Gumby was created by Art Clokey in the early 1950s after finishing film school at University of Southern California.

Described as " massaging of the eye cells ", this technique of camera movements and editing was responsible for much of the Gumby look and feel.

Of the three pilot episodes of Gumby, the first was done by Clokey on his own, and the next two were done for NBC and shown on The Howdy Doody Show to test audience reaction.

The second 15-minute pilot, " Gumby Goes to the Moon ", was initially rejected by NBC executive Thomas Warren Sarnoff.

Gumby was inspired by a suggestion from Clokey's wife Ruth that he base his character on the Gingerbread man.

Gumby was green because it was Clokey's favorite color.

According to Murphy ’ s parody, when the television cameras were turned off, the sweet Gumby reverted to his true self: a cigar chomping, irascible celebrity who was highly demanding of the production executives.

In August 2005, the first video game featuring Gumby, Gumby vs. the Astrobots, was released by Namco for the Game Boy Advance.

In 2007, Gumby was nominated for two Eisner Awards.

A tribute album, Gumby, was released in 1989 by Buena Vista records.

Dominating children's TV stop motion programming for three decades in America was Art Clokey's Gumby series — which spawned a feature film, Gumby I in 1995 — using both freeform and character clay animation.

In the 1990s Gumby: The Movie was released, sparking even more interest.

The John and Ken Show in Los Angeles called Davis Gumby in response to his changing positions on issues, while Mr. KABC and Al Rantel ( also in Los Angeles ) coined the term Governor Lowbeam as a reference to his alleged mishandling of the electricity crisis and his term as Chief of Staff for Jerry Brown, who was often mocked as Governor Moonbeam.

Hill was also irreverently immortalized on a Monty Python episode (" It's the Arts ( or: Intermission )" sketch called " Historical Impersonations "), in which a Gumby appears asking to " see John the Baptist's impersonation of Graham Hill.

This project, which led to the released IIGS, was known by various codenames while the new system was being developed, including " Phoenix ", " Rambo ", " Gumby ", and " Cortland ".

Drayton Beauchamp was sold by the Cheyne family to John Gumby in 1730 and subsequently the manor house and lands were inherited by Lady Robert Manners.

It was done using " Animagic ", a stop motion animation process using figurines ( a process already pioneered by George Pal's " Puppetoons " and Art Clokey's Gumby and Davey and Goliath ).

Her mother, Norma MacMillan, was a well-known voice actress, who provided the voices for characters on Casper the Friendly Ghost, Gumby, Davey and Goliath, Underdog, and many other beloved animated programs.

If a name was listed for them, the surname given would always be " Gumby ", and the first name would usually be given as two initials.

Palin's Gumby voice was used to announce the show title in series three.

Gumby has been the subject of a 233-episode series of American television as well as a feature-length film and other media.

In March 2007, KQED-TV broadcast an hour-long documentary " Gumby Dharma " as part of their " Truly CA " series.

In 1993, TV Guide names Gumby the best cartoon series of the 1950s in its issue celebrating 40 years of television.

Clokey started his adventures in clay with a 1953 freeform clay short film called Gumbasia ( 1953 ) which shortly thereafter propelled him into his more structured Gumby TV series.

Gumby and his horse Pokey became a familiar presence on American television ; they had their start in the Howdy Doody Show, and later got their own series The Adventures of Gumby.

In March 2007, KQED-TV broadcast an hour-long documentary Gumby Dharma as part of their Truly CA series.

Some of the best-known clay-animated works include the Gumby series of television show segments ( created by Art Clokey ), the The California Raisins advertising campaign by Will Vinton Productions studio and The WB's The PJs, produced by and featuring the voice of Eddie Murphy.

* Pokey ( Gumby character ), a character from the Gumby television series

* Blockheads, a pair of fictional characters from the TV series Gumby

In the 1960s, the animated TV series Gumby included an episode " The Glob " inspired by The Blob.

* Denali ( Gumby character ), the great Mastodon from the 1980s television series Gumby

The programs, produced by the Lutheran Church in America ( now a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ), were produced by Art Clokey after the success of his Gumby series.

The people wear masks and cloaks, so Palin decides to get into the spirit and dresses up as a Gumby from the Monty Python television series.

Dal McKennon, who played the projectionist ( uncredited in the film ), had a successful career as the voice of many screen and TV characters, including " Buzz Buzzard " in the Woody Woodpecker cartoons and " Gumby " in the TV clay animation series.

Joe, Jem, ThunderCats, Pound Puppies, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, Gumby, Clifford the Big Red Dog, The Care Bears, and Bucky O ' Hare, and other non-animated shows like Baby Einstein.

The third Gumby episode, " Robot Rumpus ", made a successful debut on the Howdy Doody Show in August 1956.

In 1956, the Howdy Doody show aired the first Gumby clay animated cartoon from creator Art Clokey.

The aesthetic environment later became the home of Clokey's most famous character, Gumby, whose name derives from his childhood experiences during summer visits to his grandfather's farm, when he enjoyed playing with the clay and mud mixture called " gumbo ".

A classic line from one of these is during a segment on taxation, where a Gumby ( played by Cleese ), standing knee-deep in a river, says " I would put a tax ... on all people ... who stand ... in water.

Starting in 1957, Dallas McKennon became the voice of Gumby.

Consisting of animated clay shapes contorting to a jazz score, Gumbasia so intrigued Samuel G. Engel, then president of the Motion Pictures Producers Association, that he financed the pilot film for what became Clokey's The Gumby Show ( 1957 ).

In 1957, Lee hosted The Gumby Show, the original appearance of that claymation character.