I spent a good portion of the day watching the Flintstones holiday marathon (with some breaks for “A Christmas Story,” “Knots Landing”-the Season One two-parter where Gary Ewing falls off the wagon and how and “Ken Burns: Country Music”). The marathon consists of 3 Christmas-themed shows-2 specials and 1 regular episode. Showing them in order as the Cartoon Network has allows you to see the cultural changes that each one reflects.
The Flintstones Christmas Episode (1964)
The first episode was a regular season episode from 1964. It was clearly made during the time when tv shows made sure that they made a Christmas episode if not every season, at least once during their run.
Fred Flintstone gets a side hustle as Santa to afford presents for his family. This leads to him being on tv and convincing daughter Pebbles that he is Santa and it results in Fred subbing for Santa on Christmas Eve, when the latter comes down with a terrible cold. Fred along with Santa’s elves, Winky and Blinky deliver toys and presents all over the world, as signaled by Fred wishing each destination “Merry Christmas” in their mostly European, native language. Fred of course forgets his presents for the family but Santa does him a solid by rolling out of bed-sick with a cold-and dropping off Fred’s gifts himself.
The end of the episode has the Flintstones and the Rubbles gathering around the Christmas tree wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.
This episode might be a response to Rankin/Bass’ “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, ” which debuted in primetime that year. The Flintstones were the Simpsons of their time, meaning that they aired in primetime and dealt with topics that you usually wouldn’t find in a children’s cartoon. Not a lot of TMOC (True Meaning of Christmas) or at least anyone needing to learn it. This was probably a case of Fred and company (there are b and c plots having to do with Wilma and company and the kiddies) demonstrating TMOC vs learning it).
As I remember, this episode until the 21st century only aired at Christmas time and not as a part of the regular syndication run. I was not alive when this debuted and for the many years afterwards. I imagine since the Flintstones were popular, this episode did well in the ratings.
A Flintstones Christmas (1977)
“A Flintstones Christmas” took place in 1977 and is a holiday special. Again not around when this came out but it aired a few years in the 1980s and possibly once in the 90s at Christmas time.
Keep in mind, when I speak of these shows airing, I am speaking of broadcast tv. Cable may have been a different affair but I didn’t get cable until 2009.
This special takes place in a very busy and commercial holiday season in Bedrock, complete with Salvation Army kettle ringers (with the serial numbers filed off). Fred and Barney are about getting gifts for the holidays. Fred’s boss, Mr. Slate, is about getting a Santa for a Christmas party his wife is sponsoring. Fred and Barney become Santa and his helper elf and they happen upon Santa (lol if I received $5 for each time I started typing “Satan” for “Santa” I would be at least Tyler Perry rich.) who needs help distributing toys and presents. (I think he was sick also in this special.) Fred and Barney say “yes” (how hard can it be? Pretty hard it seems.) and hilarity ensues. They actually lose presents, making it necessary for Santa and his workshop to create replacement presents.
It’s clear that the writers intended Fred and Barney to have Laurel and Hardy/Laverne and Shirley -esque adventures. Some of it lands and some of it doesn’t. I don’t think some of these landed even in the late 70s. And no one has an inside voice especially not inside. Unlike the 1964 cartoon, Wilma. Betty, Pebbles and Bamm Bamm hardly figure into this plot. This is interesting because Pebbles and Bamm Bamm are look like they are between 5-8 years old and they speak in complete sentences. This is the first special that features a different voice for Fred. Henry Corden took over from Alan Reed. There are songs in this special, probably to show that Hanna Barbera can keep up with the kind of holiday specials that Rankin/Bass has been pumping out for nearly every holiday on the calendar and Christmas besides. Unfortunately, these songs feel like they are searching for a relevant plot point to exist in.
Fred and Barney manage to deliver Satan’s presents (just kidding) and make it in time to do the holiday party organized by Mrs. Slate and others. Here is where we see next see Pebbles and Bamm Bamm and their mothers and hear them maybe speak. Forgetting the presents for the children at the party, Santa Fred and Elf Barney remember that they had a little bit of Santa’s magic left and pull a deus ex machina to provide the children, who at this point grabbed up their little pitchforks and torches, with their presents, including their own. Santa thanks they guys and before you know it, the special is over.
The Flintstones’ Christmas Carol (1994)
The last special was/is “The Flintstones’ Christmas Carol” (1994). It’s been 17 years since the last Christmas special. The late 80s-early 90s saw a renaissance where Hanna Barbera’s characters were concerned. More so for the older characters such as the Flintstones, the Jetsons, Yogi Bear, etc than for Scooby Doo and the gang (they’ll get theirs closer to the end of the 20th century and of course ebbing and flowing through out the 21st.). The Flintstones recently returned to Saturday morning tv in the form of little kids. During this period, Hanna Barbera did that with a lot of their characters and tried to make them “hip.”
Fortunately, this special does not have the main characters as little kids. The essential plot is that Fred, Barney, Wilma and Betty are in the Quarry Construction’s amateur dramatics company version of “A Christmas Carol.” Wilma started out as the stage manager and script girl, but due to a plague of “The Bedrock Bug” (Can you say nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, and diarrhea?), she plays Belle and other roles in the play. Barney is Fezziwig and Bob Cratchit, Betty is Mrs. Cratchit and resumes her nudge-nik role when it comes to getting Wilma to speak up for herself and to keep the show rolling. Pebbles and Bamm Bamm are toddlers again. Pebbles can walk but her and Bamm Bamm’s vocabulary is still limited. Pebbles plays a Cratchit daughter and Bamm Bamm is Tiny Tim. Fred is Ebonezer (how did they get that one past the censors?) Scrooge and has let this go to his head harder than when Marcia Brady thought she was THE JULIET CAPULET and Greg Brady thought he was THE JOHNNY BRAVO.
We are treated to parallel storylines where Fred indulges in moments of jackassery in his real life and in the play as Scrooge. While he did remember to get his family Christmas presents, we see him not engaging enough with his daughter, which irritates Wilma to no end, but surprisingly she doesn’t voice this to him as forcefully as she would have in the past.
The production of “A Christmas Carol” is decent. They are pretty faithful to the story. Reminiscent of the 1962 version starring Mr. Magoo, there are moments where you forget that Fred Flintstone is playing Scrooge. This version was a straight ahead dramatic version. Thankfully, they didn’t attempt to add lots of songs as the 1977 version did. The producers, in addition to likely saving a few dollars, realized that not every holiday special needs a musical soundtrack.
As for the plotline outside of the play, it was decent also. Definitely was focused on Fred learning the TMOC lesson of caring about others and teamwork. A way this was demonstrated is that one of the kids who was in the play that he was tough on AND whom he made wait in line to get Fred’s last minutes gifts to his family wrapped, actually did this and wouldn’t take money from Fred because it’s Christmas.
Fred did at one point break into the department store because he didn’t know that the kid got the presented wrapped and then schlepped them all the way to the theater where they’d be safe. If Fred’s big ego hadn’t got in the way, then he wouldn’t have ignored the kid and needed to break into the store. The store where we meet the ONLY person of color to be seen across any of these holiday specials, much less in the various iterations of the Flintstones over the decades. He’s a police man and thankfully for Fred, this cop doesn’t shoot first or else this special would have had a different ending. Not only is the Black cop understanding enough to believe Fred’s story and his “road to Damascus” conversion that led him to discovering the TMOC, he gives Fred a ride back to the theater so that he can complete the play and does not arrest him.
The play goes off well. Wilma gets her flowers literally and figuratively for saving the show by stepping into so many roles. Fred makes amends to everyone and well, “God Bless Us Everyone!”
It was interesting, as mentioned, to see the cultural changes, as you viewed these characters across the different cartoons. An interesting constant was the emphasis that was put on making sure that Fred gets his family their presents. You’d think, especially in the 1st two that the fact that Fred was helping Santa Claus in his mission would make Wilma and Pebbles understanding in regards to why Fred didn’t have their presents right then. I also find it interesting that the 1994 special made sure that we knew that there were women other than Betty and Wilma in Bedrock as well as people of color. The 1964 episode barely worried about additional women and/or people of color being represented. By the time you get to the 1977 special, it feels really awkward that Wilma and Betty were practically non-existent in the episode along with anyone of any color. You only get maybe Mrs. Claus as the other woman with any major role.
Of the individual specials, I would say that I’d watch the 1964 and 1994 ones again or at least have them on in the background. The 1977 one isn’t completely dreadful. I do now understand why it’s not aired as much.
And yeah we really have to handwave the whole “cavepeople/stone age people celebrating Christmas especially ‘A Christmas Carol,’ which was written in the 1840s.” I mean, we should be focusing on the TMOC anyway, right?
