As a kid, I always enjoyed how creative Gumby had his adventures on the TV show. So much of it was just for pure fun. When I finally heard that there had been a movie released, I was super excited. And none to my surprise, Gumby: The Movie rocked my world. For any Gumby fan, this movie will be a great hit. Everything in this movie is kept the same and even includes some cultural references.
Director Art Clokey, who directs his final Gumby film, has done a magnificent job. Dal McKennon is back as good old Gumby and several other characters. Even Art Clokey is Prickle and some other roles. All the animation is done by clay; how else would a Gumby film be done?! Most of the comedic parts are watching the silent Blockheads fight with each other. They're always doing something foolish.
The effects are great in this movie. Since stop motion cinematography allows you to make a special effect over time, much of the creations that are made are really quite stunning. This movie BARELY uses CGI for any part of the film. It's things like these that bring the viewer back to the time where CGI wasn't used very often and was only used if it was available. Now almost if not every movie studio uses CGI for anything they want and its gets tiresome to see the same effects used over and over again. Claymation is a sorely missed special effect that is now extinct in the movie making business at least from what I see now.
The music, which was composed by Jerry Gerber, is great listening to. Because this movie uses dated effects, it's great to hear music that belongs from the same era. Unfortunately, the soundtrack to this film is inaccessible. I get flustered over that but it's still good that it used in the movie thank heaven. What's also great to see are the cultural references in this film. The Blockheads make robot duplicates of the main characters; sounds a little like The Terminator (1984). Another scene where Gumby fights his robotic clone with a light saber. Need to say more?
As the last film made by Art Clokey, Gumby: The Movie will please its fans and may gain interest in others who are not familiar with Gumby. For anyone who has never seen claymation at its best, this is it.
