A part of my childhood passed away last Saturday. Art Clokey, the creator of the wonderful and imaginative Gumby television show, as well as of the reverent and thoughtful Davey & Goliath films, died at the age of 88.
How many times did we watch those surreal stop-motion clips of Gumby and his friend Pokey as they traveled through clay worlds, avoiding the bully-like Blockheads and all. Some of us watched Gumby when we were watching the old Howdy Doody show, or maybe when Gumby received his own television show in the late 1950’s. We played with Gumby bendable dolls, we tried to make our own Gumby dolls out of Play-Doh, we appreciated the show’s positive but non-preachy entertainment. We grew up and we laughed at Eddie Murphy’s peformance of Gumby as a middle-aged cranky actor, shouting, “I’m Gumby, Dammit!!”
And when we thought Clockey had reached the pinnacle of his abilities, he came up with another classic show – Davey & Goliath, the story of a boy and his talking dog. That show, funded by the Lutheran Evangelical Church in America, consisted of dozens of 15-minute self-contained episodes of faith and affirmations, teaching those of us who got up early on Sunday mornings about the meaning of God in everyday life.
Clokey never strayed away from his creations; a new series of Gumby episodes were created in the 1990’s, and a Davey & Goliath holiday special was produced in about 2004 or 2005. Davey & Goliath even showed up in some Mountain Dew commercials.
Rest in peace, Art Clokey. Thanks so much for bringing your animated world to our childhood.
Here’s some clips from early Gumby episodes:
And some clips from Davey and Goliath episodes:
Chuck The Writer 