Gumby Dharma (2006)

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Step into the life and work of Art Clokey, creator of Gumby, grandfather of stop-motion animation, and explore why a man would spend his 85 years on earth playing with lumps of colored clay. Art has lead a vital life and influential artistic career, guided by his persistent and evolving spiritual… More Step into the life and work of Art Clokey, creator of Gumby, grandfather of stop-motion animation, and explore why a man would spend his 85 years on earth playing with lumps of colored clay. Art has lead a vital life and influential artistic career, guided by his persistent and evolving spiritual pursuits. His world famous characters, Gumby and Pokey, and Davy and Goliath, echo the spiritual path of their creator. Art's journey takes us from the orphanage to inspiring adopted father, from the Seminary to the Hollywood movie business, and from traditional Episcopalian church values to Buddhism and Indian guru Sai Babba. It is a fascinating life and career in it's own right but also in how it gently influenced his characters and story lines for 40 + years. Clokey's work is one of the few animation characters that have survived the test of time to become a true American Icon. Interviews with contemporary leaders in animation, including Director Henry Selick (Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach) and special effects legend Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts, Adventures of Sinbad), place Clokey's work in perspective with the history of animation and explore stop motion's future in a computer graphics world. Also interviewed are his stars Gumby and Pokey (featuring new stop motion directed by Academy Award (C) Nominee Timothy Hittle) who come "offstage" to reveal the more personal facets of Clokey's story. In this film, we uncover how Art's animation and personal brand of love of life has for almost half a century influenced millions of TV and film viewers and filmmakers across the world.