# 7 Grand Dad 7 Grand Dad is a 1992 bootleg NES game that hacked The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino and Hoppy, slapping a crude Mario head onto Fred Flintstone's sprite. The game sat in obscurity for over two decades until Twitch streamer Vinesauce Joel discovered it during a September 2014 stream, and his baffled reaction turned "GRAND DAD" and "FLEENTSTONES" into lasting inside jokes across the Vinesauce community and the SiIvaGunner YouTube channel. ## Origin The game itself was manufactured by JY Company and released in Taiwan around 1992[1]. Like many NES bootlegs of that era, it made its way online as a ROM file around 1996, circulating through bootleg game collector communities[3]. For years it was a minor curiosity in those circles, known for its lazy sprite edits and weird title screen, but not much else. Interest faded and the game drifted back into obscurity[3]. That changed on September 4, 2014, when Twitch streamer Vargskelethor, better known as Joel from the Vinesauce streaming collective, stumbled across 7 Grand Dad while playing through a bootleg Mario 7-in-1 multicart on stream[3]. Joel's genuine bewilderment at the title screen produced an instant classic reaction: he shouted "GRAND DAD" repeatedly, then attempted to read "Flintstones" in a way that sounded like "FLEENTSTONES," which became its own meme within the community[3]. - **Platform:** Vinesauce Joel's Twitch stream (viral meme), JY Company bootleg cartridge (source game) - **Creator:** JY Company (bootleg game developer), Vinesauce Joel (popularizer) - **Date:** 1992 (game), 2014 (meme) ## Overview 7 Grand Dad is an unlicensed NES cartridge published by JY Company, a Taiwanese bootleg manufacturer, in 1992[1]. The game is a simple ROM hack of Konami's The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino and Hoppy. The only real modification to gameplay is that Fred Flintstone's in-game head sprite was swapped to look like Mario, while the rest of his body stayed the same[1]. The title screen features a bizarre Mario-like character lifted from another bootleg game called Dian Shi Ma Li, standing next to the "7 GRAND DAD" logo while an 8-bit rendition of The Flintstones theme plays[3]. The cartridge label adds to the absurdity. It features art similar to another bootleg hack called Mario IV, and the English text on the label helpfully instructs players to "Push Up + Start button. Get addition game. And nourish the blood"[1]. ## How It Spread After Joel's stream clip spread through the Vinesauce community, 7 Grand Dad became a recurring in-joke. Fans started remixing Joel's audio clips, splicing together his exclamations of "Grand Dad" and "Flintstones" into new edits[3]. The meme got a second life through the YouTube channel SiIvaGunner (originally styled "GiIvaSunner"), which built its identity around posting fake video game music rips that secretly contained other songs[3]. The Flintstones theme became one of SiIvaGunner's most frequently used bait-and-switch tracks, sneaked into uploads supposedly containing music from completely unrelated games[3]. This gave 7 Grand Dad exposure far beyond the Vinesauce fanbase, as unsuspecting viewers clicking on what they thought was a normal game soundtrack would instead hear the familiar Flintstones melody. The game's title screen character, with his half-Mario, half-Fred-Flintstone appearance, also became a popular reaction image and avatar in gaming communities. Urban Dictionary entries define the game through Joel's reaction, with users quoting his stream verbatim[2]. ## How to Use The 7 Grand Dad meme typically shows up in a few formats: - **The reaction clip:** Sharing Joel's original stream reaction (or clips of it) when encountering something absurd, low-effort, or bootleg-quality. The sheer confusion in his voice is the joke. - **FLEENTSTONES text:** Writing "FLEENTSTONES" (or similar distortions) as a reference to Joel's pronunciation. Often used as a non-sequitur punchline. - **Flintstones theme bait-and-switch:** In the SiIvaGunner tradition, users mix the Flintstones theme into unrelated audio or video content as a surprise punchline. - **The title screen image:** The awkward Mario/Flintstone hybrid character from the title screen gets used as a reaction image for bootleg, knockoff, or "close enough" situations. The meme works best when something is hilariously off-brand, poorly copied, or confusingly mislabeled. ## Cultural Impact Within the Vinesauce and SiIvaGunner communities, 7 Grand Dad became a foundational meme. The Flintstones theme's association with bait-and-switch audio edits is directly traceable to this bootleg game's connection to Joel's stream. SiIvaGunner's channel, which accumulated millions of subscribers, used the Flintstones theme as one of its core running gags[3]. The game also brought renewed attention to the world of NES bootleg collecting. The Cutting Room Floor, a wiki dedicated to documenting unused and hidden content in games, maintains a detailed technical breakdown of 7 Grand Dad's ROM, including unused graphics, debug menus, and leftover code from the original Flintstones game[1]. Analysis revealed the bootleg was based on the US version of the original game, with trademark names deliberately crossed out in the ROM data[1]. ## Fun Facts - The game contains a hidden level select activated by pressing Select on the title screen, but it was programmed incorrectly and scrambles the stage order until you die[1]. - Pressing Up + Start during gameplay gives you 3 hearts and lives. The cartridge label actually documents this cheat, though in hilariously broken English: "Push Up + Start button. Get addition game. And nourish the blood"[1]. - The title screen Mario character is missing part of his right leg. The tiles for the knee exist unused in the ROM, and other bootlegs using the same character display him correctly[1]. - The original Taito logo from The Flintstones is still loaded in the game's memory but hidden behind the 7 Grand Dad title screen graphics[1]. - The ROM contains leftover copyright text from the original game with trademark names crossed out using X characters, but curiously, "Flintstones" was left intact[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is 7 Grand Dad? 7 Grand Dad is a 1992 bootleg NES game that hacks The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino and Hoppy, replacing Fred Flintstone's head with a Mario-like sprite[1]. It became an internet meme after streamer Vinesauce Joel's bewildered reaction to it in 2014[3]. ### Where did 7 Grand Dad come from? The game was published by JY Company in Taiwan in 1992 as an unlicensed NES cartridge[1]. The meme originated from Vinesauce Joel's Twitch stream on September 4, 2014, when he found it on a bootleg multicart[3]. ### What does 7 Grand Dad mean? The title's meaning is unclear and likely a poor translation. The cartridge was also labeled "Primitive Mario VII" in its art[1]. As a meme, shouting "GRAND DAD" expresses bewilderment at something absurd or bootleg-quality[2]. ### How do you use 7 Grand Dad? The meme is commonly used by sharing Joel's reaction clip, writing "FLEENTSTONES" as a non-sequitur, or sneaking the Flintstones theme into unrelated audio in the SiIvaGunner tradition[3]. ### Is 7 Grand Dad still popular? The meme peaked in the mid-2010s through Vinesauce and SiIvaGunner communities. It still circulates in gaming and bootleg collector circles, though it's less prominent than during its 2014-2016 peak[3]. ### What is the connection between 7 Grand Dad and SiIvaGunner? SiIvaGunner adopted the Flintstones theme as one of its core bait-and-switch audio gags, hiding it inside fake video game music uploads. This connection traces directly back to 7 Grand Dad's Flintstones soundtrack[3]. ### What does "FLEENTSTONES" mean? "FLEENTSTONES" is a phonetic rendering of how Joel pronounced "Flintstones" during his original 2014 stream reaction. Fans adopted the misspelling as part of the meme[3]. ### Is 7 Grand Dad a real game you can play? Yes. It's a functional NES game based on The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino and Hoppy with cosmetic sprite changes. The ROM has been widely available online since the mid-1990s[1]. ### What is Dian Shi Ma Li and how does it connect? Dian Shi Ma Li is another bootleg game that features the same Mario-like title screen character. 7 Grand Dad borrowed and modified this character for its own title screen, though it displays him with a partially missing leg[1]. ### Are there hidden cheats in 7 Grand Dad? Yes. Pressing Select on the title screen activates a broken level select, and pressing Up + Start during gameplay grants extra hearts and lives[1]. ## References 1. [Before you continue]() 2. [Google Translate]() 3. [7 Grand Dad - The Cutting Room Floor]() 4. [7 Grand Dad - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Grandparent]() 6. [7 Grand Dad - Urban Dictionary]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/7-grand-dad Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library