locations from the film. In the commercials and released items for the Flintstones promotion, McDonald's was renamed "RocDonald's" with stone age imagery, similarly to other businesses and proper names in the Flintstones franchise. The week the film was released, MTV aired a block of The Grind with Eric Nies at the film's Bedrock set with dancers in cave outfits performing to hit music at the time from Ace of Base, Was (Not Was), Warren G and Nate Dogg while Eric asked the dancers themed trivia questions from the show and encouraged the viewers to purchase the film's soundtrack.[41] The Flintstones: The Movie, a video game based on the film, was developed by Ocean software and released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy and Mega Drive/Genesis (Sega Channel exclusive) in 1995. In the United Kingdom, Tetley promoted TV commercials with audio from the film, including mugs starring characters from the film. Jurassic Park, the name of another movie, was also seen briefly as a park in the film.

Home media

The film was released on VHS and LaserDisc on November 8, 1994, and on DVD on March 16, 1999. It was released on Blu-ray on August 19, 2014.[42]

Video game

Main article: The Flintstones (1994 Ocean Software video game)

A video game based on the film was released for the Game Boy, Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Channel in both 1994 and 1995 respectively, developed by Ocean Software (SNES), Twilight (GB), Hi-Tech (SC) and published by Ocean Software. In the game, the player takes control of Fred Flintstone and has to rescue Wilma, Barney, Pebbles and Bam-Bam from Cliff Vandercave.[43][44]

A Sega Genesis version developed by Foley Hi-Tech and published by Ocean Software was also planned, but was later canceled and was released on the Sega Channel instead.[45][unreliable source?]

Prequel

Main article: The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas

A prequel, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, was released in 2000. The original main cast did not reprise their roles of the characters, though O'Donnell provided the voice of an octopus who gave massages to younger versions of Wilma and Betty. Irwin Keyes returned as Joe Rockhead, the only cast member to reprise his role from the first film. Like the first film, it received negative reviews, but unlike the original film, it was a box office flop.

See also

References

  1. ^ "THE FLINTSTONES (U)". British Board of Film Classification. May 31, 1994. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "The Flintstones (1994)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e Fleming, Michael (January 4, 1994). "Scribes thrive on 'F'Stones'". Daily Variety. p. 1.
  4. ^ Murphy, Ryan (January 17, 1993). "A look inside Hollywood and the movies: 'YABBA DABBA WHO?': Hey! Raquel Welch Was Good in 'One Million Years B.C.'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 10, 2010.
  5. ^ Gordinier, Jeff; Ascher-Walsh, Rebecca (June 3, 1994). "Bringing "The Flintstones" to the Big Screen". Entertainment Weekly.
  6. ^ Chris Hardwick (June 12, 2013). "Nerdist Podcast: Rick Moranis". Nerdist Podcast (Podcast). Nerdist Industries. Event occurs at 1:13:36. from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Hayes, Britt (November 16, 2013). "See the Cast of 'The Flintstones' Then and Now". Screen Crush. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  8. ^ Evans, Bradford (June 2, 2011). "The Lost Roles of John Candy". Splitsider. from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  9. ^ "John Goodman Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters". GQ. August 15, 2019. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  10. ^ a b c Mell, Eila (2005). Casting Might-Have-Beens: A Film by Film Directory of Actors Considered for Roles Given to Others. McFarland. ISBN 9780786420179.
  11. ^ Evans, Bradford (September 15, 2011). "The Lost Roles of Danny DeVito". Splitsider. from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  12. ^ Klossner, Michael (2006). Prehistoric Humans in Film and Television: 581 Dramas, Comedies and Documentaries, 1905-2004. McFarland. ISBN 9781476609140.
  13. ^ "Role-Playing Stones: Movies: Hollywood has come calling again on Vasquez Rocks. They will be the backdrop for "The Flintstones" film". Los Angeles Times. May 10, 1993.
  14. ^ "Flintstones Fans Flock to Movie Sets: Film: Hundreds visit Vasquez Rocks to stroll down Cobblestone Way, home of the fabled cartoon characters". Los Angeles Times. May 30, 1993.
  15. ^ "Taylor polishes cameo in Bedrock". July 23, 1993.
  16. ^ D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423605874.
  17. ^ "Flintstones Town of Bedrock movie set (Old VHS footage) Vasquez Rocks Pt1 V13827 - video Dailymotion". February 29, 2016.
  18. ^ "Twister' blows away field at U.S. box office". United Press International. May 12, 1996. from the original on February 22, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  19. ^ "International box office". Variety. August 1, 1994. p. 22.
  20. ^ Groves, Don (August 1, 1994). "O'seas B.O. back to the 'Stones' age". Variety. p. 22.
  21. ^ Groves, Don (August 8, 1994). "Big U.S. pix fight for o'seas B.O.". Variety. p. 19.
  22. ^ a b Groves, Don (September 20, 1994). "'Clear' sailing in U.K.; 'Flintstones' wows Oz". Daily Variety. p. 4.
  23. ^ Groves, Don (October 17, 1994). "'Forrest' growing at o'seas B.O.". Variety. p. 28.
  24. ^ Klady, Leonard (November 14, 1994). "Exceptions are the rule in foreign B.O.". Variety. p. 7.
  25. ^ Groves, Don (August 15, 1994). "U.S. hits still click overseas". Variety. p. 16.
  26. ^ "The Flintstones". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 31, 2022.  
  27. ^ "The Flintstones reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  28. ^ "Cinemascore". from the original on December 20, 2018.
  29. ^ Turan, Kenneth (May 27, 1994). "Movie review: 'The Flintstones' succeeds at being cartoonish. But do three dozen writers make for a good script? Don't take it for granite". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  30. ^ James, Caryn (May 27, 1994). "Review/Film: The Flintstones; Lovable And Loud, With Wits Of Stone". The New York Times. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  31. ^ McCarthy, Todd (May 17, 1994). "The Flintstones". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
  32. ^ Wilmington, Michael (May 27, 1994). "Yabba-dabba Dud". Chicago Tribune. from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2010.
  33. ^ Schickel, Richard (May 30, 1994). "CINEMA: Maverick Is Painless, the Flintstones Is Fun". Time. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  34. ^ Maltin, Leonard (February 26, 1997). "Joseph Barbera Interview". Archive of American Television. from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
  35. ^ Howe, Desson (December 30, 1994), "The Envelope Please: Reel Winners and Losers of 1994", The Washington Post, retrieved July 19, 2020
  36. ^ Anthony, Todd (January 5, 1995). "Hits & Disses". Miami New Times.
  37. ^ Maslin, Janet (December 27, 1994). "CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; The Good, Bad and In-Between In a Year of Surprises on Film". The New York Times. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  38. ^ Craft, Dan (December 30, 1994). "Success, Failure and a Lot of In-between; Movies '94". The Pantagraph. p. B1.
  39. ^ Travers, Peter (December 29, 1994). "The Best and Worst Movies of 1994". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  40. ^ Simon, Jeff (January 1, 1995). "Movies: Once More, with Feeling". The Buffalo News. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  41. ^ >
  42. ^ Levant, Brian (August 19, 2014). "The Flintstones". Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  43. ^ . Archived from the original on April 29, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  44. ^ http://download.abandonware.org/magazines/Consoles%20Plus/consoleplus_numero042/Consoles%20+%20042%20-%20Page%20156%20(1995-04).jpg[bare URL image file]
  45. ^ "The Flintstones (Ocean)". Retrieved May 29, 2018.

External links

 
Wikiquote has quotations related to The Flintstones (film).
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Flintstones (film).

March 06, 2023
flintstones, film, flintstones, also, known, flintstones, movie, flintstones, live, action, movie, working, title, 1994, american, family, comedy, film, directed, brian, levant, written, parker, jennewein, steven, souza, based, 1960, 1966, animated, television. The Flintstones also known as The Flintstones Movie or The Flintstones The Live Action Movie in the working title is a 1994 American family comedy film directed by Brian Levant and written by Tom S Parker Jim Jennewein and Steven E de Souza based on the 1960 1966 animated television series of the same name The film stars John Goodman as Fred Flintstone Rick Moranis as Barney Rubble Elizabeth Perkins as Wilma Flintstone and Rosie O Donnell as Betty Rubble along with Kyle MacLachlan as Cliff Vandercave a villainous executive vice president of Fred s company Halle Berry as Sharon Stone his seductive secretary and Elizabeth Taylor in her final theatrical film appearance as Pearl Slaghoople Wilma s mother The B 52 s performed their version of the cartoon s theme song playing themselves as the BC 52 s The FlintstonesTheatrical release poster by Drew StruzanDirected byBrian LevantWritten byTom S Parker Jim Jennewein Steven E de SouzaBased onThe Flintstonesby William Hanna and Joseph BarberaProduced byBruce CohenStarringJohn Goodman Rick Moranis Elizabeth Perkins Rosie O Donnell Kyle MacLachlan Halle Berry Elizabeth TaylorCinematographyDean CundeyEdited byKent BeydaMusic byDavid NewmanProductioncompaniesAmblin Entertainment Hanna Barbera ProductionsDistributed byUniversal PicturesRelease dateMay 27 1994 1994 05 27 Running time91 minutes 1 CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 46 million 2 Box office 341 6 million 2 The film shot in California was theatrically released on May 27 1994 and earned almost 342 million worldwide against a 46 million budget making it a huge box office success despite mixed reviews from critics Audiences and fans praised its faithfulness to its source material visual effects costume design art direction and performances particularly Goodman as Fred but criticized the storyline tone which they deemed too mature for family audiences and casting choices on O Donnell and Taylor A tie in promotion with McDonald s was made to promote the film The movie was originally acquired by New Line Cinema but then sold to Universal Pictures A prequel titled The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas was released in 2000 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 3 1 Development and writing 3 2 Casting 3 3 Filming 4 Reception 4 1 Box office 4 2 Critical response 4 3 Year end lists 4 4 Accolades 4 5 Marketing 5 Home media 6 Video game 7 Prequel 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksPlot EditIn prehistoric suburban Bedrock Slate amp Co s new vice president Cliff Vandercave and secretary Sharon Stone discuss their plan to swindle the company of its vast fortune pin the theft on an employee and flee Fred Flintstone loans his best friend and neighbor Barney Rubble money so that he and his wife Betty can adopt a little boy named Bamm Bamm who can only pronounce his own name Though initially hard to control because of his super strength Bamm Bamm eventually warms up to his new family and befriends Fred s daughter Pebbles Despite his mother in law Pearl Slaghoople s objections Fred s wife Wilma remains supportive of his decision to loan the Rubbles money Cliff holds an aptitude test with the worker with the highest mark becoming the company s new vice president Barney gets the highest score but switches his paper with Fred whom he knows will fail Fred receives the promotion complete with executive perks such as a luxurious office and Stone appointed as his secretary To test Fred s willingness to follow orders Cliff asks him to dismiss Barney who with Fred s test paper has the lowest score in the company Though Fred is unwilling to fire him Cliff warns him that he will fire both of them Fred reluctantly accepts but continues to help Barney support his family even inviting the Rubbles to live with them so that they can rent out their house However Fred s job and newfound wealth eventually hinder his relationships with Wilma and the Rubbles Cliff eventually tricks Fred into dismissing the other workers over the objections of his office Dictabird Later Barney confronts Fred after seeing worker riots on the news and after revealing that he switched tests with Fred moves out with Betty Wilma and Pebbles also leave for Pearl s house leaving Fred behind Fred goes to the quarry discovers Cliff s plan and tries getting Mr Slate to fire Cliff However having manipulated the events to make it look as if Fred stole the money Cliff has reported the theft to the police Fred flees but a manhunt ensues by both the police and the fired workers Wilma and Betty see this on the news and break into Slate amp Co to get the Dictabird the only witness who can clear Fred s name unaware that Cliff saw them from his office window As a disguised Fred enters the workers cave he is discovered and the workers try hanging him When Barney shows up as a sno cone truck driver the workers also try to hang him as well when he admits his role in the events Fred and Barney reconcile before Wilma Betty and the Dictabird save them and Wilma tells the workers that Fred was framed by Cliff When the Flintstones and Rubbles return home they find it burglarized with Dino and Pearl tied up and Pebbles and Bamm Bamm gone The group finds a note from Cliff saying that he will trade the children for the Dictabird Fred and Barney confront Cliff at the quarry where Cliff has tied Pebbles and Bamm Bamm to a huge machine Though they hand him the Dictabird Cliff activates the machine to stall them Barney rescues the children while Fred destroys the machine The Dictabird escapes from Cliff and lures him back to the quarry where Stone incapacitates him having had a change of heart after learning of Cliff s plan to betray her The police Wilma Betty and Mr Slate arrive and Cliff attempts to escape but he is petrified by a substance falling from the machine Fred and the Dictabird tell the police of Cliff s actions and all charges against Fred are dropped Impressed with the substance that Fred inadvertently created by destroying the machine Mr Slate dubs the substance concrete in honor of his daughter Concretia and declares the stone age over Mr Slate asks for the workers to be rehired and makes plans to produce the concrete with Fred leading its division Having experienced the negatives of wealth and status Fred declines the offer and asks that the workers be given two weeks paid leave as part of their salary preferring to return to his old life Cast EditJohn Goodman as Fred Flintstone Rick Moranis as Barney Rubble Elizabeth Perkins as Wilma Flintstone Rosie O Donnell as Betty Rubble Kyle MacLachlan as Cliff Vandercave Halle Berry as Miss Sharon Stone Elizabeth Taylor as Pearl Slaghoople Mel Blanc as the voice of Dino archive dialogue Elaine and Melanie Silver as Pebbles Flintstone Hlynur and Marino Sigurdsson as Bamm Bamm Rubble Dann Florek as Mr Slate Richard Moll as Hoagie Irwin Keyes as Joe Rockhead Jim Doughan as Maitre d Harvey Korman as the voice of Dictabird Korman was the voice of The Great Gazoo from the original animated series Jonathan Winters as Grizzled Man a co worker of Fred and Barney s Jack O Halloran as Yeti The B 52 s as The BC 52 s Jean Vander Pyl as Mrs Feldspar Vander Pyl was the voice of Wilma in the original animated series Laraine Newman as Susan Rock Sheryl Lee Ralph as Mrs Pyrite Jay Leno as host of Bedrock s Most Wanted William Hanna as a boardroom executive Joseph Barbera as a man driving a Mersandes Sam Raimi as Cliff Vandercave look alike Alan Blumenfeld as Fred Flintstone look alike Messiri Freeman as Miss Stone look alike Elizabeth Daily as the voice of Bamm Bamm dubbed uncredited Russi Taylor as the voice of Pebbles dubbed uncredited Production EditDevelopment and writing Edit In 1985 producers Keith Barish and Joel Silver bought the rights for a live action feature film version of The Flintstones and commissioned Steven E de Souza to write a script with Richard Donner hired to direct De Souza s script submitted in September 1987 was eventually rejected and in October 1989 a new script by Daniel and Joshua Goldin was submitted 3 Peter Martin Wortmann and Robert Conte submitted another draft in March 1990 before Mitch Markowitz was hired to write a script 3 Said to be a cross of The Grapes of Wrath Markowitz commented that I don t even remember it that well but Fred and Barney leave their town during a terrible depression and go across the country or whatever that damn prehistoric thing is looking for jobs They wind up in trailer parks trying to keep their families together They exhibit moments of heroism and poignancy Markowitz s version was apparently too sentimental for director Donner who disliked it 4 A further draft was then submitted and revised by Jeffrey Reno and Ron Osbourne in 1991 and 1992 Eventually the rights were bought by Amblin Entertainment and Steven Spielberg who after working with Goodman on Always was determined to cast him in the lead as Fred Brian Levant was hired as director knowing he was the right person because of his love for the original series They knew he was an avid fan of the series because of his Flintstones items collection and the knowledge he had from the series When Levant was hired all previous scripts were thrown out In May 1992 Michael J Wilson submitted a four page story that became the basis for the film This was turned into a script by Jim Jennewein and Tom S Parker A meeting of Levant Bruce Cohen Jason Hoffs and Kate Barker gave notes to Gary Ross who produced another draft 3 Levant then recruited what he called an all star writing team which consisted of his writer friends from television shows such as Family Ties Night Court and Happy Days Levant described as a sitcom on steroids just trying to improve it The writers dubbed the Flintstone Eight were Al Aidekman Cindy Begel Lloyd Garver David Silverman Stephen Sustarsic Nancy Steen Neil Thompson plus Levant The group wrote a new draft but four more round table sessions ensued each of which was attended by new talent including Rob Dames Lenny Ripps Fred Fox Jr Dava Savel Lon Diamond David Richardson Roy Teicher Richard Gurman Michael J Digaetano and Ruth Bennett 3 Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel worked on it next with Levant taking home a reported 100 000 for just two days work 5 Rick Moranis was also present at Levant s roundtables and later described the film as one of those scripts that had about 18 writers 6 Levant made eight more revisions before finally registering a shooting script on August 7 1993 Of the 35 writers the Flintstone Eight were submitted for arbitration by the Writers Guild of America plus Wilson for story credit 3 however credit was given to the first script by De Souza and to Jennewein and Parker for their drafts The effects for Dino the Dictabird and other prehistoric creatures were provided by Jim Henson s Creature Shop while most of the film s CGI effects were provided by Industrial Light amp Magic after Levant was impressed by their work on the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park another Universal Amblin production released the previous year Casting Edit John Candy Jim Belushi Dan Aykroyd Bill Murray and Chevy Chase were all considered for the role of Fred Flintstone 7 8 The last four actors were all deemed too skinny and a fat suit was deemed too inappropriate to be used Goodman felt he was sandbagged into the role of Flintstone years earlier at the table read for the film Always when Steven Spielberg announced Ladies and Gentlemen I d like to say something before we start I ve found my Fred Flintstone Goodman said it was not a role I was looking forward to doing but said the experience was fun 9 Had Goodman turned the role down the film would not have been made 7 Geena Davis Faith Ford and Catherine O Hara were all considered for the role of Wilma but Elizabeth Perkins eventually won the role 10 Danny DeVito was the original first choice for Barney but he turned down the role as he felt he was too gruff to do the character properly and reportedly suggested Rick Moranis for the role 7 DeVito was also considered for Fred Flintstone 11 Although Janine Turner was considered Rosie O Donnell won the role of Betty Rubble with her impersonation of the cartoon character s signature giggle 7 Both Tracey Ullman and Daphne Zuniga were also considered for the role 10 Sharon Stone was to play Miss Stone but turned it down because of scheduling conflicts 7 12 The role was also offered to Nicole Kidman 7 Both Audrey Meadows and Elizabeth Montgomery were considered for the role of Pearl Slaghoople 10 Filming Edit Principal photography began on May 17 1993 and wrapped on August 20 1993 13 14 15 Parts of the film were shot at Glen Canyon in Utah as well as Los Angeles County California 16 Sets that resembled a complete street from Bedrock were constructed adjacent to Vasquez Rocks in California Before being totally demolished visitors could tour the location 17 Reception EditBox office Edit Despite the negative reviews The Flintstones was a box office success grossing 130 531 208 domestically including the 37 182 745 it made during its 4 day Memorial Day opening weekend in 1994 a then record gross for the Memorial Day weekend It performed even better internationally making another 211 100 000 internationally for a total of 341 631 208 worldwide more than seven times its 46 million budget 2 Along with Lethal Weapon 3 the film also had the biggest May opening weekend until it was taken by Twister in 1996 18 In the United Kingdom it had the second highest opening week at the time behind Jurassic Park with a gross of 8 7 million 19 20 In Mexico it had a record opening with 4 9 million in four days 21 In Australia it grossed 2 million in its opening weekend also the second highest at the time behind Jurassic Park 22 In Italy it grossed 4 8 million in its first six days again the second biggest opener in Italy at the time behind Jurassic Park 23 It set opening records in Hungary and Poland 22 It went on to gross over 15 million in Italy 35 million in Germany and 31 million in the United Kingdom 24 It did not perform well in France or South Korea 25 Critical response Edit On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes 21 of 47 critics reviews are positive with an average rating of 4 10 The website s consensus reads The Flintstones wastes beloved source material and imaginative production design on a tepid script that plunks Bedrock s favorite family into a cynical story awash with lame puns 26 On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100 which indicates generally unfavorable reviews based on 15 reviews 27 Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F 28 On Siskel amp Ebert amp the Movies Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times and his colleague Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two thumbs down Ebert gave it 2 5 stars out of 4 in his newspaper review and Siskel gave it 1 5 stars out of 4 in his newspaper review They both mentioned that its main storylines embezzlement mother in law problems office politics and extra marital affairs were storylines for adult films and ones that children would not be able to understand Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film never had much potential and has been carefully designed to be as bright and insubstantial as a child s toy balloon Comparing the film to The Addams Family he called both films clever lively and ultimately wearying pieces of showy Hollywood machinery that favor visuals over writing 29 Caryn James of The New York Times wrote that Goodman goes a long way toward carrying The Flintstones over a script that is essentially a bunch of rock jokes and puns stretched to feature film length but James also said the film is too faithful to its 1960s source material and lacks modern pop culture references 30 Todd McCarthy of Variety said that with all manner of friendly beasts a superenergetic John Goodman and a colorful supporting cast inhabiting a Bedrock that resembles a Stone Age version of Steven Spielberg suburbia this live action translation of the perennial cartoon favorite is a fine popcorn picture for small fry and perfectly inoffensive for adults 31 Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the film resembled a mountain of production a rock of a cast and a pebble of thought 32 A few reviews were positive including one from Richard Schickel of Time who said that nothing has been lost or worse inflated out of proportion in the adaptation He said it doesn t feel overcalculated over produced or overthought 33 In a 1997 interview Joseph Barbera co founder of Hanna Barbera Productions and co creator of The Flintstones stated that although he was impressed by the film s visuals he felt the story wasn t as good as I could have made it 34 Year end lists Edit 1st worst Desson Howe The Washington Post 35 1st worst Todd Anthony Miami New Times 36 3rd worst Janet Maslin The New York Times 37 5th worst Dan Craft The Pantagraph 38 10th worst Peter Travers Rolling Stone 39 Worst films not ranked Jeff Simon The Buffalo News 40 Accolades Edit O Donnell won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her performance in this film The film also won Worst Screenplay and was nominated for two others Taylor as Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress the second performance in the film nominated for this award and for the film as Worst Remake or Sequel At the 1994 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards the film was nominated for Worst Resurrection of a TV Show and Worst Actress for O Donnell The film also received four Saturn Award nominations including Best Fantasy Film Best Costume Design and Best Supporting Actress for O Donnell s and Berry s performances Marketing Edit McDonald s marketed a number of Flintstones promotions for the film including the return of the McRib sandwich and the Grand Poobah Meal combo with it a line of premium glass mugs and toys based on characters and locations from the film In the commercials and released items for the Flintstones promotion McDonald s was renamed RocDonald s with stone age imagery similarly to other businesses and proper names in the Flintstones franchise The week the film was released MTV aired a block of The Grind with Eric Nies at the film s Bedrock set with dancers in cave outfits performing to hit music at the time from Ace of Base Was Not Was Warren G and Nate Dogg while Eric asked the dancers themed trivia questions from the show and encouraged the viewers to purchase the film s soundtrack 41 The Flintstones The Movie a video game based on the film was developed by Ocean software and released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System Game Boy and Mega Drive Genesis Sega Channel exclusive in 1995 In the United Kingdom Tetley promoted TV commercials with audio from the film including mugs starring characters from the film Jurassic Park the name of another movie was also seen briefly as a park in the film Home media EditThe film was released on VHS and LaserDisc on November 8 1994 and on DVD on March 16 1999 It was released on Blu ray on August 19 2014 42 Video game EditMain article The Flintstones 1994 Ocean Software video game A video game based on the film was released for the Game Boy Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Channel in both 1994 and 1995 respectively developed by Ocean Software SNES Twilight GB Hi Tech SC and published by Ocean Software In the game the player takes control of Fred Flintstone and has to rescue Wilma Barney Pebbles and Bam Bam from Cliff Vandercave 43 44 A Sega Genesis version developed by Foley Hi Tech and published by Ocean Software was also planned but was later canceled and was released on the Sega Channel instead 45 unreliable source Prequel EditMain article The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas A prequel The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas was released in 2000 The original main cast did not reprise their roles of the characters though O Donnell provided the voice of an octopus who gave massages to younger versions of Wilma and Betty Irwin Keyes returned as Joe Rockhead the only cast member to reprise his role from the first film Like the first film it received negative reviews but unlike the original film it was a box office flop See also EditList of American films of 1994 Theatrically released films based on Hanna Barbera cartoonsReferences Edit THE FLINTSTONES U British Board of Film Classification May 31 1994 Retrieved April 3 2016 a b c The Flintstones 1994 Box Office Mojo Retrieved July 20 2019 a b c d e Fleming Michael January 4 1994 Scribes thrive on F Stones Daily Variety p 1 Murphy Ryan January 17 1993 A look inside Hollywood and the movies YABBA DABBA WHO Hey Raquel Welch Was Good in One Million Years B C Los Angeles Times Retrieved November 10 2010 Gordinier Jeff Ascher Walsh Rebecca June 3 1994 Bringing The Flintstones to the Big Screen Entertainment Weekly Chris Hardwick June 12 2013 Nerdist Podcast Rick Moranis Nerdist Podcast Podcast Nerdist Industries Event occurs at 1 13 36 Archived from the original on January 2 2015 Retrieved June 30 2014 a b c d e f Hayes Britt November 16 2013 See the Cast of The Flintstones Then and Now Screen Crush Retrieved August 20 2015 Evans Bradford June 2 2011 The Lost Roles of John Candy Splitsider Archived from the original on May 20 2018 Retrieved July 26 2015 John Goodman Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters GQ August 15 2019 Archived from the original on November 18 2021 Retrieved August 22 2019 a b c Mell Eila 2005 Casting Might Have Beens A Film by Film Directory of Actors Considered for Roles Given to Others McFarland ISBN 9780786420179 Evans Bradford September 15 2011 The Lost Roles of Danny DeVito Splitsider Archived from the original on March 25 2018 Retrieved January 5 2016 Klossner Michael 2006 Prehistoric Humans in Film and Television 581 Dramas Comedies and Documentaries 1905 2004 McFarland ISBN 9781476609140 Role Playing Stones Movies Hollywood has come calling again on Vasquez Rocks They will be the backdrop for The Flintstones film Los Angeles Times May 10 1993 Flintstones Fans Flock to Movie Sets Film Hundreds visit Vasquez Rocks to stroll down Cobblestone Way home of the fabled cartoon characters Los Angeles Times May 30 1993 Taylor polishes cameo in Bedrock July 23 1993 D Arc James V 2010 When Hollywood came to town a history of moviemaking in Utah 1st ed Layton Utah Gibbs Smith ISBN 9781423605874 Flintstones Town of Bedrock movie set Old VHS footage Vasquez Rocks Pt1 V13827 video Dailymotion February 29 2016 Twister blows away field at U S box office United Press International May 12 1996 Archived from the original on February 22 2022 Retrieved February 22 2022 International box office Variety August 1 1994 p 22 Groves Don August 1 1994 O seas B O back to the Stones age Variety p 22 Groves Don August 8 1994 Big U S pix fight for o seas B O Variety p 19 a b Groves Don September 20 1994 Clear sailing in U K Flintstones wows Oz Daily Variety p 4 Groves Don October 17 1994 Forrest growing at o seas B O Variety p 28 Klady Leonard November 14 1994 Exceptions are the rule in foreign B O Variety p 7 Groves Don August 15 1994 U S hits still click overseas Variety p 16 The Flintstones Rotten Tomatoes Fandango Media Retrieved August 31 2022 The Flintstones reviews Metacritic CBS Interactive Retrieved April 3 2016 Cinemascore Archived from the original on December 20 2018 Turan Kenneth May 27 1994 Movie review The Flintstones succeeds at being cartoonish But do three dozen writers make for a good script Don t take it for granite Los Angeles Times Retrieved August 24 2010 James Caryn May 27 1994 Review Film The Flintstones Lovable And Loud With Wits Of Stone The New York Times Retrieved August 24 2010 McCarthy Todd May 17 1994 The Flintstones Variety Reed Business Information Retrieved August 25 2010 Wilmington Michael May 27 1994 Yabba dabba Dud Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on March 9 2011 Retrieved September 10 2010 Schickel Richard May 30 1994 CINEMA Maverick Is Painless the Flintstones Is Fun Time Retrieved August 6 2021 Maltin Leonard February 26 1997 Joseph Barbera Interview Archive of American Television Archived from the original on April 4 2016 Retrieved January 16 2014 Howe Desson December 30 1994 The Envelope Please Reel Winners and Losers of 1994 The Washington Post retrieved July 19 2020 Anthony Todd January 5 1995 Hits amp Disses Miami New Times Maslin Janet December 27 1994 CRITIC S NOTEBOOK The Good Bad and In Between In a Year of Surprises on Film The New York Times Retrieved July 19 2020 Craft Dan December 30 1994 Success Failure and a Lot of In between Movies 94 The Pantagraph p B1 Travers Peter December 29 1994 The Best and Worst Movies of 1994 Rolling Stone Retrieved July 20 2020 Simon Jeff January 1 1995 Movies Once More with Feeling The Buffalo News Retrieved July 19 2020 gt Levant Brian August 19 2014 The Flintstones Universal Studios Home Entertainment Retrieved October 14 2016 Archived copy Archived from the original on April 29 2016 Retrieved January 28 2021 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link http download abandonware org magazines Consoles 20Plus consoleplus numero042 Consoles 20 20042 20 20Page 20156 20 1995 04 jpg bare URL image file The Flintstones Ocean Retrieved May 29 2018 External links Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to The Flintstones film Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Flintstones film The Flintstones at IMDb The Flintstones at the TCM Movie Database The Flintstones at Box Office Mojo Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Flintstones film amp oldid 1140919452, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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