Davey and Goliath
| Davey and Goliath | |
|---|---|
Title card
|
|
| Genre |
Animation Children Christian Educational |
| Created by |
Art Clokey Ruth Clokey Dick Sutcliffe |
| Starring |
Dick Beals Norma MacMillan Hal Smith Nancy Wible Ginny Tyler |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 72 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 15 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Clokey Productions United Lutheran Church in America |
| Release | |
| Original network | Syndicated |
| Original release |
Series 1–3: February 25, 1961 – November 7, 1964 Series 4–5: September 12, 1971 – May 29, 1975 |
Davey and Goliath is an American clay-animated children's television series produced by the Lutheran Church in America and created by Art Clokey, Ruth Clokey, and Dick Sutcliffe. The show was aimed at a youth audience, and generally dealt with issues such as respect for authority, sharing and prejudice. Eventually these themes included serious issues such as racism, death, religious intolerance and vandalism. Each 15-minute episode features the adventures of Davey Hansen and his "talking" dog Goliath (although only Davey and the viewer can hear him speak) as they learn the love of God through everyday occurrences. Many of the episodes also feature Davey's parents John and Elaine, his sister Sally, as well as Davey's friends: Jimmy, Teddy, and Nathaniel in earlier episodes, Jonathan, Jimmy, Nicky, and Cisco in later ones.
Critics cite the show as tastefully prompting the spiritual curiosity of children, without coming off as preachy. In general, the characters found themselves in situations that had to be overcome by placing their faith in God. Davey's friends Nathaniel (in the 1960s episodes) and Jonathan (in the 1970s episodes) were black, and were some of the first black characters to appear as friends of a television show's lead character.
Following Clokey's success with the Gumby series, Davey and Goliath premiered in syndication on February 25, 1961 as a Saturday feature, and lasted until 1965. By May 1961, it was reported that "Millions of children in cities and towns across the United States and Canada are talking about two new television stars, 'Davey and Goliath'.
After its initial run, several 30-minute holiday special episodes were created in the late 1960s. The series then resumed with some new characters in 1971 and continued until 1973. In 1975, a final 30-minute summer episode was created. In 2004, Joe Clokey produced a new episode, "Davey and Goliath's Snowboard Christmas".
In 1958, Franklin Clark Fry, president of the United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA), put aside $1 million to fund production of a future television program for children. Soon after, the ULCA contracted with Clokey Productions, Inc., headed by Gumby creators Art and Ruth Clokey, to create a new children’s show: Davey and Goliath. Scripts were written by children’s book author Nancy Moore in consultation with the church; Moore would go on to pen several episodes of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater in the 1970s and early 1980s.
...
Wikipedia