HTF REVIEW: The Flintstones - The Complete First Season (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). (2 Viewers)

[Nelson Au]

Jeff-

Excellent overview of the LD set comparison to the DVD. And thank you for the reasons for 14 episodes contained in the LD set.

Too bad they didn't continue the effort with the DVD releases. I'm feeling very fortunate that I could afford that box set at the time and still have it. It's definitely a special thing!

Nelson

 

[Jeff Krispow]

Actually, James, it's as good a theory as any other. However, I don't think that's actually the case. Disney purchased ABC-TV from Capital Cities around Summer 1995, and we already running it when the LD edition was released. Then again, who knows… someone at Warner could easily have seen the ABC card and freaked out and demanded it be erased from memory for all time.

Or whoever put it together could have simply been an idiot.

Oh, and FYI, I didn't find anything harsh with your post, so don't worry about it.

 

[GarySchrock]

Wow, I gotta say I don't like the fact that that last disc is double sided. For one thing, it's way to easy to put your thumb on it as you open up the digipack casing. Then, if your disc is wedged as firmly as mine was in the tray, you have to be that much more careful to not scrape the top up while you're trying to get it out. Course, in my case, the set has to go back because the bottom of the disc is all scraped up. Figures. (Course, I wasn't convinced the disc wasn't going to snap when I was taking it out either).

 

[Jay Pennington]

The reconstruction of the 1960 Bugs Bunny Show in the Golden Collection box set has the ABC logo, and this set was another Warner release.

I don't think it was a policy decision, but a creative one; different producers of different releases making different decisions. It just so happens this one was wrong.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

* PLEASE HELP:



Can someone tell me how the hell you're supposed to open these sets, I just picked up Flintstones and Scooby and I don't want to ruin the packaging... I might very well be a complete moron, but I can't figure out how the hell to open these boxes!!!



Please help me.



Thanks.

 

[TonyD]

marco, i dont know you so i cant comment on your brain capability.

i guess you are joking but if not you just pull the plastic off and slide out the inside part of the case.
thats exactly what i just did.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

:}

I'm really not, I can't figure out how to pull the plastic off...

I'm gonna go back into my living room and reassess what I'm working with here.

For the record, do I have to unfold any flaps? I just don't want to undo the construction of the box unnecissarily...

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Yay, I got it open!

I'm such a retard, I guess that's what happens from trying to open it in the dark.

My only complaint: The fools who packaged my set put the security sticker right on the cardboard part. I attempted to remove the one from my Scooby Doo box and ripped the cardboard. It's going back to the store tomorrow morning! aargh, very annoying.

I'm not going to bother doing that with my Flintstones box.

Anyways, I'm off to watch some Hanna Barbera cartoons!

:}

 

[CraigF]

Hey Marco, where'd you get your Flintstones set? Seems to be pretty pricey, but cheapest at Future Shop, at least around here. Certainly won't get it from the U.S. where it's even more. Thanks.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

I picked mine up from Metro Video. That's really the only local retailer I buy my DVD's at, other than Wal-Mart on rare occassions. It ran me $54.99 + tax, I assume they're all retailing for around that anyways though.

 

[CraigF]

Thanks. I've seen it for up to $60 here, low about $54 at FS. I'll see what Wal-Mart has it for tomorrow, but they aren't too competitive here with FS these days. No big deal, but somehow I thought it would be much cheaper...guess not, not after the success of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection that sold so well at the similar price.

 

[MichaelDrozd]

Best Buy has both Flintstones & Scooby for $52.99, and if you buy them at the same time, you instantly save $25, which takes them down to around $42 for each of them, a heck of a deal. only lasts until 3/20 though. After that date the best place to get them would be DeepDiscountDVD.com which has them both for $47 and free shipping, I've ordered alot from this site, and they are a GREAT place to get your DVD's, fast shipping and are always the cheapest place to get your DVD's, highly recommended!!

 

[CraigF]

Just to clarify, I was speaking in Canadian $$ above; even US$42 is slightly more than the local price at Future Shop and Best Buy when each is bought separately.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

One thing I should note about the first season of The Flintsones is that most of the episodes were written by writer/storyboardist Warren Foster, who was one of the top writers at Warner Brothers cartoons. (He worked for Bob Clampett, Frank Tashlin, Bob McKimson and Friz Freleng, and wrote such great cartoons as "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery," "Ballot Box Bunny," "Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs," most of the Tweety cartoons, etc.) Two of the episodes were written by Mike Maltese, another top writer at Warners (best known for his many years working with Chuck Jones). So people who like WB cartoons might be pleasantly surprised by the wit of the early Flintstones (though I wouldn't claim that the work Maltese and Foster did for H-B was as good as their work for WB).

Also, the animation on the early H-B cartoons is way better than what they were doing even a few years later on, say, Scooby-Doo -- the characters don't move a lot, of course, but when they do move, they sometimes move in a funny way and Fred has some funny facial expressions -- it's limited animation but it's not bad animation like H-B would be doing in only a few years.

 

[Gary Seven]

42.99 at costco.

 

[John_Dee]

Anyone know the best place to get either Flintsones or Scooby in the Uk where I won't have to pay any income tax? Loaded.com has them for £34.99 (Scooby) and £31.99 repectively. And I'd rather not try and get off ebay

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Question: Did everyone else's sets come with the security sticker fastened on the cardboard itself or the plastic disc holder section?

Maybe I need to see a therapist but this is bothering me.

 

[Shane_Anthony]

I love my set. Even with limited xtras it was worth every $penny$.

I like the fact they added the french canadian tracks for those of us who are bilingual. It's even funnier in french!!


Way to a go Warner Bros.

One thing I did notice in season 1 Barney Rubble sounds different then other seasons. It's as if Mel Blanc hand't quite found the voice yet. Even his famous laugh (a hee hee hee) is slightly off. Maybe his 1961 near fatal car crash changed Barney's octave range for future seaons. There is definitley a difference

Does anybody else agree or am I imagining this??

Cheers!

 

[Jay Pennington]

Oh, there was a definite change. In his autobiography Blanc tells of recording lines for Barney from his hospital bed. I wonder, though, if they really could've gotten decent audio quality recording in that manner, and if they had gone to that trouble as a morale-booster for Mel without having actually used the recordings. Some claim that the higher-pitched Barney voice sounds like Daws Butler.

But his accident took place after he'd already recorded, what, a season's worth? So I guess not...

 

[Carlos Garcia]

Why are there a few episodes missing the laughtrack? I know some people don't want to hear the laughtrack, but if it was there originally, it should have it now too. The laserdisc set is clearly superior to the DVD set. The DVD, while having slightly better colors than the laserdisc, also has more noticeable dirt and scratches than the laserdisc. Also, the laserdisc set has the laughtrack on all 14 episodes. I only wish Warners would've taken as much care as was taken for the production of the laserdisc set. Let's hope the next 5 seasons are treated better and we finally get the Winston commercials as well.

Carlos.