I’M GUMBY, DAMMIT
Gumby is back, he’s in Lane County and he’s green. The clay animation character was
always green in color, but after more than a decade of quiet living outside Cottage Grove,
Gumby’s only authorized impersonator — Michael West when he’s not in his Gumby suit
— wants to bring Gumby back out and embrace the environmental movement.
West, who published a book of tales of his 10 years in a Gumby suit, I’m Gumby,
Dammit! on Amazon.com this July, says he has visions of a cross-country trip in his
Gumby persona via convertible, preferably an eco-friendly car to bring Gumby’s green
message to the nation if he can find sponsorship and a green group to work with.
Why a convertible? West says the Gumby suit can get rather uncomfortably warm. On
a recent trip to EW’s offices on a 90-degree day, West was so warm in his blocky Gumby
attire, he chose to mime rather than speak. He returned later, in his human clothes, for an
interview.
West says the idea to
“become” Gumby originally
came to him while he was in a
tree, as a mime. He created the
costume and hit the streets of
Los Angeles, thinking, “Well if
they sue me, they sue me.” Later
he met Art Clokey, Gumby and
Pokey’s creator, and rather than
- Michael West sue, Clokey gave him a 10-year
international license to be
Gumby. They met at a Gumby
exhibit at a library, and West says Clokey later told him that when they met, Clokey saw
a greenish glow around West, even though he was not in his Gumby suit at the time.
Clokey was himself environmentally sensitive. According to Gumbyworld.com, “The
Fantastic Farmer” episode from 1956 portrayed chemicals getting out of control on a
farm, and Clokey himself ate natural and organic foods long before it was popular.
West says his time in the 1980s and early ’90s as Gumby was filled with exploits from
being kidnapped to playing practical jokes, and that Clokey appreciated the way West’s
Gumby persona drew attention back to the ’50s-era icon. West says he inspired Eddie
Murphy’s popular Saturday Night Live take on Gumby, and West thinks he’s ready to take
the Gumby suit out of retirement — though this time maybe with some fans and ice packs
installed. He says of his years as Gumby: “If I came to a door, I went through it. You just
feel alive. You feel like the suit is you.”
Gumby appeals to everyone, West says, pointing out
that that even the Marines have taken on “Semper
Gumby” (always flexible) as a play on Semper
Fidelis (always faithful), the Marine motto. He
says in the Gumby suit “you can accomplish more
with people; people are disarmed, like a child.”
West can be contacted at pitchpenny@aol.
com for more information on I’m Gumby,
Dammit! and on his environmental goals
with Gumby. — Camilla Mortensen
‘In the Gumby suit you
can accomplish more with
people; people are
disarmed, like a child.’
MICHAEL WEST
AS GUMBY
PHOTO TODD COOPER
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