A Flintstone Christmas is the second Christmas television special based on The Flintstones (though it is the third Flintstones Christmas special in chronological order). It first aired 7 December 1977 on NBC. It is not to be confused with the original series episode "Christmas Flintstone", though the basic plot is more or less the same.
Summary[]
The night before Christmas Eve, Fred and Barney are walking through downtown Bedrock. Barney is donating change to all the Salvation Army Santas they pass by, with Fred remarking "You'd never catch me in one of those outfits" (apparently forgetting that he played Santa at Macyrock's once before).
Fred putting the star on his family's Christmas tree
The next morning, Fred is putting the finishing touches on decorating his family's Christmas tree when the Rubbles come by. After the tree is decorated, Wilma and Betty ask Fred to play Santa Claus at the Ladies Auxiliary's Christmas party for the Bedrock Orphanage, but he refuses, saying his coworkers would never let him live it down. When Fred arrives at the rock quarry later that morning, though, he is informed that Mr. Slate wants to see him. Fred ponders as to why his boss wants to see him about as he makes his way to Slate's office, worried that he is being fired. As it turns out, Mr. Slate and his wife also want Fred to play Santa at the Ladies Auxiliary's party at the orphanage; this time, Fred agrees to the offer.
Fred and Barney meet the real Santa Claus.
When Fred arrives at home that evening, he tells Wilma that he has decided to accept the offer of playing Santa at the party. He then tries on the Santa Claus suit that Mr. Slate provided for him, and Barney comes by. Wilma and Betty leave early to get things ready for the party, taking Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm (who are of elementary school age, which indicates that this special takes place a few years after A Flintstones Christmas Carol and several years before The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show) with them. As soon as their wives and kids have left, though, Fred and Barney hear a noise outside and find a man in a Santa outfit having crashed in front of Fred's house. The man has sprained his ankle, so they bring him inside so he can use Fred's phone, which he uses to call the North Pole. Fred thinks it is a crazy person who thinks he is Santa Claus and has escaped from the asylum, but then Barney looks at Fred's roof and sees Santa's magic sleigh and reindeer. Upon seeing this and realizing that this is the real Santa, Fred and Barney find out that Santa has also caught a cold. Fred suggests that Santa should get someone to fill in for him this Christmas, at which point Barney points out that Fred would be perfect for that. With that, Santa gives Barney an elf costume and lends his own suit to Fred, and then gives them some pointers on flying the sleigh.
Fred and Barney take off on the journey, and despite some initial troubles on their first few stops, manage to deposit presents halfway around the world quickly. But they then suddenly get caught in a snowstorm, which shakes up the sleigh so much that the bags of presents fall out. Fred and Barney manage to call up Santa for help on the sleigh's CB radio; he advises them to to his workshop and the North Pole to pick up another batch of toys. At the North Pole, Fred and Barney meet Mrs. Claus, who shows them around the workshop. After taking part in a "Brand New Kind of Christmas Song" with the elves, Fred and Barney take off into the sky again, wishing Merry Christmas to Mrs. Claus and the elves. They resume delivering the presents with no problem, but then Fred realizes that they have forgotten about the Ladies Auxiliary's party at the orphanage. He gives Santa another call on the CB radio, and Santa advises them to push the sleigh's super-speed button, which allows them to speed up the progress on their deliveries.
Meanwhile, at the party, the kids have become impatient in waiting for Santa, and Mr. Slate threatens to fire Fred if he doesn't show up within the next minute. Pebbles expresses worry that Santa is not coming, but Wilma tells her that she should not give up hope. At that point, Fred and Barney finally arrive, coming down the orphanage's chimney. Mr. Slate, impressed with that entrance, gleefully welcomes them to the party and asks them to start handing out the presents. Fred finds that the bag of toys appears to be empty from their deliveries, but fortunately, he is able to magically produce enough presents for all the kids in the building. Barney then remembers that they still left the real Santa back at Fred's house, and they rush back to Fred's house.
Back at Fred's house, Santa congratulates the duo on a job well done and takes back his suit. After Santa leaves, Wilma and Betty, who are rather angry that their husbands took so long to show up at the party and then skipped out on the clean-up duty, arrive home with the kids. Fred and Barney explain to their wives that the reason they took so long was because they were busy delivering Santa Claus's presents. Wilma and Betty have a hard time believing that, but they are willing to forgive them for what happened. The two couples then exchange presents, with Fred's present for Wilma (a pair of earrings) magically coming in from the chimney. Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm then see Santa flying away in the sky, at which point Fred and Barney rush to the window and wave to Santa.
Voice Cast[]
- Mel Blanc as Barney Rubble
- Lucille Bliss as Bamm-Bamm Rubble
- Henry Corden as Fred Flintstone
- Virginia Gregg
- Gay Hartwig as Betty Rubble
- Hal Smith as Santa Claus
- John Stephenson as Mr. Slate
- Jean Vander Pyl as Wilma Flintstone and Pebbles Flintstone
Credits[]
- Hanna-Barbera's
- "A Flintstone Christmas"
- © 1977 Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc.
- Directed by: Charles A. Nichols, Sid Marcus
- Co-Directed by: Hawley Pratt, Gerry Chiniquy
- Creative Producer: Iwao Takamoto
- Associate Producer: Alex Lovy
- Story: Duane Poole, Dick Robbins, Willie Gilbert, John Dunn, Dave Detiege, Friz Freleng, Larry Siegel, John Barrett
- Story Direction: Gerard Baldwin, Ron Campbell, Jerry Eisenberg, George Gordon, Alex Lovy, Bill Perez, Bob Singer, Paul Sommers
- Recording Director: Alex Lovy
- Voices: Mel Blanc, Lucille Bliss, Henry Corden, Virginia Gregg, Gay Hartwig, Don Messick, Hal Smith, John Stephenson, Jean Vander Pyl
- Musical Director: Hoyt Curtin
- Musical Supervisor: Paul DeKorte
- Character Design: Bob Singer
- Unit Director: Ray Patterson
- Layout Supervisor: John Ahern
- Layout: Pete Alvarado, Homer Jonas, Jaime Diaz, Warren Marshall, Hak Ficq, Jim Mueller, Owen Fitzgerald, Lew Ott, Moe Gollub, Terry Slade, Jack Huber, Paul Sommers, Larry Huber, Dick Ung, Ziggy Jablecki, George Wheeler
- Animation Supervisors: Bill Keil, Jay Sarbry
- Animators: Ed Aardal, Hal Ambro, Frank Andrina, Ed Barge, Oliver E. Callahan, Lars Calonius, Rudy Cataldi, Steve Clark, Chuck Downs, Joan Drake, Marcia Fertig, Hugh Fraser, Mark Glamack, Terry Harrison, Fred Helmick, Harry Holt, Sam Jaimes, Volus Jones, Ernesto Lopez, Don Lusk, Ken Muse, Margaret Nichols, Ken O'Brien, Don Patterson, Tom Ray, Morey Reden, Arnulfo Rivera, Dave Tendlar, Carlo Vinci, John Walker, Xenia, Rudy Zamora
- Assistant Animation Supervisor: Bob Goe
- Assistant Animator: Brad Frost
- Animation Coordinator: John Boersema
- Background Design: Paul Julian
- Background Supervisor: Al Gmuer
- Backgrounds: Lorraine Andrina, Fernando Arce, Ron Diaz, Dennis Durrell, Bob Gentle, Ann Guenther, Paro Hozumi, Michael Humphries, Alison Julian, Richard Khim, Eric Semones
- Sound Directors: Richard Olson, Bill Getty
- Title Design: Bill Perez
- Checking and Scene Planning: Evelyn Sherwood
- Xerography: Star Wirth
- Ink and Paint Supervisor: Billie Kerns
- Camera: Jerry Smith, George Epperson, Chuck Flekal, Curt Hall, Ron Jackson, Jerry Mills, Joe Ponticelle, Jerry Whittington
- Supervising Film Editors: Larry Cowan, Dick Elliott
- Editors: Tom Gleason, Bill Kowalchuk, Terry Moore, Joe Sandusky, Sam Horta, George Mahana
- Music and Sound Effects: Horta-Mahana Corp.
- Sound Effects Supervisors: Larry Cowan, Dick Elliott, Eileen Horta
- Sound Effects Editors: Tom Gleason, Bill Kowalchuk, Terry Moore, Joe Sandusky, Eileen Horta, Sam Horta, George Mahana
- Music Editors: Sam Horta, George Mahana
- Dubbing Supervisor: Pat Foley
- Negative Consultant: William E. DeBoer
- Production Manager: Jayne Barbera
- Post Production Supervisor: Joed Eaton
- Executive Producers: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
- A Hanna-Barbera Production
- This picture has made the jurdisction of I.A.T.S.E.-IA, affiliated with A.F.L.-C.L.O.
- RCA Sound Recording
- © 1977 Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc.