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Gumby, the definitive icon of the world of claymation, was unquestionably a good-natured fellow; loyal to his friends, Pokey, Prickle, and Goo, and committed in his efforts to stop the evil Blockheads from carrying out their underhanded schemes. Indeed, the green slab of clay set a good example for his young, impressionable audience – most of the time.

In the short episode “Gumball Gumby,” we see what sort of character Gumby is when no one’s looking. While skateboarding through his surreal toy-store world he comes across a gumball machine. Hankering for a sweet treat, he reaches into his pockets to find he had no money. Rather than skate home to his piggy bank or search for the nearest ATM, he simply decides to STEAL a gumball by reaching into the machine’s dispenser.

Unfortunately for our protagonist petty thief, his reaching into the machine causes him to be sucked up inside it and subsequently trapped. Will this predicament cause Gumby to reconsider his dishonest ways? Hell no!

Instead, he transforms himself into a bunch of green gumball-shaped pieces and waits for the next person to happen by and put a coin in the machine. Fortunately for him, his pal Pokey comes by just in time to supply the coin. When Pokey turns the knob, the machine dispenses all the Gumby gumballs which quickly reform into Gumby’s natural shape. But Gumby has not returned from inside the machine empty-handed. He has smuggled out two gumballs; one for Pokey and one for himself. Gumby then mounts his pony pal and they ride away chewing blissfully.

If this story has a moral, it would have to be that if you don’t have the money to get what you want, then just steal it. Some minor inconvenience may result, but as long as you’re crafty enough, you can ultimately get away with theft. And of course, the ends justify the means.

So the next time you are prevented from robbing a vending machine by nagging moral qualms, just remember; Gumby says, “theft is okay if you don’t have any money on you!”

Since the “owner” of this video has disabled embedding, you can watch it at youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPYdyKmVi08