The Flintstones and the Bewitched opening credits came from the same animation studio

Did that opening broom ride look familiar to you, too? There's a good reason!

If you’ve ever seen the show Bewitched, you know all about Samantha, Darrin and that little nose-wiggle that caused a whole lot of ruckus. You also probably know that opening credits sequence (in either of its iterations) pretty darn well. Does the animation style ring any bells?

You guessed it – that's some trademark Hanna-Barbara work that you're witnessing. The animation of The Flintstones and the opening sequence of Bewitched were both products of what used to be Screen Gems, Inc.

Screen Gems began as an animation studio, producing cartoon shorts for the big screen featuring characters like Krazy Kat, Flippity and Flop. In the late 1940s, Columbia Pictures acquired the name Screen Gems for its new television production subsidiary. The Screen Gems television studio crafted some of the great television shows of the 1950s, including Father Knows BestArt Linkletter's House PartyThe Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Naked City and Dennis the Menace.

In the 1950s, Screen Gems also became the distributor for an upstart animation studio founded by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The first Hanna-Barbera title under the Screen Gems umbrella was The Ruff and Reddy Show in 1957. The Huckleberry Hound ShowThe Quick Draw McGraw ShowThe Flintstones and The Yogi Bear Show quickly followed, and a cartoon empire was born. (Today, Hanna-Barbera cartoons are owned by Warner Bros., while Sony controls Screen Gems.)

In 1964, Screen Gems premiered its latest brilliant hit, Bewitched. So perhaps it was no surprise when Samantha and Darrin turned up in Bedrock. Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York both voiced their cartoon forms on The Flintstones in "Samantha," a 1965 episode.

Screen GemsElizabeth Montgomery as Samantha on 'The Flintstones' (left) and in the 'Bewitched' opening titles (right)

No detail was spared when it came to combining the prehistoric fun of The Flintstones with the magical whimsy of the Stephens’ world. Take Samantha’s animation, for example. Notice anything specific about her look? Her swirling eyes remain the same.

If you take a peek at her neck, you’ll also see that the Flintstones animators even remembered to add the heart-shaped necklace that Samantha wears on Bewitched. She even has small, white stars stitched into her dress for some extra flair.

Darrin and Samantha on 'The Flintstones'

This wasn't the only time Bewitched would loan its talent to The Flintstones. Sandra Gould, the second actress to play Gladys Kravitz on the sitcom, contributed her voice to several characters in Bedrock in episodes like "The Missing Bus" and "The Little White Lie."  

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16 Comments

MichaelPowers 40 months ago
I've read that Elizabeth Montgomery said in regards to the animated credits for Bewitched that "they could have done better."
VaughnBaskin 40 months ago
Ahem! Don't forget The Jetsons, The Adventures Of Jonny Quest, The Magilla Gorilla Show, Top Cat, and even Atom Ant were all part of the H-B/Screen Gems family in the '60's!
JohnBates 60 months ago
DePatie-Freleng (The Pink Panther) did the animation for "I Dream of Jeannie."
VaughnBaskin 61 months ago
Hey! Don't forget I Dream Of Jeannie, The Magilla Gorilla Show, Top Cat, The Jetsons, and The Adventures Of Jonny Quest.
cperrynaples VaughnBaskin 61 months ago
Yes,Screen Gems produced all those shows and more [and yes Stephanie that includes The Monkees]! By the late '60's Hanna Barbera was resold to Taft and Screen Gems was absorbed into Columbia Pictures! in the mid-70's! Today, Sony uses Screen Gems as an outlet for low-budget horror films!
VaughnBaskin cperrynaples 61 months ago
Uh i'm not Stephanie.
cperrynaples VaughnBaskin 61 months ago
I know that, but I like to think she's still out there reading this board!
teire cperrynaples 61 months ago
Me too Charles, I miss her.
WILD 61 months ago
I always wondered what studio produced the animated opening for Bewitched. Now I know. Thank you.
Pacificsun 61 months ago
Hey cperrynaples: (filling in for stephanie here) in the 1st season, the TV series Bewitched was second in ratings to only ___ which TV show? No fair using the Internet. 😉

Actually there's more about Bewitched online, than with many other TV series! Conceived as a romantic comedy about a "mixed" marriage and everyday problems, head writer Danny Arnold said it had 2 main themes: (1) the conflict between a powerful woman and a husband who cannot deal with that power (defying television's stereotypical portrait of the subservient wife). And (2) the anger of a bride's mother at seeing her daughter marry beneath her. Later seasons introduced more magic and farcical plots at ABC's urging, causing battles between Arnold and the network! Yet the series certainly had a good long run! And has become a cultural icon!! Also inspiring equally popular "I Dream of Jeannie."

credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bewitched
cperrynaples Pacificsun 61 months ago
Well Pacificsun, I know that the answer is Bonanza! Fun Fact: Both shows were sponsored by Chevrolet, and Youtube has a commercial featuring the cast of these as well as Robert Vaughn from UNCLE! And because I'm THAT GUY, I will point out that technically The Flintstones DIDN'T borrow Sandra Gould from Bewitched! As an earlier post pointed out, Alice Pearce was the original Gladys, and by the time Gould took over,ABC canceled The Flintstones!
Pacificsun cperrynaples 61 months ago
Bonanza, right you are (not that you're ever wrong, which makes it more fun to test you!!). RV was actually doing a PSA advocating tire pressure safety. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlHE1BBULz0 But it did pop up right after the famous Hurtline infomercials!! Those attorney firms sure must've been paying big (easy) bucks!!
cperrynaples Pacificsun 61 months ago
Well I've seen the full 5-minute[!] commercial, and Vaughn is in it, although his segment is separate from the Cartwrights and the Stephens!
cperrynaples Pacificsun 61 months ago
PS In order to run the commercial, both Bonanza and UNCLE ran uninterupted episodes that week!
Pacificsun cperrynaples 61 months ago
Okay, you made me find it!! Nothing much escapes me when it comes to MFU, so I'll add this tidbit to the trivia. Thanks!! https://www.facebook.com/BewitchedFanFare/videos/10154648202038972/

Were you the one who authored the comment in facebook (2016)?
cperrynaples Pacificsun 61 months ago
No, I don't really do Facebook!
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