Art Clokey and Gumby celebrated by Google

Animation pioneer Art Clokey's 90th birthday would have been today, so Google is celebrating his creations. Clokey created Gumby and assorted other stop-motion favourites from clay in his long animation career.

The Google logo on the search engine's home page takes the shape of coloured balls that spring to life, leaping on each other and waving cheerfully.

The L in Google is Gumby, the green flat-faced fella invented by Clokey in the 1950s who starred in his own show for 35 years. He was the inspiration for clay-based British favourite Morph, created by avuncular artist Tony Hart in 1977.

In the animated doodle, Gumby is joined by the mischievous Blockheads, flying mermaid Goo, Pokey the pony and Prickle the yellow dinosaur.

The doodle was created by Anthony Scott, the man behind the animation in Coraline, The Corpse Bride and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Clokey was born in Detroit in 1921. He was adopted at age 12, and became an animator after the Second World War. He died in January last year.

Recent doodles have included a birthday cake to celebrate Google's 13th birthday, interactive Muppets for Jim Henson's 75th birthday and Roger Hargreaves' Mr Men. Ah, the childhood memories!

To make your own stop-motion videos, follow our guide to creating an animation with your iPhone. Let us know how you get on on our Facebook page.