I may have the answer...
Here's a great little 1:50 scale collectable I received today, a Hotwheels Elite One 'toy' by Mattel. (Incidentally, anyone else noticed that the Post Office now spells 'collectables' the American way - 'collectibles'?) Strictly speaking, it's not really a toy, it's too good for that, but kids would be able to play with it I suppose, while adult collectors would simply appreciate it as a thing of aesthetic beauty that reminds them of their childhood.
But why's it called a Flintmobile? I always understood that its name was a Flivver, which is the way merchandise of the car was described in the '60s. I might have a plausible explanation. See the two pics of the box at the foot of this post? On the front illustration, the car is a single-row seater, whereas on the back, it's morphed into a double row, family-sized seater. Same thing happened in the TV show.
Now, the most obvious explanation is that this was simply a result of the car being drawn to suit different scenarios. If it was only Fred, or Fred and Barney, for the sake of expediency it would be drawn as a single-row seater; if it was the full Flintstone family, or a combination of the Flintstones and the Rubbles, it was rendered as a double-row seater to accommodate them. In short, it was whatever it needed to be to suit the situation.
However, another possible explanation is that the Flintstones have two cars of a similar design - one (the Flintmobile) for Fred or Wilma to gad about in, and another, larger, family model (the Flivver) for when they do their weekly shopping or go to the 'drive-in' along with Pebbles and Dino. Having said that, my Marx Toys Flinstone Flivver from the '60s only has a single-row seat, but that might purely be down to Marx wanting to save on tin.
Yeah, I know - I'm overthinking things again, aren't I? Anyway, did you watch The Flintstones TV show when you were a kid, and was it your all-time favourite Hanna-Barbera cartoon? If not, what was? Be sure to let all your fellow Crivvies know.
31 comments:
Who didn't watch The Flintstones?? But my favourite Hanna-Barbera show was Scooby Doo (I assume it was made by Hanna-Barbera?)
Sure was, CJ. I think my favourite would have to be Yogi Bear. Who doesn't love a cuddly bruin?
I think Jonny Quest is my favorite, followed by Yogi Bear, Flintstones, Space Ghost and Birdman. I remember LOVING Ruff and REady in the late 50s, and recognizing that my favorite cartoons all came from the same studio. And I was only 3 or 4 at the time! Same with Anderson. I really loved the puppets. And glad to see the UK finally spelling things the same as us yanks. Now if I could just figure out cm to inches, I'd be set.
Well, as we Brits were using the language before you Yanks, LM, I think it's only fair that you should use it the same as us, be it spelling or pronunciation. Example - 'aloominum'? It's aluminium. Don't think I've seen a Johnny West cartoon since I was a kid.
I remember being teased when i would spell colour instead of color (probably in the 4th or 5th grade) , and I would tell my detractors that it was the proper way to do so. People used to think I was a "bit off". And I am shocked, SHOCKED mind you, to see that there is indeed two different spellings of aluminium. Thanks for the public service, Kid! You should get a tax credit for all this.
I was spelling it as it's phonetically pronounced, LM, not as it's spelt. In America, it's spelt 'aluminum' (no second 'i'), but actually I was only teasing, because both versions go back to the 19th century. Aluminum was 'adopted' by the US and Canada, whereas aluminium was used throughout the rest of the English speaking world.
My favourite cartoons were the Looney Tunes show (Bugs Bunny etc) although this was more a series of animated comedy short films under that title so may not count. I also loved (and still do) the old Tom and Jerry cartoons. For HB it was Wacky Races followed by the Impossibles and then Secret Squirrel (mostly as it had Atom Ant ) . My school pal at the time as obsessed with Wacky Races and kept a record of the all the winners and those placed second and third each week - from memory I think the Slag Brothers won it overall . Actually the pronunciation of “aluminium” is due to the fact that the British chemist that coined the name initially wrote it down as the Americans pronounce it i.e. aluminum it was only later he decided to call it aluminium (as we say) but by the time that got to the US they were using the aluminum pronunciation which stuck. The one that I find strange is “Herb” the US say Erb .
I've got the complete set of classic Tom & Jerry cartoons on dvd, McS. Never been bettered in my opinion. And funnily enough, Hanna-Barbera were involved in making them. When I checked on the word 'aluminium/aluminum', your comment hadn't come in yet, but the site I visited didn't mention what you related, so I'll have to check to see what I missed. Not that it matters, eh? After all, the 'inventor' of the word should get the last word (see what I did there?) about how it's pronounced, don't you think?
I got it from QI and a programme on the Discovery channel where as a side issue it mentioned the reason for the difference in pronunciation of the word in North America and the other English speaking world. It may all be rubbish and as you say its not really that important.
What I meant was that it doesn't matter if I missed something, McS, 'cos I can always make it up as I go along, like I usually do. (Guffaw!) However, it's always important to remind our American cousins that they're murdering the English language. After all, 'must of' instead of 'must have' - what ARE they thinking?
Oh well down I was going to say. Aluminum is the original spelling and it was corrected to aluminium to conform with the other metals.( think uranium, polonium). But of course this isn’t even consistent among the metals ( gold, silver, nickel etc).
As for the Flintstonemobile, of course you’re right, they just changed the car depending on who was in it. Why draw more car than needed?
Or maybe Fred got a new car later ?
I think it varied throughout the entire series, PS, though I haven't seen any episodes in years. They should've called it the Flintonium. (Oh, I'm so funny.)
The Flintstones have the edge because that was a half hour show whereas Yogi was just one short cartoon along with two others in half an hour.
In the UK The Flintstones were called an adult cartoon show and was broadcast later than Children's Hour.
In the States the show was recognised for what it was, a cartoon version of "The Honeymooner's" an early 50's show starring Jackie Gleason who played a working class bus driver with grand ideas.
I'm not exactly sure when Children's Hour (on TV) was, T47, but I remember watching The Flintstones on Sunday afternoons before teatime, though they might've been repeats. I know it was touted as the first animated 'sit-com' which adults could enjoy, but I suspect that most viewers simply regarded it as a kiddie-cartoon. The thing about Yogi was he started as a 'support act' on the Huckleberry Hound Show, but his popularity soon eclipsed that of ol' Huck and he was given his own show.
Alan Reed gave Fred a warmth that subsequent replacement voice artists haven't quite been able to match. Did enjoy the animated movie (made in the '60s, but which I didn't see until the early '70s). In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I went back to the cinema several times to see it again and again.
Meant to say that Yogi proved so popular that he got his own big-screen movie (Hey There, It's Yogi Bear) in 1964, two years before Fred & Co got theirs (The Man Called Flintstone) in 1966. Neither of them were made for TV, but actual cinema releases.
My father loved those Looney Tunes cartoons and Tom & Jerry and so do I of course! Every year just a few days before Christmas I go to YouTube and look for "Twas The Night Before Christmas" starring Tom & Jerry. It's become a modern tradition for me to watch this particular cartoon very close to Christmas Eve on YouTube but in the last couple of years the cartoon has only been available split into three parts which is a bit of a nuisance but at least I get to see it. "Twas The Night Before Christmas" was actually one of the earliest Tom & Jerry cartoons ever produced - I think it was only the 3rd or 4th Tom & Jerry cartoon!
Huckleberry Hound is my favorite H-B offering. I grew up with Ruff and Reddy and wish I could get those myriad serialized adventures on the home media.
Is that the one where Tom throws Jerry out into the snow, then later regrets his actions and retrieves him from outside and thaws him out before the fire, CJ? Classic, innit? Like I said, I've got them all on dvd.
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It's bound to happen one day, RJ. Where there's a chance of money being made from these old shows, someone's sure to try and make it.
I remember there was a cartoon called "Wait till your father gets home" in the early 1970s that was aimed firmly and adults. I wasn't a big fan but think it ran for a while.
Yeah, I remember watching that one too, McS. Can't recall whether it was any good or not though. That's a blast from the past.
Yes, Kid, that's the one. Definitely a classic and very Christmassy!
I too remember Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - it was shown around Sunday lunchtime in my ITV region.
Funnily enough, I can't remember when it was shown, CJ. I'd imagine it might have been shown at different times on different days in different regions, though some would've been the same. I'll track down an episode on You Tube to refresh my memory when I get a spare moment.
Children's Hour in the London Area was 5-6pm before the local news. I seem to remember The Flintstones first broadcast being at 8pm.
I saw the Yogi Bear movie once, the attraction being it was in colour and I had only ever seen the cartoons on B/W TV. The Hanna Barbera cost saving style of cell animation was sadly never up to the level of Looney Tunes.
I've got both the Yogi and Flintstones movies on dvd, T47, and you're right - you could hardly call the animation lavish. However, at the start of The Man Called Flintstone, it's a little better than the TV show. At some point it becomes pretty much the same though, particularly towards the end.
The live action/cgi Yogi movie a few years back was very enjoyable I thought. Ever seen it?
Never saw the live action/cgi Yogi movie. As a rule I stay away from that combination after Howard the Duck and that basketball Daffy Duck outing.
When my grandson is a little older the Yogi movie may be in my future.
Yeah, but Howard was a guy in a suit, Daffy Duck was a cartoon with live actors (I think - never saw it). The Yogi movie is the cartoon 'come to life'. It's just fun, nothing profound - and doesn't try to be. I laughed out loud at parts of it.
Have to agree the Yogi CGI film was really good fun and faithful to the spirit of the character.
There was talk of a sequel, McS, but I haven't heard any more about it since it was first mentioned. I'd love to see another one.
I thought the Yogi movie wasn’t as bad as I expected and the voices were right on. I’m always amused at who did the voice for Boo Boo.
I loved it, PS. Saw it in the cinema and bought it on dvd the second it was released. I'd have preferred a goofier-looking Ranger Smith, but apart from that, I thought it was just about perfect. You'd believe a bear could fly.
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