Why's Gumby Waving at You from Today's Google Doodle?

Have you seen today's Google Doodle? Did you wave back? The doodle serves as a tribute to the late Arthur "Art" Clokey, creator of our beloved clay friend Gumby. Clokey would have celebrated his 90th birthday today.

Clokey pioneered the art of stop motion clay animation, beginning his work in 1953 with Gumbasia, a film experiment influenced by his professor at USC. From the project, Clokey and his wife, Ruth, invented Gumby. Go ahead, allow nostalgia to swallow you whole.

Today's video lunch showcases Gumbasia in its claymation magic.

Here's the story of Gumby's evolution in Clokey's words, according to Gumby World.

“I took the Gumby pilot to Tom Sarnoff at NBC, who was immediately charmed by the character and the style of clay animation. He signed me to produce the series The Adventures of Gumby. Roger Muir, the producer of Howdy Doody, agreed after seeing the film that it would be a winner, and decided to introduce Gumby on his show. Gumby then graduated to his own show, The Gumby Show, with Pinky Lee as the emcee. Pinky Lee may have chafed under that title: I think that he resented playing second fiddle to a piece of clay."

“Moon Trip” was the first NBC Gumby film, and the second pilot.