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Dino Flintstone (pronounced "dee-no") is a snorkasaurus and the pet of the Flintstones family in the original series, The Flintstones and the rest of the franchise.

Background[]

He is the pet snorkasaurus of the series' main characters, Fred and Wilma Flintstone. In the show, he is a metaphorical pet dinosaur and exhibits the characteristics of a typical domesticated dog. In "Dino Disappears", Fred and Wilma recall that they first met Dino one year before Pebbles Flintstone was born (however he was technically with them for three years before Pebbles according to prior episodes), where one day Fred was on his way home from work when he spotted the stray young Dino in the street and decided to play with him for a bit before moving on but unbeknownst to him, the little snorkasaurus had followed him all the way home and so Fred and Wilma decided to adopt him as their pet.

A recurring gag in the series is Dino gets excited and knocks Fred down (usually when he comes home from work) and licks his face continuously. No matter how hard he tries to the contrary, Fred usually gives in to Dino's ticklish and wet doglike kisses.

Dino debuted in the opening credits of the first episode of The Flintstones but was not mentioned by name until the fourth episode, "No Help Wanted" which was also his debut. Here Dino is a lovable pup and would perform the traditional affectionate pounce on Fred that would define his personality for the rest of the franchise's history.

His role was considerably different in the eighteenth episode, "The Snorkasaurus Hunter", where he was portrayed (in an apparent flashback story) talking, colored purple and at the end of the episode, acting like a butler for the Flintstones, answering the phone, dusting and ironing. However this incarnation of Dino was never referenced or mentioned again.

When Pebbles and then Bamm-Bamm came along, he took a protector/babysitter type role. He also gets along well with the Rubbles' pet, Hoppy, after an initial rivalry but their love of the babies got them to see eye to eye.

Personality[]

Dino is loyal, protective, playful, friendly and also usually over emotional. He will show his affection to Fred by pouncing on him, yapping happily, and energetically licking his face when he gets in view, which will sometimes be followed by Dino's tears if Fred gets cross with him. Dino can also be moved to anger, at which point he will snarl and snap.

Physical Appearance[]

Dino is a male Snorkasaurus with purple skin (period pink to red) and black spots and three black hairs on his head. He wears a blue dog collar with an orange tag. He can either walk on all fours all stand and walk on his hind legs. In his first appearance in "No Help Wanted", Dino had darker skin, was a bit smaller and younger, and he also did not wear a collar which he would not wear until much later in the series.

In the show's first opening, Dino had blue skin and a green muzzle and in the episode, "The Snorkasaurus Hunter", he had light purple skin.

Appearances[]

Television shows

Films and specials

Video games

Publications

Portrayals[]

Television shows, films and specials

Other


Gallery[]

The Flintstones - F Letter Logo
The Flintstones has a collection of images and media related to Dino.

Notes/Trivia[]

  • Dino was introduced in the original series as a regular dogasaurus incapable of regular speech (not even that close to Astro or Scooby-Doo), but in the middle of the first season, "The Snorkasaurus Hunter" infamously tried and failed to retcon Dino as a well spoken dinosaur referred to as a "snorkasaurus" (voiced by Jerry Mann, in an impersonation of comedian Phil Silvers), who was purple and became more the butler of Wilma than Fred. The concept of a Phil Silvers impersonation was later re-used for Hanna-Barbera's character Top Cat.
    • Incidentally, Wilma was always the one more fond of Dino, but that may be because she didn't get trampled by him all the time. Furthermore, The Flintstone Kids depicted Dino as specifically Fred's pet since childhood, despite that the original show mentions that Dino was only with the Flintstones one year before Pebbles was born.
  • Dino was replaced with Wooly, a small woolly mammoth, in the first season of The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show. He isn't even mentioned, and one episode goes as far as to have an entirely different kind of dogasaurus. When Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm returned as a few "season 2" segments in The Flintstone Comedy Hour, Dino was back and Wooly did not appear again.
  • In his first appearance in "No Help Wanted", Dino's species is not mentioned, but is treated much like a dog. However, his species as told in "The Snorkasaurus Hunter" is a Snorkasaurus and was bipedal which bears a striking, if possibly coincidental resemblance to real world Plateosauridae. All later appearances would portray and refer to him as a dog or dogasaurus who walked on all fours.
  • Dino appeared as a supporting character in the episode "A Page Right Out of History" of Johnny Bravo.
  • Dino, along with the Flintmobile and the Loggin Continental, has been used as the basis for kiddie rides for decades.

References[]

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