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Art
Clokey: Creator Extraordinaire
Art
Clokey, the creator of Gumby and Pokey, and a true innovator in
the Claymation industry, began his work with clay figures on his
grandfather's farm 80 miles north of Detroit where he spent his
summers in the 1930s. It was paradise to him as a boy. A neighboring
farmer had a son about his age. They would play together in the
barnyard or in the living room of the house. The son had a set
of blocks and toy cannons. They built forts with toy soldiers.
They would shoot pencils and marbles out of the cannons and destroy
the fort. When they ran out of soldiers Art began to make them
of clay. It was the first time he can remember working with clay.
Great
artists are often inspired by mentors, and for Art Clokey this
was Slavko Vorkapich, the head of the Cinema Department at the
University of Southern California where Art was a student. Vorkapich
was an immigrant from Yugoslavia. Art did some graduate work with
Vorkapich, who, shortly thereafter, resigned from the university
to work on his own films. Vorkapich continued to teach in private
classes at his home in Benedict Canyon, California. Vorkapich
considered Art his protégé, and introduced him to
his kinesthetic film principles of animation. "He turned my head
around at USC as far as motion pictures are concerned," Art said.
He also introduced Art to his friends, who were some of greatest
film makers in the world at the time, including the great Russian
director Eisenstein.
Art
experimented with film as he was developing as an artist, long
before he created Gumby, Pokey, and all of their friends. But
his work with clay in film really began in the advertising industry
with commercials, and it was during a break in the filming of
these commercials that he began to create an art form that in
a very short time would be recognized throughout the world.
Art
Clokey: Creator Extraordinaire
The Start of Claymation: Thank You Budweiser!
Art on the Art of Film and Animation
How Art Got His Big Break: the Power of
Gumbasia
Davey and Goliath: A Message of Love
The Clay Peacock
Mandala: A Visionary Masterpiece
The Plucky Plumber
Space Ball and Professor Cap
The Colors of Clokey's Characters
The Sounds of Clokey's Claymations
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