Halo Composer Wrote Jingles for Flintstones Vitamins, Tidy Cats

A profile by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, calling Marty O’Donnell the John Williams of the Halo series, turns up this tidbit: He wrote the Flintstones Vitamins jingle (which you now have stuck in your head) and his kids sang the chorus.

That’s not news to hardcore fans (it’s all over the Halo wikis), but O’Donnell’s past as an adman deliver some neat details in this writeup of Bungie’s oldest (by age; he is 54) employee. He’s worked on the series since Bungie began work on it 10 years ago. And Halo 3: ODST bestowed an achievement in his honor; “Be Like Marty” awards 10 Gamerscore to anyone completing a Firefight round without killing a single enemy.

O’Donnell vows revenge for that.

Most of the young punks here have this unfounded belief that, because of my age, I’m not good at ‘Halo.’ This of course is not true. … The truth is, Marty has never actually “been like Marty.” At some point in the future, when they least expect it, I will pay them back for this.

I’d take that threat seriously, coming from the man who wrote the marching song for a generation of kids 10 million strong – and grooooowing.

‘Halo’ Wouldn’t be the Same without Evocative Music of Marty O’Donnell [Seattle Post-Intelligencer, thanks Ted]