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Jean Vander Pyl explained that The Flintstones had roots in The Honeymooners
"All four of us had a pattern that we were led into."
The iconic sitcom The Honeymooners, created by Jackie Gleason, entertained countless viewers everywhere. However, the popular sitcom didn’t just serve as entertainment; it was also an inspiration.
Plenty of shows have cited The Honeymooners as inspiration. Jean Vander Pyl, who provided the voice for Wilma Flintstone of The Flintstones, revealed that when developing the cartoon, series creator Joseph Barbera compared their show to the hit sitcom.
"They showed us the cartoon, and then Mr. Barbera explained to us what it was like,” said Vander Pyl during an interview with The Central New Jersey Home News. “He said, 'It's sort of like The Honeymooners.' And that was the tipoff to what type of voices they wanted. So, all four of us had a pattern that we were led into."
Of course, Vander Pyl took inspiration from Alice Kramden. "I did sort of an impression of Audrey Meadows, who played the wife on The Honeymooners, which was that New York, nasal kind of thing,” said the actor. “So when we first started, we all ended up doing almost-impressions of those four."
However, Vander Pyl ran into a few difficulties during the show’s beginnings.
"After we got the parts and the show was on, I remember Joe saying to me, 'Jean, that's a little too nasal.’” said Vander Pyl. "But I would slip into it because we had done several shows that way." But as the show developed, Vander Pyl was able to make Wilma Flintstone less of an impression and more of a three-dimensional character.
