The Great Gazoo | |
---|---|
The Flintstones character | |
![]() The Great Gazoo | |
First appearance | "The Great Gazoo" (1965) |
Last appearance | "Alien vs. Pebbles" (2020) |
Created by | Hanna-Barbera |
Voiced by | Harvey Korman (1965, 2000) Maurice LaMarche (1998) Seth MacFarlane ( Family Guy , Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy ) Seth Green ( Robot Chicken ) Eric Bauza ( Yabba-Dabba Dinosaurs ) Flula Borg ( Jellystone! ) Frank Welker ( Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now! ) |
Portrayed by | Alan Cumming (in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas ) |
In-universe information | |
Species | Zetoxian |
The Great Gazoo, or simply Gazoo, is a fictional character from the animated series The Flintstones . He first appeared on the show on October 29, 1965. The Great Gazoo was voiced by actor Harvey Korman. [1] [2] [3]
The Great Gazoo is a tiny, green, floating scientist who was exiled to Earth from his home planet for inventing a Doomsday Device. Gazoo was discovered by Fred and Barney when his flying saucer crashed. Gazoo recognizes Fred and Barney's world as prehistoric Earth. Gazoo refers to Fred and Barney as "dum-dums" and constantly causes problems for them. He can materialize and dematerialize objects, teleport, freeze time, travel through time, de-age anyone, destroy the world, and perform other remarkable feats but when he attempts to help out Fred and Barney, he usually ends up causing even more trouble. The only people who are able to see Gazoo are Fred, Barney and the children; animals also can see him. A running gag is that Fred argues with Gazoo while Wilma believes that he is talking to himself. When their daughter, Pebbles, says "Gazoo", Wilma thinks Pebbles is sneezing.
The creation of the Great Gazoo is attributed to writer Joanna Lee, who wrote more than 20 episodes of The Flintstones. [4] He was based on Bill Moore, a design teacher from CalArts. [5] The first draft of the episode that introduced the Great Gazoo was originally entitled "The Wizard of Ogg" and Gazoo's original name was "Professor Ogg". Other proposed names for Gazoo were Rip van Zonk, Hocus the Pocus, Dr. Puckwuck, and Shagelbextyzinkus (Ol' Shaggy for short). [4] In her original character description, Lee described Gazoo as "a mirror, reflecting life's vicissitudes, vagaries, ritual magic and dreary reality. Simply, [Gazoo] is life, brought home to our two favorite life participants, Fred and Barney". [4]
Because Gazoo is introduced into the show midway through the final season and is considered by some to be an absurd character who alters the premise and dynamic of the show, he is often cited by fans and critics of the show as being an example of the show's having "jumped the shark". [6] In all, Gazoo appeared in 9 episodes in 1965 and 1966.
Apart from the original TV series, he appears in many commercials for Pebbles cereal like one where he sends Fred somewhere where he can have all the Cocoa Pebbles he wants only for Barney to be brought there as Gazoo quotes "I don't play favorites". One particular commercial for Fruity Pebbles cereal commercial in 1998 had him as part of a promotion for a contest where consumers would have to try to find each of the 10 boxes of all-orange cereal pieces after Gazoo had taken all the orange from Bedrock. The prize for any who found the all-orange cereal pieces would win a trip to Florida. In 2003, Gazoo had become the mascot for Marshmallow Mania Pebbles cereal. Gazoo is also a character in Flintstones vitamins, and a central character in the 1991 video game The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino & Hoppy .
Ozmodiar, a Gazoo parody with a nearly identical design, appeared as a brief cameo gag in several episodes of The Simpsons . [7]
In the 2000 film The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas , Gazoo (portrayed by Alan Cumming) is exiled to Earth by Gazaam the Mighty for his crazy hare-brained schemes. He then meets Fred and Barney after crashing near them, and begins to follow the duo for study; as always, Fred and Barney are the only ones who can see him. A running gag within the movie is his name mistakenly being pronounced as "Kazoo".
Gazoo appears in the 2016 DC Comics Hanna-Barbera Beyond series The Flintstones , where he is human-sized, does not float, and was sent by bookie aliens to evaluate the human race. In this version "Great Gazoo" is a title that roughly translates to "game warden".
Gazoo appears in the Yabba-Dabba Dinosaurs episode "Alien vs. Pebbles", voiced by Eric Bauza. In this episode, he first appears disguised as a mysterious futuristic alien creature who zapped the dinosaurs with his bubble laser, only to transport them to his spaceship jail. Only at the end of the episode, he is revealed to be the "Great Gazoo" who wanted to kill the prehistoric creatures.
Gazoo made a cameo appearance in the Animaniacs revival segment "Suffragette City".
He makes a cameo appearance in Space Jam: A New Legacy amongst the crowd of other Hanna-Barbera characters and several other Warner Brothers characters watching the basketball game between the Toon Squad and the Goon Squad. When the characters were making their way to the site of the game, the Great Gazoo was seen briefly teleporting away from Muttley. During the basketball game, Gazoo can be seen floating near the Flintstones and the Rubbles.
The Great Gazoo appears in Jellystone! , voiced by Flula Borg in a German accent. He appears in the episode "Gotta Kiss Them All" as the sociopath host of the virtual reality game "BuddyBlasters". The Great Gazoo becomes a regular character in season 2.
The character also makes a brief cameo appearance in the Scooby-Doo reunion special Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now! that aired on The CW where he was voiced by Frank Welker. [8] He was seen with Jabberjaw during the audition scene.
In NationStates, the nation of Zetox and Gazoo exists currently as mentioned by the character. However, they were both exposed to be linked to raider groups such as the Black Hawks and the League and was therefore tried in the Senate of the Union of Allied States and the courts. The nation of Zetox often referred to himself as the Great Gazoo, while Gazoo acted to be an impersonator of Zetox. Finally, they were both exposed by site moderation to be the same player, therefore committing the act of Illeism.
Scooby-Doo is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, for Hanna-Barbera. The series features four teenagers: Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Shaggy Rogers, and their talking Great Dane named Scooby-Doo, who solve mysteries involving supposedly supernatural creatures through a series of antics and missteps, while traveling using a brightly colored van called the "Mystery Machine". The franchise has several live-action films and shows.
The Flintstones is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the Rubbles. It was originally broadcast on ABC from September 30, 1960, to April 1, 1966, and was the first animated series with a prime-time slot on television.
Pebbles Flintstone-Rubble is a fictional character in the Flintstones franchise. The red-haired daughter of Fred and Wilma Flintstone, Pebbles is born near the end of the third season. She is most famous in her infant form on The Flintstones, but has also appeared at various other ages, including as a teenager on the early 1970s spin-off The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show and as an adult in three television films. She spent most of her time with Bamm-Bamm Rubble, her childhood best friend whom she eventually marries.
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that originally aired for one season on CBS Saturday morning from September 11, 1971, to January 1, 1972. With an ensemble voice cast of Sally Struthers, Jay North, Mitzi McCall, Gay Hartwig, Carl Esser and Lennie Weinrib, the show follows teenage Pebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble as they encounter problems growing up in the fictional town of Bedrock. The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show is the first spin-off series of The Flintstones. For the 1972–73 season, the show was revamped as The Flintstone Comedy Hour, with more time given to the original Flintstones cast alongside both reruns and newly produced segments of Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm.
Frederick "Fred" Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom The Flintstones, which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintstone and together the family live in their homely cave in the town of Bedrock. His best friend is his next door neighbor, Barney, who has a wife named Betty.
Franklin Wendell Welker is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2023, making him one of the most prolific voice actors in history. With his films earning a total worldwide box-office gross of $17.4 billion, he is also the fourth-highest-grossing actor as of 2024.
The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas is a 2000 American romantic comedy film directed by Brian Levant, written by Jim Cash, Harry Elfont, Deborah Kaplan, and Jack Epps, Jr., and is the prequel to Levant's The Flintstones (1994), based on the 1960–1966 animated television series of the same name. The film was developed and produced without the involvement of Steven Spielberg, the executive producer of Levant's The Flintstones (1994). It is set before the events of both the series and the first film, showing how Fred and Barney meet Wilma and Betty. The title is a play on the Elvis Presley song, Viva Las Vegas, also used as the title of an MGM musical film.
Harvey Herschel Korman was an American actor and comedian who performed in television and film productions. He is best remembered as a main cast member alongside Carol Burnett, Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrence on the CBS sketch comedy series The Carol Burnett Show (1967–1977) for which he won four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award.
Scott Innes is an American voice actor, author, songwriter and radio personality. He is best known for his voice over work in various Warner Bros. and Hanna-Barbera animated films, television shows, video games and commercials, most notably as Scooby-Doo, Shaggy Rogers, Scrappy-Doo, Popeye the Sailor, Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Foghorn Leghorn, Muttley, Bugs Bunny, Yogi Bear and Captain Caveman. He has also provided the voice of Fred Jones, Boo-Boo Bear, Snagglepuss, Papa Smurf, Elroy Jetson, Astro, Quick Draw McGraw, Baba Looey, Elmer Fudd, Spike Bulldog and Ranger Smith in various commercials.
Norville "Shaggy" Rogers is a fictional character and one of the main characters in the Scooby-Doo franchise. He is characterized as an amateur detective, and the long-time best friend of his dog, Scooby-Doo.
Jean Thurston Vander Pyl was an American voice actress. Although her career spanned many decades, she is best known as the voice of Wilma Flintstone for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Flintstones. In addition to Wilma Flintstone, she also provided the voices of Pebbles Flintstone; Rosie the robot maid on The Jetsons; Goldie, Lola Glamour, Nurse LaRue, and other characters in Top Cat; Winsome Witch on The Secret Squirrel Show; and Ogee on The Magilla Gorilla Show.
Jabberjaw is an American animated television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired 16 original episodes on ABC from September 11 to December 18, 1976. Reruns continued on ABC until September 3, 1978.
Wilma Anna Flintstone is a fictional character in the television animated series The Flintstones. Wilma is the red-headed woman married to caveman Fred Flintstone, daughter of Pearl Slaghoople, and mother of Pebbles Flintstone. Her best friend is her next door neighbor, Betty Rubble.
Bernard Matthew "Barney" Rubble is a fictional character who appears in the television animated series The Flintstones. He is the diminutive, blond-haired caveman husband of Betty Rubble and adoptive father of Bamm-Bamm Rubble. His best friend is his next door neighbor, Fred Flintstone.
Dino is a fictional character featured in the Hanna-Barbera animated television series The Flintstones, and its spin-offs and feature films. He is a pet dinosaur of the series' main characters, Fred and Wilma Flintstone. Dino debuted in the opening credits of the pilot episode of The Flintstones, but is not mentioned by name until the first season's fourth episode, "No Help Wanted". Dino was voiced by voiceover actor Mel Blanc from 1960 to 1989 and in 1994 and 2000.
Leonard Weinrib was an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R. Pufnstuf, Grimace in McDonaldland commercials, the title role in Inch High, Private Eye, the original voice of Scrappy-Doo on Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Hunk and Prince Lotor on Voltron, and Bigmouth on The Smurfs. He also was the voice for Timer in the "Time for Timer" ABC public service announcements in the early 1970s.
The Flintstone Comedy Show is an American animated television series revival and spin-off of The Flintstones produced by Hanna-Barbera that aired on NBC from November 22, 1980, to October 24, 1981. Outside North America, the show was released under title of Flintstone Frolics.
Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration is a 1989 American live-action/animated television special written, directed and produced by Marshall Flaum, which premiered on TNT on July 17, 1989. It is hosted by Tony Danza, along with Annie Potts; it also stars Whoopi Goldberg, Betty White, Sammy Davis Jr., Tommy Lasorda, Jonathan Winters, Phyllis Diller, Valerie Harper, Shari Belafonte, Joe Ferguson and Tiffany.
Laff-A-Lympics is an American animated comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. The series premiered as part of the Saturday-morning cartoon program block Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics which consists of 24 episodes, on ABC in 1977. The show is a spoof of the Olympics and the ABC primetime series Battle of the Network Stars, which debuted one year earlier. It featured 45 Hanna-Barbera characters organized into teams which competed each week for gold, silver, and bronze medals. In each episode, the Really Rottens would try in each event to cheat only to get caught by Snagglepuss each time. One season of 16 episodes was produced in 1977–78, and eight new episodes combined with reruns for the 1978–79 season as Scooby's All-Stars. Unlike most cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, Laff-A-Lympics did not contain a laugh track. Scooby’s Laff-a-Lympics was originally owned by Taft Broadcasting, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution currently owns the series through its two in-name-only units, Warner Bros. Family Entertainment and Turner Entertainment.
Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs is an American animated television series and a spin-off of the original series, The Flintstones. Like Cave Kids, the series focuses on the lives of best friends Pebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble, who are joined by Dino for many adventures in the Stone Age. The series premiered on HBO Max on September 30, 2021. The series was removed from HBO Max in August 2022.