Voices of Alan Reed, Mel Blanc, Jean Vander Pyl, and Gerry Johnson
Directed by Joseph Barbara and William Hanna
Music and Lyrics by John McCarthy and Doug Goodwin
This one is in honor of the 60th anniversary of The Flintstones' debut. The Flintstones was Hanna-Barbara's first shot at a prime-time animated sitcom. Fred Flintstones (Reed) is the head of a "modern stone-age family" whose adventures satirize comedy tropes popular in the 60's...and even today. Shortly after the show ended, Hanna-Barbara decided they were popular enough to make them their second venture into feature-length theatrical animation. How does their take on the spy craze of the mid-60's look now? Let's begin in the thick of the action, as goons Ali (Don Messick) and Bobo (Paul Frees) chase Rock Slag...who's a dead ringer for Fred Flintstone...across a stony blue landscape, and find out...
The Story: The goons manage to land Slag in the hospital. Fred also ends up there after an accident with his best friend Barney Rubble's (Blanc) car, right as they're preparing to go on a camping trip. Chief Boulder (Harvey Korman) convinces Fred to take his family to Paris, France in order to capture master criminal the Green Goose before his missile destroys the world, though Fred at first thinks he's chasing a rare bird.
They're barely in Paris before master of disguise Triple X (Frees) sends them along to Rome, Italy, where the Green Goose has his hideout. Fred's supposed to meet with his lieutenant Tanya (June Foray), but he keeps getting chased by Rock Slag's many female admirers. When he does finally make the meeting, his wife Wilma (Vander Pyle) gets the wrong idea and walks off, then pounds Rock Slag before he can rejoin them. Now Fred and Barney will have to be the ones who save the world, before the Green Goose can launch his deadly inter-rockinental missile!
The Animation: Most of it isn't far removed from what you see in any given episode of The Flintstones on DVD or Boomerang. Hanna-Barbara put more effort into the stylized opening credits, with their slanty geometric designs and bright colors, and musical numbers, particularly Pebbles and Bamm Bamm's two fantasy sequences. "Tickle Toddle" has dreamy effects that match the sweetly silly song, and "When I Grow Up" resembles a toddler's drawing come to life, with stick figures and simple artwork.
The Song and Dance: If you love the Flintstones or spy stories, have I got a treat for you. This was the last appearance of the entire cast of the original show, and they make this a bit different than most other subsequent Flintstone projects. Frees has a great time lending his many voices to the Chief, both of his best agents, and the terrible Green Goose himself, while Foray gets a rare chance to play a temptress.
Favorite Number: The dynamic title song over the credits give us an idea of what's to come and the spy tropes they're making fun of. "Spy Type Guy" also parodies spy tropes as Fred imagines himself saving the girl. "Team Mates" shows us Fred and Barney's sports prowess and their ability to work together, no matter what. Louis Prima performs "Pensate Amore (Think Love)" over Fred imagining himself and Wilma as Romeo and Juliet on a moonlit Roman balcony.
"Tickle Toddle" is Pebbles and Bamm Bamm's dream sequence as they imagine themselves flying around the moon. "Someday (When I am Grown Up" sounds like something similar, but this time, it's in Fred's imagination, as he wonders what the kids will be if they're able to grow up...and realizes why putting his life on the line to stop the Green Goose is so important.
Trivia: The film originally opened with Wilma dressed as the Columbia Torch Lady, a gag that naturally doesn't appear in the current Warner Bros DVD.
Henry Corden, who provided Fred's singing voice, would take over the character's regular voice as well when Alan Freed died in 1977.
What I Don't Like: First of all, while the music is catchy and fun, with the exception of "Someday" motivating Fred to catch the Green Goose, the songs have nothing whatsoever to do with the plot and are completely unnecessary. The cutesy "Tickle Toddle" in particular exists as padding and to give Pebbles and Bamm Bamm more to do. An extended chase with Fred and a young Italian girl and her brother who want the lady to marry Rock Slag also has nothing to do with spy capers. And frankly, none of this seems especially Italian or French to me; the finale with the abandoned amusement park could have been set anywhere in the Flintstones' world.
The Big Finale: Even with the caveat on the flimsy plot, this is still miles above the two live-action theatrical films from the 90's and early 2000's. Recommended if you're a fan of the Flintstones, loved this as a kid on cable like I did, or have kids who won't mind the goofy spy story and simple animation.
Home Media: Out of print on solo DVD, but can be found as part of a collection and on streaming, admittedly in the edited version without the Wilma/Columbia joke.
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