Flintstones, The:S1 (DVD)

Description

Product Description Flintstones, The: The Complete First Season (DVD)Join the fun in the town of Bedrock with the this fabulously famous modern Stone-Age family. Mowing the lawn with a saw-toothed dinosaur, showering with water sprayed from a woolly mammoth's trunk and eating brontosaurus burgers are everyday events for the lovable Fred and Wilma Flintstone and their friends Barney and Betty Rubble. Living in prehistoric times has its drawbacks, but the Flintstones and their neighbors survive in style. So have a yabba-dabba-doo time with the The Flintstones.]]> desertcart.com Meet The Flintstones in this prehistoric Hanna-Barbera production. Primetime's first animated series was also the longest running until The Simpsons came along. Not so coincidentally, the two shows aren't all that different--even if the former emerged in the sixties, the latter in the eighties. Fred (Alan Reed), patriarch of the cave-dwelling clan, may be marginally more intelligent than the similarly blue collar Homer, but most storylines still revolve around his more dunderheaded moves. Fortunately, wife Wilma (Jean Vander Pyl) and Barney (Mel Blanc) and Betty Rubble (Bea Benaderet), their neighbors, are usually able to set things right. That was also true for Ralph Cramden of The Honeymooners, a direct influence (Reed even sounds like Jackie Gleason). But Ralph didn't have a pet dinosaur and he did live in the Modern Age--if you can call the fifties "modern"--rather than the Stone Age. This long-awaited DVD set includes all 28 episodes of the first season, including the lost Flagstones pilot. Notable segments include "Hot Lips Hannigan"--one of several riffs on beatnik culture--in which Fred, aka "The Velvet Smog," sings and Barney beats the traps and "The Creature From the Tar Pits," in which Fred fills in as Gary Granite's stunt double in a Bedrock-set horror flick. The Flintstones's first season introduced two timeless couples from another time. Its success led to a theatrical release, two live-action features, and countless specials and spin-offs. New viewers may be surprised to find that Dino doesn't make his official entrance until episode 18 ("The Snorkasaurus Story"), that Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm aren't in the first season at all, and that the famous theme won't hit the airwaves until the third (replacing instrumental "Rise and Shine"). Those quirky quotes, however, were in effect from the start: "Wiiilmaaaaaaa!," "Droll, very droll" and, especially, "Yabba-dabba-doo!!!" --Kathleen C. Fennessy Review: I YABBA-DABBA-DO LIKE THIS COMPILATION! - I have been a big fan of the Flintstones since watching their episodes first-run in the early 60's on ABC when I was a small child and have been an avid watcher since. Happily, this DVD set does not disappoint! Not only does it include all 28 episodes from the first season, but it also includes some vintage commercials that were run during that first season(ones that I vaguely remember), as well as the original, original pilot when it was still called "The Flagstones." The other extras are worth seeing as well, including the history of "The Flintstones." Taking "The Honeymooners" premise and putting it in a stone-age setting, "The Flintstones" pokes fun at suburban life in the early 1960's. Even though one reviewer complained that they didn't remember Fred's behavior being so boorish, nor of him & Barney fighting so much or lying to their wives, just remember that this cartoon series was originally geared toward ADULTS (especially considering that three of their earliest sponsors were One-A-Day, Alka-Seltzer and Winston Cigarettes!). This also harkened back to an earlier time when life was simpler and people could laugh at themselves more easily. And, no, the "adult" plot lines did not affect me as a kid -- I just enjoyed watching the goofy-looking characters, clever sight gags, stone-age contraptions and slapstick humor! Even though the drawings may look a bit cruder than those in the later seasons, the animation itself was more fluid and stylized, and less stilted than in the later seasons, and the timing, as always, was impeccable. Notice Fred's overly expressive face, his and Barney's eyes bugging out upon discovering they have been drafted to the army for a 3-year term in "The Astra'Nuts," the tuba player in the orchestra pit in "The Flintstones Flyer," Perry Gunnite's "strut" in "Love Letters on the Rocks," or Left-Foot Charlie's "dancing" with Wilma in "The Golf Champion." And who of us could forget Fred & the 4 cops -- with Barney at the piano -- singing the William Tell rendition of "Happy Anniversary" in "The Hot Piano"? Probably the biggest thrill for me -- much to the dismay of other reviewers -- was seeing the ORIGINAL ("Rise and Shine" instrumental) leader and trailer that was used for the first 2 seasons after more than 40 years! (For those of you who grew up with the syndicated versions of "The Flintstones," the "Meet the Flintstones" theme actually didn't appear until Season 3!) I hadn't seen nor heard the original instrumental theme since I was 7 years old, but I vividly remembered seeing all the lights in the neighborhood turning back on when Fred was banging on the door and yelling "WIL-MA!!" But whenever I mentioned there being a different leader and trailer than "Meet the Flintstones," people looked at me as if I were crazy! What a kick it was to see it again after all these years -- and feeling vindicated at the same time! I Yabba-Dabba-Do recommend buying this DVD set. You'll have a "gay old time"! Review: Perfect Yabba Dabba Doo fun!!! - I received my DVD set last Friday, and within 30 minutes was watching the first episode. This was a true classic in it's time. It really is amazing that this is from 1960. It could be from last week. Well, with one major difference. 100% less crudeness. Compared to today's, and even "yesterday's" current animated shows, this one is heads and shoulders above it's competition. I watch this show with my young, under 10 kids, with no fear of them being offended, or grossed out. I love the very start of this show, it's looseness, and care-free funny nature. One thing, I notice already is it's old fashioned-ness. The show is supposed to be back in the 60's, when young men and women married young, and because "settled" at a young age. Fred seems "old" to me in today's terms. He seems settled, but he doesn't even have any kids yet, in this first season. Pebbles shows up later, around 3rd season. If this were modern times, we would have seen Fred and Barney take a trek to a strip club, perhaps called: "Flint Brothers' O'Farrell Theater." Something racy like that. I really love the sound effects. When Fred bowls, and runs toward the bowling alley, on his toes, we hear this adorable little scampering sound on a keyboard, to make the sound effect of his "toes running." The Flintstones is filled with these little treasure treats. I recommend it highly for any fan of good television, animated sorts, or clever humor. Very nice. MC White said: Two thumbs way up!!!