Gumby: The Movie (RiffTrax)

Onscreen Title:  "Gumby 1"

Film Year:  1995

Genre:  Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy

Director:  Art Clokey

Starring:  Charles Farrington, Art Clokey, Gloria Clokey

RiffTrax Year:  2021

Riffers:  Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett

The Movie

Turning Gumby into a feature film seemed like something that definitely should have happened at some point.  Unfortunately, the fact that it happened in 1995 is an oddity that would have only been topped had it come out in 2025.  Gumby's been waddling around since the 1950's, usually in short segments on television.  Maybe it was for the best that they never tried to bring him to an "overstaying his welcome" format during the height of his popularity, but doing so when Gumby wasn't the novelty he used to be seems to be a sign that a movie is going to be modernized in an unappealing way.  Remember when the Jetsons came back for a movie and dubbed over Judy's voice actress with a pop singer and gave her musical numbers?  Remember when the Looney Tunes decided to reinvent themselves by playing basketball with Michael Jordan?  Gumby:  The Movie is more of that.  Gumby is doing Gumby things, in a longer format with a convoluted story and padded out with pandering sequences in an attempt to appeal to older children who are very unlikely to watch a Gumby movie.

The story, as it is, features Gumby, who is now in a rock band and putting on a charity concert to save the local farms, while also adopting a new dog named Lowbelly.  Apparently Gumby's band is so bad that Lowbelly starts crying, and his tears turn to pearls for Gumby reasons.  Wanting this golden goose of a dog, the antagonistic Blockheads kidnap the pup and replace him with a robot.  It's up to Gumby and his friends to save the day with their shapeshifting powers and their abilities to jump into any storybook and VHS on the shelf and enter each magical land.  Most of the movie is just an excuse for whatever, and it certainly just feels like every portion is just what the animators were in the mood for on any given day.  Gumby has elaborate dance numbers, plays with mad science equipment, fights with knights, goes to space and gets a lightsaber, and also just basic yard work, all in that traditional "Gumby explains what Gumby is doing while Gumby is doing it style."  It's like this movie is made for pre-schoolers but also wants to be hip enough for tweens and nostalgic enough for adults and it winds up being appealing for none of them.

There are ways to do this adequately.  While Gumby:  The Movie was in production, Muppet Babies was a very popular TV program for youngsters and it pulled off a lot of the things Gumby:  The Movie tried to do in a far more consistent and inviting package.  It's not that the ideas in Gumby:  The Movie are bad, it's that it does them wrong.  Things like Gumby jumping into different fantasy landscapes and having little vignette adventures, that could be fun.  That could also justify why Gumby is in a feature film and why one would pay to see it in a theater.  Wading through through a goofy subplot about robot dogs, a half-assed story about farmland, and watching Gumby play in a rock band?  All of that sucks.  It makes the movie a pain-in-the-ass to watch.

What's interesting to me is that the movie is directed by Gumby creator Art Clokey, so one can say that whatever this movie is, it was the "vision" of the man who created this franchise.  When I watch this movie, it certainly feels like it's made with older sensibilities while trying to be "hip" and "cool."  The streams did not cross.  There is not much more to it than that.  Gumby:  The Movie is a thing that happened.  Who knows if it will ever deliver on the title promise of a "Gumby 2," but if Gumby ever gets to that point, hopefully they have nowhere to go but up.

The Trax

"Gumby's attempt to push the word 'adventure' to its absolute breaking point."

There is like this strange synergy between Gumby and Mystery Science Theater 3000.  We saw it all the way back in the day when they riffed Robot Rumpus in the Screaming Skull episode, which wound up being one of the most memorable shorts of the series.  It feels like recently RiffTrax started to awaken to the fact that Gumby really lent himself well to riffing, as they threw up a few more Gumby shorts and also managed to score a full VOD of the weirdest thing the Gumby franchise has ever created, Gumby:  The Movie.

The riff to this one makes me wish that there are more animated movies like this that RiffTrax could tackle.  Say what you will about Gumby:  The Movie, but it's not incompetent.  It's the Gumby experience, just in feature format.  And the Gumby experience always provokes some sort of reaction ("A lot of phallic stuff going on for a movie about a guy with no genitals.").  The movie is both weird and familiar, pushing our trio of comedians to the brink of insanity before pulling back and going "Well, what did we expect?"  Keeping up with the logic of a Gumby movie is hard because Gumby has no logic.  Anything can happen and will happen.  "So Fake Gumby is more worthy to be King of England than real Gumby?"  You bet!  Gumby:  The Movie is almost like a feature film version of Mr. B Natural.  It exists in its own reality and you just have to hope nothing pops out of the TV and tries to kill you.

"Oh no!  The door is locked!"

"YOU CAN ALL WALK THROUGH WALLS!"

The RiffTrax experience is like men being guided through madness and trying to make sense of it all.  They flinch at Gumby's gal pal Goo having "more power than any Marvel superhero" by turning into an air glider, like Hedorah in Godzilla vs. Hedorah.  They cringe at the bulky, cluttered dialogue that litters each character's mouths ("Pokey yells 'Shotgun!' in the whiniest way possible.")  They try to be threatened by Gumby and his band mates being replaced by robots, only to not understand the threat of their bad music ("Oh no, they're...  Worse?  Better?").  And, of course, "Poop covered robot dogs.  You don't get many of those in animated movies."  We sure don't.  And RiffTrax brings the manure to us in what is truly a one-of-a-kind riff experience.  For better or worse?  That's up to you.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Classic

The DVD

Gumby:  The Movie was released on DVD as a part of an exclusive box set sold through RiffTrax's website called the "Super Fun Time Box Set."  Video was in standard definition, so it's a worse print than the HD digital download.  Audio was solid, making it a solid option for those who want their RiffTrax to be physically on their shelf.  The set was sold with Honor and Gorty, Dancin':  It's On!, a disc full of shorts, and a bonus tin lunchbox!