The Flintstones movie wasn’t well-received by critics when it hit theaters in 1994, but 30 years later, it looks surprisingly great compared to today’s soulless live-action remakes of classic animation. Executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, The Flintstones adapts the iconic Hanna-Barbera cartoon about suburban cavemen into live-action. John Goodman stars as Fred Flintstone alongside Rick Moranis as his best friend Barney Rubble and Elizabeth Perkins as his wife Wilma. Although it was a huge box office success, The Flintstones was met with mostly negative reviews from critics.
It has a dismal “rotten” score of 23% on Rotten Tomatoes, and publications like The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone named it as one of the worst movies of 1994. At the time, The Flintstones was considered a cinematic embarrassment. Goodman begged Spielberg not to make a Flintstones sequel, despite the first film’s blockbuster success at the box office, so he wouldn’t have to play Fred again. But compared to modern live-action remakes, The Flintstones looks amazing.
The Flintstones Movie Embraced The Cartoon’s Aesthetic Better Than A Lot Of Live-Action Remakes
The Production Design In The Flintstones Is Stunning
The Flintstones movie is a rather impressive cartoon adaptation compared to the soulless, CG-dependent live-action remakes that are getting made today. Disney has taken to remaking all of its old animated classics in live-action, and animated shows like Scooby-Doo!, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Avatar: The Last Airbender have gotten underwhelming live-action movie adaptations. Without CGI to rely on, The Flintstones movie had to bring the prehistoric world of the cartoon to the big screen with old-school practical methods.
Everything felt alive and seemed like it was taken straight from the cartoon and brought into the real world.
The production design in The Flintstones movie was incredible. The costumes worn by The Flintstones movie cast looked like real, primitive clothing, not just cartoon cosplay. The props had the weight of iconic items like Bamm-Bamm’s club. The settings felt like tangible places with genuine scope, not just fabricated backdrops on a soundstage. Everything felt alive and seemed like it was taken straight from the cartoon and brought into the real world. It all looked silly, but that’s the point!
The Flintstones’ Production Design Is Even More Impressive Compared To Today’s Remakes
Today’s Live-Action Remakes Are Soulless & Full Of Ugly CGI
Contemporary reviews of The Flintstones noted that it had gorgeous production design bringing the original cartoon to life, but that production design looks even better in retrospect. There have been a lot of hideous live-action remakes of cartoons in the years since. The live-action remake of The Lion King has photorealistic animals, removing all the anthropomorphized personality the characters had in their original animated form. Now that Hollywood has come along with live-action remakes full of ugly CGI erasing the heart and soul of their animated source material, The Flintstones is a diamond in the rough.
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is a live-action comedy film based on the classic cartoon series. After receiving a strange promotion seemingly out of nowhere, Fred Flintstone becomes the scapegoat in an embezzlement scheme headed by his new boss at Slate & Co. His new fortune and status strain his relationship with his friends and family. When the truth comes out, Fred and Barney must unravel the conspiracy and restore peace to their home, the prehistoric town of Bedrock.
- Director
- Brian Levant
- Writers
- Tom S. Parker , Jim Jennewein , Steven E. de Souza
- Runtime
- 91 minutes