Allow me to share a recent train of thought. :D
There were two distinct things called "Flintstone Kids" (that I know of). The first was an ad campaign for the kids vitamins (that tasted a lot like Pez candy). The theme song was kind of an earworm, though not terribly offensive.
The second "Flintstones Kids" was a cartoon in the late eighties, featuring the main characters as kids. It wasn't one of the more memorable cartoons, and it didn't last long.
I'm not sure when the trend of "kidifying" began, but it definitely lasted well into the nineties and 2000s. Earlier examples include the much more successful "Muppet Babies", starting in 84 and lasting to 91. Later examples include "Baby Mario", which, true to Nintendo form, was reintroduced many times despite being widely hated.
There was also "A Pup Named Scooby Doo", "Tom and Jerry Kids Show", "Tiny Toon Adventures", and a bunch of others that I never really knew about like a younger "Sabrina the Teenage Witch", "James Bond Jr", and even an Ewoks cartoon. The list is actually shorter than I expected, and there's a Wikipedia page listing these kinds of cartoons.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Child_versions_of_cartoon_characters
As a general rule, I never cared much for these kinds of cartoons even as a kid. But that's just me. I also never liked "flashback" episodes of sitcoms. Just seemed wrong somehow.
One big exception to this is "Muppet Babies". I don't expect I'd enjoy it much, if at all, as an adult, but at around four or five years old, I loved seeing all the exotic places that they "went" to in their imagination. (And I liked Rugrats for similar reasons.) Also, Muppet Babies was my introduction to the Muppets, so I didn't know at the time that this was the "kidified" version.
And it did lead me into the Muppets proper, who are absolutely hilarious for all ages.
That's pretty far from my original point of those Flintstone vitamins, but that's how my mind works.
Oh, sidenote, The Flintstones is actually based on The Honeymooners with Jackie Gleason, which I also highly recommend.
This was supposed to be out over a week ago, but things have been nuts for me lately!
This is a not-quite-official announcement of the Discord server I just created. Completely free. Don't need to be a supporter on Locals. Don't even need to be a member.
It's definitely not a secret that this community hasn't been active since Matt Hartley hasn't been involved. I think there are a few reasons why (one being that I had a lot less time to devote to it than I realized), and I think that making a completely free alternative would help, and I unfortunately don't think I can do that on Locals! You have to pay if you want to post. Discord should be free (unless I did it wrong).
Feel free to come join! It's still kind of experimental at this point, and I don't know how well I'll handle content moderation, which will probably be the biggest challenge.
