Gumbasia

Gumbasia is a 3-minute, 10-second short film released on September 2, 1953, the first clay animation produced by Art Clokey, who went on to create the classic characters Gumby and Davey and Goliath, using the same technique.[1]

Gumbasia
Gumbasia, the first stop-motion clay animation film by Art Clokey
Directed byArt Clokey
Written byArt Clokey
Produced byArt Clokey
CinematographyClokey Productions
Edited byArt Clokey
Music by"Don-Que-Dee" by Mel Powell
Distributed byClokey Inc.
Release date
September 2, 1953
Running time
3 minutes
CountryUnited States

Production

Clokey created Gumbasia while studying at the University of Southern California under the direction of Slavko Vorkapić. He used a ping-pong table in his father's garage as the surface upon which to work the clay.[2] The film was a surreal short of pulsating shapes and lumps of clay set to jazz music in a homage of Walt Disney's Fantasia.[3]

Summary

Gumbasia was created in a style Vorkapić taught called Kinesthetic Film Principles. Described as "massaging of the eye cells" this technique, based on camera movements and stop-motion editing, is responsible for much of the look and feel later seen in Gumby films.[4]

When Clokey showed Gumbasia to film producer Sam Engel in 1955, Engel decided to fund a 15-minute short film that became the first Gumby episode—"Gumby Goes to the Moon".

Impact

A TV series based on the short, titled Fun in Gumbasia, was scheduled for release in mid-2017.[5]

References
  1. Beck, Jerry (January 8, 2010). "Art Clokey 1921-2010". Cartoon Brew.
  2. "Gumbasia". KQED.
  3. "For Art Clokey's birthday, five great stop-motion shorts". October 12, 2011 – via Christian Science Monitor.
  4. "Art Clokey, article at KQED". Archived from the original on 2009-03-07. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
  5. "Gumbasia (available in two video formats)". Archived from the original on 2009-12-30. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
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