Customer Reviews

The Man Called Flintstone

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In the midst of the mid- 'sixties spy craze came this 90 minute feature length film. It was Hanna- Barbera's second theatrical feature, the first being Hey There, It's Yogi Bear. Everything good about the Flintstones to date found its way into this 1966 movie, but this Columbia release (now Warner Bros.) also features seven songs and two different animation looks in the opening and closing title sequences. HB, to their credit, kept the loved look of the long running prime time TV show for the entire feature. The DVD release was held up for a long time due to various debacles, but amazingly, this release managed to keep the cel-look cover art, while the back features three title cards used in theaters.

The film is in English with French and Spanish subtitles, but other than that, there are no extra features, which seems surprising, but perhaps an enhanced version will be released if this one does well. All the classic characters are here: Alan Reed as Fred, Mel Blanc as Barney, Jean Vanderpyl as Wilma, Gerry Johnson as Betty, not to mention June Foray, Harvey Korman, Paul Frees, Don Messick, and Janet Waldo. The Man Called Flintstone, coming two years later, is more developed than Hey There, Yogi Bear, which is also a musical, and which also gave the HB art department a chance to experiment with different visual styles in the musical numbers.

This is a delightful film, well-drawn, fast paced, well-plotted, with the usual cartoon conundrums and domestic dilemmas, drawing to a satisfying denoument. In other words, three times the length, but following the formula of every Flintstones episode. Here though, the genius of this cartoon, in writing, character, and story, clearly shines, whereas in the episodes, it's easily taken for granted. The film clips right by, whereas another well-known HB feature, The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones, which runs two hours instead of 90 minutes, seems to drag. Flintstones fans, cartoon lovers, and animation buffs won't want to miss The Man Called Flintstone.

In the '60s, cartoons made for the big screen had a charm all their own (check out the Pink Panther movie shorts). For Hanna Barbera, they would include Hey There It's Yogi Bear, The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones, and A Man Called Flintstone. When the Peanuts specials made animated featurettes on TV a regular feature, other animated specials tended to seem like drawn-out shorts with musical interludes. Not this one. A Man Called Flintstone is all savvy and style, with eye-catching graphic design and memorable songs built around the '60s spy craze, yet stays true to the original look and feel of The Flintstones (unlike later films which reversion the cartoons).

Quite sad how it's all tied up in litigation, of course, but cross your fingers and it might come out on DVD, and if you see it used, take a chance with our man Flintstone.

You'd expect Hanna Barbera to pull out their big guns early in the race to release every frame ever filmed onto DVD, but instead they chose to release such question marks as Scooby Doo and the Boo Brothers first. Well, we can only thank the powers that be that they decided to hold back on the collection of the Gary Coleman Show, becasue it means there's a spot in the schedule for H-B's first major motion picture, The Man Called Flintstone.

Featuring the original cast (Save for Gerry Johnson as Betty; Bea Benaderet had already passed on by this time) and semi-regular Harvey Korman (blessedly NOT as the Great Gazoo), the film is rife with classic filmic cliches like the person of importance that just happens to resemble a character on the show (a plot that was used in the series at least three times, a probable record) a few moments of mistaken identity, and all wrapped in a spy plot to take advantage of the James Bond craze.

Some of the best songs that were ever written for a Hanna-Barbera release, (okay, I can live without "Tickle Toddle") and some great art design make this a can't miss part of the Flintstone canon.

If you don't blink you'll see one of the weirdest product placements in history. Apparently, Qantas airways has been in business since prehistoric times, because that's the airline Fred and Co travel on to Eurock!

Took long enough to come out - don't take long picking it up.

I should know, I own it, and I live in Illinois. The bad part is that you only get the movie, no features or anything, but that is good enough for me right now.

Tha Man Called Flintstones is a gem, in my opinion one the greatest animated movies of all time. The entire show was great, and this movie captured the essence of the cartoon perfectly. It has Fred in a spy role, a farce of James Bond, and it is actually excellently well done/written. The songs are great, the movie is fantastic. I was thrilled that I was able to find this on DVD (as I have all 6 seasons of the show. Now I am awaiting the release of Flintstones a Christmas Carol and Flintstones Kids.) one of my all time favorate animated movies and show. A must for all Flintstones fans.

As a previous poster noted, music clearances for the songs were not made when Turner acquired the Hanna-Barbera catalog, which is why the DVD release has been delayed -- in the US.

But for some reason, that has not stopped release of this DVD in Canada -- so go to Amazon.ca. I've ordered DVDs from them numerous times and the prices are usually reasonable (in fact, better, if the US Amazon is featuring the same selection as an import: compare prices on the DUE SOUTH box sets from Allied Entertainment).

For those who do that eBay thing, you can occasionally spot A MAN CALLED FLINTSTONE as an Asian market VCD. Legit, not black market. That's how I got my copy.

I love this title so much that I almost hesitate to bring this up. Since Man Called Flintstone is now owned by Warner Brothers, they edited one of the biggest smiles from the opening titles. As the film was released theatrically by Columbia Pictures in 1966, Hanna Barbera took full advantage and replaced the woman with the torch in the Columbia Logo with Wilma holding a torch!I was surprised not to see that at the beginning, but understand. Why would Warners want to advertise Columbia on one of their properties?

Warner Brothers has run into many legal snags in getting this movie to DVD home video.

1) There are many songs in the movie that Warner does not own the rights to. When the movie was released to theaters it was a Columbia Picture and ColGems was their music rights division.

2) Apparently Hanna Barbera did not own all rights to this movie and their first movie "HEY THERE IT'S YOGI BEAR", they were partnered with Columbia Pictures. When Turner Entertainment bought Hanna Barbera they did not get clear rights to these Hanna Barbera Movies. Therefore when Turner sold his library to Warner Brothers, Warner didn't get clear rights to these Hanna Barbera Movies.

3) Yes, the DVDs were produced (without the Wilma Flintstone Columbia Logo) and withdrawn.

4) Warner will not give out any more information to be posted on the web, but the legal issues do not stop here.

5) The legal problems are so bad that YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEE "THE MAN CALLED FLINTSTONE" ON TELEVISION EITHER!

Keep those old VHS tapes & Laserdiscs in good shape, that is all you will have for some time until some agreements are reached.

This Flintstone movie takes out lovable Fred and Co. around Europe. Where he is asked to take over from a secret agent who looked like him. Freddy must save the world and all the while, keeping it from Wilma. I thought it was a nice movie complete with Caveman 007 Gadgets.

I remember that when I was younger and either had some free time or was at home sick, I would rent this and watch it over and over. I'm so excited that it's coming to DVD! I love the songs and the storyline... I will definitely buy this when it comes out on DVD. I love nostalgia!

I remember this great movie as a kid and loving it. I wholeheartedly thought when the 1st season came out this would be a great companion piece. When I didn't I just thought it was lost in some vault never to see light. Now it's being released in the best format possible(without commercials or cutting songs). "Who do you call when the chips are starting to fall...A Man Called Flintstone!"