After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in September 2005, I had a student enroll in the Teen Program at my school The Animation Academy in Burbank. He was young man of 16 years, in town with his mother. They were from New Orleans and were refugees from the storm. They were staying in Los Angeles and for a few months, Nelson Boles was attending class. Afterwards, when things got back to normal in New Orleans, he returned home after leaving a very positive impression with me.

He was a talented fellow and took to what he was being taught very quickly. It was all fundamentals at that time. His drawing was good, his design skills unique, and it turns out his filmmaking abilities were just as remarkable as I was to learn in 2008 when he became the second student associated with my school to win the Warner Bros Hanna Barbera National Scholarship, which included acceptance into Cal Arts.

I'm happy to say that I had a look at Nelson Boles in his earliest days of his career as a great animator, and I'm happy to share with you his latest work which is getting online attention.

Here's the topic on the AN Forums, and here's "Little Boat"...

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