San Luis Obispo Tribune reports that Art Clokey, creator of the classic children's television show Gumby and co-producer the series Davey & Goliath, died this morning at the age of 89.

Though Clokey lived in the San Luis Obispo area, his landmark claymation series, Gumby, has its roots in Los Angeles, and jazz music.

Gumby's animation style was readily apparent when Clokey attended USC film school and created a three-and-a-half minute short called Gumbasia. The student film was a parody of Fantasia and combined jazz music with colorful slabs of clay. Watch the video above and you'll certainly notice the similarities between this strange and hypnotic short and the hit children's show.

Also interesting is “The Gumby Video” found on YouTube. It features music composed by Clokey's adoptive father Joseph Clokey, who was a music professor at Pomona College. This piece was performed by the San Luis Obispo Symphony in 2004.

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