The Gumby Story by Linda Rosenkrantz on Creators.com

Recently

FDR'S Fala and the Fad for Scotties There has been any number of well-known presidential pooches in modern history, including Richard Nixon's infamous spaniel, Checkers; LBJ's beagles, Him and Her; Gerald Ford's golden retriever, Liberty (much spoofed by Chevy Chase in the early days …Read more. The Yo-Yo Story The yo-yo, like many other things, has been around for so long that we tend to take it completely for granted, not thinking about how it originated or, for that matter, how it got its distinctive name. But now that the yo-yo is becoming something of …Read more. Recollecting and Collecting Mutt and Jeff Even today, more than a century after they entered the realm of popular culture, this comic-strip team's name is part of the common vernacular — put a tall guy and a short guy next to each other and they'll almost inevitably still be called …Read more. For Collectors, the Milkman Cometh You may have noticed that glass milk bottles are gradually reappearing on supermarket shelves, bringing them back into the modern era. But for people of a certain age, there is still no sound quite as nostalgic as the clink of milk bottles jangling …Read more.

The Gumby Story

We all know Gumby, but do we have the slightest clue about his origins? Did he start life as a rubber toy? Was he first an animated cartoon character? Did he originate in a comic strip?

None of the above.

The answer is: He was a creature of television. Gumby was introduced on the iconic early kids' show "Howdy Doody" in 1956. He and his talking pony, Pokey, were movable clay figures whose adventures were filmed using a then-innovative process of stop-motion animation. On March 16, 1957, "The Gumby Show" was spun off as a children's Saturday morning program, first hosted by Bobby Nicholson, who had played both Clarabell the Clown and Cornelius Cobb on "Howdy Doody," and later by comedian Pinky Lee. All in all, there would be 233 episodes of the series, spanning more than 35 years.

The gingerbread man-like character was created by Art Clokey — who died earlier this year — shortly after he graduated from the USC film school in the early 1950s and began making geometric and humanoid figures out of plasticine clay, then moving them to jazz scores. He filmed an oddball little feature called "Gumbasia" in 1953, which was seen by producer Sam Engle, who pronounced it "the most eccentric film I have ever seen in my life."

Backed by Engle, Clokey put together a Gumby pilot and showed it to the networks. NBC fell for the malleable green boy and signed Clokey to produce "The Adventures of Gumby" for "The Howdy Doody Show." It wasn't until several years later that the first Gumby toy was marketed, becoming an instant hit.

But by the late '70s, Gumby was fading fast. The show had been dropped and the doll was off the market. Then, the story goes, Clokey and his wife went to India to see a guru named Sathya Sai Baba. After some holy ashes were dropped onto a Gumby doll, things began to turn around. A new rash of Gumbymania swept through the nation, culminating in an $8 million deal with Lorimar-Telepictures for an all-new Gumby series debuting in late 1988 and featuring the green guy; his father, Gumbo; his mother, Gumba; and his little sister, Minga; as well as his girlfriend, Tara; his dog named Nopey; Prickle, a yellow dinosaur-detective; Goo, a flying blue mermaid; and their nemeses, the red-colored humanoid Blockheads.

It's interesting to note that several of the clay animators who worked on this later series went on to work for Pixar and other studios.

At one point, Buena Vista records put out a Gumby anthology featuring such deathless tunes as "(In Love) With You Gumby," by Dweezil and Moon Unit Zappa; "The Gumby Heart Song" sung by Frank Sinatra Jr., and Flo & Eddie's rendition of "We Are All Gumby."

That record is just one of the many items of Gumby memorabilia available to the die-hard fan. In addition to the molded gum rubber figures of Gumby and Pokey, there was a 9-inch hand puppet with a vinyl head and cloth hand cover made by Lakeside Toys in 1965 and, from the same company, c. 1966, the Adventures of Gumby Electric Drawing Set, containing a lighted plastic drawing stand, 12 illustrated drawing streets depicting Gumby and Pokey, a Gumby-shaped eraser, pencils and sharpener.

Also collectible is a book called "Gumby: The Authorized Biography of the World's Favorite Clayboy" by Louis Kaplan and Scott Michaelson, with a lengthy introduction by Art Clokey; Gumby stationery and a variety of T-shirts.

And Gumby is no stranger to modern media: in August 2005, the video game "Gumby vs. the Astrobots" was released by Namco for the Game Boy Advance, and in March, 2007, YouTube announced that all Gumby episodes would appear in full-length form, digitally remastered and with their original soundtracks.

Linda Rosenkrantz has edited Auction magazine and authored 18 books, most recently "Beyond Ava & Aidan: The Enlightened Guide to Naming your Baby" (St. Martin's Press). Visit her baby names website at http://nameberry.com. She cannot answer letters personally. To find out more about Linda Rosenkrantz and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.