Bend over backwards for Gumby on DVD
by Gord Lacey (All reviews) |
3/17/2002 |
"Bend over backwards for Gumby on DVD", or so says the press release I received from Rhino Home Video. It's obvious that they are really excited about this release, and they have every right to be. Gumby is a wholesome show about the flexible green guy and his friends Pokey, Prickle and Goo.
In 1953 Art Clokey created "Gumbasia", which features clay shapes moving to a Jazz soundtrack, in honor of Disney's "Fantasia". When Sam Engel, a film producer at 20th Century Fox, saw the short film he also saw dollar signs and asked Clokey if he could develop something for TV. He went home and created a crude clay figure modeled after a photo he had of his father with a huge cowlick. The series was picked up by NBC and aired on the "Howdy Doody Show". Due to the popularity of Gumby he spun off into his own show hosted by Pinky Lee (a comedian). In 1957 the show was cancelled, but in 1964 the show found new life in syndication.
Gumby is a wonderful role model for young children. He loves books, he does his chores, he doesn't drink or smoke and he's nonviolent. He's the kind of friend you'd want your children to hang out with. The show is a welcome break from the violent cartoons on TV these days.
Video
When watching "Gumby", you have to consider the age of the material. Shot on 16mm more then 45 years ago the wear and tear is obvious. Rhino Home Video doesn't try and hide this fact either as the have printed "This video contains technical anomalies inherent in historic footage" on the back of the package. There are scratches, dust specs and jumps in the film throughout all 21 episodes on this DVD. Some of the episodes feature colors that are very washed out, and in others they're just slightly washed out. All of this is to be expected however as it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to restore the prints. It's nice to see that Rhino has provided a "play all" feature on the disc. Audio
Like the video, the audio also shows it's age. It's no surprise that this disc contains a mono soundtrack which sounds just like a mono soundtrack recorded in the '50s. The dialog is a little muffled at times and you can hear the odd hiss in the soundtrack. It's unfortunate that there aren't any subtitles included in the release.
The soundtrack for this release has been changed due to music licensing issues. Nothing is noted on the packaging. Extras - How we rate extras
There aren't any extras on the disc however Rhino has included a sheet with the episode names and a brief description of each one. Summary
It's nice to see that Rhino is releasing Gumby on DVD. Real fans will skip this disc altogether and pick up the Gumby Boxed Set containing 7 discs of clay fun. That set is loaded with extras (I'm assuming on the 7th disc) along with over 100 episodes of Gumby and his friends. This DVD is the same as the first disc in the set, so there's no need to get both. This is the first Rhino Home Video release I've ever watched and it's really the first exposure I've had with the company. I'm impressed by their handling of the Gumby release (the disc came in a package with a nice press release) and I'm looking forward to reviewing other releases from them (Transformers!!). If you want two hours of smiles, laughs and wholesome fun for the little ones I'd suggest picking this disc up. |
