Adam Benjamin Elliot[1] was born in Berwick, Victoria, and raised in the Australian outback on a prawn farm by his father, Noel, a retired acrobatic clown, and his mother Valerie, a hairdresser; he has three siblings, Samantha, Luke and Joshua.

After the farm went bankrupt, Elliot's father moved the family to the city of Melbourne, where he bought a small hardware shop.

He also pursued acting and in his final year was awarded the school's highest honour, the A. G. Greenwood Trophy for an outstanding dramatic performance as Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes play "The Incredible Murder of Cardinal Tosca".

[4] Born with a hereditary physiological tremor, Elliot incorporated his disability into his visual aesthetic with his work displaying uneven lines and an organic feel.

Elliot is gay and thanked his boyfriend, who he was still involved with as of 2016, in his acceptance speech upon winning an Academy Award for Best Animated Short for Harvie Krumpet, becoming the first LGBT+ winner in that category.

[9] Elliot is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and in 1999 was awarded The Young Achiever of the Year for Victoria.

[citation needed] Made in 1996, Elliot's first short film was created at the Victorian College of the Arts under the tutelage of Sarah Watt,[13] Robert Stephenson and Ann Shenfield.

Elliot set strict rules for himself: the film should be made in a completely analog fashion using a limited amount of tools and equipment.

[citation needed] The budget to the film was AUD380,000; it was narrated by the Academy Award-winning actor Geoffrey Rush, with character voices by Kamahl, John Flaus and Julie Forsythe.

It is lighter in tone to his other shorts and is narrated by long-time collaborator John Flaus, who has voiced Elliot's previous films Harvie Krumpet, Mary and Max and Uncle.

[citation needed] The film was selected into official competition at the Annecy International Animation Festival and had its European premiere in June 2015.

The film centres on Grace Pudel, a lonely hoarder of ornamental snails who lives in Canberra and is based on people in Elliot's life.

[18] The film stars Sarah Snook, Jacki Weaver and Kodi Smit-McPhee as the main characters, while Eric Bana reunites to work with Elliot after Mary and Max.

[20] Elliot is noted for his use of traditional "in-camera" techniques, which means every prop set and character is a "real" miniature handcrafted object.

Each film has featured voices by notable actors, including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette, Geoffrey Rush, Eric Bana, Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee, William McInnes, Barry Humphries, Nick Cave, Jacki Weaver, and John Flaus.