Bamm-Bamm Rubble

Infobox character
colour = #DEDEE2
colour text =
name = Bamm-Bamm Rubble
series = The Flintstones


caption = Pebbles Flintstone (left) and Bamm-Bamm Rubble (right), as infants.
creator = Hanna Barbera
portrayer = See here
gender = Male
family = Barney Rubble (father)
Betty Rubble (mother)
spouse = Pebbles Flintstone
residence = Bedrock

Bamm-Bamm the adopted son of Barney and Betty Rubble. He is most famous in his infant form on the long-running animated series "The Flintstones", but has also appeared at various other ages, including as a teenager on the early 1970s spinoff "The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show" and as an adult in two made-for-television movies.

Bamm-Bamm dwelled in the fictional prehistoric city of Bedrock, a world where dinosaurs coexisted with barefoot cavepeople. The cavepeople enjoyed "primitive" versions of modern conveniences such as telephones, automobiles and washing machines, often utilizing the prehistoric animals.

Biography

Cartoon Series

As an infant, Bamm-Bamm was adopted by the Rubbles after being abandoned on their doorstep. After meeting his next-door neighbor Pebbles, the two became lifelong playmates. Bamm-Bamm would yell the phrase "bamm, bamm" because his previous parents named him that. He would often yell while pounding the floor with his club (and in the process shaking the room he was in). Bamm-Bamm's excessive (and sometimes misused) strength was often a source of humor in the episodes the toddler version of Bamm-Bamm appeared in. Unlike Pebbles, Bamm-Bamm was past the crawling stage and could be seen in a few episodes trying to help Pebbles walk.

Years later, as a teenager, Bamm-Bamm attended Bedrock High School along with Pebbles and their friends, Wiggy, Penny, and Moonrock. In this version Bamm-Bamm's super strength was not actively mentioned and was only shown on occasion. He became more passive and sensible in his manner and tended to be dominated by Pebbles' more aggressive personality. He also was the owner of a "cave buggy," a prehistoric version of a dune buggy.

As an adult, Bamm-Bamm became a mechanic, fell in love with and married Pebbles. The two soon moved to Hollyrock (a fictional prehistoric version of Hollywood, California) so Bamm-Bamm could pursue his true goal of becoming a screenwriter. Later the couple had twins, Roxy and Chip.

Film

In the 1994 live-action "Flintstones" movie, Bamm-Bamm was adopted from the orphanage by the Rubbles and was seen with long brown hair and only wearing a leaf loincloth. He was mentioned to have been raised by wild mastodons. Bamm-Bamm soon started to look like his cartoon countepart after a bath, haircut, and some new clothes. Bamm-Bamm was played by twins Hlynur Sigurdsson and Marino Sigurdsson and voiced by actress E.G. Daily (who returned to the role in a Bamm-Bamm Pebbles Cereal).

Chronology

Through the various Flintstones incarnations, the age of Bamm-Bamm (and Pebbles) has varied wildly from spinoff to spinoff---appearing as an adolescent in one spinoff and as an infant again in the next. Arranged roughly in chronological order, the Flintstones incarnations Bamm-Bamm has made appearances in are as follows:

Infant/Toddler

*"The Flintstones"
*"The Man Called Flintstone"
*"The New Fred and Barney Show"
*"The Flintstones' New Neighbors"
*""
*""
*""
*"A Flintstones Christmas Carol"
*"Cave Kids"

Child

Pre-teen

*""

Teenager

*"The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show"
*"The Flintstone Comedy Hour"
*"The Flintstone Comedy Show"

Adult

*"I Yabba-Dabba Do!"
*"Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby"
*"A Flintstone Family Christmas"

Casting

* Bamm-Bamm's voice over the years was provided by Jay North, Don Messick, Lucille Bliss, Frank Welker, Christine Cavanaugh, Michael Sheehan, Elizabeth Daily, and Jerry Houser.

*Bamm-Bamm (in his conventional toddler incarnation) is sometimes seen in the various Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles cereal commercials that have been produced over the years.

* Although Bamm-Bamm possessed incredible strength as an infant, in his appearances as a teenager (as seen in "The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show"), his strength was either downplayed or not shown, though oddly it reappeared in Bamm-Bamm's adult appearances.

*After his debut episode on the Flintstones, a few episodes afterward did not feature Bamm-Bamm.

Cultural references

* The soccer player Ivan Zamorano is nicknamed "Bam Bam" after Bamm-Bamm.
* The soccer player Marcos Bam Bam (Brazil), from Fortaleza EC, also has this nickname after Bamm-Bamm.
* Because he was an excellent tackle, Cleveland Browns player Dick Ambrose was nicknamed "Bamm-Bamm."
* On The Ultimate Fighter 4, Matt Serra nicknamed teammate Edwin DeWees "Bam Bam" after the Flintstones character. [http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/specialevent/ultimate_fighter/blog/]
* Late professional wrestlers Bam Bam Bigelow, and Terry Gordy derived their ring nicknames from the character.
* Appeared in The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire, where he said his catch-phrase, and was followed by Emeril Lagasse saying his.
* Bamm Bamm is used in the logo of German anti-militarist organization Büros für antimilitaristische Maßnahmen (BamM) [http://www.bamm.de/]

External links

* [http://www.topthat.net/webrock/index.htm Webrock - The Flintstones and Hanna Barbera Page]
* [http://www.retrocrush.com/archive/flint/default.htm RetroCrush - Exploring Flintstones Mysteries]