The Flintstones: On the Rocks

***The Flintstones: On the Rocks*** is a 2001 American animated made-for-television film featuring characters from *The Flintstones* franchise. It debuted on November 3, 2001 on Cartoon Network and was directed by Chris Savino and David Smith, with Genndy Tartakovsky serving as a producer and animation supervisor. It was dedicated to Hoyt Curtin (longtime Hanna-Barbera conductor and composer) and William Hanna (creator of The Flintstones and founder of Hanna-Barbera Productions with partner Joseph Barbera). This film marks the final time that any original voice actors (namely John Stephenson as Mr. Slate) would appear in a *Flintstones* project.

## Plot

Fred and Wilma 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. Capitalizing on the circumstances, Fred goes along with the charade, but their newfound passion is short-lived, as Fred's demeanor 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 realized 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.

Fred tries to attack him, but Xavier punches Fred unconscious. Wilma subdues Xavier and he is arrested by the same lady who Fred spoke with at the bar earlier, 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

* Jeff Bergman as Fred Flintstone
* Tress MacNeille as Wilma Flintstone
* Kevin Michael Richardson as Barney Rubble, Hector, Jewel Guard
* Grey DeLisle as Betty Rubble and Mystery Woman
* Jeff Bennett as Xavier the Villain, Club Announcer, Pool Waiter
* Joey Altruda as Stoney Altruda
* John Kassir as Concierge, Bartender, Border Guard and Florist
* Tom Kenny as Bellboy, Mammoth Vendor, Bed Monkey, Bowling Announcer
* Zelda Rubenstein as Dr. Schwartzen Quartz
* John Stephenson as Mr. Slate, Old Man
* Frank Welker as Dino, Monkey and Elevator Operator
* Carmen Twillie as a Singer (tenor)
* Oren Waters as a Singer (baritone)
* Willie Wheaton as a Singer (bass)
* Mark Mangini as Dino (archived sound)

### **Locations**

* Bedrock
	+ Flintstone home
	+ Rubble home
* Mexirock
	+ Rockapulco
	+ La Cueva Grande hotel

### **Animals**

* Brontosauruses (as construction equipment and bridges)
* Birds and Pterodactyls (as alarms)
* Monkeysaurus (as a grappling hook)
* Hedgehog (as a hairbrush)
* Triceratops (as a matador's bull)

### **Objects**

* Flintmobile
* The Rockapulco Diamond

## Production

It is the only *Flintstones* production to be produced by Cartoon Network Studios after the Hanna-Barbera studios was absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation in 2001 after William Hanna's death.

### **Depictions and Portrayals**

In format, the movie was intended to emulate the first and second seasons of the original series, 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.

However even by the original series' standards, this film was even more mature than the first and second seasons, with less focus on comedy and more focus on the marital tensions between Fred and Wilma, and later Barney and Betty, while featuring many moments of awkward or drawn out silence, no laugh track or music, more cynicism, implications of adultery and sexual intercourse, and most notably Fred's character being portrayed as more cruel, uncaring, discriminatory, cynical and less intelligent than any other interpretation of the character.

Betty initially starts off like her original counterpart but also becomes more cynical and more critical of Barney as the story progresses, even eyeing another man at one point. Dino is also depicted as more depressed and rebellious, even destroying the Flintstone home.

## Notes/Trivia

* Since its original broadcast, the movie has not been released on home video and the only way to view the movie is by downloading a copy from torrent sites.
* This is the final time any original voice actors would work on a *Flintstones* project (namely John Stephenson as Mr. Slate).
* This film is one of the few instances of a human serving in the role of a machine instead of an animal, specifically as the elevator controls, while in previous media, elevators were shown to be operated by dinosaurs, birds and monkeys. The only other example of this was in the episode of the first season, "*The Hypnotist*", where a human functioned as the cash register.
* Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm are never seen or even mentioned in the special, which would make one assume the special takes place before their births during the first 2 seasons of the original show or before it.
	+ However in this special, Fred pointed out that he and Wilma had been married for over 26 years, and in the original run of *The Flintstones* they mentioned several times that they have been married for only 9 to 10 years, and if this special took place 15 to 16 years after the original show then that would have meant that Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm were teenagers, yet they were never seen or alluded to.
	+ This along with the uncharacteristic portrayal of several characters might indicate the special that takes place in its own continuity.