ELCA Set for New 'Davey and Goliath' Television Special

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is set for the production of a new "Davey and Goliath" television special for December 2003. Davey and Goliath is a popular stop-motion animated children series created by the Lutheran church and aired on commercial television in the 1950s through the early 1980s.
On Nov. 22, 2002, the ELCA formally entered into a production agreement with Premavision, Inc. (Clokey Productions), Los Osos, Calif., to produce the Davey and Goliath television special.
"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," said Shafer.
"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.
The television special "will be ground-breaking in stop-motion animation," according to Joe Clokey, president of Premavision, Inc. (Clokey Productions). "We're working with animators who have worked on major feature films. We arevery fortunate to work with a team of animators who are limitless in their abilities," he said.
Clokey said the action sequence involving Davey and his friends snow boarding "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 said.
"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 said. "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.," said Shafer. The agreement allows for the creation of Davey and Goliath merchandise to raise funds for the development of new programs. Heat Licensing also plans to work with another organization to market existing Davey and Goliath episodes, he said.
In its original broadcast, Davey and Goliath episodes contained a Christian-oriented moral or theme. Programs were produced through a partnership involving the Lutheran church and Art and Ruth Clokey. Sixty-five 15-minute episodes and six half-hour specials were created. Davey and Goliath was geared toward children and is well-known to many of today's so-called "baby boomers," Shafer said. -- -- --
Information about "Davey and Goliath" is maintained at http://www.daveyandgoliath.org on the Internet.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html