The creator of Gumby died yesterday at the age of 88. Art Clokey was a fascinating guy, a spiritual traveler who immersed himself in everything from Lutheranism to Buddhism, created art films, and set the bar quite high in the time-consuming world of stop motion. The original Gumby series was, musically and artistically, far ahead of its time and infinitely more evolved than just about any other show in the history of children's television. Its dreamlike surreality has eased me into sleep more times than I can count.
Thanks so much for hours of trippy entertainment, Mr. Clokey. You were truly one of a kind, and will be missed.
4 comments:
That is sad but have to admit I could never get into this show.. There are so many good people out there and I have to admit I never know about them until they are gone..
My memories of Gumby are some of my earliest TV memories, along with H.R. Pufnstuf. I've always wanted to dress as Gumby for Halloween, but I could never find a willing Pokey :-(
I didn't know all of that about Art Clokey. Thanks for filling me in.
I had a little rubbery Gumby figure when I was a kid. Unfortunately, one of my cats thought it was a good chew toy. Well at least it was well loved by both of us.
I'm with Tweetey. Always wanted to see it, but we weren't allowed to watch much TV when we were kids so never seen it.
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