Davey and Goliath's Come Back
CHICAGO Il – Davey and Goliath, a popular stop-motion animated children series of the 1950s~1980s, will be aired again under the patronage of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on December 2003. ELCA, the original creators of Davey and Goliath, formally entered into the production agreement with Premavision, Inc. (Clokey Productions) on Nov. 22, 2002.
"We are delighted to be able to sign the agreement with Art and Joe Clokey to produce a 2003 Davey and Goliath holiday special, the first new program production in nearly 30 years," said the Rev. Eric C. Shafer, director, ELCA Department for Communication.
"We look forward to our work with the Clokeys, through Premavision, on this project. More importantly, we're excited about this new beginning for Davey and Goliath and the opportunity it brings to share the message of God's love for all children and families in the 21st century," he continued.
"The basic story outline is about tolerance, understanding and respect. Davey learns about the religious and cultural practices of his friends Benji, who is Jewish, and Yasmeen, who is Muslim. The story takes place just before Christmas and includes material about Hanukkah and Ramadan. The story's action is centered around what happens when Davey and his friends go snow boarding and, of course, get into trouble. As always, Goliath ends up saving the day," said Kristi S. Bangert, director for marketing and interpretation, ELCA Department for Communication.
According to Joe Clokey, president of Premavision Inc, the television special "will be the most ground-breaking, stop- motion animation that has been produced to date" "We're working with animators who have worked on major feature films. We are very fortunate to work with a team of animators who are limitless in their abilities," he said.
Focusing on the action sequences involving Davey and his friends, Clokey said the sences will “blow people's minds. We're doing things that will make the extreme-sports crowd very excited. The storyline is very powerful and will be combined with a backdrop of adventure," he remarked.
"We're focused on producing a special that will still be used 50 years from now. The Davey and Goliath series had a mass appeal during the 1950s through the 1980s. So, we're back again," Clokey continued.
"Davey and Goliath is about showing the love of God without being preachy. It is time for a new stop-motion classic that will bring people together. Now that the special is in process, our next task is to secure funding for the production of new Davey and Goliath episodes," said Shafer.
"One of the ways in which the ELCA is raising funds for new production is through a licensing agreement with Heat Licensing Co., Sequim, Wash.," Shafer mentioned.
The agreement allows for Davey and Goliath merchandise to be produced as fundraising developments for new programs. Heat Licensing also plans to market existing Davey and Goliath episodes.
The original Darvey and Goliath episodes contained a Christian oriented moral or theme, geared toward children. Sixty five 15 minute episodes and six half-hour specials were created under the partnership between the Lutheran church and Art and Ruth Clokey.
By Pauline J.