From 1960 through 1989 Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera created a cartoon parody on suburban living. A number of different adaptations were telecast during prime evening time, Saturday mornings, and at other times.
A number of "Flintstone" games were produced based upon the telecast. This page offers some examples that are in the collection. The game pictured above was first issued in the United States in 1961. The Canadian edition of this version was issued by Transogram in 1975. It was donated to the Museum in 1991.
The game board for the Transogram edition is 44.5cm x 23cm x 4.5cmm and it really a type of score board. Cylindrical plastic picks .8cm long are inserted in holes in the board to keep track of player progress in the game. The game is for two to four players, and each player has a number of picks, each player's picks are in a different color - pink, blue, yellow, green.
A special deck of playing cards, 5.25cm x 3.3cm are used in the game to enable action. The cards contain pictures of people and objects that also appear on the board. The cards are placed on the board, over the "pool" in the center of the top line of the board.
In sequential turns, each player draws a card and places a pick in the area the card illustrates. Instructions in the Canadian edition are in both the English Language and French language and explain the object of the game and how a player wins.
The original plot conception concerned "Fred Flintstone", his wife "Wilma", and their neighbors "Betty and Barney Rubble". In time, Fred and Wilma acquired a pet dinosaur whom they named "Dino", and later became the parents of a daughter they named "Pebbles". Then the Rubbles adopted an orphan boy named "Bam Bam". In addition to these main characters, a series of other "neighbors" appeared in various episodes - all the neighbors were parodies of other popular television shows at the time.
The voices of the principals on the telecast were:
Fred Flintstone - Alan Reed
Wilma Flintstone - Jean Vander Py
Barney Rubble - Mel Blanc
Betty Rubble - Bea Benaderet
Dino the Dinosaur - Mel Blanc
Pebbles - Jean Vander Pyl
Bamm Bamm - Don Messick
Milton Bradley produced a "Flintstone" game in the United States in 1971. This copy was donated to the Museum in 1991.
As can be noted from the photograph of the box on the left, by this time "Dino the Dinosaur", "Pebbles", and "Bam Bam" were characters in the game. This game was different from the Transogram game.
The photograph below is of the Canadian edition of the Milton Bradley version of the game. The
box looks identical to the US edition, but this one is a bilingual edition, with
the words printed in both the French and English languages. 
This edition was produced in 1975 and donated to the Museum in 1991.
It was produced under license by Somerville Industries of Canada.
The game board for the Bradley edition is a
typical "track" game. As may be seen from the photograph below, the starting point is at the center of the bottom of the
board, and the finish of the track is just above the starting square. The board
is 39.5cm x 20.25cm x 3.25cm.
This game also used playing cards, and a spinner to determine action of the players in the game.
Each player in turn used the spinner to determine the number of spaces to move on the track, and then picked a playing card which either indicated that the player moved back or forward on the track. A number of colored plastic markers were used by each player to indicate their position on the track.
Various scenes from the telecast are pictured throughout the board for "atmosphere".
The game board for the Canadian edition is somewhat different from the US edition. Although it is still a "track" game,
the graphics are somewhat different. The track is less geometric and more
representational. The cartoons contained on the board are also different from
the ones on the US board. The variation in the art work could be a consequence
that this edition was produced a number of years after it first appeared in the
United States.
However, the play of the game remained essentially the same.
The board is a bit larger than the US version - 48cm x 49.5cm x 2cm. The orange and white playing cards (6.5cm x 4.5cm) have a graphic of Fred kicking a rock on the backs of each card, while the front of each card indicates forward or backward movement of a player on the board.
A spinner in the shape of a "pond" (23.25cm x 30cm x 3cm) offers movement instructions for each player.
Here is another Milton Bradley edition of the "Flintstones Game".
This edition was also donated to the Museum in 1991. It is a United States edition which was issued around 1980. Pictured on the box are the full cast of characters from the telecast - including a "saber tooth" pet tiger!
The box is 39.5cm x 20.25cm x 3.25cm. The game board is a similar "track" board as in the other editions. There are a number of other "Flintstone" games which appeared on the market over the years such as a "Pebbles Flintstone Game" and a "Dino Flintstone Game". These latter two are not in the Museum Collection.
Last update May 25, 2010