An acclaimed animator from the US, Eli Noyes, Jr (October 18, 1942–March 23, 2024) directed 10 animated films and made creative contributions to 11 television series. He is known for his film Clay or the Origin of the Species (1964), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and established claymation as a medium. Noyes is also recognized for his artistic contribution to the internationally acclaimed TV series Sesame Street. He was the son of renowned architect Eliot Noyes. 

Credited as Eliot Noyes, Jr., he directed two award-winning films with the NFB that were shown at festivals in Argentina, France, Spain and the US. The hand-drawn animation Alphabet (1966) is an energetic romp through the letters of the alphabet, while In a Box (1968), another of Noyes’ hand-drawn shorts, suggests the predicament of people who find themselves boxed-in by life. It takes only a few deft strokes of Noyes’ pen to show how people’s lives are limited by their own view of things. After the NFB, he created animated productions for all the major US film producers and distributors, including HBO, Nickelodeon and Disney. In 2009, Noyes directed the animation sequences for two documentaries, Under Our Skin and The Most Dangerous Man in America, which were shortlisted for Academy Awards.