Fred Flintstone

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Fred Flintstone
Fred Flintstone.png
Species Human
Gender Male
Affiliation Barney Rubble
Betty Rubble
Dino
Mr. Slate's quarry
Great Gazoo
Occupation Quarry worker
Works for Slate Rock and Gravel Company
Goals Supporting his family
Father Ed Flintstone
Mother Edna Flintstone
Grandfather(s) Rocky Flintstone or Stoney Flintstone
Aunt(s) Hilda
Other relative(s) Son-in-law, Bamm-Bamm Rubble, in the early 1990s trilogy
Marital status Husband to Wilma Flintstone
Son(s) Fred Flintstone, Jr. in Golden Little Book's The Flintstones
Daughter(s) Pebbles Flintstone
Grandchildren Roxy and Chip Rubble
First appearance TF: "The Flintstone Flyer" (1960)
Played by Daws Butler (1960, pilot pitch)
Alan Reed (1960-1977)
Henry Corden (1966-2005)
Lennie Weinrib (1986-1987)
Scott Menville (1987-1988)
John Goodman (1994)
Jeff Bergman (since 1994)
Mark Addy (2000)
James Arnold Taylor (since 2005)
TFK Freddy.png
The Flintstone Kids
90s Fred Flintstone.png
I Yabba-Dabba Do!
Goodman Fred.png
The Flintstones
Addy Fred.png
The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas
DC Fred Flintstone.png
The Flintstones
YDD Fred.png
Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs

Frederick "Fred/Freddy" Flintstone is a caveman and one of the main characters and the protagonist of the Flintstones animated franchise. He is a working-class quarry worker living the life of a dinosaur crane operator in his hometown of Bedrock. His voice was originated by Alan Reed (not counting Daws Butler in the pilot pitch).

While Fred is away at work, he has a stay-at-home wife in Wilma, the adoring pet dinosaur he's stuck caring for, Dino (Hanna-Barbera later retconned Dino to be the childhood pet of Fred); and the later addition of the family's baby daughter, Pebbles. His best friend and next-door neighbor is Barney Rubble.

Character description

Fred is a caveman with fair skin, beard stubble, black hair, and a large nose. He wears a ragged, green-blue necktie, and a orange and black-spotted loincloth.

Fred tends to be both loud-mouthed and ambitious, constantly scheming for ways to improve his family's lot in life. However, whether it be related to money or fame, his actions often end in unintended results. In fact, some of his schemes, even with the most innocent and mundane intent, tend to be very complicated at times.

Fred is prone to being short-tempered, aggressive, impatient, naive, and grouchy. He constantly yells and gets into fits of rage or sadness whenever things don't go in his way. Despite his impulsive and childish behavior, Fred is usually free of any malice. He proves to be very friendly, often helping and showing some affection to others — including both his family and the Rubbles. While he does complain to Wilma about his outrageous demands, or over some of her requests or actions, he is also a loving, caring husband and father at the same time. He is also prove to be a good friend of Barney, who despite following his plans with barely a passing thought, is devoted to their friendship. Fred would usually go to great lengths to please his family or owe somebody, especially in moments when he notices that his actions had gone too far. Fred's catchphrase is "Yabba-dabba-doo!", which he often yells to express his excitement and astonishment.

Due to his short temper, Fred seems to be accident-prone. Even his most innocent and mundane actions often cause widespread confusion. At the end of the closing credits, Fred puts the housecat Baby Puss at the doorstep, only to let him lock the door and leave Fred outside; this causes Fred to bang the door loudly and call Wilma for help, and in the case for the closing credits of the show's first two seasons, brings attention to the awaken masses at Bedrock when they turn on the lights of their homes.

An average blue-collar worker, Fred works as a crane operator (or "bronto crane operator") at the Slate Rock and Gravel Company. His boss is Mr. Slate, whom he sometimes has trouble with due to having made some mistakes working here. Fred's job title was once given as "geological engineer".[1]

He is also a member of the Water Buffalo Lodge, a private club in which he and Barney hang out. The two are rather popular among the lounge's members, and even have some degree of influence over its events.

Fred's interests include bowling, golf, poker, and playing pool. In the case of bowling he is exceptionally good at it; even winning numerous championships for his skills. He was given the bowling nickname "Twinkletoes", referring to the way he tiptoes before rolling the ball; he got the name when he became eligible to join a football team in college.[2] Fred also had a gambling problem in one episode, to the point where a single utterance of the word "bet" causes him to stammer it (like a chicken) and go on a gambling streak. [3]

Appearances

TV series

Movies

Specials

Shorts

Theme park rides

Comics

Books

Video games

Biography

Straight to the moon, Wilma!

Fred and Barney on the Laff-A-Lympics

Celebrating another 50 years! 50 years of fun!

Fred Sells Out

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

In The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy episode "Modern Primitives," Fred was unfrozen in the present day and Billy keeps him as a pet named "Jake Steele". Depicted as primitive and hostile, Fred goes on a rampage after being overwhelmed by all the modern technology and customs due to future shock.

In the Adult Swim short Come and Learn with Pibby!, Fred greets Pibby to Bedrock and slides down a dinosaur's back right into the corruption below that swallows him whole.

Fred in the Funny Books

Development

When The Flinstones was developed under the working title of "The Flagstones", Fred and Wilma were originally going to have a son named Fred, Jr. After the series title was changed to "The Gladstones" and then into its final name, the idea of the Flintstones having a child was written off and initially made Fred and Wilma a childless couple. However, some early merchandise of the show, such as a 1961 Little Golden Book, featured "Junior".[4]

The personality of Fred is largely based on Jackie Gleason's character of Ralph Kramden in the 1950s sitcom The Honeymooners. Like his animated counterpart, Ralph is an ambitious yet ill tempered and brash man who lives at home with his patient wife. The similarities between the two have also extended to their physical appearance, as both Fred and Ralph are overweight men with black hair.

When Alan Reed began to play as Fred Flintstone, he was insistent on using a relatively natural speaking voice, rather than a broad, "cartoony" style, since animated short cartoons rarely used this method of voice acting back then—with the exception of experimental studios like UPA and feature films with more realistic characters.[5]

Gallery

Main article: Fred Flintstone/Gallery

Toys and merchandise

Main article: Fred Flintstone/Toys

Behind the scenes

  • According to Hal Smith, Bill Thompson was the first actor to audition for the role of Fred Flintstone, but dropped out because he was told by Joseph Barbera that his voice didn't sound gravelly enough, and had his lines re-recorded by Alan Reed for the first five episodes.[6][7]
  • George O'Hanlon also auditioned for the role of Fred, but lost out to Alan Reed.[8] Aside from being later cast as George Jetson, O'Hanlon ended up writing two episodes of The Flintstones.
  • Jackie Gleason, who both played Ralph Kramden and created The Honeymooners, mentioned in an interview that he once considered suing Hanna-Barbera for copying the show with The Flintstones, but decided to not let it pass.[9]
    • In the same interview, Gleason also mentioned that Alan Reed was the actor who dubbed in his movie roles whenever he could not make a session.[9]

In popular culture

Main article: List of pop culture references to Flintstones
  • In the movie Police Academy 2, Mahoney says the Scullions' hideout in the abandoned Griffith Park Zoo has a "cave-like atmosphere," and asks where Fred and Wilma are.
  • In the April 2, 1989 comic strip of Garfield, the opening panel spoofs The Flintstones, with Garfield and Arlene dressed like Fred and Wilma, respectively, as Garfield complains to Arlene that her dogasaurus (Odie) ate his car.
  • In the Adventures of Superman #441, Mr. Mxyzptlk brings to life a billboard advertising Saturday morning cartoons before turning Superman into a cartoony version of himself to battle a pastiche of Fred called Frankie Fieldstone, star of the Saturday morning cartoon Cavestones, who he defeats by dumping him into the Le Vine Tar Pits. Before Superman does this, Frankie shouts, "Yabba-dabba don't!!"
  • In The Golden Girls episode "Melodrama," Dorothy reminded Blanche about how she once described Mel as looking like Fred but with a better car.
  • In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "Beneath These Streets," Michelangelo gets bored of shouting "Cowabunga" as his catchphrase, so he tries to use "Yabba-Dabba-Doo!" instead, except when he does it, he gets stopped mid-sentence by Donatello.
  • In the In Living Color episode "Krishna Cop," Kim Wayans sings a parody of Crystal Waters's "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" called "My Songs Are Mindless," in which Wayans changes the lyrics "La da dee la da da" to "Yabba-dabba-doo, yabba-dabba-dee," while pointing at Fred of The Flintstones on TV. She also mentions Scooby.
  • In The Ren and Stimpy Show episode "Ren's Retirement," the worm who eats both Ren and Stimpy in the end is a parody of Fred in terms of his voice, mannerisms, and distinctive laugh.
  • In the Tiny Toon Adventures episode "The Acme Bowl," the Acme Loo football team lost against the Santa Ana Barbarians (a play on Hanna-Barbera), who resemble cavemen dressed in Fred's orange loincloth.
  • In the movie Casper (starring Casper, the Friendly Ghost), a kid dresses up as Fred for the Halloween party at Whipstaff Manor. This movie came out in 1995, a year after the live-action Flintstones movie, both of which were produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and released by Universal Pictures.
  • In the Sister, Sister episode "Kid-Napped," Ray is attracted to Lisa in her tight dress, saying playfully "Yabba-dabba-doo" after Lisa says that it wants to make him go "cave-man."
  • In Chris Rice's song "Cartoons," Rice questions if Fred and Wilma are religious and would say "Yabba-dabba-do-lu-yah" in place of "Hallelujah."
  • In the August 9, 1999 comic strip of Peanuts, Charlie Brown has just got a call from Emily to go dancing because he dances like Fred Astaire, but his sister, Sally, asks if she meant Fred Flintstone.
  • In The Parkers episode "The Boomerang Effect," the sight of seeing Nate naked, makes Stevie cry in shock, "Yabba-dabba-doo!"
  • 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.
  • In The Fairly OddParents TV movie Channel Chasers, Timmy zaps himself and his fairies into the world of The Meatflints, where Cosmo has been dressed like Fred, only with Cosmo's signature green.
  • In the Drawn Together episode "Lost in Parking Space Part Two," Fred is being brutally tortured at Hot Topic. He cries out for Barney to help. Fred is voiced by James Arnold Taylor, who was his current voice actor at the time.
  • In the Big Bang Theory episode "The Wildebeest Implementation," after a rough start to double date, Howard says to Leonard how it's nice to see the gals getting along now, but Leonard questions his use of the word "gals," by asking, "Who are you, Fred Flintstone?"
  • In the film The Amazing Spider-Man, Dr. Connors's lab rats are called Fred and Wilma.
  • In The Cleveland Show episode, "A General Thanksgiving Episode," Holt introduces himself to an attractive woman as Fred Flintstone because "[he] can make [her] bed rock."
  • In the DC comic Harley Quinn Valentine's Day Special, Harley Quinn says, "Yabba dabba do me!" when seeing Bruce Wayne.
  • In the Comic Book Men episode "Wookie Fever," Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies, mentioned how his legs would stick out the bottom of the Millenium Falcon cockpit, which called for Brian to compare him to Fred driving the Flintmobile with his feet.
  • In the "Crazy Fails 3" and "Amazing Heroes!" episodes Takeshi's Castle Indonesia, one of the baddies (the one Caucasian man) in the Honeycomb is dressed like Fred Flintstone; the first time he wore a long black wig, not like Fred, and the second time, it must've fallen off, revealing his bald head, also not like Fred.
  • In the video game South Park: The Fractured But Whole, the clothing store Sloppy 2nds has Fred's outfit on a rack.
  • In the Fresh Off the Boat episode "It's a Plastic Pumpkin, Louis Huang," there was a couple at Deidre's Halloween party dressed as Fred and Wilma.
  • In the season 8 "Columbus, Ohio" episode of Man v. Food, host Casey Webb referred to the pork as "Fred Flintstone food," alluding to the giant-sized ribs Fred would eat.
  • In the Esme & Roy episode "Flying High," Roy does Fred's twinkle toe move while practicing bowling.
  • In the Disney+ film Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers, one of the bootlegs is A Goofy Movie's Bigfoot wearing Fred's loincloth.
  • In That '90s Show episode "Boyfriend Day One," Sherri mentions that she has a tattoo on her hip of Fred surfing.
  • In the Roblox game Shovelware's Brain Game, one of the prizes you can win is Caveman Vitamins, which is a parody of Flintstones Vitamins. The game show announcer takes one to prove they're not filled with lead (which they are) and says "Don't mind if I Yabba Dabba Doo....I can say that right?"
  • In celebration of Warner Bros.' 100th anniversary, they produced a special short which had the Looney Tunes cast take a group photo in Bedrock as the Flintstones cast, with Bugs Bunny as Fred who wants everybody to say "Yabba-Dabba-Doo" but is interrupted by Daffy who has also come as Fred.
  • In the sixth episode of Jeopardy! UK (2024), the question in the category of "Partners in Rhyme" for £200 was, "One was an American astronomer who gave his name to a major space telescope and the other is Fred Flintstone's best friend." The answer was "Edwin Hubble and Barney Rubble."

According to Jim

  • "The Truck:" a drunk bar patron losing to arm wrestling all night pokes fun at Jim by calling him Fred Flintstone when Jim refuses his challenge. Jim cut him some slack because he was drunk and agreed he had a "vague resemblance to Fred Flintstone." Larry doesn't drop it and bets Jim £20 he will win and calls him Fred again, but Larry is a hustler who ends up winning Jim's truck. When they meet again for a second time at the bar, Larry says, "Yabba-dabba-doo." Lloyd also calls his wife and sister-in-law Wilma and Betty, when a pool game is proposed.
  • "The Hunters:" Jim believes he is a natural born hunter, a caveman even, which is probably why Dana calls him and her brother Fred and Barney when they succeed after their hunting trip to prove themselves.

Family Guy

Main article: Family Guy
  • "Dammit Janet!:" When Peter and Lois don't return to America after the plane they were on was hijacked in Cuba, it is reported on the news, with the artist's rending capturing a fat man inexplicably married to an attractive redhead, which is in the form of Fred and Wilma.
  • "Wasted Talent:" When the final scroll to entering the Pawtucket Brewery was found, Peter disappointedly asked aloud what he was going to do now, when the Great Gazoo popped up asking the "dum dum" what he could do for Peter, but all Peter wanted was to be left alone. Annoyed at Peter's treatment of him, Gazoo whined that it wasn't always about him, the "fatso."
  • "Ready, Willing, and Disabled:" A cavegirl carhop tips Joe's wheelchair over with a plate of ribs in the same manner as what happens to Fred in his car in the "(Meet) The Flintstones" theme song.
  • "Peter's Got Woods:" When Brian is busy on another date with his new girlfriend, Peter tries to replace him with Barney. We then see Peter at the Rubbles', where he is waiting for Barney to finish in the toilet, so they can go play darts. Barney is using a pelican as a toilet who makes a joke about his predicament. A sheep later made the same kind of joke after hearing Meg was on her period. MacFarlane voices Barney.
  • "Patriot Games:" Brian takes the same $50 bet on a celebrity boxing match between Mike Tyson and Carol Channing as Betting Freddie does, who stutters the word "bet" like the addicted gambler he was in "The Gambler." He then gets serious and claims there's nothing funny about addiction and tells the audience to vote "No" on Indian gaming bars. Fred is voiced by Jeff Bergman.
  • "Believe It or Not, Joe's Walking on Air:" Fred and Barney attend the inaugural ball of the Quahog Men's Club, where Fred reveals to Barney that he accidentally caught sight of Betty undressing, who saw Fred, but continued anyway, giving way to Fred's e-rock-tion. Bergman voices both Fred and Barney.
  • "Peter's Daughter:" Fred takes Wilma to Mr. Stoneberg to get a legal separation for not letting him back in after Baby Puss removes him from their house and locks him outside. He had been knocking for 20 minutes and shouting "Wilma!" but she claims to not have heard because she was taking a shower, but he believes that she was simply ignoring him and goes on further about her spending all his money on expensive clothes and hairdos, and not being available for sex, the "passive aggressive bitch" she is. Bergman and Alex Bornstein voice Fred and Wilma, respectively.
  • "Stew-Roids:" Gina says that Chris smells like Fred's ass. The scene then cuts to Fred, who says that no one's telling her to smell it. Fred is voiced by Bergman.
  • "Road to the Multiverse:" Stewie and Brian travel to an alternate universe of Quahog, which resembles Bedrock and has a laugh track. Peter and Lois are now called Rock Peter and Rock Lois and are dressed and have the same hairstyles as Fred and Wilma.
  • "Quagmire's Baby:" Quagmire is selling a tape of The Best of the World's Wildest Police Chases, which features the police in a high speed pursuit of Fred in the Flintmobile, also carrying Dino, Pebbles, and Bamm-Bamm. Dino pops his head through the roof, and Fred places the babies on top of Dino's head. Fred manages to avoid them until he enters a drive-in movie theater and smashes into a snack bar. Fred tries to escape over a fence, but is caught and clobbered by the police. The narrator finishes his commentary by saying "Yabba-Dabba-Don't."
  • "The Simpsons Guy:" Fred acts as a judge when Peter and Homer Simpson go to court over the Pawtucket Patriot Ale being a copyright infringement over Duff Beer. He claims that both brands are imitations of Budrock, but is in favor of Duff Beer. Fred is voiced by none other than Bergman.
  • "Happy Holo-ween:" As the hologram Peter succumbs to his defeat, he quickly reverts to Peter from 1999, Larry from Larry & Steve, Homer Simpson, and Fred Flintstone. He even yells "WILMA!" before he explodes into ash.
  • "Fertilized Megg:" Peter insists that he cannot bowl like Fred Flintstone, and has Bruce imitate classic sound effects with a xylophone. When he hits a strike, he yells "Yabba-Dabba-Doo!", but has it altered to make it a "legally acceptable sound-alike". Peter later uses the same yell in a cutaway gag in which he's electrocuted in prison.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

  • "Def Poet's Society:" Will sings and dances to Madonna's "Vogue," adding his own lyrics, "Michael Jordan, Al Capone, Woody Woodpecker, Fred Flintstone."
  • "Hilary Gets a Life:" Hilary said she quit ballet when she was young because her feet were starting to look like Fred Flintstone's.
  • "Those Were the Days:" Commenting on Hilary's hair as a baby when her parents were hippies, Will says she has "sort of a yabba-dabba-doo."

Heartbreak High

  • In "Episode 8" (season 2), Mr. Deloraine asked his nephew, Matt, how the stereo was at the warehouse he had recently moved into, with Matt responding that it looked like something Freddy Flintstone built.
  • In "Episode 4" (season 3), a student wears a t-shirt of Fred in football gear.

Mad

Main article: Mad
  • "2012 Dalmatians/Grey's in Anime:" In the skit "2012 Dalmatians," Fred and Barney make cameos as caveman bones in the Museum of Natural Mystery.
  • "Fast Hive/Minute to Flynn It:" In the skit "Minute to Flynn It," Sam Flynn discovers from Clu that the Flynn line goes right back to the Flynnstones, with Fred popping up in a Tron suit and says, "Yabba-dabba-doo! I'm talking to Clu!"
  • "Battleship vs Titanic/Jurassic Park and Recreation:" In the skit "Hey, whatever happened to that guy from that TV show I kinda remember from when I was a kid?", we get a glimpse of what happened to Fred after his TV show was cancelled when the creators realized that cavemen didn't exist the same time as dinosaurs and that Dino died. Fred then became "oversaturated" in everything from a preschool show called ¡Yodabba Dabba! (a parody of Yo Gabba Gabba!) and being the spokesman for a hair gel called "Yabba-Dabba-Do!" He then left the business, but returned in 1997 to become a failed stand up comedian, because all the audience want to hear him say is, "Yabba-dabba-Do."

Saturday Night Live

  • "John Goodman/The Pretenders:" Although more as a promotion for the live-action film, host John Goodman (wearing a Fred costume, not like the one he wore in the film), does a sketch where he gives the Stone Age names of some celebrities, before removing celebrities' names who already have "Stone" or "Rock" in them.
  • "Kieran Culkin/Ed Sheehan:" In "The Heist" sketch, the thief sarcastically asks if he is Fred Flintstein when told he has to use both of his feet to drive a stick shift. When the hacker questions the use of "Flintstein," the thief responds, "Did I stutter? Frederick Flintstein."

Teen Titans Go!

Main article: Teen Titans Go!
  • "Double Trouble:" Cyborg is dressed like Fred during the "Cavemen and Dinosaurs" game.
  • "Costume Contest:" A man dresses up like Fred in a Halloween costume contest.
  • "Intro:" When Control Freak rides down a dinosaur's back, he yells, "Yabba-dabba-do!"

Seth McFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy

Young Sheldon

  • "A Brisket, Voodoo, and Cannonball Run:" Georgie thinks that his parents will divorce due to the fighting between his father and his mother-in-law, but Sheldon counters that this is typical and doesn't lead to divorce, to which Missy chimes in is to how Fred and Wilma have stayed together.
  • "A Research Study and Czechoslovakian Wedding Pastries:" When George and Mary get into a disagreement while talking to the research doctors about the twins, Meemaw tells the doctors to never mind Fred and Wilma and move on to the kids.

References

  1. ^ The Flintstones: "Divided We Sail" season 2, episode 29 (1962).
  2. ^ The Flintstones: "Flintstone of Prinstone" season 2, episode 36 (1961).
  3. ^ The Flintstones: "The Gambler" season 2, episode 44 (1961).
  4. ^ "Flintstones Little Golden Book-1961" (2011). bookstevesbookstore.blogspot.com. Archived from original on January 28, 2012.
  5. ^ Reed, Alan; Ohmart, Ben (2009). Yabba Dabba Doo! Or Never A Star: The Alan Reed Story. BearManor Media, Albany, GA. ISBN 978-1-59393-313-5. OCLC 298264275. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  6. ^ Lawson, Tim; Persons, Alisa (2004). The Magic Behind the Voices. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1578066964.
  7. ^ "[Animation Anecdotes #222". Cartoon Research (2015). Retrieved on July 14, 2023.
  8. ^ (February 15, 1989) "George O'Hanlon, 76, George Jetson's Voice". The New York Times. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Gleason, Jackie; Zehme, Bill (interviewer) (August 1986). "Jackie Gleason – Playboy Interview – Life History". Archived from the original on August 27, 2009.