The Flintstones Have Chrismas Special.....Ironic.

[Redi]

Who exactly are they celebrating? I'm not religious but...ummm....

[Samurai Karasu]

Who exactly are they celebrating? I'm not religious but...ummm....

You know that guy....who we celebrate on Christmas....Christ

OH YEAHHHH BC! I GET IT! I'M SMART! YAY ME!

Well I guess they're celebrating Hanna Barbera being able to get them a new special.

[Brainatra]

Who exactly are they celebrating? I'm not religious but...ummm....

Over on the general animation forum I posted a poll asking what your favorite Flintstones Christmas special is, with some related discussion of the various specials (including this one)...but since it also aired on CN last night:

Thought the joke Nzinga/whoever the white guy's name is made about this situation was pretty funny...

As for how the Flintstones can celebrate Christmas, I'm not religious either, but still, here's my own explanation (as stated in the other thread)---basically, a premise similar to the "planet of the Al Capone-style gangsters" episode of the original "Star Trek":

Once, some hapless time-traveller to the Stone Age accidentially left behind some materials on 20th century culture/life (gadgets, history, pop culture, etc.). The cavemen living there somehow got a hold of said materials and decided that they wanted to live that type of existence, and tried to duplicate it with the materials at hand (rocks/dinosaurs/animals/etc.). Soon, their culture thrived into the Flintstones' oh-so-"modern" world of bird-powered can openers, baby elephant vaccuum cleaners, foot-powered automobiles, and places with names like "Indiarockolis" and "Chipcago".

From later episodes/specials/spinoffs that show the Flintstones' "future" (the past/present), this Stone Age civilization eventually gave way to something that we'd recognize as (somewhat) historically more accurate, though the city of Bedrock and Slate Rock & Gravel apparently continue to exist through the 25th century (per one original series episode)... with the various technological goodies probably completely vanishing by the collapse of the Roman Empire (if the short-lived "Roman Holidays" can be assumed to take place along the Flintstones-to-Jetsons' timeline...).

Thus, this also extends to how they can celebrate Christmas---or at least the secular trappings of it anyway. Another reason might include that the Flintstones' world incorporated already-existing pagan/secular celebrations around the winter solstice into what they call "Christmas" (similar to real-life, since one reason I read for Christmas being celebrated on the 25th was to usurp winter solstice celebrations [which is around Dec. 21/22])...

Anyway, back on track, the Flintstones had four Christmas-themed specials/episodes:

1. the original series "Flintstone Christmas" episode: Fred helps save Santa's annual ride after doing a stint as a dept. store Santa.

2. "A Flintstone Christmas" (1977): Fred again helps a (modern-drawn) Santa. Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm are grade schoolers here.

3. "Flintstone CHristmas Carol" (90's): Fred and the gang act out the Scrooge story. Pebs and Bamm are toddlers.

4. "Flintstone Family Christmas" (90's): Fred and the gang help out a wayward homeless boy. Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm are grown and have their two children (from the previous 90's TV movies) here.

-B.

[Cyber E.]

I think its pretty simple to find out the religion they were celebrating.

Festivus.

[The Landstander]

That WOULD explain why Barney put up that pole in the living room.

[Corrado]

"A Flintstone Christmas" (1977): Fred again helps a (modern-drawn) Santa. Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm are grade schoolers here."

The funniest thing on that special was that during a scene in which Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm were running, instead of 1, they showed 4 different Pebbles and Bamm-Bamms running.

Typical dumb-ass Hanna-Barbera animation mistake.

[Eddie G.]

Was anyone but me astonished at how incredible that production of A Christmas Carol was, I mean my God, they had multiple elaborate sets, and somehow made the character look transparent.

[lostrune]

I think its pretty simple to find out the religion they were celebrating.

Festivus.

I thought it was Feast of Alvis myself....

[DianaGohan]

Was anyone but me astonished at how incredible that production of A Christmas Carol was, I mean my God, they had multiple elaborate sets, and somehow made the character look transparent.

They may be prehistoric, but that dosen't mean Bedrock can shell out for a high production of a play. And from the looks of it, it seemed to be the hot ticket of Christmas Eve, and that = money. Or maybe they stole the sets and equipment when the store managers were sick with the flu that was going around.

[StrangerAtaru]

If you think about it, "The Flintstones" is a metaphor for our modern times, thus making them the "modern stone age family. I wouldn't be surprised if Brainatra's idea did come about, but personally you have to take them at face value....that being our own time as reflected by cavemen and dinosaurs in the stone age.

Besides, if they can have Christmas in "B.C.", "The Flintstones" should be a breeze.

[Nin-Nin69]

You know what I don't get about the Flinstones. How can heavy rocks be used to create flight? Thats some mind blowing stuff right there. :eek:

[MuscaDomestica]

Besides, if they can have Christmas in "B.C.", "The Flintstones" should be a breeze.

::Shutter::
BC scares the crap out of me. It makes absolutly no sense...nothing!

[candy17]

You know what I don't get about the Flinstones. How can heavy rocks be used to create flight? That's some mind blowing stuff right there. :eek:The show came out in the 1960's. With the drugs in that era, nothing made sense. Why do you think that shows like Mr. Ed and Gilligan's Island became popular (whether it was for the right reasons or not).

And the seventies for Hanna-Barbera is even trippier...

[Nin-Nin69]

Ah yes the 70's. So many animation mistakes that would make a chibi Chuck Jones cry.

[Brainatra]

They may be prehistoric, but that dosen't mean Bedrock can shell out for a high production of a play. And from the looks of it, it seemed to be the hot ticket of Christmas Eve, and that = money. Or maybe they stole the sets and equipment when the store managers were sick with the flu that was going around.

Real life: animation really improved in the 90's, and that included H-B's efforts, apparently...

Within the show: maybe they had the sets shipped in from a "Broadrock" show/production company in "New Rock City"? :-)

>>The funniest thing on that special was that during a scene in which Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm were running, instead of 1, they showed 4 different Pebbles and Bamm-Bamms running.

Typical dumb-ass Hanna-Barbera animation mistake.<<

Typical *70's* H-B animation mistake, at least. I recall noting that scene too... yeesh! :-)

-B.

[candy17]

Ah yes the 70's. So many animation mistakes that would make a chibi Chuck Jones cry...
...and make people like me love Saturday morning cartoons all over again (after my family got CN and I found all my old LT tapes, that's when I lost love for SatAm cartoons)...for the sole purpose of weeding out mistakes. Not that I don't get that same feeling when I watch the stuff on CN or watch a cartoon tape. With Saturday morning, it was something special. Now that I have other ways, then what's the point?

Anyway, back on topic, I do remember some of the Flintstones specials and the thought that prehistoric people celebrating Christmas being inaccurate never occured to me until I read an Internet essay (whose website I cannot find).

[Brainatra]

...and make people like me love Saturday morning cartoons all over again (after my family got CN and I found all my old LT tapes, that's when I lost love for SatAm cartoons)...for the sole purpose of weeding out mistakes. Not that I don't get that same feeling when I watch the stuff on CN or watch a cartoon tape. With Saturday morning, it was something special. Now that I have other ways, then what's the point?

Anyway, back on topic, I do remember some of the Flintstones specials and the thought that prehistoric people celebrating Christmas being inaccurate never occured to me until I read an Internet essay (whose website I cannot find).

The History Channel's website has info on the various secular/pagan celebrations that preceded CHristmas:

http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/holidays/christmas/real.html


Which probably might be one more explanation for the FLintstones' late-December holiday, from a secular viewpoint.

As for religious issues, the Flintstones apparently had some sort of monotheistic religion (BAMM-BAMM: "God bless us everyone..." WILMA: Yes, Bamm-Bamm, everyone but *FRED*!")---Fred and Wilma (and Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm) got married at a church, for instance---but presumably wasn't Christianity, of course.
-B.

[Slagar]

Oh, don't waste time trying to rationalize The Flistones Christmas specials. If you want something to really stew over, ask yourself how they could have coexisted with dinosaurs. Or why Dino stopped talking after his first appearance. Or how their TV works. Those are things worth wasting time rationalizing. But the Christmas specials? Come on, you'd first have to rationalize Santa Claus.

[Brainatra]

Oh, don't waste time trying to rationalize The Flistones Christmas specials. If you want something to really stew over, ask yourself how they could have coexisted with dinosaurs. Or why Dino stopped talking after his first appearance. Or how their TV works. Those are things worth wasting time rationalizing. But the Christmas specials? Come on, you'd first have to rationalize Santa Claus.

Simple: All typical cartoon cliches (cavemen w/dinosaurs, Santa needing help to "save Christmas", etc.)... besides, it seemed like an interesting line of debate (vs. just simply saying "it sucked/it ruled"), esp. if it led me to actually bother to do research (via the History Channel link) on the subject of pagan/Winter Solstice celebrations...

As for their TV working, presumably the same way real-life sets work---see: an early "Flintstones" episode where Barney, as a bill collector, tries to repossess Fred's TV (we wind up seeing the insides of his set--no animals there). Plus, they *did* have electricity to some degree (apparently electric-eel-generated)... :-)

-B.