Their marital bickering is on the brink of divorce and the Rockapulco trip is supposed to be their last chance to rekindle the magic they lost, but through most of the film it’s clear that such a light winked out long ago. No, the situation is far more serious from the getgo and the prologue ends with them physically trying to hurt each other. The film opens with Fred ad Wilma in marriage counseling, immediately illustrating that this isn’t gonna be one of those “Fred and Wilma have a brief misunderstanding but everything works out okay in 22 minutes’ sort of stories. Let’s just say that it’s “adult” and “crude” and “vulgar” by the standards of the Flintstones and that might help you get some perspective. Without that context, it’s just this surreal non sequitur in the Flintstones canon an alarmingly crude adult comedy film amidst a library that’s otherwise stocked with nothing but family fare.īut just how “alarmingly crude” IS On the Rocks? The unavailability of the thing has lent it a sort of reputation and the “adult” nature of the film is sometimes blown out of proportion.

It fit in perfectly with the era, but I can see why Cartoon Network has been hesitant to make it available since then. The Flintstones: On the Rocks was a product of that environment Cartoon Network’s somewhat successful endeavor to rebrand all the old HB properties as vulgar nostalgia trips for adults. Hell, even The Jetsons and Yogi Bear got bizarre “adult” makeovers from Spumco with those weird shorts from John K. That’s when we got things like the original Adult Swim line-up made from old HB shows, like Sealab and Birdman, or when Race Bannon from Jonny Quest showed up torturing terrorists and shitting his pants in Venture Brothers. So Time Warner (inheritors of the Hanna-Barbera library) through Cartoon Network decided to adapt said characters for the adult market. The early 2000s were a strange time for the classic Hanna-Barbera IPs their appeal to children had eroded away during the ’90s thanks to some seriously patronizing blunders ( Yo! Yogi comes to mind) and the only people who remembered these characters with any fondness were adults.

So, the context of On the Rocks takes a bit of explaining. But it seems there is no quick fix for Fred and Wilma’s failing marriage this time a reality that is exacerbated when a jewel thief (Jeff Bennett) tries to steal Wilma away in order to get the priceless necklace she’s wearing.

Hoping to help their friends, Barney (Kevin Michael Richardson) and Betty (Grey Delisle) take them along on a vacation to Rockapulco. Listen to the latest episode of the AIPT Movies Podcast!įred (Jeff Bergman) and Wilma Flintstone (Tress MacNeille) are on the brink of divorce.

Flintstones movie barney