Noyes, Eli

Eliot Fette Noyes, Jr. (October 18, 1942 – March 23, 2024) was an American animator most noted for his stop animation work using clay and sand. His 1964 work, Clay or the Origin of Species, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and established claymation as a medium. He designed animated sand pinwheels for the Nickelodeon show Pinwheel and the sand alphabet for Sesame Street. Noyes partnered with Kit Laybourne and created the show Braingames as well as the children's television series Eureeka's Castle and Gullah Gullah Island. He co-founded the studio Alligator Planet with Ralph Guggenheim and directed animation sequences for the documentaries Under Our Skin and The Most Dangerous Man in America. Noyes was the son of architect Eliot Noyes and graduated from Harvard University in 1964.