A Flintstone Christmas

Plot synopsis:
It is Christmastime in Bedrock, and the Flintstones and the Rubbles are all getting ready for when Santa Claus comes to town. On the morning of Christmas Eve Fred is busy decorating the house, alongside Wilma and Pebbles, when the Rubbles show up. While Barney helps Fred finish the decorations before heading to work, Wilma and Betty, who have been busy with the preparations for the Christmas party at the Bedrock Orphanage, talk about how Wilma has failed to convince Fred to dress up as Santa for the children. Still, she believes that Fred will change his mind, if she keeps insisting.
Fred arrives at work in Slate's Quarry, where Mr. Slate tells him that he has chosen him to be Santa for the children of Bedrock Orphanage during the Christmas party that very same night. Fred immediately accepts the honor, with Mr. Slate telling him to take the rest of the day off, while warning him that he must show up on time, or he will be fired. Leaving work, Fred heads home, while singing "It's My Favorite Time of the Year". Back at home, Fred tells Wilma how he accepted Mr. Slate's offer to be Santa, and quickly changes into the Santa costume. Shortly after, Barney shows and Wilma leaves for the orphanage, while Fred and Barney plan Fred's grand entrance. While planning, the two of them hear a noise coming from the rooftop. Going outside, they see a pair of boots stuck in the snow. Pulling them out, they find out that the owner of the boots is none other than the true Santa, who accidentally slipped and fell off Fred's roof, spraining his ankle. The guys find out that on top of a sprained ankle, Santa has also caught a cold, preventing him from delivering the presents. With Christmas in jeopardy, Barney suggests that Fred should be the one to do it. Loving the idea, Santa uses his magic, giving Fred his suit and turning Barney into a Christmas elf, while also instructing Fred on how to drive the sleigh.
After a couple of mishaps, Fred and Barney start delivering the presents around the world. Having managed to deliver half of the presents, they fly over China, when they are caught in a snowstorm, which forces them to take the sleigh to a higher altitude in order to escape it. They do so, but in the process, they lose the remaining half of the presents. Calling Santa for help and explaining the situation, the old man tells them that there is only one thing to do, and that they must go to his workshop back on the North Pole to get the rest of the presents. When asking how to get there, Santa tells Fred and Barney to tell the reindeer to head back home, because they know the way.
Arriving at the North Pole, Fred and Barney quickly fill the sleigh with a new set of presents and fly into the sky. They begin dropping the rest of the gifts down the chimneys, when Fred remembers about the Christmas party. Knowing that they will not be able to reach Bedrock in time, they call Santa for help, who tells them to put the sleigh in top speed. This allows them to deliver the rest of the presents and reach Bedrock in time. Not having a minute to lose, they arrive at the orphanage, sliding down the chimney. Using Santa's magic to produce gifts for the orphans, Fred not only saves the party, but also his job.

Tags: alternate history

Review:
I actually liked this.
It is true that it isn't as good as the classic TV show, which is a wonderful childhood favourite, but A Flinstone Christmas was pretty good.
The voice cast do a great job, even those who replaced the original voice actor(ie.
Harry Corden replacing Alan Reed) bear strong resemblance to the original voice actors.
I loved Mel Blanc as Barney, Blanc is without a doubt one of the best voice actors ever, and perfectly captured Barney's zaniness and goofiness.
Jean Vyder Pyl is still great as Wilma, and Gay Autterson also does a good job as Betty, though not quite as good as Bea Benaderet.
The character characterisation isn't as strong as it is in the TV show however.That said, the animation is beautiful and stays true to the style in the TV show.
I especially loved the image of Santa's sleigh pulled by the eight reindeer.
And I loved the music, and contrary to another reviewer I liked the song Wilma sang to cheer up Pebbles.
I liked the story too, about Santa(well voiced by Hal Smith) having an accident at Fred's house and Fred and Barney have to continue his run.
All in all, I liked it, it isn't as good as the show, but it is nice seasonal fun.
8/10 Bethany Cox. Merry Rockmas.
I'm not really sure how Christmas can exist in a prehistory setting, but I tried not to let this spoil my enjoyment.Fred is roped into playing Santa Claus by his boss for a bunch of underprivileged kids, but the real Santa falls off his roof and sprains his ankle, forcing Fred to take his place.As Xmas Specials go it's certainly one of the better ones.
But it gets off to an iffy start when they recycle a song, frame-by-frame, from the dull as ditchwater 1972 Special 'A Christmas Story', thankfully the rest is all Flintstones.
And without the distracting laugh track which frequently spoiled enjoyment of the TV show..
We Want Santa!.
We Want Santa!.
We Want Santa!.
Hey, kids, knock it off.
Christmas isn't all about presents, ya know?
Who raised you selfish little ruffians?
This would be followed by Casper's First Christmas and the movie Yogi's First Christmas.They are kind of like a trilogy of poor story characterization, draining the last bits of life out of dead corpses, all to make a quick buck, for whatever it was supposed to do.Christmas classics like the Rankin Bass offerings?
I Don't Think So!!
The Flintstones episode when Fred works as the department store Santa then fills in for the real Santa is a gem.
It has aged well and is remarkably sincere.Children should be made happy during the holidays and their love for Santa Claus is natural.In the '77 Flintstones Christmas, the kids rant and rave for Santa and those presents like drunks on the weekend in a bar wanting a stripper.Pebbles and Bamm Bamm are now small kids, not quite teens.Mr. Slate: "If Flintstone doesn't get here in five minutes, he's fired!" Wilma: "Ohhhh, that Fred!
Wait till I get my hands on him!" This is the plot.Wilma and Mr. Slate don't gradually get mad at Fred, they turn it on like a faucet.Where's Fred?
Get Mad.Also worth noting an incredibly weak song that is sung (was it supposed to be Wilma singing?) to Pebbles about having hope.
I guess hope that Santa Claus will arrive.
Boo Boo Bear sings this same song in the Yogi's First Christmas cartoon.
Not rich their either.There is a much later Christmas special where Fred does the Ebenezer Scrooge bit, which believe it or not, it was just fun seeing the Bedrock gang again.In the end, that is about where this Christmas special will stand; as a transition from the sixties originality, Flintstones vitamins and Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles, to 1970s weak duplication, the movie specials, finally the real life transitions and direct to video.No harm will be in this cartoon, it may be brainless enough to watch at Christmas, but it could have definitely been stronger..
Not as Good as the Show but Still Fun. Flintstone Christmas, A (1977) *** (out of 4) Christmas time in Bedrock becomes an issue when Santa Claus slips on Fred's roof and injures himself.
Being unable to deliver presents to the children Santa asks Fred and Barney to do it.
I've read countless reviews of this film and the majority of them put this film down because it doesn't contain any of the magic of the television show.
I'll admit that this isn't nearly as good as even the weakest episode of the television show but at the same time it's hard to deny that there's still some pretty funny stuff going on here.
Many of the original voice actors aren't here but that doesn't take away too much as for the most part the new people fits the roles nice enough.
Again, the voice work isn't nearly as great as the television but for the most part the actors get the job done.
What I appreciate most about this film is that they keep the visual look of the show and to me this is a very important part.
I enjoy the fact that they really didn't tamper with the characters very much, although they do make Pebbles and Bam-Bam pre-teens here.
Mr. Slate is on hand and of course we've got Wilma and Betty.
I think what makes this film work so well is that they don't try to change the humor of Fred and Barney.
The original series was wonderful because of the witty dialogue and this was especially true when it came time to insult Fred and his weight.
That same type of humor is carried over here and for the most part it made me laugh.
There are many great jokes about Fred "fitting" the part of Santa and Barney has many good one-liners.
At just under 50-minutes the film doesn't run too long and I think fans of the series should really give this a break.
Sure, it's not as great as the TV show but everyone knows they could have tried changing everything up and end up delivering a dud but they didn't..
Only one was necessary..
The Christmas episode of the Flintstones was better than this.
In fact aside from that and the Flintstone Christmas Carol, the other two Flintstone Christmas episodes left much to be desired.
One big problem I had was Santa Claus.
If this was the stone age, and everyone was walking around in there bare feet, why wouldn't Santa Claus?
Even in the Flintstone Christmas episode, the Santas didn't have any boots on.
I almost saw Santa in this like Gazoo was in the Flintstones -- coming from the future into the past to deliver toys.
If Fred and Barney knew what boots were (Fred says to Barney, "Grab a boot"), and didn't question why Santa wore boots or what they were, then couldn't producers have made the Flintstones and their characters wear shoes and boots, even in their TV show?
Another problem I had was that Fred and Barney were supposed to deliver toys in one night and made it back for the Christmas Party.
I know the sleigh was on super-speed, but even so, the party should have ended long before Fred and Barney were done.
Within seconds, the gifts for several countries were delivered.
Even the spoiled brat kids were annoying in waiting for Santa.
Other than all these problems, it was a fine cartoon, when it ended..
Nearly 40 years later, still the best Christmas special that Hanna Barbera has ever made..
When i first saw this on VHS years ago, I enjoyed what would've happened if Christmas was in the Stone Age. The result is a great cartoon that has great music, decent animation, and a good plot, which centers on Fred Flinstone becoming Santa Claus, disappointing his boss at work.
Along the way, Fred and Barney travel across the world and finally come home after getting lost in China.
In the end, Fred thanks Santa for helping out and his boss decides to keep Fred's job.
While not the first Flinstones Christmas themed cartoon (that honor goes to an xmas episode of The Flinstones), it's the best that Hanna Barbera has ever made.