Betty Rubble

**Elizabeth Jean "Betty" Rubble** (née **McBricker/O'Shale**) is a fictional character in the television animated series *The Flintstones* and its spin-offs and live-action motion pictures.

## Background

She is the beautiful and very attractive wife of caveman Barney Rubble, the adoptive mother of Bamm-Bamm Rubble, the niece, goddaughter and daugher-in-law of Pebbles Flintstone and the grandmother of Chip and Roxy. Her best friend is her next-door neighbor Wilma Flintstone. She speaks in a Midwestern with a Midwestern accent.

### **Personality**

Betty's personality was based on that of Trixie Norton, wife of Ed Norton on the 1950s television series *The Honeymooners*; each of the four of the series' principal adult characters is an analogue of a *Honeymooners* character. Much like Trixie spent a lot of her time socializing with Alice Kramden, Betty mostly spends a lot of her time socializing with WIlma, and the two will often end up working together to bail their husbands out of whatever scheme of Fred's has landed them in trouble, sometimes scheming with each other.

Betty can be considered the least developed character in the show, as she is rarely seen not following the lead of either Barney or Wilma, the latter of whom she often seems merely an echo of, generally. In spite of this, Betty is shown to have a distinctly emotional marriage with Barney, which more often included pet names and a more obvious affection, as opposed to the more dynamic and energetic interaction between Fred and Wilma.

This lack of protagonism (almost as background-set as supporting characters such as Pebbles, Bamm-Bamm, or Dino, except for her more continuous presence) makes Betty less of a protagonist as is implied by the general concept of the show. In addition to her attractiveness and beauty, Betty can also be quite emotional.

### **Physical Appearance**

Betty is a beautiful, slim and slender woman with fair skin and black hair in a bob and she's considerably taller than her husband, Barney. She wears a sky-blue loincloth/tube dress connected to a white stone (or seashell in the live-action movies) with black straps that tie around the back of her neck like a necklace and make the tube dress look like a halter dress. She also wears a matching sky-blue ribbon in her hair, which is also her trademark.

## Occupations and Interests

The occasions when Betty leads the action are extremely scarce: one episode centers around her working undercover as a gentle old lady who uses her to pass "counterfeit" money to buy a present for Barney, and on another occasion the plot for her and Wilma was led by her suspicions of Barney being involved with another woman (which turns out to be Fred in a disguise contrived in order to attend a ball game free of charge).

Betty, much like Wilma, also enjoys volunteering for various charitable/women's organizations in Bedrock, shopping, and (occasionally) getting to meet the celebrities of their world, including Stony Curtis, Cary Granite and Ann-Margrock.

When Bamm-Bamm was a teenager, Betty gained employment as a reporter for one of Bedrock's newspapers (or, more accurately, news-slabs), the *Daily Granite* (presumably a parody of the *Daily Planet* of Superman fame), under the editorial guidance of Lou Granite. While employed there, she shared various adventures with prehistoric superhero Captain Caveman, who (in a secret identity) also works for the newspaper.

Later still, after Bamm-Bamm grew up and left home in *I Yabba-Dabba Do!* and *Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby*, Betty started a successful catering business, "Bone-Appetite" with her partner Wilma.

## Biography

Betty is a friend of Wilma since their childhood. As a child, she lived with her parents and her older brother Brick. While the mid-1980s spin-off series *The Flintstone Kids* depicts Betty as a child, the series seems to be mostly apocryphal, owing to its presenting Betty as a childhood friend of Fred and Barney (the original series asserts that they first met as young adults) and that the four enjoy watching *Captain Caveman* (*The Flintstone Comedy Show* asserts that adult Betty is ignorant of Cavey's superhero identity when working with him at the *Daily Granite* newspaper). Still, the series' assertions that Betty was a childhood friend of Wilma and that her parents ran a convenience store may be considered canon.

As young adults, Betty and Wilma were employed as cigarette girls/waitresses at a resort. There, they first met and fell in love with their future husbands, Fred and Barney. Eventually, Betty and Barney were married, presumably not long after Fred and Wilma.

Betty became a homemaker, keeping house with such prehistoric aids as a baby mammoth vacuum cleaner, pelican washing machine, and so forth. Betty at one time also had a job working for an 'old lady' who turned out to be a young lady in disguise and who was using Betty to pass counterfeit money; this was the only episode centered principally around Betty.

## Relationships

### **Family**

In the 1980's spin-off series, *The Flintstone Kids*, Betty is a friend of Fred, Barney and Wilma since their childhood. As a child, she lived with her parents, Brad and Jean who ran a convenience store and her brother Brick and sister Sissy. Later, she and Barney were married, presumably not long after Fred and Wilma.

Around the fourth season of the original series, Betty and Barney found an abandoned infant on their doorstep, by the name of "Bamm-Bamm." After a court battle in which they defeated noted lawyer "Perry Masonry", the couple were allowed to adopt Bamm-Bamm legally and permanently. The Rubbles never had children of their own, though it's suggested they've tried. Whether their inability to have children is due to medical reasons or is simply down to bad luck is unknown.

Later in *Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby* and *A Flintstone Family Christmas*, she became a grandmother to Bamm-Bamm's twin children, Chip and Roxy.

### **Love Interests**

As young adults, Betty and Wilma were employed as cigarette girls/waitresses at a resort. There, they first met, and fell in love, with their future husbands, Fred and Barney. Betty is happily married to Barney, and unlike the mild drama that usually comes along Fred and Wilma's lives, these two pretty much have perfect chemistry. However in a very rare moment, both her and Barney have an argument near the end of the movie *The Flintstones: On the Rocks*, after Betty confronts Barney on why he does not save her like Fred did to Wilma. This angers Barney, implying that just when Fred and Wilma kiss and make up, it is now the Rubbles' marriage that is on the rocks.

## Appearances

### **Television shows**

* *The Flagstones* (1959)
* *The Flintstones* (1960–1965)
* *The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show* (1971–1972)
* *The Flintstone Comedy Hour* (1972–1974)
* *Fred Flintstone and Friends* (1977–1978)
* *The New Fred and Barney Show* (1979)
* *Fred and Barney Meet the Thing* (1979)
* *Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo* (1979–1980)
* *The Flintstone Comedy Show* (1980–1982)
* *The Flintstone Funnies* (1982–1984)
* *The Flintstone Kids* (1986–1988)
* *Yabba-Dabba Dinosaurs* (2020)

### **Films and specials**

* *The Man Called Flintstone* (1966)
* *The Flintstones on Ice* (1973)
* *A Flintstone Christmas* (1977)
* *The Flintstones: Little Big League* (1978)
* *The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone* (1980)
* *The Flintstone Primetime Specials*
	+ *The Flintstones' New Neighbors* (1980)
	+ *The Flintstones: Fred's Final Fling* (1980)
	+ *The Flintstones: Wind-Up Wilma* (1981)
	+ *The Flintstones: Jogging Fever* (1981)
* *The Flintstones' 25th Anniversary Celebration* (1986)
* *The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones* (1987)
* *The Flintstone Kids' "Just Say No" Special* (1988)
* *A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration: 50 Years of Hanna-Barbera* (1989)
* *I Yabba-Dabba Do!* (1993)
* *Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby* (1993)
* *A Flintstone Family Christmas* (1993)
* *The Flintstones* (1994)
* *A Flintstones Christmas Carol* (1994)
* *The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas* (2000)
* *The Flintstones: On the Rocks* (2001)
* *The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown!* (2015)

### **Video games**

* *The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino & Hoppy*
* *The Flintstones*
* *The Flintstones: The Surprise at Dinosaur Peak*
* *The Flintstones: The Treasure of Sierra Madrock*
* *The Flintstones: Bedrock Bowling*
* *The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas*
* *The Flintstones: Bring Back Bedrock*

## Portrayals

### **Television shows, films and specials**

* **June Foray** - *The Flagstones*
* **Bea Benaderet** - *The Flintstones* (Seasons 1-4)
* **Gerry Johnson**
	+ *The Flintstones* (Seasons 5-6)
	+ *The Man Called Flintstone*
* **Gay Autterson**
	+ *The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show* (1971–1972)
	+ *The Flintstone Comedy Hour* (1972–1974)
	+ *A Flintstone Christmas* (1977)
	+ *Fred Flintstone and Friends* (1977–1978)
	+ *The Flintstones: Little Big League* (1978)
	+ *The New Fred and Barney Show* (1979)
	+ *Fred and Barney Meet the Thing* (1979)
	+ *Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo* (1979–1980)
	+ *The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone* (1980)
	+ *The Flintstone Comedy Show* (known as *The Flintstone Frolics*) (1980–1982)
	+ *The Flintstone Primetime Specials*
		- *The Flintstones' New Neighbors* (1980)
		- *The Flintstones: Fred's Final Fling* (1980)
		- *The Flintstones: Wind-Up Wilma* (1981)
		- *The Flintstones: Jogging Fever* (1981)
	+ *The Flintstone Funnies* (1984-1985)
* Betty Jean Ward
	+ *I Yabba-Dabba Do!* (1993)
	+ *Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby* (1993)
	+ *A Flintstone Family Christmas* (1993)
	+ *A Flintstones Christmas Carol* (1994)
	+ *The Flintstones: On the Rocks* (2001)

### **Other**

* Julie McWhirter Dees - *The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones*
* Rosie O'Donnell - *The Flintstones*
* Jane Krakowski - *The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas*

## Gallery

Images of Betty Rubble, featured in the franchise of *The Flintstones*.

### **Clipart**

Betty and Wilma wearing Water Buffalo hats.
### **Concept Art**

Model Sheet of the main core cast including Fred, Wilma, Betty and Barney by Ed Benedict.Character designs of Wilma, Fred, Barney and Betty from *The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown!* by Shane Glines.Character designs of Pebbles, Bamm-Bamm, Wilma and Betty from *The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown!* in swimwear by Shane Glines.Original pencil art lineup of Fred, Barney, Wilma, **Betty** and Dino in *Yabba-Dabba Dinosaurs* by Chris Battle.Color lineup of Fred, Barney, Bamm-Bamm, Pebbles, Wilma, **Betty** and Dino in *Yabba-Dabba Dinosaurs* by Chris Battle.

## Notes/Trivia

* Betty has been seen in the *Dexter's Laboratory* episode "Dad is Disturbed talking" to Dexter's Mom, but was tied up by Dexter's Dad.
* Betty has been seen in the *I Am Weasel* episode "I Am My Lifetime", where she is placed in the Retirement Home for Sidekicks (which is actually Baboon's trailer).
* Betty appeared as a supporting character and made a cameo appearance in the 1995 series, *Johnny Bravo*, in the 2004 episode "*A Page Right Out of History*".
* In the Comedy Central animated film *The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!*, Betty can be seen attempting to kill Toot Braunstein with a rocket launcher for having an affair with and getting impregnated by her husband Barney, only for the missile to hurtle towards a dinosaur. The baby Toot is pregnant with is shown to be Bamm-Bamm.
* In *The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy* episode "A Grim Prophecy," Grim is shown as a child in the Stone Age, just starting his job as the Grim Reaper. He has a list of living things to reap, and visible on the list is "B. Rubble," which could be either Barney or Betty. During the credits sequence of the episode "Modern Primitives," Betty is seen in the kitchen as Barney answers the doorbell. The visitor is Billy, who makes unintelligible noises before Barney clubs him on the head. Betty asked who was at the door, to which Barney replies "Proof against evolution," laughing.