ironhorse_iv
Here is a little history on how this film, came to be. One thing, that I love about the 1960 animation show is how much, it copy/rip-offs, everything good about the 1950's show, the Honeymooners. It reminds me of the story of how actor, Jackie Gleason once consider suing Hanna-Barbera for copying his show, but decided not to, because he didn't want to be known as the man that yanked the Flintstone, off the air. The first two seasons of the show were kinda notorious, in its marketing, because it was co-sponsored by Winston cigarettes and it show characters smokings. The show turn more, family-friendly by the third season when the baby, Pebbles is introduced. Due to that huge change, Winston was replaced by Welch Juice and the show overall tone and writing became a little more juvenile. Ratings from the adult demographic slowly began to decline and the show went quietly off the air in 1966. Hanna-Barbera continue to keep the Flintstone franchise afloat, since cancellation, by licensing their character's trademark, into other venues, such as vitamins and cereal sales. After media mogul, Ted Turner purchased the company in the 1990s and merged with Time Warner in the 2000s, Hanna-Barbera became a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Animation, but it was short live, as both animation directors Hanna & Barbera died in the years following the merger. Since then, the Flintstone's film programs hasn't went anywhere. It wasn't until 2013's, when World Wrestling Entertainment help drive, a modern resurgence in the Flintstone, when a wrestler, The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) use the brand name as an marketing ploy to describe another popular wrestler, John Cena. Seeing this, as a great way to connect, new viewers. Both companies seek partnership in making a movie. WWE would use this film, to market itself as family friendly, while, Warner Bros. Animation would use the platform to try gain new viewers to the Hanna-Barbera animation line. Unlike 2014's Scooby Doo: Wrestlemania Mystery, that seem to come out of nowhere, at least, the Flintstones is more relatable to wrestling fans. Still, the original creators, William Hanna & Joseph Barbera must be rolling in their graves on how badly made these films are. In my opinion, both brands don't really mixed, well. While, I'm a huge fan of pro-wrestling, both Attitude and Rock & Wrestling Era. Every wrestling fans knows, that the industry has some of the worst writers, ever. Since this movie, didn't have any realistic pro-wrestling matches. It quickly became very unpleasant and kinda dumb. When I was younger, I was a huge fan of the 1960's TV show, The Flintstones, because I found the animation show's clever juxtaposition of 1960s modern day with a Stone Age flair, very interesting. Despite the animation and fantasy setting, the series was initially aimed at adult audiences. It was reflected in the comedy writing, which, as noted, resembled the average primetime sitcoms of the era, with the usual family issues resolved with a laugh at the end of each episode, as well as the inclusion of a laugh track. It's so unlike this movie, which was made more for children with a mostly outrageous nonrealistic plot. While, the film had risqué jokes, it wasn't matured enough to be funny. I always found, the Flintstones, to be smarter than this. I was hoping for a more adult like sophisticated or experimental storytelling with clever jokes. Most of their plots were very to semi-complex, but this movie directed by Spike Brandt & Tony Cervone, seem a little too straight forward easy. The plot idea, sees Fred Flintstone (Voiced by Jeff Bergman) trying to start up, a pro-wrestling company with his friend, Barney Rubble (Voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) as its top wrestler, seek so surreal, that it's kinda jarring to watch. I didn't think, WWE treat the Flintstones, with the respect, they deserve. WWE wrestlers seem to overtake, most of the film, giving the Flintstone, barely any room to breathe new life into its original characters. Honestly, if you have no knowledge of the WWE product, you'll have no frame of reference for all the side characters that WWE put into this film. Honestly, you don't know the wrestlers or the wrestling business, you might not get some of the jokes and get lost. This really makes the flick more tedious to watch, as it takes forever to establish each wrestler's gimmick. There are tons of WWE wrestlers, voicing in this film, such as John Cena, CM Punk, Undertaker, Vince McMahon and others. How can WWE have a Flintstones crossover and not include Stone Cold, or The Rock? The puns write themselves! Anyways, the wrestlers, they did use, were pretty weak in voice acting. Kevin Michael Richardson as Barney Rubbles sucks. It doesn't sound like him, at all! I guess, Kevin was trying to challenge, the original voice actor, Mel Blanc's season 1, Barney, which has a higher pitch, but most people know, the voice of Barney after Season 2, which was a deeper voice, Art Carney type voice. I like the dopier version of Barney, better than the smart aleck one. The other actor that plays Fred really capture his role, and it's seem like, the original voice actor, Alan Reed has come back from the dead. The animation is quite smooth, but it looks way different than the original cartoons. It seem more Cartoon Network style, as if a rip-off of the TV Series, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. I really found it to be, distracting. The animators really sex up, the women in the show. Both Betty (Voiced by Grey Griffin) & Wilma (Voiced by Tress MacNeille) are stunning. It's a bit weird, to seeing them, in more revealing outfits. Overall: I can't recommended watching if you're an original Flintstone fan. It's just too weird, and surreal. It will upset you. If your kid wants to watch it. Introduce them to the originals ones, not this.
unclesporkums2
I know, I know. I thought I would dislike this as much as the rest of you. I mean, The Flintstones, and WWE? How in the world could those two concepts possibly come together and work?! Well, to be honest, it actually did rather well! The plot actually plays out somewhat like a standard episode of The Flintstones (or a short animated film) with Fred becoming a manager and promoter of wrestling matches as part of a get rich quick scheme in order to afford a family vacation, featuring stone age versions of several current WWE wrestlers. As much I was preparing myself for a lot of pandering to wrestling fans and the sensibilities of modern animation, storytelling and humor, this film was surprisingly low key and reserved, not resorting to the usual gaggle of ironic pop culture puns on the latest movie releases and the like, except when they could be adapted into the story for a quick gag, (i.e. a quick joke about prehistoric digital devices made out of stone), but like celebrity cameos, these were also a common quality of the Flintstones universe, so, I let it slide. The wrestling itself is thankfully not too realistic, there are a lot of cartoonish exaggerations, that still don't clash too much with the semi-realistic tone of the Flintstones universe.There are a few references to catchphrases and the like that may confuse or otherwise irritate you if you're not a fan of pro wrestling, and a few plot devices may seem a little contrived, but thankfully, they are sparse. A bunch of the WWE entertainers actually do a reasonably good acting job, so that's another plus.This, coming from a longtime advocate of traditional, hand-drawn animation and traditional storytelling, this film, which I was not quite looking forward to, this was like a relieving breath of fresh air for me personally. It sort of put me in the mind of the multiple Flintstones specials from the early 1990s that would be played on Cartoon Network ad naesuem back in the day.In short, for the casual Flintstones fan, you may want to give this a watch. For children, I'm not sure if I would recommend it if the concept of several scenes of somewhat revealing swimwear and women with sassy, sexualized attitudes and cartoonish violence offends you. Also, if the kids or teens seem to be more into the frantic pace of most of today's animated output, this may not be for them, either.Final thoughts. Animated projects with this type of art and story style are so unheard of to this day, that this gave me some pretty pleasant nostalgic feelings. Overall, I'm not sure if I would necessarily watch it again, but if it just happens to be on television in the future, I might sit through it.
