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Gumby: The Movie

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Gumby: The Movie
Theatrical release poster
Directed byArt Clokey
Written byArt Clokey
Gloria Clokey
Produced byArt Clokey
Gloria Clokey
Kevin Reher
Starring
CinematographyArt Clokey
Edited byMarilyn McCoppen
Lynn Stevenson
Music byJerry Gerber
Marco D'Ambrosio
Production
companies
Distributed byArrow Releasing Inc.
Release date
  • October 4, 1995 (1995-10-04)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.8 million[1]
Box office$57,100[2]

Gumby: The Movie (referred to as its on-screen title Gumby 1) is a 1995 American stop-motion surrealist claymation adventure comedy film featuring Gumby.[3][4] The film is dedicated to Sri Sathya Sai Baba.[5]

The film was released on October 4, 1995, and received generally negative reviews from critics; it went on to become a box-office failure, earning $57,100 against its $2.8 million budget at the U.S. box office,[6][2] although much of its financial failure can be attributed to its very limited theatrical rollout. It has since gained a cult following among fans of the original Gumby.

Plot

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When the Blockheads' E-Z Loan company threatens to take away the farms belonging to the small farmers due to being unable to make their loan payments, Gumby and his band The Clayboys decide to have a benefit concert to save the farms. However, the evil Blockheads find out that Gumby's dog, Lowbelly, cries pearls when he sees The Clayboys perform. The Blockheads decide to kidnap Lowbelly and force him to cry pearls (initially unaware that Lowbelly is only crying whenever Gumby changes shapes). After discovering that they need Gumby to extract the pearls, they kidnap Gumby and the Clayboys in order to create robotic clones of them.

With the help of Pokey, Prickle, Goo, fans Tara and Ginger, and talent agent Lucky Claybert, as well as his father, Gumbo and his pet bee, Groobee, Gumby takes on his robot clone and is still in time for his videotaping session in agreement with Claybert. At a picnic, Gumby announces that he is opening his own farm-centered loan company that will give reasonable loans for its customers, with the help from Claybert. To punish them for their evil deeds, the Blockheads are forced to weed Gumby's garden. After the successful concert, Gumby and Pokey head back to outer-space feeling triumphant knowing that their efforts have saved the farms.[7]

Cast

[edit]
  • Dallas McKennon voices
    • Gumby - The titular main protagonist
    • Professor Kapp: an exuberant scientist with a voice like Ed Wynn
    • Fatbuckle: a red man with a big belt (his name is a play on "Fatty" Arbuckle)[8]
    • Lucky Claybert: a Groucho-like talent agent who makes a music video entitled "Gumbymania" (although it is officially known as "Take Me Away" in the credits)
    • Nobuckle: a yellow man with a New Jersey accent
  • Art Clokey voices
    • Pokey: a talking red horse and Gumby's best friend
    • Prickle: a yellow dinosaur with a Mel Blanc–like voice and a Midwestern accent
    • Gumbo: Gumby's father and a firefighter
  • Gloria Clokey voices Goo: a blue flying mermaid
  • Manny La Carruba voices Thinbuckle: a blue teenager with a thin belt
  • Patti Morse (speaking voice)/Melisa Kary (singing voice) voices Tara: a light blue female, who initially start out as Gumby's fan, prior to becoming his love interest at the climax of the film
  • Alice Young voices Ginger: a yellow female and Tara's best friend
  • Janet MacDuff voices Gumba: Gumby's mom
  • Bonnie Rudolph voices Lowbelly: the dog who rides skateboard, and cries pearls every time he sees Gumby change shapes
    • Bonnie also voices one of the Farm Ladies
  • Ozzie Ahlers voices Radio Announcer
  • Kirby Coleman is the lead singer for "This Way 'N That"
  • Anthony McNulty voices Burnzy
  • David Archer
  • Lillian Nicol
  • Rick Warren
  • Stan Freberg (uncredited)
  • Blockheads G and J: The two pair of square-shape headed silent main antagonists, with an alphabets on both side of their heads, and who communicates with sign languages
  • Groobee: Gumby's pet bee
  • Minga: Gumby's little sister. She makes a non-speaking cameo appearance at the end of the film

Production

[edit]

Production on the film was started in 1988 and completed in 1992.[9] Despite this, Premavision was unable to find a distributor for the film until 1995, when they found a small company named Arrow Releasing (not to be confused with Arrow Films).

The musical score was composed by Jerry Gerber, who previously worked on the television series, and Marco D'Ambrosio. Additionally, Ozzie Ahlers produced the featured songs "Take Me Away", "Ark Park" and "This Way'n That". The lyrics for "Take Me Away" and "This Way'n That" were written by Gloria Clokey. Ahlers was also responsible for hiring frequent collaborator and Starship guitarist Craig Chaquico to play the electric guitar parts.[10]

Reception and legacy

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Box office

[edit]

Gumby: The Movie was released on October 4, 1995, by Arrow Releasing, receiving a limited release in 21 theaters. The film grossed $57,100 at the box office.[2]

Critical reception

[edit]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 20% based on reviews from 5 critics, with an average rating of 3.8/10.[11]

David Kronke of The Los Angeles Times described the screenplay as "tired and listless", and criticized the dialogue as unsophisticated and hastily assembled.[12]

Barry Walters of the San Francisco Examiner wrote that "although the action is slow by contemporary wham-bam standards, the drama eventually picks up as the kooky plot complications pile up. But the pacing is episodic, and the nonstop whimsy gets to be overwhelming: Every few minutes, you can feel yourself anticipating even hoping for a commercial break."[13] Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "it should have been silly, kitschy, self-spoofing fun, but instead has a sad, enervated quality and frequently inept results."[14]

Common Sense Media rated the movie a two out of five stars, stating, "The animation in this feature film edition might feel old-fashioned and clumsy; the story bland and simplistic. It's slow going, not terribly funny, and it's repetitive. Still it has a quirky charm that kids respond to, especially the grown-up "kids" who are long-time fans and enjoy the memories that repeat viewings provide."[15]

Several critics focused on the animation, particularly how it incorporated less advanced technology than films like Toy Story, Pocahontas (both 1995), and stop-motion features like The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).[16][17][14]

A positive review came from Marylynn Uricchio of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who wrote that it "is nothing more than an elongated version of the TV episodes that run on Nickelodeon, but that's not a criticism. With Gumby, anything is a pleasure."[18]

Home media

[edit]

The film was released on home video on VHS by KidVision[19] and Astral Home Video on December 26, 1995; it would be the former company's final release before becoming defunct. The next year, Warner Home Video released the film on VHS, which became a top-10 seller, selling about one million copies overall on this format in total.[20][21] It was released on DVD by Classic Media on April 22, 2008.[22] NCircle Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray on September 5, 2017.[23]

RiffTrax released their own commentary of the film on May 28, 2021.[24][25]

Cult following

[edit]

The film also achieved a cult status among its fan base[21] to the point where it received a 2007 remastered showing at the Tribeca Film Festival.[26]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Harary, Keith (October 1994). "The World According to Gumby". Omni.
  2. ^ a b c "Gumby: The Movie (1995)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  3. ^ Quintanilla, Michael (1993-11-27). "For Feat of Clay, He's Left a Lasting Impression". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  4. ^ "Gumby Gets A Shot At The Movies". Chicago Tribune. 1995-09-14. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
  5. ^ Gavin King (November 2, 2020). "35mm [Home] Cinema Endings: Gumby: The Movie (1995)" (YouTube). YouTube. Gumby 1 is dedicated to SRI SATHYA SAI BABA 'Love All; Serve All'
  6. ^ "Gumby: The Movie". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  7. ^ "Gumby: The Movie". www.tcm.com.
  8. ^ Clokey, Joan Rock; Clokey, Joe (2017-11-15). Gumby Imagined: The Story of Art Clokey and his Creations. Dynamite Entertainment. ISBN 978-1-5241-0437-5.
  9. ^ Priebe, Ken (4 February 2011). "'The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation': History of Stop-Motion Feature Films: Part 3". Animation World Network. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  10. ^ Chaquico, Craig (Spring 2004). "Gathering of the Tribes Newsletter" (PDF). Official Craig Chaquico Fan Club. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  11. ^ "Gumby: The Movie (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  12. ^ DAVID KRONKE (December 4, 1995). "MOVIE REVIEW; 'The Gumby Movie': Toys, No Story". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  13. ^ Walters, Barry (December 1, 1995). "'Gumby' movie has feat of clay". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  14. ^ a b Guthmann, Edward (December 1, 1995). "Gumby Film Has No Legs To Stand On". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  15. ^ Renee Schonfeld (12 December 2011). "Gumby, The Movie - Movie Review". Common Sense Media.
  16. ^ "Gumby seems a little green in his first big-screen role". The Philadelphia Inquirer. September 29, 1995. p. 158. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  17. ^ Harvey, Dennis (December 4, 1995). "Gumby: The Movie". Variety. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  18. ^ Uricchio, Marylynn (September 22, 1995). "A gentler world". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  19. ^ Gumby, the movie. KidVision [distributor. August 19, 1995. OCLC 33950172 – via Open WorldCat.
  20. ^ "Licensing Diary-Gumby at 40".
  21. ^ a b Clokey, Joe (2017). Gumby Imagined: The Story of Art Clokey and his Creations. Dynamite. p. 228. ISBN 9781524104344.
  22. ^ "Gumby: The Movie". 22 April 2008 – via Amazon.
  23. ^ "Gumby: The Gumby Movie on NCircle Entertainment". NCircle Entertainment.
  24. ^ "Gumby: The Movie". May 14, 2021 – via www.rifftrax.com.
  25. ^ "RiffTrax: Gumby The Movie (Preview)". 31 May 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15 – via www.youtube.com.
  26. ^ "Gumby: The Movie | 2007 Tribeca Festival". Tribeca.
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