Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Flintstones’ The Complete Series

Flintstones

I think most of us are familiar with the 1960’s Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Flintstones. Most of us watched the show (well, reruns anyways) as children, and our parents probably watched them too. Well, now you’re in luck because Warner Bros entertainment is releasing the entire series on a high definition Blu-ray box set.

I’m not going to get into the series itself. I think most of us know all about it and know our favorites like Fred and Wilma Flintstone, Barney and Betty Rubble, their collective (and adorable) children Pebbles and Bam-Bam, and their pet dinosaur Dino. And we can’t leave out our favorite side characters like The Great Gazoo and Mr. Slate.

This set includes all six seasons of the series: a whopping 166 episodes, each running about 25 minutes, and it also consists of a couple of bonus movies: The Man Called Flintstone and The Flintstones and WWE: Stone Age Smackdown! The set has a lot of bonus content, including some cool short documentaries covering various topics from the show’s music to collectibles and trivia about the show. The set also includes the Lost Pilot episode. The episodes have been given an upgrade as the high definition really shines through. 

Now, I personally remember watching the reruns on a 13-inch television as a child in my bedroom, so the leaps to which technology has brought the image quality is staggering. Warner Bros has done a superb job in the transfer process, and the cartoon definitely doesn’t look 60 years old. The color is vibrant and balanced while leaving that original look of when they actually made cartoons using individual cells.

For the techie folks, here is what we’re looking at for video and audio quality:

Video

  • Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
  • Resolution: 1080p
  • Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
  • Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1, 1.78:1, 1.85:1

Audio

  • English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
  • French: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1

Here’s a full breakdown of the EXTRAs included in this set:

Disc One (Episodes 1-17)

  •     The Flagstones: The Lost Pilot (SD – 1:32)
  •     How to Draw Fred Flintstone (SD – 6:47)

Disc Two (Episodes 18-34)

    Carved in Stone: The Flintstones Phenomenon (SD – 20:42)

Disc Three (Episodes 35-51)

  •     Songs of the Flintstones Album (SD – 27:57)

Disc Four (Episodes 52-68)

  •     All About the Flintstones (SD – 5:21)
  •     Wacky Inventions (SD – 5:44)

Disc Five (Episodes 69-85)

  •     Bedrock Collectibles: Collecting All Things Flintstone (SD – 6:42)
  •     The Flintstones: One Million Years Ahead of Its Time (SD – 8:33)

Disc Six (Episodes 86-102)

  •     First Families of the Stone Age (SD – 7:06)
  •     Hanna-Barbera’s Legendary Music Director Hoyt Curtin (SD – 7:05)

Disc Seven (Episodes 103-119)

  • There are no special features on this disc.

Disc Eight (Episodes 120-136)

  • There are no special features on this disc.

Disc Nine (Episodes 137-153)

  • There are no special features on this disc.

Disc Ten (Episodes 154-166)

  •     The Flintstones Meet Pop Culture (SD – 11:29)
  •     The Great Gazoo: From A to Zetox (SD – 3:49)
  •     The Flintstones and WWE: Stone Age Smackdown! (2015) (SD – 51:39)
  •     The Man Called Flintstone (1966) (SD – 89:00)

Overall, this is a pretty fun set, and I think that right now, it really comes at the right time. It is getting increasingly difficult to find quality programming that is safe for the children to watch and won’t drive the parents’ crazy. And now, with so many children and parents both at home, it’s an even more considerable strain. The Flintstones is an excellent solution to that problem. The cartoons are fun, even for adults (especially those that nostalgically enjoy them), and they are incredibly wholesome. You won’t find hidden jokes for adults, and you won’t find political messages or things your children may not understand. You just find good, wholesome carton programming —something your family can enjoy together.

The Flintstones: The Complete Series is available from Warner Bros on Tuesday, October 27th!

 

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