The Frankenstones

The Frankenstones
The Flintstones character

The Frankenstones. From left to right: Rockjaw, Hidea, Frank, Atrocia and Freaky
First appearance 1979
Last appearance 1982
Created by Hanna-Barbera

The Frankenstones are an animated family of fictional characters created by Hanna-Barbera who were introduced in 1979 and appeared in different versions on various television spin-offs and specials of The Flintstones through the early 1980s. The parents are a parody of Herman and Lily Munster of The Munsters, and the children are a parody of Wednesday and Pugsley Addams of The Addams Family.[1]

Introduction

The first version of the Frankenstones were introduced on September 15, 1979 in the episode "Fred and Barney Meet the Frankenstones" of The New Fred and Barney Show. They were featured as the managers of a condorstonium development called Deadrock Arms that Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble considered moving their families into.

This Frankenstone family consisted of:

Frank's voice was patterned after Boris Karloff by voice actor John Stephenson, and Hidea had a pseudo-Transylvanian accent.

Television specials

A Frankenstone monster (voiced by Ted Cassidy of The Addams Family) appeared in the 1979 Halloween special, The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone. This version of Frankenstone was Count Rockula's unfinished creation, awoken prematurely when lightning strikes the machinery in Rockula's laboratory. Despite the strong resemblance, he is not to be confused with the Frank Frankenstone character that first appeared in The New Fred and Barney Show or featured in subsequent television specials and series.

The second version of the Frankenstones moved in next door to the Flintstones in the September 1980 television special The Flintstones' New Neighbors, the first of The Flintstone Special limited-run prime-time revival of The Flintstones which aired on NBC from 1980–1981.

This time, the family consisted of:

Again, the family is odd, and a friendship developed between the Flintstones and the Frankenstones. Frank's voice was still patterned after Boris Karloff by John Stephenson. This version of the Frankenstones continued to appear throughout the run of the specials: Fred's Final Fling in 1980, Wind-Up Wilma and Jogging Fever in 1981.

The Flintstone Comedy Show

The Frankenstones starred in their own weekly segment on The Flintstone Comedy Show on Saturday mornings which premiered in November 1980. This third and final version of the Frankenstone family more closely resembled the version previously seen in The New Fred and Barney Show than the Frankenstones that just moved in next door in the prime-time specials.

This version of the family consisted of:

The Frankenstones also have a pet monster named Rockjaw, who devoured anything and was voiced by Frank Welker. The previously soft-natured Frank is now hot-tempered and wired with his voice now provided by Charles Nelson Reilly in his traditional high-pitched, hyper-whiny style. Frank became volatile at the drop of a hat, especially when he dealt with his annoying neighbor and rival Fred Flintstone. Frank and Fred were both frustrated by the friendships between their wives (Hidea and Wilma) and children (Freaky and Pebbles), and they always seemed to be thrust into one mess after another because of each other.

The Flintstone Comedy Show ran for two seasons (1980–1982), and consecutively with two more prime-time specials in 1981 (which both revert to John Stephenson's version of Frank with his wife Oblivia, and children Hidea and Stubby). The continuity of the prime-time Flintstones and Saturday morning Flintstones drift farther apart because both have their own version of Frankenstone neighbors. In September 1982, reruns of The Frankenstones and the other various segments from The Flintstone Comedy Show were repackaged for two seasons in half-hour formats under the title The Flintstone Funnies (1982–1984).

It was never revealed what happened to the Frankenstones or their castle after The Flintstone Comedy Show ended in 1982. They have not re-appeared in any later specials or movies featuring the Flintstones, although Frank Frankenstone made a cameo appearance as an enemy character in the 1991 Nintendo video game The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino & Hoppy at the haunted dungeon stage.

References

  1. ↑ "The modern Stone Age family has its golden anniversary". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
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