Gumby, the classic clay character whosestop-motionshorts have delighted audiences for decades, is making his comeback. The malleable green guy is set to star inGumby Kids, a new Fox animated series.Deadlinehas the first image fromthe series, which updates the character into a new, more contemporary art style.
InGumby Kids, Gumby will be the chief architect of Gumbasia, a city home to outcasts and dreamers from a variety of fantastical realms. The show will also feature his supporting cast, including equine best friend Pokey, mermaid Goo, dinosaur Prickle, and his nemeses, the Blockheads. The new series is the creation ofDeeki Deke, the head writer of Netflix’sThe Cuphead Show; Deke has experience with classic cartoon characters, having worked on Disney’s recentMickey Mouseshorts. The project will be shopped to potential buyers at next week’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival.Gumby Kidsisn’t the only new Gumby project on the horizon for Fox and their Bento Box Entertainment division; an adult-aimed prime-time animated series is also in the works.
Who is Gumby?
Created by animatorArt Clokeyin 1955, Gumby is a high-spirited young boy made out of green clay who uses his malleable form to travel into worlds of fiction and fantasy. Clokey’s pilot shortGumby on the Moonbecame a hit when it was aired onThe Howdy Doody Show, and he was soon commissioned to produce more shorts as part ofThe Gumby Show. The original series continued until 1968, with over 100 shorts produced in total. Via airings in syndication, the characters becameicons of Baby Boomer and Generation X nostalgia. When the original series was released on VHS, reigniting interest in the characters, the series was revived with new animated shorts in the 1980s asGumby Adventures. A feature length film,Gumby: The Movie, was released in 1995. Recently, Clokey’s son,Joseph Clokey,sold the rights to the characters to Fox.
Gumby was famously spoofed onSaturday Night Livein the 1980s, whenEddie Murphy, in a giant green foam suit, played the cheery clay character as acigar-chomping showbiz has-been, making “I’m Gumby, dammit!” into a catchphrase. Clokey reportedly found the sketches hilarious. More recently,J.K. Simmons' clay police officer Captain S. Putty inChip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangerswas a parody of Gumby.
Gumby Kidswill be shopped at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival next week;no release date has yet been set. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
