Church resurrects cartoon

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NEW YORK - After a nearly 30-year hiatus, Davey Hansen and his faithful dog Goliath are back to teach values to a new generation of young people. The Lutheran church has revived the 1960s-era animated series for a holiday special, "Davey & Goliath's Snowboard Christmas." The special -- with a theme of religious tolerance -- debuted on the Hallmark Channel last week , and will be repeated at noon Sunday.

If things go well, Goliath's exasperated "Oh, Davey" will be heard many times again when his master gets into trouble.

The original series was produced from 1960 to 1965 and distributed for free to television stations. Many eagerly aired the 15-minute episodes on Sunday mornings; as public licensees, it was a solid public relations move to show wholesome children's programming with a religious component.

"If you can find somebody between 40 and 60, they'll tell you a 'Davey & Goliath' story," said the Rev. Eric Shafer, communications director for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and a key figure in bringing the series back.

Davey was a typically mischievous boy, constantly being helped out of jams by his dog. Goliath spoke (only Davey and the audience could hear him) essentially as Davey's voice of conscience.

"Davey & Goliath" gently conveyed basic Christian themes that the love of God and parents were unconditional, Mr. Shafer said. In one typical episode, Davey is trapped in a train but comforted by the realization that God is everywhere.

Mr. Shafer said he's received many e-mails from adults with fond memories of the series who say, "When my family wasn't whole, Davey's was, and it got me through."

Ruth Clokey, daughter of a Lutheran minister, and her husband, Art, were the producers. Art Clokey also created the "Gumby" character -- now remembered as much for Eddie Murphy's "Saturday Night Live" skits as the original shows -- and the quirky, stop-action animation that was its signature.

Production of "Davey & Goliath" was discontinued, but the Lutheran church funded more episodes made between 1969 and 1971. A handful of specials were also made, the last in 1975. Repeats were a staple on TV until the early 1980s. It mostly disappeared after stations recognized the money they could make selling advertising for other religious programming.

Old "Davey & Goliath" episodes would still occasionally pop up on some cable systems until a year or so ago. Lutherans have moved to stop those airings in advance of putting VHS and DVD compilations on the market.