{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox film |name = I Go Pogo |image = I Go Pogo promotional film poster.jpg |caption = Publicity poster for 'I Go Pogo' |director = Marc Paul Chinoy |producer = Marc Paul Chinoy |writer = Marc Paul Chinoy |starring = Skip Hinnant<br>Jonathan Winters<br>Vincent Price |music = Holly Amber Church |cinematography = Robert W. Starbird |editing = Michael Usher |studio = Stowmar Enterprises <br>Possum Productions Inc. |distributor = 21st Century Film Corporation |released = {{Film date|1980|8|1}} |runtime = 82 minutes |country = United States |language = English |budget = $2 million }} '''''I Go Pogo''''' (also known as '''''Pogo for President''''') is a 1980 American stop motion comedy film written and directed by Marc Paul Chinoy based on the comic strip ''Pogo'' by Walt Kelly.

==Plot== Pogo the Possum attempts to run for president with the help of his fellow animal friends.

==Cast== * Skip Hinnant as Pogo Possum * Jonathan Winters as Porky Pine / Molester Mole / Wiley Catt * Bob McFadden as Howland Owl * Vincent Price as Deacon Mushrat * Jimmy Breslin as P.T. Bridgeport * Stan Freberg as Albert Alligator * Ruth Buzzi as Miz Beaver / Miss Mam'selle Hepzibah * Arnold Stang as Churchy LaFemme

==Production== The film was announced in January 1980.<ref name="IGoPogoAnnounce">{{cite news|work=The Washington Post|date=January 13, 1980|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1980/01/13/we-have-met-the-movie-and-it-is-pogo/1dbb3963-f9f8-43a7-8f76-a26dfd2dbeb4/|title= We Have Met the Movie and It Is Pogo! |access-date=May 12, 2023}}</ref> Kerry H. Stowell, president of Stowmar Enterprises, a film studio in Crystal City, Virginia that produced the feature-length picture on a budget of $2 million.<ref name="IGoPogoProd3">{{cite news|work=The New York Times|date=November 25, 1979|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/25/archives/bringing-walt-kellys-pogo-to-the-screen.html|title= Bringing Walt Kelly's Pogo To the Screen |access-date=May 12, 2023}}</ref><ref name="IGoPogoProd">{{cite news|work=The Washington Post|date=October 27, 1980|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/10/27/possum-politics/5d90c2cf-0bfd-4022-a963-d87cd5d82714/|title= Possum Politics |access-date=May 12, 2023}}</ref> The film was the first feature-length animation shot with a new technique called "flexiform," which involves the manipulation of three-dimensional plasticine figures<ref name= "IGoPogoProd"/> Marc Paul Chinoy, an animator on TV commercials and letter segments on ''Sesame Street'', introduced Stowell to the technique and became her partner in producing educational and industrial films. <ref name="IGoPogoProd2">{{cite news|work=The Washington Post|date=September 5, 1980|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/09/05/doesnt-everybody-go-pogo/bd4d0ad6-565d-431b-a170-34ba2f4ce772/|title= Doesn't Everybody Go Pogo? |access-date=May 12, 2023}}</ref><ref name= "IGoPogoProd"/> Shooting on the picture took about a year, but planning for it had taken more than a year before that with the two discussing possible applications for the "flexiform" technique when the two agreed on adapting Walt Kelly's ''Pogo'' comic strip<ref name= "IGoPogoProd"/> The two contacted Kelly's widow, Selby Kelly, regarding the rights and after showing her the studio she was impressed enough that she broke off her negotiations with NBC and MGM regarding an animated TV adaptation.<ref name= "IGoPogoProd2"/><ref name= "IGoPogoProd"/> Kelly remained involved throughout production approving the models and suggesting changes.<ref name= "IGoPogoProd2"/> During the writing process, Chinoy used Kelly's strips as a guideline and didn't invent any new situations that didn't directly tie back to the source material.<ref name= "IGoPogoProd2"/>

Stephen Chiodo worked as an animation director on the film.<ref name="Lenburg">{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=April 29, 2026|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/198/mode/1up?q=%22Pogo%22|pages=198}}</ref>

==Release== The film had been intended to be released three months before the 1980 United States presidential election with a $1 million marketing budget as well as a write-in campaign for "Pogo for President", but 21st Century Film Corporation never delivered on their promise and instead released the film on videocassette via Fotomat's video rental service on August 1, 1980.<ref name="IGoPogoDist">{{cite magazine |last=Scapperotti|first=Dan|date=1980|title= I Go Pogo|url=https://archive.org/details/cinefantastique_1970-2002/Cinefantastique%20Vol%2010%20No%204%20%281980%29/page/n9/mode/1up?view=theater|url-status= |magazine=Cinefantastique|location= |publisher= Fourth Castle Micromedia|access-date=May 12, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Beck|first=Jerry|author-link=Jerry Beck|date=October 28, 2005|title=The Animated Movie Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fTI1yeZd-tkC&q=dionne+quan+the+animated+movie+guide&pg=PA237|page=xvi|publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=9781569762226}}</ref>

Walt Disney Home Video would reissue the film in 1984 on VHS under the alternate title of ''Pogo for President''; this was the first Walt Kelly-related product with involvement from Disney since Kelly left the company in 1941<ref>{{cite book|last=Umland|first=Samuel J.|date=2015|title=The Tim Burton Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3jWCCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA28|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|page=28|isbn=978-0810892002}}</ref>

Two versions of the film exist, one being the unaltered original and the other a re-edit with added narration.<ref name="VideoHound">{{cite book|title=VideoHound's Family Video Retriever|url=https://archive.org/details/videohoundsfamil00char|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/videohoundsfamil00char/page/166 166]|date=1995|isbn=978-0-8103-7866-7}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|0087925|I Go Pogo}}

Category:Pogo (comic strip) Category:1980 American animated films Category:1980s stop-motion animated films Category:1980 English-language films Category:Comics adapted into animated films Category:Films based on American comics Category:Animated films about marsupials Category:Animated films about talking animals Category:Animated films based on comics Category:Films about presidential elections