TV Show Info
TV Show Name: A Flintstones Christmas Carol
Studio: Cartoon Network/Hanna-Barbera Productions/Turner Broadcasting System (TBS)
Genre(s): Animated/Seasonal
Release Date(s): November 21, 1994
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Fred, I’m here to tell you that you’re acting like an ass
Christmas has come to Bedrock, and Fred Flintstone (voiced by Henry Corden) is a star. He’s starring as Ebonezer Scrooge in Bedrock’s A Christmas Carol, and it has gone to his head. Wilma (voiced by Jean Vander Pyl) is fed up with him. As Fred takes the stage, Wilma finds herself having to fill in for all the female actresses when the play is struck with the Bedrock Bug. Will Fred and Wilma make up before the stocking are hung?
Directed by Joanna Romersa, A Flintstones Christmas Carol is an animated holiday special. The special was syndicated during the 1994 holiday season and is a retelling of the 1843 classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The special is readily available in collections and often found streaming.
I have eaten bigger men than you!!!
I loved The Flintstones growing up but did not really seek out The Flintstones past their original series (the only Flintstones Christmas I recognize is the repeated Fruity Pebbles commercial where Barney tries to steal from Fred and Santa Claus). With so many version of A Christmas Carol including a similar take in the classic Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol, this special feels pretty redundant.
Overall, the special is ok, and it almost takes a Kiss, Me Kate style of storytelling. The story alternates between Fred arguing with Wilma offstage and finds that the fight carry on-stage with events tying into the story of Ebenezer (sorry Ebonezer) Scrooge. The story however is less than an hour long so it isn’t as rounded as possible.
Fred Flintstone isn’t always the nicest guy, but he’s no Scrooge and that is a bit hard. In Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol faced a similar problem and took an almost indirect approach to the story. Magoo couldn’t be portrayed as an evil guy so they made it Magoo putting on a play where he was evil. Here, that line was blurred with Fred being a bit of a jerk off stage, but you can’t make him Scrooge-level evil.
Don’t steal my damn Fruity Pebbles this year, Barney
The art is a lot cleaner than the original TV series, but it still matches up pretty decently and Henry Corden might not be the original Fred, but you wouldn’t know it. One interesting side note is that this special was made after The Flintstone Kids was on air and the special has an appearance by a grown-up Philo Quartz who was never ever part of the original Flintstones series.
A Flintstones Christmas is a quick easy Christmas special that isn’t bad or good. Fans of The Flintstones will enjoy it, but young fans who have never saw the series probably won’t get the Flintstones bug. You could get into the argument of the Flintstones could not be putting on A Christmas Carol because Christmas has not even occurred so the idea of Christmas in Bedrock is not possible…but all reality could crash down if you do. I’d recommend watching the original Flintstones series instead of watching this, but if you’ve already watched the old episodes, this feels like an addition.
Related Links:
A Christmas Carol (Scrooge) (1951)
Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962)
An American Christmas Carol (1979)
Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Christmas Carol—The Movie (2001)
A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004)
Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006)
