Gumby 1

I had an interesting triple feature today. The first three quarters of the "Gumby" movie, then "Fight Club", then the rest of "Gumby". I don't know why I mentioned this but I guess it explains the mind set this review is getting written from.

All I really have to say about this movie is these three words. These three little magic words:

EVIL ROBOT GUMBY!

When I was a teen, I came up with what I thought could only be the best idea in the world. A "Terminator II" parody with the cast of "Gumby" gone bad. Art Clokey and I must be psychic friends or something because here we are with the Gumby movie, and it's Evil Robot Gumby.

Yes. Oh yes.

This movie rules.

When I was around ten years old, I watched some episodes of "The Gumby Show" on video. Since I liked what I saw, I then watched this full-length feature, which came nearly four decades after the birth of the stop-motion character's original TV show. "Gumby: The Movie" was not a disappointment for me, and the first time I watched it during my childhood wasn't my last. I have watched it again three times, I think all within the past year, and thought it was pretty good the first couple times, but it went slightly downhill for me with my latest viewing. While I watched "Gumby: The Movie" last night, I wasn't quite as impressed.

In this movie, Gumby is a member of a rock band called the Clayboys. The band has a studio on a farm, where they rehearse. As the band are on their way to their studio, along with Gumby's friends (Pokey, Goo, and Prickle), they learn that farmers are about to lose their homes, due to the fact that they cannot pay their debts. The Clayboys decide to hold a benefit concert for these troubled farmers. Unfortunately, the evil Blockheads, the ones who delivered the letters to the farmers, informing them of the bad news, are at the concert. When these two notice Gumby's dog, Lowbelly, crying pearls, they begin to record the music. After the show, the Blockheads kidnap Lowbelly, so they can play the recording they have of the Clayboys' music, and have him cry more pearls so they can get rich! However, they discover that Lowbelly will only cry pearls when he hears the music live, so the two villains now intend to kidnap the band members as well!

"Gumby: The Movie" may have more for kids than for adults, but it's not strictly for kids. During previous recent viewings, I certainly wasn't blown away, but thought it reasonably entertaining, with some mild excitement, an occasional funny scene (such as the clumsy robot waiter in the café), and some interesting places the characters find themselves in when they enter books. When I last watched the film, I was entertained by these things for a while, but eventually, I found that it got tiring. I also found that some of the voice-overs are poor, although most of them are alright. I don't know, maybe I have now seen it too many times. However, since I liked the film more during previous viewings, and enjoyed a bit of it this time, I have to give it credit, and do recommend it for stop-motion fans of all ages. You just might not want to expect a masterpiece.

Gumby: The Movie

Claymation is typically a family run business on account it takes generations to film 8 minutes.

In fact, it took animators 36 years to make this 90-minute stop-motion feature film.

Lead singer and guitarist Gumby, his equine friend Pokey, and they rest of their rock band The Clayboys hold a benefit concert for their farmer friends who are being evicted by Blockhead E-Z Loan for missed mortgage payments.

During the showcase, the Blockheads kidnap Gumby's dog and then replace Gumby and his band mates with robotic replicas that wreck havoc around town.

Released in 1995, forty-years after the clay character debuted on Howdy Doody, this anniversary feature film has the low budget, retro feel of the original shorts. While the mortgage crisis plotline is advanced for younger viewers, the madcap supporting cast keeps everything loosey goosey.

And remember: always put Gumby back in his container or he'll harden and fragment. Yellow Light

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First let me say that my recollections of Gumby from childhood are very hazy. It's much easier to recall those skits of Eddie Murphy playing Gumby on Saturday Night Live, but that's because I see those re-runs on Comedy Central all the time. So as I saw Gumby: The Movie on the shelf at the video store, I wasn't interested in reminiscing my own early years, but more an idea of what that's supposed to be like.

When the tape went in and the movie came on, it was sheer joy from beginning to end. I watched this with several other people also, and made this observation: People who enjoyed Eyes Wide Shut (such as myself) also enjoyed Gumby: The Movie. People who did not enjoy Eyes Wide Shut... well you can guess. I am convinced that much of Kubrick's inspiration for his last work of art, came from Gumby: The Movie. You may think I am joking, but I am as serious as brain surgery.

The entire tone set in the beginning of the FILM, is dark and oooh oooh oooh mysterious. There's a darn drive-in theater on the moon. What does that say to you? Come on now. Gumby is nowhere to be found and Pokey is naturally upset. (Though not as upset as he will be when he melds with two other characters as a result of a tube slide accident.) Yet, even as he is upset, he delivers his lines with the same lack of panache as any other line in the screenplay.

Look at him! Pokey knows that Gumby will turn up somewhere, and they've been in a relationship for so long that you must appreciate the knowledge on their part of the routine. Pokey's been worried before and he recognizes that. Gumby and Pokey have done everything together, yet they somehow manage to honorably "sell-themselves" out one last time here. Old buddies out to make the world honest and pure.

It is entirely too complicated to go into the depth of what every single word from their clay mouths' implies, but it offers the questions and the answers are for you to figure out. Let me ask you this, Why is it that Gumby's dad is red? Shouldn't his parents be yellow and blue? What does this tell you? Gumby's dad is not actually Gumby's dad! But then who is he huh? And NO I was not intoxicated in any way while watching this film, I'm straight edge!

I'm positive that if you are interested in delving into the inner workings of films and not interested in taking things at face value, you will thoroughly enjoy Gumby: The Movie. So watch it again and again. By the way, Would you know you were human if nobody told you? And what kind of shock would it be if you happened to come across the word human in the dictionary?

Those who grew up with Gumby, like me, will find this a welcome step back into the boundless imagination of Art Clokey and his crew. Anybody else may find their mileage varies, unfortunately, because there really *isn't* anybody quite like Art Clokey. It's not mile-a-minute in its pacing, it's not laugh-a-minute in its comedy, it's not trying to be anything but More Gumby. So if you want more Gumby, this is it! Clokey brings back all your favorites -- Gumby, Pokey, Prickle, Goo, the Blockheads, and even some surprises -- and adds a few new characters on top of that. Nobody should miss the utterly psychedelic claymation of the last few minutes of the film, because it really is beautifully done. If you expect Aardman Animation or something modern, you should adjust my rating down a few points -- this probably isn't for you. But if you remember Gumby and would like just another short while with him and his friends, here's your chance.