The Gumby Show

Art Clokey was arguably the first man to do claymation (although this is incorrect, as an early French silent short film entitled "Modern Sculptors" (1908) did the technique) and as such an important figure in animation history. His first film that utilized the technique was an abstract one, created while still a college student - a three-minute feature entitled "Gumbasia" (1955). From this brief independent art film alone, "The Gumby Show" was born, thanks to film producer Sam Engel who realized Clokey's potential. What followed from the fifteen-minute Gumby short "Moon Trip" (which I haven't seen) was an entire TV series centered around the clay boy Gumby, his horse Pokey and his dog Nopey, which remained significant in television history as being the first claymation series.

In terms of visual merits, "The Gumby Show" is quite a success: superb animation, interesting stories and fantastic ideas. Being a clay boy, Gumby can do virtually anything - walk into books, use his imagination to create a car out of thin air to win a race, and more. The episodes are creative and clever, with some having no plot and relying mainly on visuals alone (such as "Tricky Train" and "Toying Around") which are quite enjoyable, while others have unique stories to tell ("Gumby Crosses the Delaware" and "Sad King Ott's Daughter"). In general, each episode is always fun to see, and while maybe somewhat outdated-looking today, it retains its entertainment value through the interesting visuals.

On the technical side, the series is rather poor in places, and gives the viewer the assumption that it was meant to be more for kids aged ten and under. The early episodes are more primitive in terms of syncing speech with mouths (Gumby had a much larger mouth originally), but the later ones fix this problem by making Gumby's mouth smaller and changing his look some. Dialogue is mostly horrible and cringey to hear these days, sounding as if it was written by a five-year-old, which is no surprise considering Clokey was an animator, not a writer (although I'm not sure if he wrote the episodes). The voice acting is alright, but is again somewhat amateurish, mainly due to how forced the dialogue is in the first place. These nitpicks definitely show the series was going for a younger audience - so if one was to watch it, it would probably tend to be for the imagination and creativity alone rather than as being a truly 'good' show. Or maybe it was intended to be more like a family show for everyone - in which case, the technical flaws mentioned truly are problematic by today's and possibly the 50's and 60's standards.

Nonetheless, "The Gumby Show" is a fun series to watch, with plenty of enjoyable episodes and being just good, lighthearted and entertaining fun overall. It has a certain charm that for many audiences today would make it work on its own level, and for being the first show of its kind it is probably among the best. Clokey's later claymation show "Davy and Goliath" was more realistic in premise and hence not as fun when seen on the standards of this one.

(*Lyrics excerpt from the "Gumby" theme song*) - "He was once a little, green slab of clay."

(*Gumby trivia*) - Gumby's last name is Gumba (Yep. That makes him Gumby Gumba) and he lives in a place called Gumbopolis, USA.

If you ask me - I'd say that "The Gumby Show" (in its toyland-type setting) was the original "Toy Story" if there ever was one.

Created by American animator, Art Clokey - "The Gumby Show" was first aired on TV in 1957. The Plasticine characters featured in the show were all brought to life through the technique known as "stop-motion animation" which required hours of preparation and set-up work.

I found this show to be quite an imaginative one whose action sequences were all fairly tame and low-keyed when compared to the ultra-violence that prevailed in Warner Bros. "Looney Tunes".

Though 60 years old now - I believe that "The Gumby Show" still remains an entertaining program that can certainly be enjoyed today by both the young and the young-at-heart, alike.

*Note* - In 2010, Art Clokey (who was originally from Detroit, Michigan) died at the age of 88.

Gumby was, and still is, a very innovative show. I usually watch it around 12:30 AM on Cartoon Network because it is very hard to find on any other station, morning or night. Gumby was more of an experiment than anything else, and a somewhat successful one, take for example the DANNY! talk show, one season. The lesson learned, Jonathan Taylor Thomas will be gone, eventually, FOREVER!!. But I lose my place. Gumby stretched the limits of what a flat piece of green clay can do. Gumby was a sort of predecessor to all kiddie cartoons (this was 1957). Gumby had fictional violence which you just get up and shrug off an assault by a robot or steamroller crush and then whale the tar out of the antagonist. The Gumby Show also had a cute little band, not much, but surpassing the Archie, Josie & The Pussycat and Jabberjaw cartoons (where do they get off, anyway?). Gumby does have his flaws, mainly the dialogue sounds like a bunch of words taped together and then sent through a tin can and being 100% reliant on claymation. But these problems can detract or enhance the Gumby experience, it depends on the viewer. END

The 1950's Gumby claymation series has always startled and amazed with its imaginative plots and characterizations. The playful worlds (and moods) created by the steady artistry of Art Clokey (Gumby's creator) continue to mesmerize the youthful hearts and minds of millions.

Gumby is cheerfully captivating - with episode titles like Chicken Feed, Hot Rod Granny, The Zoops, Moon Trip, and King for a Day. The adventures of Gumby (and his pals Pokey, Prickle & Goo) will forever be etched in your mind, so don't miss out. I'd advise all curious readers to purchase any original episodes flying around (for just a few dollars) and don't forget to share them with your kids!

Gumby (along with his other claymation pals and nemesis) is a happy-go-lucky little green character who was imaginatively created by Art Clokey (1922-2010) back in the mid-1950s.

Since the original TV broadcasting of this entertaining series - Gumby has become an influential pop culture icon, spawning tributes, parodies and merchandising.