From: Alan Cook <alangregorycook-AT-msn.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Date: Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:46:10 GMT
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Art Clokey died Friday, Jan 8


I am still adjusting to the news of Art's passing. But I found myself thinking about how shy Art was when I worked for him, and yet his Gumby puppet did not seem to be shy at all---instead Gumby was confident and perky.

The Gumby series was low budget, as was "Davey & Goliath", shot on 16 mm film. 
Many props used in Gumby's adventures were actual toys---some "borrowed" from Art's young son Joe. As a kid, I don't think Joe was too happy when his toys went to the studio,  

Gumby was clay animation  (with wire armatures) while Davey & Goliath was made with cast resin heads, rubber hands with wire inside so hand positions could change. There was a ball & socket metal armature body for Davey , which I think was superior to many stop-motion armatures in use at that time.

Art was a very special gift to American television, enriching many kids' childhoods with his puppet film work.

After I left Clokey Productions, Art & Ruth Clokey's marriage came to an end. Ruth continued to run Clokey Productions for some time, while Art  moved into a hippie commune. He told me that instead of communicating with people "third hand" via film that he was now doing it directly, one on one or person to person. During that period of his life, he sometimes took out full-page ads in an alternative weekly paper here in Los Angeles, running for President of the United States. The borders of the ads had illustrations of Gumby in  armor like Knights of yore. And there was in small type, a disclaimer which alluded that Gumby was property of Clokey Productions and not of Art himself. When Art left the hippie commune, which had been a necessary part of his life, he eventually went back to "communicatng third hand" through puppet films and again was "in charge" of Gumby.  But he must have been doing more person-to-person communication as well. Art & his second wife Gloria lived in Topanga Canyon, a rural part of Los Angeles. Later they moved to Northern California, and new Gumby films were created I believe in a houseboat studio in Sausalito.

Art's daughter died young...one of the sad times in Art's life. And with the breakup of his first marriage, all the family upsets must have been very confusing and difficult for his son Joe. 

Joe as an adult could see his dad with appreciative eyes, and devoted a lot of time  attempting to gain full recogntion by media and the public, of his dad's artistic output. 

So while I'm thankful that there was an Art Clokey and his very individual outlook, I'm also glad there is a Joe Clokey determined that his dad's legacy will continue to shine.

Alan


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