Category Archives: News
Gumby Central Celebrates
It’s a new year, and the days are marching on. Gumby and Pokey are hamming it up to bring you some creative and heart-felt holiday greetings and visuals of their escapades. If you haven’t had a chance to visit “Gumby Central,” Gumby’s official Facebook page, then be sure to check it out now. Like the page, enjoy the postings and share them with your friends. Get the latest tweets by following “Gumby Central” on Twitter. Here are a few snippets of what you’ve been missing…
Happy Valentine’s Day! How are you showing your friends and loved ones how much they mean to you? Gumby’s into handmade things, so he’s been hard at work, cutting and pasting. Meanwhile, Pokey has other ideas… he’s found that box of chocolates that were hidden in the closet. Hey, Pokey, please save some for the rest of us!
Rewind to January: Gumby and Pokey rang in 2013 with their friends, toasting with carrot juice, Gumby’s favorite beverage. Those blustery winter days were cold, but fun. Gumby, Pokey and the Blockheads braved the weather for a sledding adventure.
Gumby and Pokey just couldn’t sit still for the Superbowl. They suited up and helped out their favorite teams. Then, it was off to join in a couple of festive parades for Mardi Gras and Chinese New Year.
Stayed tuned for more of Gumby and Pokey’s excursions, celebrations and words of wisdom. Like Gumby Central on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to be the first to see what our favorite precocious clay friends have been doing. See you there!
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Calling All Gumby Fans! GumbyCentral is Now Live!
GumbyCentral, the official social media source for all things Gumby, is looking for a few million fans. We know you’re out there! We’ve gotten truckloads of mail and terabytes of emails over the years from fans who want to express their appreciation, have questions or want to know what’s new. Now you can become a fan of GumbyCentral on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our YouTube station to keep up on Gumby’s newest news.
Gumby fans are everywhere. Online you can find creative videos by long-time Gumby aficionados who hop into a Gumby costume for some interesting break dance maneuvers and unbelievable crazy antics. Others photograph or film their Gumby bendable figure in exotic locations. Fans show their love for Gumby offline by sporting Gumby hairdos and donning Gumby-inspired green apparel. You may have even seen a Gumby and Pokey or two roaming the streets. Hint: they are often seen at major sporting events. During a trip to northeastern Ohio not long ago, we ended up behind a custom-painted, Gumby-green car with Gumby license plates. Gumby creator Art Clokey would have loved the ingenuity.
Art created Gumby as a gift of love for all children and the child within us. The character captures the spirit of wonder, adventure and imagination. Gumby takes us to new worlds and opens our eyes and hearts. “If you’ve got a heart, then Gumby’s a part of you.”
Show your Gumby spirit, and join us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube!
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Introducing: Gumby Dharma
Biography of Art Clokey, Gumby Creator
Documentary – Available on DVD.
In honor Art Clokey’s many creative accomplishments and impact on the film industry, we are proud to introduce Gumby Dharma. This Emmy Award winning documentary captures the fascinating life of Art Clokey and his famous creations Gumby and Pokey and Davey and Goliath. From the mud (called gumbo) on his grandparents’ farm in the Midwest to his many adventures with his adopted father out west, you’ll see the myriad of influences on Art’s life and how they translated into iconic characters, which the world has embraced.
Art’s life takes us from the seminary to the Hollywood movie business, and from traditional Episcopalian values to Buddhism and Indian Holy men. His world famous stop motion animation characters reflect the message of love that Art and his wife Ruth wanted to give the world, while at the same time, his revolutionary kinesthetic filming techniques combined with a real life clay animated world is still ahead of its time. Interviews with contemporary leaders in animation including Director Henry Selick (Coraline, Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach) and special effects legend Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts, Adventures of Sinbad), along with Art himself give texture to this riveting movie. From his groundbreaking art film Gumbasia to his surrealistic masterpiece Mandala, you’ll see a life that is honest and rich with art. The tapestry of Art’s life is a classic American story of growth and transformation. With all of life’s tragedies and triumphs, Art finds the nuggets to create a rich mosaic of adventure and joy for all of us to enjoy. Also interviewed are his stars Gumby and Pokey (featuring new stop motion directed by Academy Award© Nominee Timothy Hittle) who come “offstage” to reveal the more personal facets of Clokey’s story. In this film, we uncover how Art’s animation and personal brand of love of life has influenced millions of TV and film viewers and filmmakers across the world for more than half a century.
A Clip from Gumby Dharma
DVD: 54 min. Includes a restored print of Gumbasia.
Read More »Let Your Inner Gumby Out!
Approved Uses for the Gumby Costume
With Halloween just around the corner, we’re pulling out our Gumby and Pokey costumes. The new Gumby costume has been incredibly popular—and not just for Halloween. Gumby costumes are popping up everywhere. We’ve heard about fans who keep the costumes in the trunks of their cars for easy access when they happen to be in situation that invites a green laugh or two. Need a character for your next video? Check. Need to entertain guests at a birthday party? Check. Need to dress up for a parade? Check. Gumby’s ready to go.
Gumby’s no stranger to the sports arena. One of the most common uses for the Gumby costume is to cheer teams on at nationally televised basketball, baseball and football games.
We’ve seen Gumby a number of times cheering from the stands on ESPN coverage of college basketball games, even from the front row. The Milwaukee Bucks have an “official Gumby fan” who made his own outfit. The Bucks star player sports a Gumby haircut. There is another player, on the Green Bay Packers, whose nickname is Gumby. Gumby and sports—it makes sense. Gumby is known for his flexibility and tenacity to succeed. He stretches for excellence.
We at Gumby Central love all of these. Art Clokey, Gumby creator, would have been honored. A true pioneer in stop motion animation who always pushed the envelope of the imagination and had a great sense of humor… that’s Art Clokey. The creativity that fans show is true to Gumby’s positive, enthusiastic spirit. Keep ‘em coming, and keep ‘em legal—unlike this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgJyUwpOsmw
We’ll be sharing some of the fun ideas we come across on GumbyCentral, Gumby’s official social media sites. So you’ll want to become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Send us your favorite Gumby-inspired costume shots, and we may feature one in the Gumby Fans Hall of Fame or in a future blog post. Email us here.
Happy Halloween from Gumbyworld.com!
P.S. Don’t forget Gumby’s pal Pokey—he has a costume, too.
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Kiss Me I’m Green
This month we are celebrating the color GREEN. Leprechauns and shamrocks, spring plants stretching towards the sun, a fresh lawn… Can you smell the green? Gumby in all his greenness was there in 1956 before most people had color TV’s. In fact, The Gumby Show first appeared on TV on March 16, in 1957—the day before St. Patrick’s Day. The green trend was on… the Jolly Green Giant, the Incredible Hulk, Kermit the Frog and Shrek followed.
According to creator Art Clokey, green represents chlorophyll, which converts light into energy, allowing things to grow and move. The color green breathed life into Gumby. Gumby was the Clokeys’ gift of love to all children. Art would say that love is light, and chlorophyll facilitates the transformation from light to life… Light – Energy – Love are the ingredients of Gumby.
Art felt that it was important to speak children of all ethnicities. He wanted his little clay boy to be accessible to children around the world, and he chose green because it is a culturally neutral color. In the fascinating documentary, Gumby Dharma, which chronicles Art’s life and his creative endeavors, Art mentions that Gumby couldn’t be red, white, yellow, brown, or black as those colors had specific connotations. Blue was the color of Krishna, so that wouldn’t work. The color green, as he saw it, was universal and available.
In later years Gumby’s greenness also related to various story lines in which Gumby fought factory chicken farms and pesticide use and promoted organic farming. “Green” took on a whole new meaning.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all!
To celebrate GREEN, The Gumby Store at www.gumbyworld.com is offering 25%-30% off green t-shirts through the month of March, 2012. Get some green and save some green! Check it out.