A gumby post

March 25, 2002 8:26 PM

A gumby post for those sick of hopeless conflict posts and the like, inspired by the news that Rhino Video is about to release SEVEN DVDs containing the entire works of Gumby (it's not up on their site yet, so no link). More importantly, am I the only one who, as a kid, Gumby the scariest thing on television? Or perhaps Mefi's member base is too young to know about Gumby at all?
posted by ParisParamus (22 comments total)

Gumby's pal Pokey also gave good advice about drugs...
posted by jonmc at 8:32 PM on March 25, 2002

And speaking of SAT analogies:

Flintsones > Jetsons
Gumby&Pokey > Davey & Goliath
posted by ParisParamus at 8:39 PM on March 25, 2002

I heartily recommend The Gumby Movie. Rockin', trippy, goofy fun with fire engines, swordfights, a save-the-farm plot, Gumby's sister Gumba, guitar-shreddin' Gumby and even a Gumby groupie. See, Gumby's in a band, and the music they play is so great that Lowbelly (a dog) cries tears made of pearls when he hears it. The Blockheads find out about this and build a Gumby robot...

Flintsones > Jetsons
Gumby&Pokey > Davey & Goliath

I don't really see it, except that both were made by Art Clokey, Gumby's creator, who is one of the world's nicest men, by the way.
posted by rodii at 8:41 PM on March 25, 2002

Analogies are not comparisons.
posted by ParisParamus at 8:43 PM on March 25, 2002

i loved gumby. i've even got a stretchy pokey Action Figure and a smaller gumby around.
posted by moz at 8:48 PM on March 25, 2002

OH GOD YES THIS IS WONDERFUL NEWS

WHAT ABOUT DANGER MOUSE

I have a little poket with a cowboy hat. Pokey played guitar, if memory serves, though I disremember what gumby played. Drums?
posted by Settle at 8:57 PM on March 25, 2002

Analogies are not comparisons.

?
posted by rodii at 9:00 PM on March 25, 2002

I've got a Gumby CD. This may interest some of you fans. Ten tracks: "In Love With You Gumby" (Dweezil & Moon Unit Zappa); "Concrete and Clay" (Eddie Wade); "Zydeco Gumby Ya Ya" (Brave Combo); "Bend Me, Shape Me" (Donna McElroy); "Gumby We Love You" (Sly & Robbie); "I Like Gumby" (Jonathan Richman); "Pokey's Polka" (Brave Combo); "The Ballard of Gumby" (Rick Schulman); "We All Are Gumby" (Flo & Eddie); and "The Gumby Heart Song-Original TV Theme" (Frank Sinatra Jr).

Now, how might one go about sharing this with his friends?
posted by five fresh fish at 9:03 PM on March 25, 2002

there was a good feature about Gumby and Clokey this morning on NPR's Morning Edition
posted by milkman at 9:07 PM on March 25, 2002

Those Blockheads always scared me more than Gumby or Pokey. They were always up to no good. Troublemakers is what they were.

Blockheads and Sleestacks gave me many nights of youthful angst.

Oh yeah - the 7 DVD set is on Amazon here.
posted by kokogiak at 11:40 PM on March 25, 2002

I ended up with a mint 12" gumby figure buried in the bottom of a box of C64 bits I bought at a swapmeet. Ended up selling just the Gumby on eBay for 2.5 times what I paid for the whole huge C64 collection and all. It's a popular character.
posted by krisjohn at 2:54 AM on March 26, 2002

Blockheads and Sleestacks - Evil Evil!
posted by ewwgene at 5:58 AM on March 26, 2002

Speaking of Art Cloaky, has anyone else seen the Davey and Goliath Mountain Dew commercials?

Is nothing sacred?
posted by bondcliff at 7:16 AM on March 26, 2002

He was just a little green ball of clay.....GUMBY!
But you should see what Gumby can do today.....GUMBY!

My favorite Gumby episodes are the ones where he and Pokey go inside the story books. Some of the early Gumby cartoons are a bit surreal, where Gumby really is more like a ball of clay that can take different shapes.
posted by briank at 7:17 AM on March 26, 2002

Gumby is now, and has always been, the personification of evil. I still can't watch Gumby without freaking.
posted by aramaic at 7:33 AM on March 26, 2002

I can't believe nobody's done this yet.

I'M GUMBY, DAMMIT!
posted by yhbc at 7:48 AM on March 26, 2002

Pokey always said, "I don't believe in Goo, but I'm afraid of her." Well, I believe in Goo, and the only thing that scares me is Gumby.
posted by delapohl at 8:01 AM on March 26, 2002

I missed the whole Gumby as icon thing when I was growing up. I don't know if it's when I was growing up (I'm 32) or where I was growing up (Omaha, NE), but I think I've only seen like 2 episodes and that long after the magic of childhood.

I'm with you yhbc, when I think of Gumby, I think of SNL. It's the only cultural reference I have for the little clay dude. In fact speaking of SNL, would I be wrong in thinking that Mr. Bill was also a spoof of Gumby?
posted by willnot at 8:17 AM on March 26, 2002

I have been Gumby for Halloween about 12 times since I bought the custom when I was 15.
posted by elvissinatra at 9:19 AM on March 26, 2002

Rhino hrm. The relicensers of crap.

The symbol of the Rokkako group, the sinistar multinational corporation seeking to control culture, in the game Jet grind radio was a rhino.

Coincidence? I think not!
posted by delmoi at 12:37 PM on March 26, 2002

Rhino hrm. The relicensers of crap.

Blasphemer.

True, Rhino are part of evil globomegacorp, AOL/TimeWarner, but you can tell that their box sets are put together by people who actual fans, not number crunchers, which is why they are so succesful at what they do.
posted by jonmc at 12:45 PM on March 26, 2002 [1 favorite]

would I be wrong in thinking that Mr. Bill was also a spoof of Gumby? Gumby, and lots of the rest of that generation of SNL was a ripoff of Uncle Floyd.
posted by ParisParamus at 1:27 PM on March 26, 2002