Nothing old is safe, not even a beloved green clay-man.
THR reports Fox Entertainment has bought the rights to Gumby, the 1950's stop-motion animated character, from Joseph Clokey, son of Gumby creator Art Clokey. The deal includes all characters from the Gumby universe, including his horse pal Pokey.
Fox plans to "reimagine" the green character through multiple live-action and animated productions. Fox also plans to stream past Gumby series on its Tubi streaming service, plus develop new merchandise, including NFTs.
“Competition for globally recognized intellectual property is fierce. Uncovering this gem, with its built-in awareness and affinity, and bringing it to Fox, adds meaningful value and creative possibilities to the IP itself and to multiple divisions of our company,” said Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier. “Fox is proud to be home to these iconic characters. Welcome one and all.”
"Uncovering" might be a generous term to use for resurrecting a beloved kid's property that multiple generations still remember fondly. Gumby debuted to American audiences in the early 1950s on kid's program Howdy Doody, rocketing to success and multiple series airing on NBC through the '50s and '60s.
In the '80s, Gumby experienced a revival thanks in part to comedian Eddie Murphy's SNL parody of the character and the success of home video purchases. Eventually, Gumby reruns aired on both Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Gumby is commonly regarded as a landmark television series for its stop-motion animation.
Since selling much of its IP to Disney, Fox has acquired Bob's Burgers animation studio Bento Box and MaraVista Entertainment, acquired TMZ, and entered a new production studio partnership with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.
Credit: NBC/SNL
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THR reports Fox Entertainment has bought the rights to Gumby, the 1950's stop-motion animated character, from Joseph Clokey, son of Gumby creator Art Clokey. The deal includes all characters from the Gumby universe, including his horse pal Pokey.
Fox plans to "reimagine" the green character through multiple live-action and animated productions. Fox also plans to stream past Gumby series on its Tubi streaming service, plus develop new merchandise, including NFTs.
“Competition for globally recognized intellectual property is fierce. Uncovering this gem, with its built-in awareness and affinity, and bringing it to Fox, adds meaningful value and creative possibilities to the IP itself and to multiple divisions of our company,” said Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier. “Fox is proud to be home to these iconic characters. Welcome one and all.”
"Uncovering" might be a generous term to use for resurrecting a beloved kid's property that multiple generations still remember fondly. Gumby debuted to American audiences in the early 1950s on kid's program Howdy Doody, rocketing to success and multiple series airing on NBC through the '50s and '60s.
In the '80s, Gumby experienced a revival thanks in part to comedian Eddie Murphy's SNL parody of the character and the success of home video purchases. Eventually, Gumby reruns aired on both Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Gumby is commonly regarded as a landmark television series for its stop-motion animation.
Since selling much of its IP to Disney, Fox has acquired Bob's Burgers animation studio Bento Box and MaraVista Entertainment, acquired TMZ, and entered a new production studio partnership with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.
Credit: NBC/SNL
Continue reading...