MovieChat Forums > Big Miracle (2012) Discussion > Fred, Wilma and BAM-BAM?!

Fred, Wilma and BAM-BAM?!

posted 13 years ago by eppichs
37 replies | jump to latest

I know, I know. It's such a silly thing to get hooked up on BUT every time I see the trailer this irks me SO much! I have no idea why it annoys me so strongly! D: Someone said they explain it in the movie but the explanation doesn't make sense to me. If the younger whale was a boy then why didn't they call the whales Barney, Betty and Bam-Bam!? It would work so much better, right? Would make sense and I would still get the Flintstone reference, as I'm sure others would!

Please don't hate me for this irksome annoyance but I can't help being so annoyed by it! Arrrrghhhhhh hahaha

[–] Promontorium 13 years ago

Wikipedia says they were named "Putu, Siku, and Kanik and English names Bonnet, Crossbeak, and Bone"

So not only is it stupid, it's historically wrong.

[–] eppichs 13 years ago

WHY would they change the names!? So much better and richer in detail with the original ones. What the hell Hollywood. Why do you always have to mess, tweak and ruin stuff? :(

[–] Fidel_Sarcastro 13 years ago

This movie is catered to animal nuts and also kids (some would say its liberal PETA indoctrination propaganda to the "green" Eco movement). As such they probably wanted to use names that children would be more likely to make a connection to.

[–] junkmail32055 13 years ago

I think you hit the nail right on the head.

[–] moviewizguy 13 years ago

You are so dead wrong, it's sad. The film pokes fun at both sides of the spectrum. It doesn't try to "change" people to turn green or anything. In fact, a lot of the characters in this film help in on the trapped whale situation because of their own personal gain, to get up the latter, to be respected, to gain some positive PR after receiving some bad media attention, etc. It's not a black and white film as you think it might be.

[–] creekin111 13 years ago

If its too cold and there's too much ice then the whales are screwed if there's not enough ice then the polar bears are screwed. Stupid ice. Why can't humans stop the climate from changing! :-P

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] tflynn-7 12 years ago

This would have been a great movie if they had not thrown their political views into the mix. Hollywood just can't miss an opportunity to throw their liberal slant on everything.

[–] bensentl 10 years ago

It was a movie about saving whales. What the heck did you expect. Seriously.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] catscratch2000 9 years ago

Yes I remember when this happened and the baby was definitely named Bone because sadly he had worn his nose down to the bone from hitting on the ice, and it's mostly likely the reason he died. I don't know why movies insist on changing details like this.

[–] raykay770-88-309833 13 years ago

They explain that the baby is a boy and Pepples was a girls name. Doesn't explain why they didn't go with Barney and Betty but there you go.

[–] Promontorium 13 years ago

I'll post this reply again, since I still think it's valid.

Pebbles is a cartoon character, and Pebbles is not a girl's name, it's a multitude of small rocks. These were whales, not people. It wouldn't make any difference to anyone if they called a male whale Pebbles. But since it isn't even historically accurate, it takes the stupidity into the stratosphere.

[–] One_Man_Army 13 years ago

It doesn't matter if they were whales or people. They can STILL be called Pebbles. You see, just as a person can name an animal whatever they want, they can name their child whatever they want. Seriously, just do a search for "people named Pebbles" in Google and see what you come up with. There are almost 2 dozen Pebbles Martins living in 6 different states. Not to mention the handful of Pebbles Robinsons, Browns, and Harrises living in a half dozen others. Or even the several other Pebbles mentioned throughout the US on sites such as whitepages.com. I mean, just go to whitepages.com and do a search for the first name Pebbles. I did. After doing so, it asked me for a last name to continue my search. However, on the right it indicates that there are 3,745 social profiles for those whose first names were Pebbles. So much for people not being named Pebbles, huh?

Never give in. Never give up. Never surrender.

[–] AnUnnamedGalaxy 13 years ago

Yes they can name it Pebbles if they so chose, but seeing as how they were naming them for specific characters then it only makes sense to go with the same gender.

You certainly can name your male dog Marylin Monroe or your female dog Al Pacino but people will just naturally assume that Al Pacino is a male dog and Marylin a female and you'll be seen as a loony when you try to explain.

Having the parents being Fred and Wilma and then naming their male child Pebbles would be nonsensical when you consider the naming pattern.

They should have named the parents Barney and Betty or just chosen to stick to the real names given to the whales.

[–] MirrorofReflection 13 years ago

I came on here for the exact same thing OP.
It really annoys me, not going to go see the movie because of this tiny flaw.

[–] moviewizguy 13 years ago

And the fact that the film does address the issue is so ironic, isn't it?

[–] MirrorofReflection 13 years ago

No, it makes it worse. Why didn't those idiots name them Barney and Betty (the couple who's child IS Bam Bam)?

[–] moviewizguy 13 years ago

Because they named the parents first.

[–] Carycomic 13 years ago

It's what the real whales were nicknamed at the time, eppichs. And, I find it refreshing that Hollywood stuck with that (along with most of the other historical facts).

[–] matthias2k1 13 years ago

I came on here to say the exact same thing, OP. Or they coulda gone another route and named them Fred, Wilma, & Shaggy or Scooby. Leave the first 2 names the same, but change the last one or the other way around. Either way, if I had anything to do with this film, the names woulda been accurate. Who was the idiot in charge of this?

[–] Carycomic 13 years ago

Probably the same one who WISELY AND RIGHTLY decided to maintain historical authenticity with regard to what the real-life gray whales had been called.

[–] Carycomic 13 years ago

English translation: if the actual whales were nicknamed "Fred, Wilma, and Bamm-Bamm," back in 1988, then all this complaining is useless. So, live with it.

[–] offramp_tavanipupu 13 years ago

Eppichs you are absolutely right. The film-makers shot themselves in the foot! Their choice of names makes NO sense whatsoever.

[–] Carycomic 12 years ago

I've said it before, Off-base et al. So, I'll say it again. IT IS WHAT ALL THREE WHALES WERE CALLED AT THE TIME OF THE REAL LIFE-SAVING OPERATIONS. AND, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE WRITERS NOT REVISING THAT PART OF THE HISTORY! SO GET OVER IT!!

Case permanently closed.

[–] Firefly69 12 years ago

Umm..Wow. You need to calm down a bit. Wow.

And actually, the whale names in the movie are NOT the same as the real-life whales in 1988 that this story is based on. They were given the inuit names Putu, Siku and Kanik and the english names of Bonnet, Crossbeak and Bone. Bone is the young whale who died. (I believe someone else mentioned this as well...)

So jump off your high-horse and settle down a bit. Its really not that big of a deal.

But I still say that it really is kinda dumb to call them Fred, Wilma and Bambam in the movie instead of Barney, Betty and Bambam. haha! :)

[–] acb132 13 years ago

Yeah that was one thing that seemed a bit questionable. Why the need to change that?

[–] jjmacjr 12 years ago

To answer your question--why bam bam? They did address it in the movie. Simply, Pebbles was a girl, and Bam Bam was a boy. The baby whale was a boy. Seems this thread got off the point

[–] Firefly69 12 years ago

Yes- but then why not Barney, Betty and Bambam! Strange...