The Little Prince and Gumby – Unique Connections

Gumby and The Little Prince have a few things in common, so it was with great anticipation that we watched The Little Prince feature film on Netflix on the opening night in the U.S. this month. >>Watch the trailer.

The film is based on the famous and timeless French novella, The Little Prince (published in 1943), which is one of the best-selling books of all time. The film is beautiful. This adaptation captures the wondrous spirit of the book with an amazing blend of stop motion animation and CG artistry.

Connections with Gumby

Gumby creator Art Clokey was acquainted with Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the author of the The Little Prince. Antoine was a pioneering aviator who had recounted his aviation experiences in the Sahara Desert in both his memoirs and in The Little Prince. Art Clokey was a reconnaissance photographer in World War II, stationed in North Africa. He had some similar experiences as Antoine, and even met him in the early 1940s. Art told us that the Gumby episode “Small Planets“ was loosely influenced by The Little Prince. You can see the kindred spirit of the little girl’s yearning for imagination, fun and adventure in Gumby.

Jumping forward to 2014-2016, our very own Gumby Animation Director Anthony Scott served as lead animator on The Little Prince. Anthony got his start as a stop motion animator in the late ’80s when Art Clokey hired him to work on the Gumby series. Anthony has gone on to work on other amazing stop motion films such as James and the Giant Peach, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, Corpse Bride, Paranorman, and many more.

Animator Anthony Scott Shares his Experiences

“The Little Prince was a once-in-a-lifetime project that I was fortunate to be a part of. Since I was a child, I was familiar with the book, especially its strange and fascinating illustrations. Our core team including Jamie Caliri (Stop Motion Creative Director and founder of Dragonframe stop motion software) and Alexander Juhasz (Stop Motion Production Designer) and myself, set up a small studio in Montréal, Canada. We put together a top-notch crew of local talent to produce the stop motion sequences in Mark Osborne‘s film.

Saint-Exupery’s story was told through the use of paper puppets. Like clay, paper is a beautiful material to work with in stop motion animation. These sequences have received world-wide acclaim and I feel, have effectively connected with the spirit of The Little Prince.”

Hear from the Team that Created the Film

For more details about the stop motion production, watch these podcasts:

AnimateClay Live Stop Motion Chat Podcast
Featuring:

• Alexander Juhasz (Character Designer/Production Designer)
• Anthony Scott (Lead Animator)

Skwigly Podcast 
The talents behind the stop-motion in The Little Prince:

• Anthony Scott (Lead Animator)
• Corinne Merrell (Art Director)
• Jamie Caliri (Creative Director)
• Alexander Juhasz (Character Designer/Production Designer)

Read more about the Little Prince here.

Enjoy The Little Prince!

Gumby Goes to Comic Con

The Gumby Team Presents ‘Sixty Years of Gumby’
Panel at Comic Con on Sunday, July 12.

Get a glimpse into Gumby’s world during a panel presentation at Comic Con in San Diego on Sunday, July 12, 2015,  at 11 a.m. in Room 29AB.

A panel from Gumby’s studio (Premavision/Clokey Productions) and industry experts will discuss the creation of Gumby, stop motion animation and the art and stories of Gumby’s Eisner Award-winning comic books.

The family that created the beloved clay boy will share the inside scoop on how Gumby became such a pop culture icon. Art and Ruth Clokey brought Gumby to life six decades ago in 1955. As the world celebrates the 60th anniversary of Gumby being molded from clay, Joe (Art and Ruth’s son) and his wife Joan carry on the family tradition as they head up Gumby’s studio.

Art Clokey, a pioneer in the field of stop motion animation has inspired generations of artists, animators, photographers, puppet makers, directors and producers. He received the Inkpot Award in 2006 for lifetime achievement.

With new productions in the works, and a newly re-mastered library of episodes being released on DVD, Gumby is poised for a major Renaissance.

The Comic Con panel will feature:

• Joe (President and Producer) and Joan Clokey (Creative Director), who will share some personal anecdotes about Gumby, show behind-the-scene clips and touch on the history of the character
• Gumby Animation Director Anthony Scott (Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, Corpse Bride, The Little Prince…)
• Harry Walton (Indiana Jones, Nightmare Before Christmas…), longtime Gumby animator and FX guru
• Rick Geary (National Cartoonist award winner…), Gumby comic book illustrator
• Mary Flynn (NCircle Entertainment)

We’ll see you there!

Have a question? Send us a message.