Jean Vander Pyl Has a Yabba-Doo Time

 This weekend would've been Jean Vander Pyl's 106th birthday. The last surviving cast member of The Flintstones, she portrayed Wilma for four decades, one of the longest tenures on any Hanna-Barbera character. She was the one constant cast member in the many spin-offs and sequels, including 1993's I Yabba-Dabba Doo!, which focused on the marriage between Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm. 

At the time of its release, there was a pretty big publicity blitz by HB for the special, including a wedding shower between the special's stars. Jean Vander Pyl did a number of interviews and pieces to promote the special, including today's focus, this piece from the Beaver Country Times. This appeared in the February 7th, 1993 edition of the paper. Inside, Vander Pyl discusses coming back for the special, the early years of The Flintstones, and a glimpse at its future. 

Wilma reflects on yabba-dabba doo times

    By Debra Utterback

    Jean Vander Pyl savors her all-time favorite line from "The Flintstones."
    The scene: The paper boy throws a cement newspaper at the modern, Stone-Age family's house, knocking Fred Flintstone on his back.
    Fred responds: "Boy, I hate the Sunday paper." 

    That's real humor, says Vander Pyl. "As long as there is a Sunday paper, 'The Flintstones' is going to last."
    You might not recognize her name. Or her face, for that matter. But her voice is bound to sound familiar. A radio disc jockey once told Vander Pyl she had the most recognizable female voice in America.
    Why? She's Wilma Flintstone—the one-and-only wife of Fred, mother of Pebbles, and best friend of nice Betty Rubble. She's the matriarch of the prehistoric cartoon world.
    Vander Pyl has supplied the voice of Wilma since"The Flintstones" first aired on TV in 1960. "I'm the only original cast member surviving," she says.
    Now she's back in Bedrock as Pebbles and neighbor Bamm-Bamm Rubble prepare to tie the prehistoric knot before a national TV audience. Vander Pyl continues her role of Wilma as TV's longest-running animated situation-comedy returns with the primetime feature, "I Yabba-Dabba Do!" from 7 to 9 tonight on ABC0TV stations, including WTAE-TV (Channel 4) in Pittsburgh.
    Vander Pyl knew the sequel was bound to happen. Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm have been friends since babyhood. Vander Pyl was only too happy to return to her role of Wilma.
    She speaks pleasantly late one morning over the phone from her home in San Clemente, Calif., where the sun has disappeared behind fog that clouds her view of the ocean.
    Her voice—Wilma's voice—is easily recognizable, although she doesn't seem to think so. To make WIlma come alive, Vander Pyl says she has to make her voice sound higher.
    She gives an example: "Freeeed! Freeeed! If you don't...!" She admits she sometimes falls into the Wilma mode when she gets excited. "When my voice gets high, I find myself slipping into it." 
    Vander Pyl doesn't look like Wilma, not at her age, she says. She's a sprightly 73. When she was younger, however, her hair was red, like Wilma's. And she shared Wilma's slender figure. Those were only coincidences, though. 
    She was picked to be the voice of Wilma by show creators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, after they had used her voice for other cartoon projects.
    Vander Pyl, a widower, mother and grandmother, talks proudly about the new, prime-time special. The show, produced by the original creators, H-B Production Co., offers a "prehistoric poke at the sanctity of marriage."
    Wilma, who once was known around town for gossiping and her shopping cry "Charge it!" is being plucked out of the Stone Age and into a modern woman's world. She and Betty have opened their own catering business—much to Fred's chagrin.
    The Flintstone household is more up-to-date now. It features a video cassette recorder and a microwave. Pebbles has her own apartment and works for an advertising agency. Her betrothed, whom she calls "Bammer," works in an auto shop.
    Fred is still Fred, however. He never seems to have enough cash. He continues to drag friend Barney into his get-rich-quick schemes, which leads to a fiasco in the wedding planning.
    How does Wilma put up with the big lug?
    "It's what young people would call an old-fashioned marriage. She really loved the big galoot, but got mad at him," Vander Pyl explains, laughing.
    She isn't surprised "The Flintstones" has survived for more than three decades. She credits the writers for creating "so much human comedy." 
    "This is real humor. The writers haven't had to rely on smut like some other shows have," she says.
    She's pleased she's able to continue in the role of mother of the bride for the "I Yabba-Dabba Do!" special. She hints Wilma will be popping up in future "Flintstone" shows as well. 
    Is there a grandchild in Wilma's future?
    "You bet there is!" Vander Pyl says, excitedly.

Video of the Week: A Scoobtober Special

 It's October once again, and considering WB has been pushing this whole "Scoobtober" thing the last couple of years, I felt I had to post something about those meddling kids. Today, I've got two Scooby-Doo commercials from years past. This first one was aired in 2007, and advertises DirecTV. It was part of an extensive marketing campaign that saw faces from various movies and TV shows promote the cable company.

This next one, which aired in 1996, advertised a Burger King promotion for Scooby-Doo toys. It's quite an infamous one as well. From my understanding, this was the first time Casey Kasem did not portray Shaggy in animation. Kasem was a vegan and had no interest in advertising a hamburger restaurant. Thus, he left the role and did not return until 2002's What's New Scooby-Doo. I can't say for certain who voices him here, but most of the comments believe it's Tom Kenny. It certainly sounds like him. This was also one of the last times Don Messick voiced Scoob before his retirement later that year. 

Huckleberry Hound Has Some Carnival Fun

 The Flintstones wasn't the only Hanna-Barbera property to get a piece of the carnival game pie. Take a look at "Huckle-Chuck," once again made by our friends at Transogram (or Transy, as seen on the top of the package). The packaging boasts it as three carnival games in one: ring-toss, bean bags, and pitch dart. Huckleberry Hound also sports "moving head action" and is a sturdy Masonite construction. As opposed to a frail Masonite construction, I guess?

Here's what he looks like out of the packaging, and it appears the photographer captured him in the middle of the moving head action mentioned in the packaging. You can also see a couple of Huck's friends on the board, including Yogi, Quick Draw, Pixie, Dixie, and Mr. Jinks. I also just love how they modified his hat so rings could be thrown onto it more easily. It's a pretty neat package, and Huckleberry Hound seems to agree. Just look at that smile!

Pitchin' and Bowlin' with the Flintstones

 Bowling is one of the things Fred and the rest of the Flintstones crew do best, so it's not shocking that a toy company would come along someday and make a bowling set based on the show. That moment came in 1961 courtesy of Transogram, which produced a variety of toys for Hanna-Barbera cartoons and other popular series of the 1960s. Here they are below, both in and out of the box. Compared to much of the early merchandise, these guys aren't too shabby-looking. I also dig the packaging, which sports solid artwork and a nice color scheme.

While I'm here, I'll also share this tiny print ad for the game. This ad depicts the game less as one based around bowling and more as a generic carnival game. This game retailed for a whopping $3.98 when it was released in 1961. Nowadays, even a loose set costs about $70. Not bad for a couple of pinheads!

Video of the Week: The Best Place for Cartoons

 Cartoon Network has had many memorable bumpers and advertising campaigns over the years, but today, I'd like to highlight one of my personal favorites. Airing around the turn of the millennium, "The Best Place for Cartoons" promos featured many cartoon all-stars interacting with each other in the real world. They often portrayed the characters as Cartoon Network employees, and several of them took place in common workplace settings, such as the water cooler or the parking lot. 

I'll be looking at three of these bumpers today. The first one focuses purely on Yogi Bear, who runs into some problems after misplacing his ID. A decently funny promo, and it's also interesting to hear what appears to be Billy West as Yogi. I can't think of any other time he's voiced that particular character.

What's also interesting about some of these older CN commercials is that you can actually find audio commentaries by the crew behind some of them online. I believe these came from promotional discs, but I can't say for sure. If you'd like to see this ad with commentary, check it out here.

This second bumper, titled "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service", plays out about how you'd expect. Fred goes shopping at a convenience store, but encounters some issues with the dress code. You've also got some great appearances by Quick Draw McGraw, Huckleberry Hound, and I.M. Weasel here. 

I've saved my favorite promo in this series for last. Scrappy-Doo has long been a punching bag for cartoon fans, so what happens when Scrappy has had enough? You get this bumper, featuring a Scrappy pushed to his breaking point. It's probably my favorite depiction of the character ever, in all honesty.

Early Cartoon Network Merchandise

 I've looked at early CN promos and press material, so it seems time I give some attention to the early wave of merchandise based around the network. This isn't by any means an in-depth showcase, but here are some of my favorite pieces I found with the Cartoon Network branding.

Starting off is this plush toy of Huckleberry Hound released by Mattel. This was part of a series called "Cartoon Club", which consisted of plush incarnations of many Hanna-Barbera characters. Some of the others in the series included Fred Flintstone, Elroy Jetson, Magilla Gorilla, and Yogi Bear. They're honestly pretty nice looking for plush dolls, but there's something off about them that I simply cannot put my finger on. Maybe one of you feels the same?

Unsurprisingly, there were plenty of shirts with the Cartoon Network logo and Hanna-Barbera characters in the early days. This one has a set of characters decked out in some very nineties clothing. That was a common theme among shirts of this era, alongside the characters playing basketball and other sports.

Here's a simple but nice pencil box based on the network, which was released in 1994. Commercials around this time often used a graphic similar to this, so I assume that's where the design came from. It's also easy to come across on online auctions, so if you want a piece of early CN merch without breaking the bank, this one's for you.

The last piece of merchandise I'll spotlight here is, fittingly, the most nineties one of the whole bunch. That's right, we've got CN pogs! There are a lot of characters in these, and they all use artwork that I haven't seen used in any other merchandise. As far as pogs go, I'm impressed. This set contained 21 items in all, and I assume there were no further releases.

Far More Cartoon Network Print Ads

 October has come once again, and with it, another set of posts focused on Cartoon Network, which launched on October 1st back in 1992. In both 2023 and 2024, I shared posts showcasing a few print ads for the network from its early years (you can view those posts here and here). Now, I'm back with more advertisements. From those found in the papers to magazine ads, here is yet another set of Cartoon Network print ads.

This first one is interesting in that it promotes not only the network, but also a launch event taking place in Turner's Atlanta base of operations. The promo promises animated guests, surprises, and a picnic lunch following the event. If you'd like to know more about this launch event, check out this post I did in 2023. It's probably the only time you'll see Ted Turner setting off TNT alongside Fred Flintstone and Yogi Bear. 

Here's a pretty neat one that appeared in a newspaper's comic section. I've shown off ads similar to this one before, but those were from magazines. Honestly, I think I prefer this style a bit more. You've also got to love how the ad "hides" a Yogi Bear comic.

Another newspaper ad, this one has a similar style to the first ad, but with a different set of characters. Instead of Fred, Yogi, and George, they went with a canine theme consisting of Astro, Huckleberry Hound, and Droopy. Much like that artwork, it was used in a lot of early promotional materials for the channel.

I've got one more for today, and this one was actually put out after the network went live. Droopy is the sole star of this promo, informing readers that Cartoon Network is wired and ready to go. It's kind of interesting looking back at how much attention Droopy got in early CN stuff. You could almost see him as the mascot of the network in its early years. Don't forget, the first thing aired on CN was Droopy's Guide to Cartoon Network.