Patreon Pin Up 1/29/24: Betty Rubble

Betty just barely beats Wilma in this month's Discord Poll! I got the idea for the Flintstones theme after watching a mini doc about the 90 live-action movie on Youtube from a channel called Hats Off Entertainment. Highlights include that the reason there was never a chronological sequel is because John Goodman had zero interest in returning, and that when Rick Moranis learned of Rosie O' Donnell's casting as Betty, he quipped that "she should have played Fred." Amazing what you could get away with before social media.

I remembered Betty and Wilma having more or less identical personalities (more on that in a minute) but I had it pointed out to me that Betty was more giggly and Wilma was more stern, which sounds right. Anyhow since Betty is a married character I've drawn her cheating because that is my way. It raises a question though: how does one get away with a steamy affair when every appliance in the house is a sentient animal capable of speech? If you blow the plumber, do you have to bribe the garbage disposal to keep what it saw a secret?

I'm old enough to remember a time when The Flintstones was a regular fixture on Cartoon Network. It originally aired in the 60's and you do not need a documentary to tell you that. Just watch it for five minutes and the archetypes of the era are clear as day. The men are cocky bumbling oafs who only care about red meat and bowling, and the women are generally materialistic nags who only care about jewelry and pampering. It's still pretty fun for what it is, though. It's easy to forget that The Flintstones was not originally marketed as a kid's show, and that it was the first cartoon to air in a prime-time slot. It had more in common with something like The Simpsons than Scooby-Doo. Long before Flintstone Kids vitamins, Fred was hawking cigarettes in animated commercials for crying out loud.

That's all I've got for now. If you know of some trivia you'd like to share or have suggestions for other classic cartoon ladies I should give a try, let me know in the comments! :)