I have a question regarding the recent release of the Flinstones Season 1 DVD which I purchased and really love. I've always been a big fan of the show and when it came out I was genuinely thrilled. I have a question about this DVD though. Correct me if I'm wrong someone but, didn't Barney sound very much like Ed Norton from the "The Honeymooners" when the Flinstones first began? I seem to remember Barney's voice sounding allot different and more like the show they were imitating when the show began. Am I crazy here? I seem to remember his voice sounding allot like the voice we all know later in the series. Can anyone else remember this?
I remember Barney having a different voice in early episodes. Wasn't that the inspiration for The Flintstones? The Honeymooners as a cartoon?
I remember both the deeper "Norton" voice, and the higher squeeky voice. What the time range is on those (which came first) I have no idea. Always liked the deeper voice better though!
According to IMDB, Barney was voiced by Mel Blanc in 1960, then from '63-'66, but who did the voice from '61-'62?? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053502/
So which was first then? I'm really kind of interested about this. I find it interesting that they would go from the voice that we all know and love to the "Ed Norton" spin- off voice and back again. Perhaps Mr Kane who did the original review to this DVD could dig a bit for us....?
Lot more about him here (he's still with us). and this is a book on his work, and how to 'do what he do'..
I think the Ed Norton-style voice came later. I always thought, though, that Yogi Bear was a much more direct ripoff of the Norton character.
Barney started out the series with Mel's voice. Somewhere 4 or 5 episodes into the voice work, Mel got into a car wreck that put him on the DL for 6 or so months. In that time, Mr Butler came and filled in for him. After Blanc got better, he came back and resumed the roll. Thus - 2 Barneys, no waiting.
According to a Flintstones site I visited, the accident only affected a few shows in S2: "Droop Along Flintstone," "Fred Flintstone Woos Again," "The Hit Song Writers," "The Rock Quarry Story," and "The Little White Lie". It'll be interesting to get the DVDs and listen for differences...
In his autobio, Blanc says they brought recording equipment to the hospital (or wherever he was recuperating) to record shows at his bedside. I wonder, though, if they actually used those recordings, as the acoustics of a hospital room or bedroom are far from ideal, and Mel might not've been able to put a lot of engery into his performance. These may have been simply morale boosters for Mel; very nice gesture either way.
Daws Butler, who temporarily took over the voice of Barney during Mel's recuperation, is not unfortunately still with us. He died in 1988 (a year before Mel left us in fact).
