Arthur "Art" Clokey (October 12, 1921 – January 8, 2010) was an American pioneer in the popularization of stop motion clay animation, best known as the co-creator of the character Gumby. Clokey's career began in 1955 with a film experiment called Gumbasia, which was influenced by his professor, Slavko Vorkapich, at the University of Southern California. Clokey and his wife Ruth subsequently came up with the clay character Gumby and his horse Pokey, who first appeared in the Howdy Doody Show, and later got their own series The Adventures of Gumby, with which they became a familiar presence on American television. The characters enjoyed a renewal of interest in the 1980s when American actor and comedian Eddie Murphy parodied Gumby in a skit on Saturday Night Live. In the 1990s Gumby: The Movie was released, sparking even more interest.Clokey's second most famous production is the duo of Davey and Goliath, funded by the Lutheran Church in America.
Gumby: The Movie, Gumbasia, The Puppetoon Movie, Gumby Dharma, Davey and Goliath: Vol. 4: Helping Each Other
TV Shows
Davey and Goliath, Gumby Adventures, The Gumby Show
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Trademark
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Works almost exclusively in clay animation
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Fact
1
He and his then-wife Ruth Clokey created Gumby, which made its debut on The Howdy Doody Show in August 1956 while Clokey was studying under Slavko Vorkapich at USC. The Clokeys also created Davey and Goliath.
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Adopted by Joseph Clokey, a musician, a composer and dean of music department at Pomona College in California, after being sent by his mother to a home for abandoned boys.
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Father of Ann Clokey and video producer Joe Clokey.
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Gumby: The Movie
1995
Gumby Adventures
1988
TV Series
Mandala
1977
Short uncredited
The Gumby Show
1957-1968
TV Series 7 episodes
Davey and Goliath
1960-1967
TV Series 41 episodes
Gumbasia
1955
Short
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Gumby: The Movie
1995
producer
Gumby Adventures
1988
TV Series producer - 1988
Mandala
1977
Short producer
Davey and Goliath
1960-1967
TV Series producer - 40 episodes
The Gumby Show
1957
TV Series producer - 1 episode
Gumbasia
1955
Short producer - uncredited
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Gumby: The Movie
1995
script / written by
Gumby Adventures
1988
TV Series characters / head writer
The Gumby Show
1966
TV Series writer - 4 episodes
Davey and Goliath
TV Series story - 3 episodes, 1961 - 1962 script - 1 episode, 1962
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Gumby: The Movie
1995
Pokey Prickle Gumbo (voice)
Gumby Adventures
1988
TV Series
Worm
The Puppetoon Movie
1987
Pokey (voice)
The Gumby Show
1968
TV Series
Pokey
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Puppetoon Movie
1987
advisor: Gumby
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine
1965
title designer: main titles
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini
1965
title designer: main titles
Cinematographer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Gumby: The Movie
1995
Gumbasia
1955
Short uncredited
Animation Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Gumby: The Movie
1995
animator
Art Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Gumby: The Movie
1995
storyboard artist
Camera Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Mandala
1977
Short camera operator
Editor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Gumbasia
1955
Short uncredited
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Wash Dry and Spin Out
2003
special thanks
The Puppetoon Movie
1987
special thanks
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Gumby Dharma
2006
Documentary
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1990
Annie
Annie Awards
Distinguished Contribution to the Art of Animation