Episode 135 - The Flintstones (William Hanna & Joseph Barbera, 1960-1966) (with Jared Bahir Browsh)
The Flintstones (William Hanna & Joseph Barbera, 1960-1966).
The Fantasy/Animation podcast takes listeners on a journey through the intersection between fantasy cinema and the medium of animation. Available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and many of your favourite podcast hosting platforms!
Chris and Alex are delighted to welcome Dr. Jared Bahir Browsh (Assistant Teaching Professor, University of Colorado Boulder) to the podcast to discuss William Hanna and Joseph Barbera’s landmark animated sitcom The Flintstones (1960-1966), the first cartoon series to occupy a prime time slot on U.S. television. Listen as they discuss Jared’s research into the political economics of the media and his recent book Hanna-Barbera: A History (2022) through a consideration of The Flintstones as a highly influential animated product, one whose Stone Age setting, multi-episode narratives, and anarchic energy all helped to define the cartoon and support its identity as a seminal piece of serial television. The conversation is focused on three important episodes within the programme’s history - The Flintstone Flyer (S1E1), The Blessed Event (a.k.a. The Dress Rehearsal) (S3E23), and The Great Gazoo (S6E7) - which collectively map the trajectory of Bedrock’s famous family while reflecting broader narrative and tonal shifts across its original six season run. Topics include the industrial history of The Flintstones across network television in North America and its status as an early exemplar of adult animation on television; renditions of Stone Age technology and links to mid-century modernism; Wilma, gender politics, and the emergent cultural role of the homemaker on and off the screen; the impact of merchandising and syndication on characterisation; the ‘loose’ aesthetic style of the programme and its ‘cacophonic’ use of sound; and how The Flintstones shifted the codes and conventions of popular animated television. Yabba Dabba Doo!
**Fantasy/Animation theme tune composed by Francisca Araujo**
**As featured on Feedspot’s 25 Best London Education Podcasts**
Suggested Readings
Barrier, Michael. 1999. Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Brophy, Philip. 2003. “The animation of sound.” In Movie Music: A Film Reader, edited by Kay Dickinson, 133-142. London: Routledge.
Browsh, Jared Bahir. 2022. Hanna-Barbera: A History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc.
Stabile, Carol A. and Mark Harrison. 2003. Prime Time Animation: Television Animation and American Culture. New York: Routledge.
Wells, Paul. 2002. Animation: Genre and Authorship. London: Wallflower Press.