Blu-ray Review – Gumby: The Movie

I suppose there should be a club for those who saw "Gumby: The Movie" during its initial theatrical release. Or perhaps a therapy group. Interested in strange moviegoing experiences, I attended a matinee showing in September, 1995 (at the now demolished Brookdale 8 Cinemas, for the Minnesota readers), not really understanding what I was about to witness. My awareness of the Gumby character at the time was limited to occasional syndication encounters and "Saturday Night Live" razzing, lacking a doctorate in all things Art Clokey. While a few brave parents decided to share the wonders of stop-motion animation (then a rare multiplex event) with their children, I was the lone adult there willingly, and my mind was about to be blown. For the next 90 minutes, "Gumby: The Movie" offered sights and sounds so bizarre, I was worried about a possible gas leak in the shoebox theater. It provided a viewing experience that was impossible to describe to others, and the feature tanked so completely, it was out of theaters before I could process just what happened. And here we are 22 years later, and while I still haven't taken the deep sea dive into the Gumby archives, his one and only big screen endeavor remains as potently nutso as I remember, giving family audiences everything they could want: brightly colored characters, slapstick antics, and harsh lessons on the dangers of predatory home mortgage loans. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com