This year has seen some stellar Google homepage doodles (including animated Muppets for Jim Henson’s birthday and a playable guitar for Les Paul’s), and today’s is no exception.
In honor of Gumby inventor and claymation pioneer Art Clokey’s 90th birthday, Google’s homepage today features a playful interactive design in the style of his famous stop-motion claymation work.
Instead of the traditional “Google” name, the homepage has a block with the letter “G” followed by five colored clay balls that morph into Clokey’s famous characters, including Gumby and Pokey.
Although Clokey’s biggest artistic achievements occurred in the 1950s and ’60s, his work reached a younger demographic when Nickelodeon re-aired the entire Gumby series in the mid-’90s.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcoKEsaoa6I&w=450]
Clokey passed away Jan. 8, 2010 at the age of 88. Click here to view all of Google’s doodles.
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