PRICKLE'S PROBLEM (1967)

PRICKLE'S PROBLEM (1967)
Written and Directed by
PETE KLEINOW
RAY PECK
Cast
Gumby/Goo/Mother/BabyNORMA Mac MILLAN
Prickle/Pokey/Announcer/Dr.Zveegee(?)/ART CLOKEY
Synopsis:The debut of our evil anti-hero, Dr.Zveegee as he tries to catch Prickle who has just rescued a baby from some fate.

Music:Kauer-Lackey..Johnny Holliday
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TV TROPES:
Big Bad: Dr.Zveegee, who is an obvious Bela "Drac" Lugosi soundalike

Inferiority Complex: Prickle feels he's not important

No Celebrities were Harmed: See Big Bad.

Unaware of fame: In real life, Prickle already WAS a popular character, and in the 1980s when Gumby was famous again (BEFORE the later series with its audio-Emma-makeover controversy reared its head), Prickle was a major merchandise attraction due to the then new Dinosaur craze..



You'd think that by now, with him being seen, that our whiny (but sincerely nice) dinosaur friend Prickle would be famous and happy, but, no,
he still wants recognition. Prickle doesn't get the idea to try to get over himself, but then sees and takes a chance saving a baby boy which lands
him in the paper.
It also brings a new character, the Bela Lugosi (1880-1956)-accented Dracula sounding bald head glasses wearing mad sci-
entist, Doctor Zveegee.
He stands about 6 feet high, likes saying "Bah" when bested and generally spends this episode and the next, "Piano Rolling Blues" being all like, so obsessed with Prickle, then another,
a crossover with another previously seen group of guest characters The (unnamed) seals called The Moon Boggles from their own title episode with Gumby, Pokey, and in his last appearance
,the unnamed zoo curator/keeper seen since the 1957 episode "The Zoops".
Here, just BEING a dinoasaur makes Prickle an object of desire for our evil doctor, who sends his trademark cage (Pat.Pend.) with mechanical claws that automaticcaly moves out to
GRAB Prickle with remote control operator by Dr.Z. It almost grabs the dinosaur who then runs and reports back to his friends, but the Pokey goes out, almost as if to act out as a
decoy for the machine, who grabs the PONY, who the other three now mourn only for the moving cage to grab its despicable owner INSTEAD!
Dr.Zveegee then goes off to places unknown for now..
A held picture of Prickle being famous (within the story structure of the episode, anyhow) is utilized for the offscreen announcer's voice
noting Prickle's new fame.