Dalbert Pringle
(*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.
Randall Phillip
Here is an email I sent to Rhino: "I recently bought the Gumby boxset and nearly threw up at what you did to the series. For reasons that can only be attributed to severe mental retardation and brain damage, or just a callous disregard, the powers-that-be at Rhino had the sheer gall to eliminate the original Gumby theme song and replace it with some bland soulless aural-feces. It's truly incomprehensible as to why anyone would do this. You also redid the voices and sound effects which were a signature of the series. Some of the charm of Gumby were the voices and great sound effects. It almost makes the episodes in this DVD box set unwatchable, knowing how great they were originally. It's a tragedy that the Gumby episodes will be forever preserved in this repulsive manner. I really think Rhino owes Gumby fans an apology for this mishandling of this classic." ............ And here is their response: "Dear Mr. Cohen, I apologize for the tardiness of this response and am sorry that you are disappointed with this release. We were not able to license the original voices & music, so the elements from the sydicated (sic) re-runs in the 80s were used. If you would like to return your boxed set for a refund, please send it to:" yadda yadda.............So, now we know the reasons. Sad to say the least. For hardcore fans, hunt down the VHS episodes (not the Rhino releases, obviously), which are readily available on Ebay and Half.com. The quality of the videos vary, but at least you get to see the show as close to as it was meant to be seen.
Psychist
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
PJS-5
(1957),Sure you see Cheap Live-action films as potential MST3K films(I'm aware that a certain gumby short "Robot Rumpus" was the MST3K short for episode "The Screaming Skull")but you gotta admit seeing basic claymation is a lot more fascinating than cheap live action(I'm also aware of my wording),& the plots are fascinating so the characters (I even thought the obvious live-action scenes look kinda cool) but the dialogue & sometimes the voice acting is kinda lame. (1988)so they placed in weaker plots (the jousting with the dark knight for ex. & the fact Gumby & his friend are in a band,& Gumby's barnyard friends look a bit more basic animatronic(the chicken,Telley & yes a woolly mammoth),but it still has the highly intriguing characters this time smoother claymation & some of the plots were still interesting. Even though I give this the same rating as the original I personally thought the original was better.
