Ed "Pops" Flintstone is a fictional character of the franchise of The Flintstones. He is Fred’s father, and made his debut as a recurring character in the long-running Flintstones comic strips by Gene Hazelton, where he was known simply as Pops and lived with Fred and his family.
A different incarnation of the character later appeared in The Flintstone Kids, a spin-off of the original series, The Flintstones.
Background[]
Pops was created by Gene Hazelton (the author behind the Flintstones comic strip, who was also involved with the original show as a character designer and the creator of Pebbles Bamm-Bamm Rubble), in an attempt to expand the Flintstone household. Pops was introduced into the strip in 1967, and from thereon remained a regular character until Hazelton’s departure from the strip in 1985. Under the authorship of Don Sherwood (Hazelton’s successor), Pops then continued to make occasional appearances in the strip until April 9, 1994.
In the strips, Pops is portrayed as an energetic and spry old man, although due to his age he is somewhat out of touch with modern stone age technology. He is an incorrigible skirt chaser and casanova, and likes to tell his family tall tales about his younger days. A series of gags in 1973 has Pops taking on a job as a highway traffic controller, working from a hot hair balloon over Bedrock.
He is the father of the protagonist of the show, Fred Flintstone, the father-in-law of Wilma, the grandfather of Pebbles, and the great-grandfather of Chip and Roxy.
In his Flintstone Kids incarnation, he is also portrayed as the husband of cavewoman Edna Flintstone and works as a self-employed repairman when Fred was a boy.
Physical Appearance[]
In his original comic strip appearance, Pops is a diminutive caveman, shorter than Fred and has thick white eyebrows, a bald head with a hair tuft in the back of his head and a beard. He wears a loincloth with a vest and bow tie, and often sports a flat hat as well. He occasionally wears reading glasses and smokes cigars.
In The Flintstone Kids, Ed is a tall and stout caveman, much like his son Fred, with fair skin, tan stubbles, brown hair, thick black eyebrows, and black eyes. He wears a teal short-sleeved loincloth with an inside white V-neck, an orange button and an orange bowtie.
Appearances[]
As Pops Flintstone
- The Flintstones (comic strips) (1967-1994)
- "Happy Day" (Dino (Charlton Comics) Issue № 10)
As Ed Flintstone
- The Flintstone Kids
- 101. "The Great Freddini" (first animated appearance)
- 103. "Heroes for Hire"
- 105. "The Bad News Brontos"
- 108(b). "The Vet"
- 109. "Poor Little Rich Girl"
- 110(b). "Freddy in the Big House"
- 111. "The Rock Concert That Rocked Freddy"
- 112(a). "Bedrock P.I.s" (no lines)
- 112(b). "Fred's Mechanical Dog"
- 117. "The Fugitives"
- 118(a). "The Twilight Stone"
- 118(b). "The Terror Within"
- 120(c). "Curse of the Reverse"
- 119. "Freddy's Rocky Road to Karate"
- 120(a). "Betty's Big Break" (no lines)
- 121. "Barney's Moving Experience"
- 123(a). "The Little Visitor"
- 123(b). "Grandpa for Loan"
- 124(b). "Watchdog Blues"
- 125. "Freddy's First Crush"
- 126(a). "Bedrock'n Roll"
- 201(b). "Killer Kitty" (no lines)
- 205(b). "Bone Voyage"
- 207(b). "A Midnight Pet Peeve"
- 208(b). "The Birthday Shuffle"
- The Flintstone Kids' "Just Say No" Special (last animated appearance)
Notes/Trivia[]
- Although he never appeared in the original series outside of its tie-in comic, he was occasionally alluded to, such as in "Bachelor Daze" where Fred reminisces about his father and notes that he was the one who gave him his first razor, and in "Christmas Flintstone" where Fred comments that his father loved playing with Fred's childhood toys.