Art Clokey (1921 – 2010)
Born Arthur C Farrington, was a pioneer in the popularization of stop motion clay animation.
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Clay is embedded in our subconscious. It has been there for at least 50,000 years.
There's none of this wisecracking and cynicism that you see in ... some of the other cartoons. He's supposed to be a role model for kids. He cares about other people.
The essence of Gumby is that he makes children feel safe. He's their greatest pal.
Clokey says he underwent "a marvelous, life-changing experience" by taking LSD in supervised doses in the late 1960s. "It opened my awareness to what life is all about," he says. [...] — There's a master's thesis for someone who wants to hunt for the psychedelic influence in the shows.
There are two kinds of genius, the imitable and the inimitable. "Gumby" is a work of the second sort, the thing so completely, singularly itself, so far off down its own road, so unpredictable and odd, bizarrely constituted and eccentrically executed that there's nowhere for anyone to take it, no variations to play on the theme. He is original and inarguable, and though he has gone in and out of fashion, been parodied and abused [...] whatever insults have been done him are only further testament to his iconic power.
I didn’t allow merchandising for seven years after it was on the air because I was very idealistic, and I didn’t want parents to think we were trying to exploit their children.
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