Having realized the negatives of his wealth and status as a vice president, Fred declines and asks that the workers be rehired and given the job benefits he initially set out to achieve, which is granted. As the Flintstones and Rubbles have finally made amends, Fred and Barney get into a humorous quarrel when Fred once again asks Barney for a small amount of money for breakfast. ProductioneditDevelopment and writingeditIn 1. Keith Barish and Joel Silver bought the rights for a live action feature film version of The Flintstones and commissioned Steven E. Souza to write a script with Richard Donner hired to direct. De Souzas script was eventually rejected and Mitch Markowitz was hired to write a script. Said to be a cross of The Grapes of Wrath, Markowitz commented that I dont even remember it that well, but Fred and Barney leave their town during a terrible depression and go across the country, or whatever that damn prehistoric thing is, looking for jobs. They wind up in trailer parks trying to keep their families together. They exhibit moments of heroism and poignancy. Markowitzs version was apparently too sentimental for director Donner, who disliked it. Eventually, the rights were bought by Amblin Entertainment and Steven Spielberg who, after working with Goodman on Always, was determined to cast him in the lead as Fred. Brian Levant was hired as director, knowing he was the right person because of his love for the original series. They knew he was an avid fan of the series because of his Flintstones items collection and the knowledge he had from the series. When Levant was hired, all previous scripts were thrown out. Levant then recruited what he called an all star writing team which consisted of his writer friends from television shows such as Family Ties, Night Court, and Happy Days. This is a sitcom on steroids, said Levant. We were just trying to improve it. Dubbed the Flintstone Eight, the group wrote a new draft but four more round table sessions ensued, each of which was attended by new talent. Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel took home a reported 1. Rick Moranis was also present at Levants roundtables, and later described the film as one of those scripts that had about 1. The effects for Dino, Dictabird, and the other prehistoric creatures were provided by Jim Hensons Creature Shop. CastingeditActors John Candy, Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Chevy Chase were all considered for the role of Fred Flintstone, but John Candy had died before production began,67 the last four actors were all deemed too skinny and a fat suit was deemed too inappropriate to be used. If Goodman had turned the role down, the film would not have been made. Geena Davis, Faith Ford, and Catherine OHara were all considered for the role of Wilma. Elizabeth Perkins won the role. Danny De. Vito was the original first choice for Barney, but he turned down the role as he felt he was too gruff to do the character properly and reportedly suggested Rick Moranis for the role.