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STUDIO: Turner Home Entertainment
MSRP: $24.29
RATED: Not rated
RUNNING TIME: 319 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Four bonus episodes from the Flintstones Comedy Hour
THE PITCH
Clan of the Cave Bear goes kid-friendly.
THE CAVEPEOPLE
Pebbles, Bamm-Bamm, Moonrock, Penny, Wiggy, Cindy, Fabian, Bad Luck Schleprock, Fred and Wilma Flintstone, Barney and Betty Rubble.
“Jesus, I can’t believe we all got drafted.”
“I know, that goddamned Irock War.”
“Irock? Wow. Pebbles and I are going to Afghanistone.”
THE NUTSHELL
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show was one of the many spin-offs of The Flintstones that ran for one season from 1971 to 1972. It centered on the now-teen versions of Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm, the children of the Flintstones and Rubbles respectively, and the frequent misadventures they’d find themselves in, usually due to Pebbles’ Fred-like quality for thinking up various schemes and plots that invariably get her and her friends into trouble.
THE LOWDOWN
Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm wasn’t altogether a bad little cartoon, but when held up next to its predecessor, the titanic Flintstones, it unfortunately pales in comparison. PBB was a product of the times in that it followed the same formula of a lot of Hanna-Barbera teen adventure shows of the period like Scooby Doo, Speed Buggy, Jabberjaws, Josie and the Pussycats and Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, which didn’t distinguish it much or allow it to stand out.
“Pebbles, honey, I just found out that your mom cheated on me before you were born and I’m not really your father.”
“Who is, Daddy?”
“Captain Caveman…”
Most of the adventures the episodes centered around followed the Flintstones model of Pebbles, ever her father’s daughter, getting the group involved, either directly or indirectly, with some hackneyed scheme. A lot of the Flintstones production value remained, as the show also took place in Bedrock. Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm were teenagers at Bedrock High, along with their friends Moonrock, Penny and Wiggy. Pebbles had a rival at school, Cindy, along with her boyfriend, Fabian. There was also a motorcycle gang called the Bronto Bunch (Bronto, Noodles, Zonk and and Stub) who could frequently be counted on for various side mayhem. Bad Luck Schleprock would often make appearances and of course, Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty would frequently drop in for supporting roles.
“Hey Pebbles, wanna go see a new flick?”
“Depends. What’s it called?
“10,000 B.C.“
“Nah, I’m not really into futuristic movies…”
Production design on the show took its cue directly from Flintstones and had a lot of the same gags that the previous show did in terms of dinosaurs, Stone Age modern appliances and vehicles. As far as Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm themselves, Pebbles has grown up to be a cute young lady with a penchant for getting into trouble, and Bamm-Bamm, who has seemingly lost all of his super strength, which means his birth parents probably fed him anabolic steroids or something, has to play catch up. He looks a hell of a lot like Freddy Jones and I’m wondering if there was some ancestor action occurring there. His dog, Snoots, takes over the dino action from the Flintstones’ mutt, Dino, but just doesn’t have the same appeal. The supporting cast of Moonrock, Penny and Wiggy are pretty much cookie-cutter support staff from any of the Hanna-Barbera teen adventure toons of the time.
Bamm-Bamm: “OK gang, let’s split up and look for clues. *giggles* “
Pebbles: “Stop it…”
Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm in retrospect was fairly serviceable, but the shoes it had to fill were T-Rex-sized and there wasn’t enough to distinguish it from other Hanna-Barbera properties of the time. Still, I think it has some alright nostalgia factor if you’re old enough to remember it and would probably appeal to your kids now more so than you.
THE PACKAGE
The animation was quite a bit better than many 35-year-old cartoons and the transfer is pretty sharp. Sound is also serviceable. There are four shorter bonus episodes that ran in conjunction with the Flintstones Comedy Hour in 1972 after the main show was canceled.
5.7 out of 10
7 comments
What the french, toast? Why are we being bombarded with DVD reviews for ancient, crappy Saturday morning cartoons? Does anyone who reads this site actually *care* about this? Or Scooby-Doo? Or the Smurfs?
I read the reviews for shows I remember having watched.
I care about the Smurfs damn it. Without them I would never exist. I hope The Truth chokes on the next cock he smokes …
CHUD is reviewing this crap because they hate you. Since it is logistically impossible to spit in the face of every fan they are doing the next best thing by dry fucking us with kids reviews. David Oliver won't stand for any negative posts, so, weasel that he is he censors every post except for tools.
See, that's where you're wrong, there Truthy, you ole schlub. I have nothing to do with the removal of your posts. My bosses make all of the editorial decisions regarding that stuff. Personally, I love any kind of post negative or positive, because it means at least the piece has been read. Compliments are nice, but I'll respond to any negative posts that have a salient point to make and facts to back it up. You, on the other hand, have neither, which is why you're eschewed right into talkback ablivion. Now on the subject of this cartoon onslaught, hey, it's all about when we get the discs and in which order. The studios send us what they send us and we turn them around. It's as simple as that. So at least get your facts straight before you make a further idiot of yourself. Wait, I'm sorry, too late for that ain't it?
I, personally, find it interesting to see how a cartoon from my childhood, or even earlier, holds up to today, or to an adult's take on the material. Plus, I can usually count on some good captions in the cartoon reviews.
I enjoyed this and further found this a valuable review because I've been looking for photographic proof of Wiggy (AKA that cavegirl who always says "oh my stars") for quite some time. Thanks!
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