I never really discovered Gumby until college when one of my professors talked about him and Art Clokey's early use of stop motion animation. For the longest time I wondered where the hell the toy with all the teethmarks I made in it as a child came from. I nearly peed myself to learn so much about Gumby and his pony pal Pokey all at once. From there I tried to find all the animated short films staring Gumby that I could.
I loved the way that Gumby would just skate along the library until he found a book that he liked. Then he would enter the book and have adventures based on the story within. Pokey was the red horse who like Robin, always needed to be saved for one reason or another.
Especially comical were the two blockheads (and yes their heads were square) who were Gumby's arch foes. While Gumby was kind and helpful, they were mean troublemakers. Everything in a Gumby short was pretty much black and white.
Even the theme song was great. I loved the way the kids yell out GUMBY! before the show began. It encouraged kids to let everyone around them know that they best not mess with the dial on the TV lest they suffer the wrath of Gumby.
So thank you Art Clokey for having a vision and bringing us something unique.
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6 comments:
I had a Gumby as a child, and stuffed him into the ceramic base of the living room lamp. We could never really get him out. I stuffed him in there pretty good.
Pearl
Seriously!? First the inventor of Pez, and now Art Clokey? Those two seem oddly paired, I shudder to think who might be 'third.'
Very sad news. :(
Gumby was cool, but don't forget about his pony pal Pokey and prickle.
So sad.
Very sad to hear this. Love Gumby. My favorite episode was where Gumby was abducted by the grey aliens. Good stuff.
Saturday mornings were cartoon gold.
Sunday mornings were cartoon bizarre.
Gumby was one of them. Weird! But fun, too.
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