I bet Tim Burton would know.

I'm trying to evoke a flashback, but nothing yet.
Hmmmmm....
The Sixties... Claymation... Annette Funicello...
My first crush! (with Annette, not clay).
Sorry, nothing yet.

Still trying.

Bruce Bickford was clay animator who worked frequently with Frank Zappa during the early '70s.

Here's a link to one of his bizarre clay morphing from jungle to title animations (Quicktime).

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) - clay stuff by Art Clokey; the creator of Gumby - that's the movie you're looking for?

Zappa rocks.

Would love to find out what you're reffering to - sounds awesome

Communication Design, Melbourne

David, I think you've hit it. I actually did watch the whole thing (?!?!). Thanks a bunch!

Wow, cool David!
Annette meets Gumby... think of the possibilities! ;-)

FYI --
The Frank Zappa/Bruce Bickford reference is to Baby Snakes.

You're welcome.

Carl,

Got here a couple hours late. Indeed it was Art Clokey. Many of the Gumby episodes had great animated title sequences as well:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/sets/1168574/

Oh, man. That Flickr link made me remember something from my childhood that probably had a hand in my obsession with letters.

I had some plaster letters just like these when I was about six years old:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/53893098/in/set-1168574/

My dad salvaged some panels that were used at trade shows by the company he worked for. They were covered with letters like these in two sizes, around two inches tall, painted forest green. He pried them off and gave them to me. I used to spend hours playing with them. I'm sure they were a subconscious influence on this. I wonder whatever became of them.

(Sorry for going OT...)

One other thing: I did actually use them once for the animated title of an 8mm film I made when I was 13 or 14. Just like Art. :-)

I used to do stop-motion animation ... I should get back into it. Tedious but very rewarding (if that's possible)

[More OT.....]

> I bet Tim Burton would know

And Henry Selic ( great stop motion animation director - Laika Entertainment House) who directed The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Tim Burton and Henry Selick are involved in the digital remastering (The Nightmare Before Christmas) - 3-D release by Walt Disney Pictures , something around Oct.

Another great director + producer is Will Vinton (formerly Vinton Studios, and now Laika Entertainment House)

I used to do stop-motion animation … I should get back into it. Tedious but very rewarding (if that’s possible)

It's definitely easier nowadays. If you have a digital camera (still or video) and a Mac, check this out:

http://www.istopmotion.com/

what about wallace and grommit? Can't remember much about them but had some good clay animation so you might want to check them out. Ahh gumby nice.

Gumby! (What a fun departure from type...) AND Wallace & Gromit, which are also stellar clay animations.

yes, Aardman certainly produce some amazing stuff, shame about the storylines of their feature animated films (i.e Chicken Run)

True. I blame it on Universal who i think produced it. Probably wouldn't let him use his typical comedy and story lines :(

I think it was a fairly typical Aardman story line, just stretched out to feature length. Sure, Universal probably had a fair bit to do with it too.

Oh and Aardman is more than just "him"