Cast: Mark Addy, Stephen Baldwin, Jane Krakowski, Kristen Johnston, Joan Collins, Alan Cumming, Harvey Korman, Thomas Gibson
Director: Brian Levant
Producers: Bruce Cohen, Steven Spielberg
Screenplay: Harry Elfont & Deborah Kaplan and Jim Cash & Jack Epps Jr.
Cinematography: Jamie Anderson
Music: David Newman
U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures
Excerpt from an interview with (the real) Fred Flintstone:
JB: Welcome back, Fred. It's been about six years since we last talked.
FF: Yeah, at the opening of that other Flintstones movie. The one with John Goodman as me and Rosie O'Donnell as Betty.
JB: As I recall, you weren't very pleased about that film. Is this one any better?
FF: Better, but not as good as it could have been. Parts of it are enjoyable, but it seems too long, as if there wasn't enough material to fill out the length. It's much closer in spirit to the '60s TV show than the other one. There's a reason for that...
JB: Go on.
FF: Well, Barney and me were "creative consultants." Unpaid, of course. They offered us a few clams, but we were too big to take them. They really needed our input since they decided to tell the story of how Wilma and me met. That's a pretty big event and they didn't want to mess it up. So they asked us and we agreed. Hey, at least it gave us a free trip to Hollyrock to meet with the director, Brian Levant, and the producer, Steven Spielrock.
JB: You were a little disappointed with the casting for the last film. How about this time?
FF: First of all, let me say that I think those guys in Hollyrock have got something against prehistoric cavemen. Look at things carefully. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Rocky & Bullwinkle - they all get to star in their own movies. But when it comes to me and Barn and the gang... Noooooo! We're not "live-ly" enough. And I heard someone whisper that all us cartoon guys, we look alike. But if we were good enough to bring in all those ratings for that TV show, why aren't we good enough for the movies?
JB: As I recall, you did star in one Flintstones movie, 1966's The Man Called Flintstone.
FF: That's just what I'm saying! And that did pretty well. [Sighs] Oh well. Maybe me and Barn are too old. I don't think we look all that different, but I know my voice isn't what it used to be.
JB: How about the Viva Rock Vegas casting?
FF: Oh yeah. It's pretty good if you close your eyes. These guys all sound like us. But they don't exactly have it in the looks department. At least some of them don't. Take this Mark Addy who plays me. I swear I've seen him before...
JB: He was in The Full Monty. The "fat guy."
FF: Hey, buster, don't use that word around me! Anyways, you're right, but I'm betting most people seeing this film aren't old enough to have seen The Full Monty.
JB: You'd be surprised at the wide range of age groups Flintstones fans are. After all, you have been something of a national phenomenon for 40 years.
FF: Like I was saying, this guy Addy has the "yabba dabba doo" down right, but he just doesn't have my good looks. I'm a ruggedly handsome guy; he's a little bland. Then there's one of those Baldrock brothers, who plays Barn [ed: Stephen Baldwin]. I thought he got killed in that South Park movie - you know, the one with all the bad words. Anyways, he's got the laugh down, but he's too tall. Same thing for the Ally McBeal girl [ed: Jane Krakowski]. Although, come to think of it, with the black wig, she does look a little like Betty.
JB: How about Wilma and her mother? Kristen Johnson and Joan Collins?
FF: I like Johnson. She's on Third Rock From the Sun, which Wilma and I never miss. She plays Wilma a little soft, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Watching some of those scenes, I was getting all misty eyed, remembering what things were like when we first met. The day at the carnival. The trip to Rock Vegas. The wedding... As for Collins, I think Elizabeth Taylor did a better job in the other movie. Far be it for me to defend the mother-in-law, but she was never that bad. Cruella DeVil she ain't. But I guess that's what they call "dramatic license."
JB: And Alan Cumming as the green-skinned alien, the Great Gazoo?
FF: It was nice to have him there, although he wasn't really around yet when that story took place. That's another piece of dramatic license. Cumming does a nice job, though, capturing his essence. Hey, and you may not have noticed, but he also played Mick Jagged, the rock star. Harvey Korman, who was Gazoo's voice in the TV series, also has a role in the film. It's a shame, but Gazoo could never provide his own voice because no one except me and Barn could hear him.
JB: So how much of the story is true-to-life?
FF: Most of it's right. Wilma and I met on a double date when I was with Betty and Barn was with Wilma. Betty and Barney went off together, leaving Wilma and me with each other. We won Dino in a carnival game and had a great time. That's when I used romantic lines on her like "Your eyes are like two big eyes." Can ya beat that? Later, we went on a trip to Rock Vegas where Wilma's money-grubbing ex-boyfriend tried to break us up. The movie guys got a few things wrong then, though. First, they claim I only won 15,000 clams in the casino. It was more like 17,000. And me and Barney never got dressed up like Rockettes. That was all made up.
JB: How do you think the movie will fare in theaters?
FF: Kids will think it's great. And there's nothing in the movie they shouldn't see - no cussing or nudity or violence. I'm sure Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm will love it.
JB: But Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm are almost 40 years old.
FF: Oh yeah. Well, I think a lot of older people will like it too, although not as much as the TV series. That was classy. This is a little silly and tries too hard. But, as family movies go, it's not bad. But I don't think there will be another one, at least not soon.
JB: I was impressed by the set design, which did a good job of recapturing the feel of a cartoon with its color and style. How do you think the film looked?
FF: Pretty good. Those dinosaurs weren't real dinosaurs, though. Bet you didn't know that, did ya? Apparently, all the real ones were being rented out for some TV documentary and an upcoming movie called Jurassic Park 3, so they had to use computers to fake 'em. Bedrock wasn't real, either. That was all on a set. They said it would cost too many clams to film on location.
JB: Thanks for spending some time with us, Fred. Any last words?
FF: Go ahead and see the film - it won't kill ya. But if you want to see the real Barn and me, you'll have to catch us in re-runs.
© 2000 James Berardinelli