Davey and Goliath

Art Clokey, the creator of Gumby, produced this syndicated religious series in the early 1960s for one of the predecessors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It centered on a young boy named Davey Hansen and his talking dog, Goliath. When Goliath speaks, only Davey can hear him. More information: http://www.daveyandgoliath.org/

Some episodes of The Simpsons include mocking references to Davey and Goliath. Adult Swim's Moral Orel started as a direct parody (minus the dog and plus some Dead Baby Comedy), but eventually blossomed into something more, at least until it was Screwed by the Network.

This series provides examples of:
 * An Aesop
 * The All-American Boy: Davey.
 * Animated Series
 * Black Best Friend: Jonathan Reed is one of the earliest examples.
 * Claymation
 * Four-Fingered Hands
 * Jesus Saves
 * Missing Episode: Several episodes have been embargoed from syndication by the ELCA, a "mainline" denomination, mostly due to Values Dissonance and/or Political Correctness issues. They have been released on DVD.
 * The Moral Substitute
 * Talking Animal: Goliath.
 * Wham! Episode: The Easter special episode, where Davey's grandmother dies.