Eli Noyes

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Eli Noyes
Noyes in 1964
Born
Eliot Fette Noyes, Jr.

(1942-10-18)October 18, 1942
Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedMarch 23, 2024(2024-03-23) (aged 81)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
EducationHarvard University
OccupationAnimator
Notable workClay or the Origin of Species
StyleStop motion
SpouseAugusta Talbot
Children2
Parent

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.

Early life and education[edit]

Eliot Fette Noyes, Jr. was born on October 18, 1942, in Amherst, Massachusetts, the son of noted "Harvard Five" architect Eliot Noyes and interior designer Molly Duncan Weed Noyes.[1] He was the brother of Fred Noyes. He attended the Putney School, graduating in 1960.[2] He graduated from Harvard University in 1964.[3] Alongside Caroline Leaf, Noyes was mentored by National Film Board of Canada animator Derek Lamb.[4]

Career[edit]

Noyes started creating animated images in his teens and was one of the first animators to use clay.[5] In 1964, Noyes created the eight-minute animated film Clay or the Origin of Species which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.[3] The film is considered one of the earliest examples of claymation, establishing it as a medium.[4] The work was cited by Wallace and Gromit creators, Peter Lord and David Sproxton, as a large influence on their work.[6]

In the early 1970s, Noyes filmed documentaries with Claudia Weil, including This Is the Home of Mrs. Levant Graham, a cinéma vérité film of the life of a Black family in Washington, D.C., and Aspen: 1970, which concerned a "generational clash of architects".[7] Noyes also used sand for his animations, including in his 1973 work Sandman and the 1976 pixelated stop motion Peanut Butter and Jelly. He also designed animated sand pinwheels for the Nickelodeon show Pinwheel[1] and created the sand alphabet for Sesame Street.[8]

Noyes partnered with Kit Laybourne to establish Noyes and Laybourne Enterprises in 1983. One of their first series was Braingames on HBO, and they also later created Eureeka's Castle and Gullah Gullah Island for Nickelodeon.[9] They created ten-second channel IDs for Nickelodeon that were rotoscoped.[5] Noyes and Laybourne Enterprises became established as the east coast branch of Colossal Pictures, from which they produced animation and network graphics for MTV's Liquid Television, as well as commercials for several major brands.[9] In association with Colossal, Noyes directed and illustrated the 1994 interactive CD-ROM Ruff's Bone for Living Books, a project of Broderbund and Random House. He also directed and developed The Blockheads, a series of two-minute animations.[5]

After relocating to Northern California in the 1990s, Noyes developed the Disney Channel afternoon programming block Zoog Disney with Walt Disney Imagineering. He was also involved in interactive projects with Pixar and served as the creative director for Oxygen television network in the late 1990s.[1]

In 2003, Noyes co-founded the animation production studio Alligator Planet with Ralph Guggenheim and Alan Buder. Noyes directed animation sequences for two films which were shortlisted for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, Under Our Skin and The Most Dangerous Man in America, a final nominee.[9]

Noyes designed "Go Green" postage stamps for the United States Postal Service in 2011.[1][10]

Personal life and death[edit]

Noyes was married to Augusta Talbot and had two children, Isaac and Abigail. He and his family moved to San Francisco in 1991.[1] He enjoyed jazz piano and played the accordion and oboe.[7]

Noyes died in San Francisco on March 23, 2024, at the age of 81, owing to complications from prostate cancer.[9][1]

Filmography[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnes, Mike (March 25, 2024). "Eli Noyes, Pioneer in Clay and Sand Stop Animation, Dies at 81". Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 27, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  2. ^ "Elm Lea Circle | Community | The Putney School". www.elmleacircle.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Ireland, Corydon (February 9, 2010). "'Frame by Frame'". Harvard Gazette. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Gardner, Robert (January 12, 2010). "Exhibition Showcases Animated Films from Harvard's Long History with the Practice". ArtDaily. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d Laybourne, Kit (1998). The animation book: a complete guide to animated filmmaking—from flip-books to sound cartoons to 3-D animation. Three Rivers Press. pp. 80, 150, 253. ISBN 978-0-517-88602-1.
  6. ^ Debruge, Peter (June 7, 2016). "At 40, Aardman Animations Stays Stubbornly Eccentric". Variety. Archived from the original on November 17, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Sarto, Debbie Diamond (March 25, 2024). "Animation, Film, and Media Creator Eli Noyes Dies at 81". Animation World Network.
  8. ^ a b Rushin, Steve (2019). Nights in White Castle: A Memoir. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-41944-4.
  9. ^ a b c d Pederson, Erik (March 25, 2024). "Eli Noyes Dies: Oscar-Nominated Stop-Motion Animator Who Worked On MTV's 'Liquid Television' Was 81". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 26, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  10. ^ "Postal Bulletin 22307 | Publicity Kit: Go Green Forever Stamps". usps.com. United States Postal Service. March 24, 2011. Retrieved March 29, 2024. Artist Eli Noyes of San Francisco, California, gets the point across in a colorful and playful manner.
  11. ^ Clay (or the Origin of Species) on Internet Archive. (OCLC 740918527)
  12. ^ Film Library Quarterly. Film Library Information Council. 1976. p. 12.
  13. ^ "Cartoons Considered For An Academy Award 1973 -". cartoonresearch.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  14. ^ Raynor, Vivien (May 17, 1981). "Art; Film-Video Success at the Thorpe". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  15. ^ "Briefs on the Arts". The New York Times. June 7, 1975. p. 14.
  16. ^ "At the Movies with Bad Dog" (PDF). South Carolina Arts Commission. Retrieved March 26, 2024.

External links[edit]

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