What (non-programmer) software is available to help create animation sequences in Java?

The easiest way is to get the Animator applet from Sun and use it. Just create the GIF / Audio files with other tools. Another option is to find someone else who has already created an applet similar to what you are looking for, like a Lake applet, follow their instructions to change the images around, and you're on your way. There are some freely available applets available from http://java.internet.com/.

Most of the the non-programmer IDE tools like Sun's Java Workshop flopped and are no longer available.