If you’re an illustrated or animated character creator, it’s probably a
dream-like feat to find a single character (or style of character, for that
matter) whose popularity sustains you for the entire course of your career. Just
look at Art Clokey. Not only is he singlehandedly responsible for pioneering the
art of claymation, but he’s also the man behind the timeless pliable green
protagonist, Gumby and his sidekick Pokey.

As if Gumby and Pokey weren’t
enough of a contribution to America’s popular culture, Clokey also added a cult
classic to his cache with Davey and Goliath.

Here’s a brief
timeline of how it all came to pass:

1921 – Art Clokey is born in
Detroit, Michigan

1955 – Clokey creates an experimental student film,
Gumbasia, at the University of Southern California. A stop-action
animation tale with a jazz score, Gumbasia garnered immediate attention,
catching the eye of television producer Sam Engel, who Clokey would later refer
to as the “Godfather of Gumby.”

1957 – Engel’s influence leads to the
debut of The Gumby Show.

1960 – With the popularity of the
wholesome and fun-loving Gumby at its height, the Lutheran Church approaches
Clokey and his first wife, Ruth (who met and married in the late ’50s after
meeting on a seminary campus in Hartford, CT) about producing a Christian-themed
children’s program in the Gumby tradition. Davey and Goliath debuted that
year. The storylines were supplied by the Lutheran Church, of which Ruth was a
member.

mid-1960s – The Gumby Show airings taper off, as Davey
and Goliath gains steam.

1977 – Davey and Goliath’s last
original episode airs.

1988 – Gumby Adventures, which collected
vintage segments from 1956-1960 episodes of The Gumby Show,
debuts.

1995 – Gumby: The Movie hit theatres.

2005 –
America celebrates Gumby’s 50th
anniversary.