The Flintstones is a 1994 American 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 by Hanna-Barbera. The film stars John Goodman, Rick Moranis, Elizabeth Perkins, Rosie O'Donnell, Kyle MacLachlan, Halle Berry, and Elizabeth Taylor (in her final theatrical film appearance). The B-52's performed their version of the cartoon's theme song, playing cavemen versions of themselves as the BC-52's. In the film, after Fred Flintstone receives a promotion with the help of his friend Barney Rubble, he becomes entangled in the nefarious schemes of his boss Cliff Vandercave.
Development of a live-action film based on The Flintstones began in 1985. After several rejected drafts, the film rights were acquired by Amblin Entertainment and the script was finalized in 1993. Goodman was cast as Fred Flintstone at the insistence of executive producer Steven Spielberg. Filming took place in California and Utah, with physical effects provided by Jim Henson's Creature Shop and CGI created by Industrial Light & Magic.
The Flintstones was theatrically released by Universal Pictures on May 27, 1994. It received generally negative reviews from critics, but was a box office success, grossing almost $342 million worldwide against a $46 million budget. Its marketing campaign included a promotion with McDonald's and a video game based on the film. A prequel, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, was released in 2000.
Plot
In Stone Age suburban Bedrock, Slate & Co.'s vice-president Cliff Vandercave and his secretary Sharon Stone plan to swindle the company of its vast fortune, pin the blame on a patsy, and flee. Fred Flintstone loans his best friend and neighbor Barney Rubble money so that he and his wife Betty can adopt a feral 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. Cliff holds an aptitude test for a new executive; Barney notices Fred struggling with the test and, to return his kindness, switches his test with Fred's. Barney happened to have the highest score, so Fred is made an executive, but his first order from Cliff is to fire Barney, who received the lowest score from Fred's test. Fred refuses to fire his best friend because he just adopted Bamm-Bamm, but Cliff gives Fred a warning that if he doesn't fire Barney then Cliff would not only fire Barney but Fred would be fired as well.
Fred allows the Rubbles to move in with him and his wife Wilma while Barney attempts to find a new job, and Cliff lavishes Fred with material perks of his new position to distract him while using him to further his plans. Fred and Wilma become greedier and more self-centered while treating the Rubbles like servants, culminating with Barney revealing he switched their tests and he and Betty leaving. A remorseful Wilma, disgusted with Fred's actions, soon leaves afterward with Pebbles and moves in with her mother Pearl, and reconciles with Betty. Fred learns that Cliff's plan to build a "modernized" assembly line for Slate & Co. is a cover for his embezzlement, but Stone has tricked Fred into signing all the relevant forms, and also into firing most of the company's labor force. Fred is forced to go into hiding when Cliff reports his theft to the police. Wilma, disbelieving Fred's involvement, decides to break into his office and steal his "Dictabird", which remembers all conversations overheard in his office. Cliff observes her with the bird and realizes it overheard his admission of guilt to Fred.
Wilma and Betty find Fred and Barney about to be lynched by disgruntled ex-workers, and the Dictabird reveals to them Fred's innocence and that Cliff actually fired them. The two couples return home and find that Cliff has abducted Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm, and is holding them hostage in exchange for the Dictabird. The next day, Fred and Barney arrive at Cliff's assembly line and release the bird to him, and Cliff flees while Fred tries to stop the machinery and Barney goes to rescue their children. Stone arrives to stop Cliff from escaping, and Fred destroys the assembly line while Barney escapes with the kids. The machinery breaks down and a slurry of water and mineral waste cascades onto Cliff, encasing him entirely. Mr. Slate and the police arrive and the Dictabird clears Fred's name, and Mr. Slate is unexpectedly delighted by the material covering Cliff, naming it "concrete" in honor of his daughter Concretia. He orders the workers rehired and makes plans to begin mass-production of concrete, and offers Fred the position of president of their new concrete division, but Fred has realized that wealth changed him for the worst and declines. He instead asks for his old job back, with some additional benefits for the workers, and the two families return to their normal lives.
Cast John Goodman as Fred Flintstone: A bronto-crane operator at Slate & Co. Rick Moranis as Barney Rubble: Fred's best friend and co-worker at Slate & Co. Elizabeth Perkins as Wilma Flintstone: Fred's wife. Rosie O'Donnell as Betty Rubble: Barney's wife. Kyle MacLachlan as Cliff Vandercave: An executive vice-president of Slate & Co. Halle Berry as Miss Sharon Stone: A Slate & Co. secretary in league with Cliff Vandercave. Elizabeth Taylor as Pearl Slaghoople: Wilma's mother.
In addition to the main cast, The Flintstones features Elaine and Melanie Silver as Fred's daughter Pebbles Flintstone, and Hlynur and Marinó Sigurðsson as Barney's adopted son Bamm-Bamm Rubble. The cast also includes Harvey Korman as the voice of the Dictabird, Dann Florek as Fred's supervisor Mr. Slate, Richard Moll and Irwin Keyes as Fred's respective co-workers Hoagie and Joe Rockhead, and Sheryl Lee Ralph as adoption agent Mrs. Pyrite.
News reporter Susan Rock is portrayed by Laraine Newman and Jay Leno plays the host of the television series Bedrock's Most Wanted. Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson and Keith Strickland of The B-52s appear as The BC-52s, with Parthenon Huxley on Gibstone Bass. Other cameos include Jonathan Winters as a co-worker of Fred and Barney's at Slate and Co., Jack O'Halloran as the Yeti, Jean Vander Pyl as Mrs. Feldspar (Vander Pyl was the voice of Wilma in the original animated series), and original series creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera as a boardroom executive and a man driving a Mersandes, respectively.
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. Peter Martin Wortmann and Robert Conte submitted another draft in March 1990 before Mitch Markowitz was hired to write a script. Said to be inspired by 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. 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 because of his love for the original 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. 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. Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel worked on it next with Levant, taking home a reported $100,000 for just two days' work. Rick Moranis was also present at Levant's roundtables, and later described the film as "one of those scripts that had about 18 writers." 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; however, credit was given to the first script by De Souza and to Jennewein and Parker for their drafts.
Casting
John Candy, Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Chevy Chase were all considered for the role of Fred Flintstone. The last four actors were all deemed too skinny and a fat suit was deemed too inappropriate to be used. John Goodman was Steven Spielberg's first and only choice for the role after he announced his casting years earlier at the table read for the film Always, when Spielberg said: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to say something before we start: I've found my Fred Flintstone". Goodman stated during an episode of WTF with Marc Maron that he felt like he was "sandbagged" into the role when Spielberg announced his casting and stated "Oh God. Not this. I knew I was going to hear 'yabba dabba doo' for the rest of my life, and I…hadn’t liked 'The Flintstones' since I was in the fifth grade." He stated that "it just took the wind out of me. It was not something that I wanted to do," but said he felt like he didn't have a choice but to take on the role. Goodman later tried to back out about six months before filming started, stating, "I got drunk and called [Spielberg] and said, 'I don’t think I can do this'... I wound up doing it [anyway].’" Had Goodman turned the role down, the film would not have been made.
Geena Davis, Faith Ford, and Catherine O'Hara were all considered for the role of Wilma, but Elizabeth Perkins eventually won the role. Danny DeVito was the original first choice for Barney, but turned it down as he felt he was too gruff to do the character properly and reportedly suggested Rick Moranis for the role. DeVito was also considered for Fred. Although Janine Turner was considered, Rosie O'Donnell won the role of Betty Rubble with her impersonation of the cartoon character's signature giggle. Both Tracey Ullman and Daphne Zuniga were also considered for the role. Sharon Stone was to play Miss Stone, but she turned it down because of scheduling conflicts. The role was also offered to Nicole Kidman. Both Audrey Meadows and Elizabeth Montgomery were considered for the role of Pearl Slaghoople.
Filming