The Man Called Flintstone

Our Man Flintstone
In the midst of the mid- 'sixties spy craze came this 90 minute feature length film. It was Hanna- Barbera's second theatrical feature, the first being Hey There, It's Yogi Bear. Everything good about the Flintstones to date found its way into this 1966 movie, but this Columbia release (now Warner Bros.) also features seven songs and two different animation looks in the opening and closing title sequences. HB, to their credit, kept the loved look of the long running prime time TV show for the entire feature. The DVD release was held up for a long time due to various debacles, but amazingly, this release managed to keep the cel-look cover art, while the back features three title cards used in theaters.

The film is in English with French and Spanish subtitles, but other than that, there are no extra features, which seems surprising, but perhaps an enhanced version will be released if this one does well. All the classic characters are here: Alan Reed as Fred, Mel Blanc as...

In Like Flintstone
In the '60s, cartoons made for the big screen had a charm all their own (check out the Pink Panther movie shorts). For Hanna Barbera, they would include Hey There It's Yogi Bear, The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones, and A Man Called Flintstone. When the Peanuts specials made animated featurettes on TV a regular feature, other animated specials tended to seem like drawn-out shorts with musical interludes. Not this one. A Man Called Flintstone is all savvy and style, with eye-catching graphic design and memorable songs built around the '60s spy craze, yet stays true to the original look and feel of The Flintstones (unlike later films which reversion the cartoons).

Quite sad how it's all tied up in litigation, of course, but cross your fingers and it might come out on DVD, and if you see it used, take a chance with our man Flintstone.

Order it from Amazon, Canada
As a previous poster noted, music clearances for the songs were not made when Turner acquired the Hanna-Barbera catalog, which is why the DVD release has been delayed -- in the US.

But for some reason, that has not stopped release of this DVD in Canada -- so go to Amazon.ca. I've ordered DVDs from them numerous times and the prices are usually reasonable (in fact, better, if the US Amazon is featuring the same selection as an import: compare prices on the DUE SOUTH box sets from Allied Entertainment).

For those who do that eBay thing, you can occasionally spot A MAN CALLED FLINTSTONE as an Asian market VCD. Legit, not black market. That's how I got my copy.

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