Art Clokey- The man who created Gumby

It was really sad news for me when I heard that Gumby’s creator Art Clokey had taken his Final Taxi over the weekend.

For those who don’t know Gumby, he is a stop-action cartoon character made out of green clay. The bendable figure was the subject of a 233 animated shorts that ran for over 35 years. Clokey created Gumby in the 1950’s and he was first seen on “The Howdy Doody Show” on TV. NBC picked it up as a regular series in 1957.

Gumby was seen most of the time with his sidekick, an orange horse called Pokey. Other recurring characters were Prickle, a yellow dragon, Goo, a flying blue mermaid, his parents and his sister Minga. Others times you might meet Denali (a mastodon), Tilly (a hen), or Gumby’s enemy’s The Blockheads.

The Man Who Put The Heads On Pez Candy

Who has never seen a Pez head candy dispenser?

They are those tiny plastic colored containers that hold a small brick of candy that are much along the lines of “Sweet-Tarts.” The top of the dispenser has synthetic head that is modeled after a popular character. TV or movies, cartoons or history figures are just a few of the designs these heads have. The odd thing is that the head has to be pulled back for the Pez candy to slip out. It is like the candy comes out of its throat.

The person who came up with this idea is Pez candy company executive Curtis Allina who took his Final Taxi this week at the age of 87.