The Flintstones: On the Rocks

The Flintstones: On the Rocks is a 2001 made-for-television animated film based on the television series The Flintstones. It debuted on November 11, 2001 on Cartoon Network and was directed by Chris Savino and David Smith. It was dedicated to William Hanna (creator of The Flintstones with partner Joseph Barbera), founder and chairman of Hanna-Barbera, who died earlier that year and longtime Hanna-Barbera composer Hoyt Curtin, who passed on a year before Hanna.

Since then, the movie has not been released on VHS or any other form of home media release and has attained something of a cult following among fans.

Plot

Several years after the events of the original series, Fred and Wilma's marriage is in serious jeopardy, as Wilma is growing tired of Fred's attitude, especially while Barney and Betty are enjoying a happy life well into their marriage, to the point that a visit to a family therapist results in a physical altercation between Fred and Wilma. On Fred and Wilma's anniversary, which they both forgot, the Rubbles arrange a trip to Rockapulco in an attempt to save the Flintstones' marriage.

Shortly after their arrival, a thief, Xavier, steals a diamond from a jewelry store and is chased by the guard into the same hotel the Flintstones and Rubbles are staying at. In the ensuing chaos, Xavier's bag is switched with Wilma's, and he immediately begins plotting to get the diamond back. At first, things do not improve between Fred and Wilma, to the point that Wilma lashes out at Fred and very nearly decides to divorce him, but she stumbles across the diamond in her suitcase and, assuming that Fred bought it as a surprise present, quickly makes up with him. Capitalising on the circumstances, Fred goes along with the charade, but their newfound passion is short lived, as Fred's demeanour slowly puts Wilma off again. While spying on Wilma, Xavier notices this and masquerades as a suave Englishman in order to woo Wilma by inviting her to dinner. Wilma accepts the invitation and spends time with Xavier.

Fred, feeling guilty, decides to make it up to Wilma, but catches her from afar with Xavier and is heartbroken, and he starts to drink himself silly while speaking with another attractive woman at the bar. Wilma rebuffs Xavier's advances out of loyalty to Fred, but changes her mind when she sees him with the lady. While dancing, however, Xavier reveals his true intentions and attempts to take the diamond from Wilma, who was wearing it as a necklace. A chase ensues throughout the ballroom with Fred, Barney and Xavier each trying to get the diamond, but it eventually falls into Wilma's hands, prompting Xavier to abduct her and flee in his car. The ensuing car chase eventually leads to a bridge above a volcano, where Xavier threatens to kill Wilma if she does not hand the diamond over. Fred appears and gives a passionate speech about how he has not realised until now that even though he was not rich enough to buy the diamond, he is still the richest man in the world just by having Wilma as his wife.

Wilma subdues Xavier and he is arrested by the lady who Fred spoke with at the bar, who is revealed to have been a policewoman on Xavier's trail. With their marriage restored, Fred and Wilma enjoy the rest of their trip, while Barney and Betty begin to bicker about their own marriage after seeing the passion Fred and Wilma ultimately displayed for each other. Over the end credits, Dino, who was assigned by Fred to guard their home, is revealed to have made a complete mess and left the home in the hands of his friends before leaving on his own trip.

Cast

Kevin Michael Richardson voiced Barney Rubble in this film.

• Jeff Bergman as Fred Flintstone
• Tress MacNeille as Wilma Flintstone
• Kevin Michael Richardson as Barney Rubble, Hector
• Grey DeLisle as Betty Rubble, Mystery Woman
• Jeff Glen Bennett as Xavier
• Frank Welker as Dino, Monkey
• Tom Kenny as Sellboy
• Zelda Rubinstein as Psychiatrist
• Joey Altruda as Stoney Altruda
• John Stephenson as Mr. Slate
• Mark Mangini as Dino (archived sound)

Development

In format, the movie was intended to emulate the original series, particularly the first and second seasons, which was distinctly more mature and aimed at older audiences than the later seasons, and therefore chose to focus more on the relationships between the original core cast of Fred, Barney, Wilma, and Betty. Even though the character designs show that several years have passed since the events of 1993's A Flintstone Family Christmas, which was previously chronologically the last film in the franchise's continuity, a special effort was to replicate the feeling of the original series. Since the deaths of Alan Reed and Mel Blanc, Fred and Barney had been voiced by Henry Corden and Frank Welker respectively, with drastic changes to the characters' voices since the beginning of the original series. For the film, Jeff Bergman voiced Fred in the same vein as Reed rather than Corden, and Kevin Michael Richardson voiced Barney similarly to Blanc's original high-pitched voice, which Blanc had changed to his more famous low pitch following a near fatal car accident.

The movie's animation was carried out similarly, with the stone and the landscapes identical to how they were seen in the original series instead of later series, such as The New Fred and Barney Show, and various soundtracks from the original series were re-used for the film, such as the opening theme for the series' first two seasons being used for the film's end credits. Several tributes to the 1994 live action movie are made as well, such as the Flintstones and Rubbles going to Rockapulco, where Cliff Vandercave and Miss Stone were planning to flee to in the film, as well as Fred's unnamed crush bearing a strong resemblance to Miss Stone herself, with whom Fred was also smitten in the film.

Reception

The film currently holds a 6.9/10 rating on IMDb.

References

External links

• The Flintstones: On the Rocks at the Internet Movie Database
• The Flintstones: On the Rocks at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Screen Novelties: The Flintstones: On the Rocks