Barney Rubble

Bernard "Barney" Rubble is a caveman and the secondary character of the Flintstones animated franchise. His voice was originated by Mel Blanc (not counting Daws Butler in the pilot pitch).

Barney is the husband of Betty, and the best friend and next-door neighbor of Fred Flintstone. In the beginning, Barney's source of income was something of a mystery, although he was shown to be unable to hold a permanent job. In later incarnations, Barney was given the same job as Fred, working as a construction worker for Mr. Slate.

Unable to conceive children, Barney and Betty adopted an infant son, Bamm-Bamm.

Character description
Barney is a short caveman with a beard stubble, blonde hair, and slightly thick eyebrows. His eyes are depicted as either two dark circular outlines (as seen in seasons 1-5 of The Flintstones) or two black dots (as in the show's 6th season and some subsequent media). He usually wears a ragged, brown loincloth with an X-shaped string in front of it.

As a friend of Fred Flintstone, Barney spends most of his days getting caught up in his constant get-rich schemes. When Fred hatches a plan, Barney would usually showed his agreement by laughing and saying, "uh hee hee hee... Okay, Fred." or "hee hee hee... whatever you say, Fred." He is generally good-natured and jovial, and likes to crack up a little joke on his best pal. Barney is more good-natured than Fred is, and isn't usually prone to be as emotional as him. He rarely cries, saying things like, "I hate to see a grown man cry," or "Oh gee, if there's one thing I can't stand is to see a grown man cry" in response to Fred having a meltdown. Although Fred and Barney are best pals, there are times where the latter loses patience with Fred occasionally. An example would be in the season one episode "The Swimming Pool", where they have a feud over a pool they built in their backyards.

Additionally, Barney is a very devoted husband of the Rubble family. In spite of the frequent shenanigans he makes with his neighbors, Fred and Wilma, he takes good care of both his wife Betty and their son Bamm-Bamm.

Barney's interests include bowling, playing pool, poker, and golf. He is also a member of the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes, a private club of which they hang out. Furthermore, he is shown to be a talented pianist and drummer at times.

The subject of Barney's occupation (or lack thereof) was never explained in the original show, though it is implied that he didn't have a permanent one to begin with. Subsequent spin-offs suggest that he worked at the Slate Rock and Gravel Company along with Fred; possibly in an office role. The first instance of him working for Mr. Slate was in the 1970s TV specials and in The New Fred and Barney Show. Late into Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm's teen years, both he and Fred were briefly part-time officers for the Bedrock Police force, which quickly dropped when the two children became adults.

TV series

 * The Flintstones
 * The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show
 * The Flintstones Comedy Hour
 * Laff-A-Lympics
 * 1.1 "The Swiss Alps and Tokyo, Japan"
 * 1.10 "India and Israel"
 * 1.14 "North Pole and Tahiti"
 * 1.16 "Quebec and Baghdad"
 * Yogi's Space Race
 * 1.4 "Nebuloc–The Prehistoric Planet"
 * The New Fred and Barney Show
 * The Flintstone Comedy Show
 * The Flintstone Kids
 * Dexter's Laboratory
 * 2.31A "Dad Is Disturbed" (no lines)
 * Johnny Bravo
 * 4.11B "A Page Right Out of History"
 * The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
 * 5.4A "Modern Primitives"
 * Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs
 * Jellystone!
 * 1.20 "Uh Oh! It's a Burglar!" (voice only)

Specials

 * The Flintstones: Little Big League
 * The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone
 * The Flintstones Primetime Specials
 * 1.1 The Flinstones' New Neighbors
 * 1.2 The Flintstones: Fred's Final Fling
 * 1.3 The Flintstones: Wind-Up Wilma
 * 1.4 The Flintstones: Jogging Fever
 * The Flintstone Kids' "Just Say No" Special
 * A Flintstone Family Christmas
 * The 1st 13th Annual Fancy Anvil Awards Show Program Special: Live in Stereo (no lines)

Movies

 * The Man Called Flintstone
 * The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones
 * I Yabba-Dabba Do!
 * Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby
 * The Flintstones
 * A Flintstones Christmas Carol
 * The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas
 * The Flintstones: On the Rocks
 * The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown!

Theme park rides

 * The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera

Shorts

 * D.A.R.E. Bear Yogi

Comics

 * The Flintstones (Dell Comics)
 * The Flintstones (Gold Key Comics)
 * The Flintstones (Charlton Comics)
 * Barney & Betty Rubble
 * The Flintstones (Marvel Comics)
 * The Flintstones (Harvey Comics)
 * Yogi Bear D.A.R.E.
 * The Flintstones (Archie Comics)
 * Cartoon Network Christmas Spectacular
 * #1B "It's a Gift"
 * The Flintstones and the Jetsons
 * Scooby-Doo! Team-Up
 * #7 "Scooby-Doo, When Are You?"
 * #8 "Future Shocked" (no lines)
 * The Flintstones (DC Comics)

Barney Sells Out
Barney appears alongside Fred in pirate form in the Duck Dodgers episode "Shiver Me Dodgers".

Development
Barney's personality was based in part on Ed Norton, a character played by Ed Norton in the 1955 sitcom The Honeymooners. Like Barney, Norton is a care-free wise cracker who follows orders from his neighbor, Ralph Kramden (who was the basis for Fred Flintstone).

In the first season of The Flintstones, Barney (as voiced by Mel Blanc) originally had a nasally New Jersey accent, but soon dropped it in favor of a deeper one. His early vocalization eventually returned in the 2001 movie The Flintstones: On the Rocks, as voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.

Behind the scenes

 * While Mel Blanc was recovering from a near-fatal car accident in 1961, Daws Butler (who previously voiced Barney in the pilot pitch) briefly stepped in his place for a few season two episodes. Mel resumed the role shortly thereafter until 1989.

In popular culture

 * In the The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode "Knowledge Is Power," Will criticizes Geoffrey while he dances to "The Thieving Magpie," by saying that if he wore a Barney bobblehead it would be like watching The Flintstones on Ice.
 * In the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "The Competition," Hilda taught Amanda an incantation by saying "Double, double, boil and trouble. Dress the cat like Barney Rubble." A generic cloth then proceeded to magically appear around Salem, who then remarked that he looked better than John Goodman, who actually played Fred, not Barney, as Barney was played by Rick Moranis.