Sunday, January 30, 2022

Do You Remember Gumby? A Little History Of The Green Clay Boy With A Different Spend On Animation

The legendary creator of Gumby, Art Clokey was a USC film school graduate in the 1950s. He was playing with colored clay for a short film that was a musical stop-motion. Clokey molded a clay creature that was 

Gingerbread man like in form. The character of Gumby was born. Gumby first appeared in a series of shorts on Howdy Doody starting in 1955. He became popular over the following decades, and he was eventually given his own series, The Adventures of Gumby, which ran from 1957 throughout the 1960s. Here is a brief timeline of the highlights.

 1950s- Art Clokey makes a stop motion-live action commercial for Andersen’s Pea Soup. Coca Cola and Budweiser then hired Art to produce commercials with stop motion animation and slapstick movement. 

 1953- Art makes an art film: Gumbasia, and the producer suggested to him to create clay characters and stories lines around children.

 1955- Gumby is created. Art makes the first Gumby pilot and gets the green light from NBC to do an animated series.

 1956-1957- Gumby stars in his own Saturday morning TV series, The Gumby Show. 22 episodes produced.

 1960s 1960- Clokey Productions moves to a large studio in Glendora, California 

 1962-1968- A busy 6 years of work. Art and wife Ruth create 85 additional Gumby Adventure episodes, which goes worldwide. Gumby and Pokey bendable toys are manufactured and break all sales records.

 1969-mid 1970’s- Gumby is no longer in production, but ex-wife now, Ruth Goodell (Clokey) continues to run the studio and complete the Davey episodes (not Gumpy) into the Early 1970’s Under Ruth’s direction. End of 1970’s Ruth closes the Glendora studio.

 1974-1977- Art and his new wife Gloria made 2 the art films, The Clay Peacock and Mandala, in their basement. Art and Gloria, hounded by encouraging fans of Gumpy to bring it back, they looked forward to getting Gumby back on the air. 

 1980s- The comeback of Gumpy is well welcomed. Gumby is on the air in national syndication and quickly becomes the top animated show of all time. Art and Gloria produce 99 new Gumby episodes in their new studio in Sausalito, CA.

 1990s- Warner Vision releases the video of The Gumby Movie, and it quickly sells nearly a million copies on VHS. 

2005- The Clokey's celebrate Gumby’s 50th anniversary with a huge birthday bash in San Francisco with animators from five decades.

This is just some small history of Gumpy and I just wanted to bring the beginning of and the rise of Gumpy on this blog post. Gumpy's history goes well into the future of 2015. I have an episode of Gumpy below this post. BJ / 🙈🙉🙊
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Saturday, January 29, 2022

Why Some Animated Cartoons Were Banned From History


 There are many reasons why animated cartoons are banned. The first reason is that they are seen as racist by some people. Another reason for them being banned is that they are seen as offensive. Some people find them offensive because of the way they portray certain races of people. They also make fun of people who speak in an accent or have a funny voice. This is a good reason to ban them because it makes people feel uncomfortable.

Another reason for cartoon characters being banned is because they are seen as sexual. Some cartoons are very sexual, and this is a good reason for them to be banned. They may show something that is inappropriate for children to see.

Another reason for cartoons to be banned is because they are seen to be violent. Some cartoons are very violent and this is another reason for them to be banned. This is especially true if the cartoon is violent against a certain race or religion.

Another reason for these cartoons to be banned is because of the way they portray different races. They can be offensive because of the way they show some people as being stupid and lazy and of course that is not true at all. Any way these are the top few reasons that cartoons were banned from history, but you can still see some of these online on YouTube. I have one below this post you can view : Try not to be offended just showing a little history lesson. BJ / 🙈🙉🙊

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Friday, January 28, 2022

Charlie Chaplin Cartoons "Makes Cartoon History"


 Pat Sullivan, the head of the Sullivan Studios, contacted Chaplin in the spring of 1917. He wanted Chaplin to be a part of an animated cartoon starring him. Chaplin was cooperative and supplied a group of photographs of himself to be used as the models for the artwork. Otto Messmer, the head animator at the Sullivan Studios, was a huge fan of Chaplin and the project was started. 
Then a couple of delays happened, World War 1-Messmer was drafted, and Prison time- for Sullivan. The Sullivan Studio came to a complete halt (Closed ). Sullivan Studios reopened 9 months later, and the work on the project restarted. Then the project is further developed and has bigger focus than before. Eventually, the work is finished. And then the animated Charlie Chaplin cartoons are released.

Sullivan was a longtime collaborator with Chaplin, and it was during this time that he produced his last and most successful series of cartoons. The series was a continuation of the war saga of the first series and was eventually released. It was only released after Chaplin had returned to the states after the war and it concluded in October 1919.

Charlie Chaplin was a master of silent films. It is his ability to bring his audiences on the verge of laughter with his masterful art that made him an icon. The unique thing about Chaplin’s silent films and cartoons they continued, even after sound films started to appear. They also are a reflection of Chaplin’s success at that time. Charlie Chaplin animated cartoons were a success for a long time running. I don't know about you, but I still enjoy them today. Got one below this post. BJ / 🙈🙉🙊

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Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Van Beuren Studios: Powerful Animated Studio For A Short Time 1928-1936

   Amadee Van Beuren (pronounced Van Burr-en) bought Fables Studio and renamed it Van Beuren studios in 1928. During the Golden Age Of Animation his studio was the least known, yet it packed a serious punch. Van Beuren was a business grad and a great businessman which this post is about.  If asked what Van Beuren Studios was famous for, most people today would probably look at you with a blank stare, not knowing that the little-known production company also helped lead the pack when it came to classic cartoons of their time. Van Beuren Studios was located across the street from Fleischer Studios, one of his biggest competitors of that time.   Like many non-Disney/Warner Bros. cartoon studios, critics and historians generally tend to give Van Beuren the footnote treatment, writing off the cartoons as cheaply produced drivel—but this isn't quite true. He put together some great shorts (Cartoons) that made great headway during the time. He also hired a few animators from competitors that also made a difference at the studio, giving them some free will. The studio produced cartoons featuring Felix the Cat as part of its Rainbow Parade series: The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg, Neptune Nonsense, and Bold King Cole, all released in 1936. Van Beuren released his films through RKO Pictures. In 1932, Van Beuren purchased Charlie Chaplin's 12 Mutual Film Company comedies for $10,000 each and re-released them through RKO Radio Pictures. Chaplin, not owning the rights to his Mutual Films, had no legal recourse against Van Beuren or RKO. Here is a list of production work that Van Beuren Studios produced during their brief 1928 - 1936 history.

 Animation:

Live-action:

   
    Amadee Van Beuren became ill in 1936 and business contract falling through forced Van Bueren to close the studio.





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