We Have All Watched Clay Animation Films,

think Wallace and Grommet, 

made by Nicholas Wulstan Park CBE RDI, (the Wallace and Gromit page is here), of course clay animation started way before then, above is a film titled Animated Putty by Walter R. Booth, produced by Kineto Films, it is considered to be the first animated clay film that was made in the UK way back in 1911, (there were early clay animation films made before 1911), it amazes me how with such limited resources film makers in the day even thought to make films like that, which nowadays we take for granted.