History Film / TheFlintstones

Fred Flintstone (Creator/JohnGoodman) gives some money from his and Wilma's (Elizabeth Perkins) bank account to Barney Rubble (Creator/RickMoranis) so that he and Betty (Rosie O'Donnell) can adopt a child. After the Rubbles adopt a cave boy named Bamm-Bamm, Barney resolves to pay Fred back someday. Later, Cliff Vandercave (Creator/KyleMacLachlan), an executive vice-president at the Slate & Co. quarry, has the workers take an exam, offering vice-presidency to whoever gets the highest score. When Barney sees that Fred got the lowest score on the exam, he trades scores with him as payback, and Fred ends up becoming a vice-president because Barney's was the highest score. Unfortunately, Fred's first duty as vice-president is to fire Barney because he (or rather, Fred) got the lowest score. With Barney unable to get a new steady job, the Rubbles have to move in with the Flintstones, causing tension to mount between the families. As if that isn't enough, Cliff plans to embezzle the company out of billions of dollars and frame Fred for it...

* TakenForGranite: [[spoiler: Cliff Vandercave's ultimate fate is being encased in concrete.]] In other words, his fate has ''literally'' been sealed.

* ProductPlacement: UsefulNotes/McDonalds paid a truly exorbitant sum to be featured in the film as "[=RocDonalds=]", seven figures by some reports. This is remarkable, considering AOL paid a similar amount to permeate''Film/YouveGotMail'' four years later and "[=RocDonalds=]" only gets relatively brief SightGag appearances in ''The Flintstones''.

* {{Cincinnatus}}: Fred Flintstone when offered an executive position [[spoiler:again during the denouement of the movie by Mr. Slate himself. After a self-interrupted moment of exclamation, he remembers the kind of man he became when he got promoted before brings himself back down and politely declined the offer, but not before getting some more perks of Mr. Slate on behalf of his fellow laborers in the company.]]

* LowClearance: When Barney manages to reach the kids on the conveyor belt in the climax. Bamm-Bamm finally calls him "Dada". This makes him happy enough that he stands upvand gets beaned by one of the machine structures, which briefly knocks him out.

** "The Bedrock Twitch" at the beginning of the movie is lifted straight from a ''Flintstones'' episode. Fred and Barney even look delighted as the song comes on the radio. The song is played a band at the restaurant, the lead singer is presumably Rock Roll from the cartoon.

* BuriedAlive: [[spoiler: Cliff Vandercave's ultimate fate is being encased in concrete.]] In other words, his fate has ''literally'' been sealed.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: During their argument, Betty says The Flintstones used to be nice people, but became a couple of rich snobs

* PromotedToScapegoat: The real reason for Cliff's test was to find someone to be the fall guy for his schemes. When Fred gets the job, Miss Stone convinces Cliff to take Fred on anyways, because he's so debnse that it'll make Cliff's plan even easier.

** "The Bedrock Twitch" at the beginning of the movie is lifted straight from a ''Flintstones'' episode. Fred and Barney even look delighted as the song comes on the radio.

* [[CreditCardDestruction Credit Rock Destruction]]: When the wives go out shopping, the cashier tells one of them that her credit card is no good and smashes it with a hammer.

* [[CreditCardDestruction Credit Rock Destruction: When the wives go out shopping, the cashier tells one of them that her credit card is no good and smashes it with a hammer.

* CutLexLuthorACheck: Had Cliff presented his ideas in a legitamite fashion, he could have made the company millions, but he just had to be a jerk about it.

Fred Flintstone (Creator/JohnGoodman) loans some money from his and Wilma's (Elizabeth Perkins) bank account to Barney Rubble (Creator/RickMoranis) so that he and Betty (Rosie O'Donnell) can adopt a child. After the Rubbles adopt a cave boy named Bamm-Bamm, Barney resolves to pay Fred back someday. Later, Cliff Vandercave (Creator/KyleMacLachlan), an executive vice-president at the Slate & Co. quarry, has the workers take an exam, offering vice-presidency to whoever gets the highest score. When Barney sees that Fred got the lowest score on the exam, he trades scores with him as payback, and Fred ends up becoming a vice-president because Barney's was the highest score. Unfortunately, Fred's first duty as vice-president is to fire Barney because he (or rather, Fred) got the lowest score. With Barney unable to get a new steady job, the Rubbles have to move in with the Flintstones, causing tension to mount between the families. As if that isn't enough, Cliff plans to embezzle the company out of billions of dollars and frame Fred for it...

The film was released on May 27, 1994. Six years later, a prequel titled ''Film/TheFlintstonesInVivaRockVegas'' was released. As adaptations go, this is probably one of the most faithful to source material you can find. Of course, it also helped that series creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera ''were'' supervising the whole project as executive producers.

* {{Cincinnatus}}: Fred Flintstone when offered an executive position [[spoiler:again during the denouement of the movie by Mr. Slate himself. After a self-interrupted moment of exclamation, he remembers the kind of man he became when he got promoted before brings himself back down and politely declined the offer, but not before getting some more perks of Mr. Slate on behalf of his fellow laborers in the quarry.]]

* OrderedApology: When Wilma shows up with the Dictabird just as the angry co-workers are about to lynch Fred and Barney. The Dictabird agrees to tell everyone the real truth so long as Fred apologizes for not listening to him. Fred tries to mutter a back-handed one, but Barney elbowing him gets him to finally shout it out for everyone to hear.
* PapaWolf: Fred and Barney, though the forme after they discover their kids have been abducted. Shown when, after Fred read's Cliff's ransom tablet, he crushes it with his bare hands. Fred is also prepared to beat Cliff up for endangering his and Barney’s children.

* {{Pride}}: On at least three occasions, Fred hides his fear of failure by putting on a front.

** Fred himself is also this. While not exactly a handsome man, he's played by the towering and muscular Creator/JohnGoodman, as opposed to his short and overweight animated counterpart.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: A non-criminal example: After Fred fires Barney, he asks why he's being fired after so many years of loyal service; Fred tries to console him by saying he's a good friend, a wonderful husband, a loving father, a hard worker, and especially, one heck of a bowler, but unfortunately, none of this counts for an aptitude exam.

** [[spoiler:Wilma and Betty help stop Fred and Barney's lynching by ramming their car into the tree]].

* BirdPoopGag: During Wilma and Betty's shopping spree, emergency sirens go off and then everyone has to evacuate before a pterodactyl poops on the mall. This spoils the trip.

* {{Cincinnatus}}: Fred Flintstone when offered an executive position [[spoiler:again during the denouement of the movie by Mr. Slate himself. After a self-interrupted moment of exclaimation, he brings himself back down and politely declines the position after seeing what kind of man he became... but not before acting as a quasi-union rep to get some more perks for his fellow laborers in the company out of Mr. Slate.]]

** The Rubbles when they realize that the eggs they were cooking belonged to a local dinosaur.

* PapaWolf: Fred and Barney, though the former moreso, after they discover their kids have been abducted. Shown when, after Fred read's Cliff's ransom tablet, he crushes it with his bare hands. Fred is also prepared to beat Cliff up for endangering his and Barney’s children.

* {{Prequel}}: ''The Flintstones in Viva [[UsefulNotes/LasVegas Rock Vegas]]'' (2000).

* PapaWolf: Fred and Barney, though the former moreso. Shown when, after he read's Cliff's ransom tablet, he crushes it with his bare hands.

* TheCameo: Quite a few people m guest appearances in the film.

The film was released on May 27, 1994. Six years later, a prequel titled ''Film/TheFlintstonesInVivaRockVegas'' was released. As adaptations go, this is probably one of the most faithful you can find of a source material. Of course, it also helped that series creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera ''were'' supervising the whole project as executive producers.

* BuriedAlive: [[spoiler: Cliff Vandercave's ultimate fate is being encased in concrete.]] In other words, his fate has been sealed--''literally!''
* TheCameo: Quite a few people have guest appearances in the film.

* TheCameo: Quite a few people have made guest appearances in the film.

** John Stephenson, who voiced Mr. Slate in the cartoon, appears as the minister who marries Fred and Wilma at the end of ''Viva Rock Vegas''.
** Rosie O'Donnell, who plays Betty in the original film, makes a cameo as the voice of a masseuse octopus in ''Viva Rock Vegas''.

** It becomes a RunningGagged at the end when Barney says "Not this time!"

* SexySecretary: Miss Stone, Cliff Vandercave's girlfriend and henchwoman. When Fred Flintstone is chosen to be the scapegoat, Cliff has Miss Stone hired as Fred's secretary, knowing that she will be able to seduce him into doing whatever she wants.

** Fred inadvertently destroys the model of Cliff's machine, and towards the end of the film, [[spoiler:this accident would later provide inspiration on how to destroy the actual machine to stop Cliff]].

* ProductPlacement: UsefulNotes/McDonalds paid a truly exorbitant sum to be featured in the film as "[=RocDonalds=]", by some reports in the seven figures. This is remarkable considering that AOL paid a similar amount for all the product placement in ''Film/YouveGotMail'' four years later - even though "[=RocDonalds=]" only gets relatively brief SightGag appearances in ''The Flintstones'' compared to how AOL completely permeates the plot and character interaction of ''You've Got M@il''.

** Fred inadvertently destroys the model of Cliff's machine and towards the end of the film, [[spoiler:this accident would later provide inspiration on how to destroy the actual machine to stop Cliff]].
** Fred signs pink forms from Cliff before the former goes out to dinner with Wilma. Those forms turn out to be the ones that causes his workers to be laid off.

* LowClearance: When Barney manages to reach the kids on the conveyor belt in the climax. Bamm-Bamm finally calls him "Dada". This makes him happy enough that he stands up... and gets beaned by one of the machine structures, briefly knocking him out.

* MegatonPunch: Barney gives a "punch out" to Fred after their argument.
* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: [[spoiler: Miss Stone helps out Fred in the climax when she realizes Cliff plans on betraying her and taking all the money for himself.]]

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: During the argument, Betty calls the Flintstones a bunch of snobs who have done nothing to help the Rubbles.

* LicensedPinballTable: Released by Creator/WilliamsElectronics in 1994. Ironically it's the only pinball table based on anything Flintstones. [[Pinball/TheFlintstones Click here for tropes.]]

* LowClearance: When Barney manages to reach the kids on the conveyor belt in the climax. Bamm-Bamm finally calls him "Papa". This makes him happy enough that he stands up... and gets beaned by one of the machine structures, briefly knocking him out.

** Wilma when Fred reveals that he gave her money to Barney.

** The Dictabird when Cliff's about to kill him.

* AnimalsFearNeutering: Fred wanted Dino to calm down after he gets fixed. Dino yells out a BigWhat and runs away.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: [[spoiler: Cliff wanted the machine to go bust. He got his wish. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard He just got way more than he bargained for, seeing how its destruction ultimately led to his very own.]]]]

* EndOfAnAge: After the climax, when Mr. Slate sees [[spoiler: the cement-covered Cliff Vandercave]], he exclaims that he ''loves it'', deciding to name it after his daughter Concretia, and declares the Stone Age over with its creation. Slate then offers Fred the presidency of a new division in the company, but Fred turns it down in exchange for his old job back, Slate rehiring all the workers, and adding a few other improvements to the workplace he had originally desired as an executive.

'''Cliff:''' What would they want with a smelly, old [=--=] Son of a brachiosaurus!

-->'''Fred:''' You're fired, Barney.\\

%%* PlotHole: How did Cliff manage to capture Bamm-Bamm?

* PromotedToScapegoat: The real reason for Cliff's test was to find someone to be the fall guy for his schemes. When Fred gets the job, Miss Stone convinces Cliff to take Fred on anyways, because he's so ignorant that it'll make Cliff's plan even easier.

* ReadTheFinePrint: Fred signs a bunch of forms without reading them, and they turn out to be firing notices for all his friends. The dictabird even tells him "only an idiot signs something before reading it."

%%* WorldOfHam: Everyone acts appropriatedly cartoonish.

* JerkassRealization: After Fred TookALevelInJerkass, it only took Cliff tricking him into laying off Mr. Slate's workers, as well as the Rubbles and Wilma moving out, for Fred to have a "MyGodWhatHaveIDone" reaction and atone for his misdeeds. He even tells Barney ''"Me, I'm just a big jerk"'' as they are about to be lynched.

* JerkassRealization: After Fred TookALevelInJerkass, it only took Cliff tricking him into laying off Mr. Slate's workers, as well as the Rubbles and Wilma moving out, for Fred to have a "MyGodWhatHaveIDone" reaction and atone for his misdeeds. He even confides to Barney that he's "just a big jerk" as they are about to be lynched.