Almost everyone is familiar with The Flintstones.
The animated classic, which focused on Fred and Wilma Flintstone and their close friends and family, took place in the Stone Age town of Bedrock.
The popular series soon became a cultural phenomenon that spawned a movie, theme parks, and even those Flintstone vitamins.
Come learn more about the show with these 10+ random facts.
Yabba Dabba Doo!
But just because everyone loves it, that doesn't mean people know everything about it!
Luckily, this great list will expand your knowledge! Let's get right into it!
There were a lot of changes before the creators finally settled on The Flintstones.
First, the show was called The Gladstones. This, however, was changed after it was discovered that a comic strip had the same name.
The show had one final swap before the pilot aired in May of 1994.
It was finally named The Flintstones, which, let's be honest, has a much better ring to it.
“For over a half century now, The Flintstones theme song has cavalierly touted that when you’re with them you will have a ‘gay old time,'” the openly gay CNN anchor said on air.
This outrage eventually caused Warner Brothers Animation to substitute the word.
After 30 years since it had originally been produced, the show was found in a New York storage warehouse.
They found the pilot, which was a 1-minute-and-45-seconds of animation.
He likened it to the "search of the Holy Grail."
Once everything was found, the pilot aired in 1994.
Before The Simpsons aired, The Flintstones was the longest-running prime time animated series.
In fact, it was the predecessor that paved the way for a lot of cartoons, including The Jetsons and Family Guy.
Reed was the one who voiced Fred.
It was his mother who used to say, “A little dab’ll do ya,” which gave the voice actor the brilliant idea to twist that into the show's most iconic lines.
This all changed after Ideal Toy Company intervened. They said that toys based on a female character would sell more merchandise.
This ended up being true, as the dolls went on to sell millions.
He recalled in his book, That’s Not All Folks, that he would record his lines at the hospital where he was recovering.
“Every couple of hours Joe would ask if I was too tired to carry on, but I insisted on completing the show."
She voiced Rosie the Robot on the show, along with Mrs. Spacely.
But playing Wilma is definitely the role the late actress is known for best, and for good reason.
The Flintstones phenomenon was a major cash cow.
It spawned theme parks, live shows, merchandise, and Fruity Pebbles cereal. It even led to those Flintstones vitamins that everyone loved as a kid.
In case you don't know what The Honeymooners is, it was a popular sitcom that was on the air while The Flintstones was first produced.
Due to the working-class husband and wife dynamic, fans have always seen similarities between the two.
Unfortunately, this didn't work the way he'd hoped.
“We paid him $3000 and he was terrible,” Barbera recalled to Emmy TV Legends.
“And the reason being is, he just wrote words. It was all dialogue. He had no visual gags, no nothing."
Back in the '60s, characters promoting cigarettes was simply part of the norm.
Since Winston Cigarettes sponsored the show, Fred and Barney would light up a cigarette at the end of each episode.
Soon, Fred and Barney ditched the cigs and promoted something healthier: Welch’s grape juice.
For starters, the show took place in Bedrock, and Fred's boss is named Mr. Slate.
Plus, many of the guest stars had names about rocks! For example, Cary Grant's character on the show was called Cary Granite.
The original song was titled "Rise and Shine" and it had no lyrics. It was also used for the end credits.
It was later changed to "Meet the Flintstones", which is the one that we will never stop singing.
In 2008, they went ahead and named one of the reconstructed pictures of a Neanderthal called Wilma, in honor of The Flintstones.
That's just how powerful the show is all this time later.
“Some years back, I traveled for Hanna-Barbera,” Korman said. “They had these huge conventions and seminars where collectors collect cels, and the cels with The Great Gazoo on it are worth lots of money. Collectors on eBay and stuff want my autograph.”
Even though it made a ton of money in the end, it was not easy making it happen.
It went through multiple drafts, directors, and even plot lines. Luckily, in the end, their hard work paid off.
Back in 2016, DC Comics decided to take the jump and create The Flintstones #1.
As you can see from the artwork, they definitely got an upgrade and look a little closer to modern humans!
In 2015, a DVD was released titled _ The Flintstones and WWE: Stone Age SmackDown_ and it featured a ton of WWE stars in animated form.
This includes the legend, John Cena.
Or were you pleasantly surprised by all of the facts that we presented you with in this article?
Either way, let us know down below in the comment section! We would love to hear from you!
