- “Yabba-Dabba-Doo!”
- ―Fred Flintstone in various episodes and other media
Frederick Joseph "Fred" W. Flintstone (simply as: Fred Flintstone), is the protagonist of the animated sitcom The Flintstones, which aired during prime-time on ABC and Nick Jr. during the original series' run from 1960 to 2011. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintstone. His best friends are his next door neighbors, Barney and Betty Rubble, who have an adopted son named Bamm-Bamm.
Fred lives in the fictional prehistoric town of Bedrock, a world where dinosaurs coexist with modernized cavepeople and the cavepeople enjoy "primitive" versions of modern conveniences such as telephones, automobiles, and washing machines. Fred's trademark yell is "yabba dabba doo!", this phrase was originally his club's cheer; later a phrase adopted as part of the theme song from the third season onwards and used in the 1994 live-action Flintstones movie.
Biography[]
While the mid-1980s spin-off series The Flintstone Kids depicts Fred as a child, the series may be apocryphal due to its presenting Wilma as a childhood friend of Fred and Barney; the original series asserts that they first met as young adults. Still, the series' depictions that Fred is the only child of Ed and Edna Flintstone (a handyman and a homemaker, respectively) might be taken as canon.
As young adults, Fred and Barney worked as bellhops at a resort. There, they meet and fall in love with Wilma and Betty, who were working there as cigarette girls. Wilma's mother, Pearl Slaghoople, also met her future son-in-law, and took an instant disliking toward Fred (and vice versa), starting a long-lasting rivalry between the two. An unspecified amount of time later, Fred married Wilma.
Fred is a typical blue-collar worker, who works as a "bronto crane operator" at Slate Rock and Gravel Company (also known as Rockhead and Quarry Cave Construction Company in earlier episodes). Fred's job title in the second season episode "Divided We Sail" is "geological engineer".
During the original series' third season, Wilma gives birth to the couple's daughter, Pebbles. Years later, when Pebbles is a teenager, Fred and Barney join the Bedrock police force for a time as part-time police officers. Eventually, Fred becomes a grand dad to the adult Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm's twins, Chip and Roxy. Fred's family grew again in A Flintstone Family Christmas, when he and Wilma adopted an orphaned caveboy named Stony, and despite a rough start, Fred and his new son bonded well.
Personality[]
Fred tends to be sometimes loud-mouthed, aggressive, and constantly scheming ways to improve his family's working class lot in life, often with unintended results.
Fred loses his temper easily and is very impatient, but he seems free of malice and never holds a grudge. Although his loudness irritates the people around him, Fred proves friendly, often going out of his way to help others. Also, although Fred often annoys Wilma with his immaturity, he is known to go to great lengths to please his family and apologize when he goes too far.
Appearance[]
Filmography[]
- Main article: The Flintstones (franchise)
Casting history[]
- Alan Reed - The Flintstones (1960) through Laff-A-Lympics (1977)
- Henry Corden - The Man Called Flintstone (1966) (singing voice only); The New Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (1966) (singing voice only); Laff-A-Lympics (1977) through What a Cartoon! (1995)
- Lennie Weinrib - The Flintstone Kids (1986-1987)
- Scott Menville - The Flintstone Kids (1987-1988)
- John Goodman - The Flintstones (1994)
- Jeff Bergman - Cartoon Network commercials (1990's-2000's), The Flintstones: On the Rocks (2001), Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (2000's), Johnny Bravo (2004)
- Mark Addy - The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000)
- James Arnold Taylor - Pebbles cereals and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2006)
- Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
Relationships[]
Barney Rubble[]
- Main article: Barney Rubble
Is the secondary main character and Fred's best friend and next-door neighbor. His occupation is, for the most part of the series, unknown, though later series depict him working in the same quarry as Fred. He shares many of Fred's interests such as bowling and golf, and is also a member of the "Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes". Though Fred and Barney frequently get into feuds with one another (usually due to Fred's short temper), their deep fraternal bond remains evident.
Wilma Flintstone[]
- Main article: Wilma Flintstone
Is Fred's wife. She is more intelligent and level-headed than her husband, though she often has a habit of spending money (with Betty and her catchphrase being "Da-da-da duh da-da CHARGE IT!!"). She often is a foil to Fred's poor behavior.
Betty Rubble[]
- Main article: Betty Rubble
Is Barney's wife and Wilma's best friend. Like Wilma, she, too, has a habit of spending money.
Pebbles Flintstone[]
- Main article: Pebbles Flintstone
Is the Flintstones' infant daughter, who is born near the end of the third season.
Dino[]
- Main article: Dino
A prosauropod dinosaur, is the Flintstones' pet that barks and generally acts like a dog. A running gag in the series involves Dino knocking down Fred out of excitement and licking him repeatedly. Though this irritates Fred a lot, he generally likes Dino very much.
Bamm-Bamm Rubble[]
- Main article: Bamm-Bamm Rubble
Is the Rubbles' abnormally strong adopted son, whom they adopt during the fourth season; his name comes from the only phrase he ever speaks as a baby: "Bamm, Bamm!"
Hoppy[]
- Main article: Hoppy
Is the Rubbles' pet hopparoo (a kangaroo/dinosaur combination creature), which they adopt in the beginning of the fifth season. When he first arrives, Dino (and eventually Fred) mistakes him for a giant mouse and becomes frightened of him, but they eventually become best friends in a manner similar to that of their owners. He babysits the kids as he takes them around in his pouch, which also serves as a shopping cart for Betty. Fred Flintstone regards Hoppy as an overgrown and obnoxious nuisance until the fateful day that the Flintstones and the Rubbles go out together on a picnic. The families' lives are endangered during the picnic and Hoppy goes for help.
Mr. Slate[]
- Main article: Mr. Slate
Is Fred's hot-tempered boss at the stone quarry. Though he is friends with Fred and Barney and often joins them for events such as parties, he is often not impressed with Fred's antics at the quarry, and has fired him on many occasions, only to give him his job back at the end of the episode. A running gag is his ever-changing first name, which has been presented as Sylvester, Nate, Oscar, and George. On the episode "The Long, Long, Long Weekend", which originally aired on January 21, 1966, he is shown as being the founder of Slate Rock and Gravel Company. The company is still in business two million years later and is being run by his descendant George Slate the Eighty-Thousandth.
Arnold[]
- Main article: Arnold (The Flintstones)
Is the Flintstones' paper boy, whom Fred absolutely despises, because he often, unintentionally, throws the newspaper at Fred's face. A running gag has Fred being outsmarted by Arnold. His parents are mentioned, but almost never seen. His mother has never been seen on screen, but her name is Doris and she is a friend of Wilma and Betty's as evidenced in the episode "The Little Stranger", which originally aired on November 2, 1962. His father was shown on the episode "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", which originally aired on April 27, 1962. His name, however, is unknown.
Joe Rockhead[]
- Main article: Joe Rockhead
Is a mutual friend of Fred and Barney. Usually, when Fred and Barney have some kind of falling out, Fred mentions doing something (such as going to a baseball game) with Joe. Joe was, at some point, chief of the Bedrock Volunteer Fire Department (as shown on the episode "Arthur Quarry's Dance Class", which originally aired on January 13, 1961). His appearance varied throughout the run of the series, but his appearance in the episode "The Picnic", which originally aired on December 15, 1961, was the one most commonly used.
Pearl Slaghoople[]
- Main article: Pearl Slaghoople
Is Wilma's hard-to-please mother, who is constantly disapproving of Fred and his behavior. Their disastrous first meeting was recounted in the episode "Bachelor Daze", which originally aired on March 5, 1964. They briefly reconciled in the episode "Mother-in-Law's Visit", which originally aired on February 1, 1963. That is, until, she found out that she became Fred's "nice fat pigeon" when he suckered her out of money he need to buy a baby crib for Pebbles. They reconciled again at the end of the TV movie I Yabba Dabba Do.
The Great Gazoo[]
- Main article: The Great Gazoo
Is an alien exiled to Earth that helps Fred and Barney, often against their will. He is actually from the future, and is quite dismayed when he realizes he has been sent back to "the Stone Age". He can only be seen by Fred, Barney, Pebbles, Bamm-Bamm, other small children, Dino, and Hoppy. Gazoo appeared in the final season only.
Uncle Tex Hardrock[]
- Main article: Uncle Tex Hardrock
Is Fred's maternal uncle and a member of the Texarock Rangers. He constantly holds Fred's future inheritance over his head.
Sam Slagheap[]
- Main article: Sam Slagheap
Is the Grand Poobah of the Water Buffalo Lodge.
Cliff Vandercave[]
- Main article: Cliff Vandercave
Miss Sharon Stone[]
- Main article: Miss Sharon Stone
Quotes[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
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