For this episode we go back into the vault for an interview conducted ten years ago with Joe Clokey. He was the son of the man who created and animated Gumby, the most bendable children’s TV character ever. Read more about this colourful character at the official site Gumbyworld.
The interview was conducted ten years ago in 2015. Sadly, Joe Clokey only lived a few more years, passing away after suffering a heart attack in 2018. The film producer and keeper of the Gumby franchise was 56. His dad, series creator Art Clokey, died in 2010 at 88.
Joe grew up in California as “Gumby’s little brother,” watching his dad and mom stamp out, cookie cutter style, dozens of brightly coloured characters out of plastercine in creating a unique world of stop-animation wonder.
TV audiences first saw Gumby on a short film tested during a broadcast of NBC’s The Howdy Doody Show in 1955. That led to a full season order the next year, extended about once a decade on various networks into the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.
Clokey tells story after story about how the character evolved, who did the voices and even details about the theme song. It was his big sister and a friend singing, “He was once a little green slab of clay…” to a tune composed by a prominant jazz musician. The music played millions of times for a paltry one-time fee. Even Clokey lost out when a spinoff merchandising deal made a fortune — not for him, but for the toy company.
We also talk about Clokey’s other famous series, Davey and Goliath, a collection of suburban kiddie parables bankrolled by the Lutheren church. I saw both shows daily as a lad while watching Rocketship 7 and Commander Tom as they beamed across Lake Ontario from Buffalo, N.Y., on WKBW. The Clokey’s really sparked the imaginations of kids back in a more analogue, hands-on era when, with enough plastercine and clay, you really could make Gumby a part of you.
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To listen to this “From the Vault” episode, simply click on the white arrow in the blue dot above.
