Barrie Nelson

Barrie Nelson (May 7, 1933 – September 29, 2021) was a Canadian animator.^[1] He was most noted as the director of the 1971 animated short film Propaganda Message,^[2] and the "B-17" segment of the 1981 animated anthology film Heavy Metal.^[3]

Barrie Nelson
Born	(1933-05-07)May 7, 1933 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Died	September 29, 2021(2021-09-29) (aged 88) Haiku, Hawaii, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Manitoba
Occupation	Animator

Early life and career

A native of Winnipeg, he studied fine art at the University of Manitoba.^[1] He worked for Canadian animation studios for a number of years before moving to Hollywood, where he joined John Hubley's studio and was one of the animators of the Academy Award-winning A Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature.^[1] He had a number of other animation credits, both with Hubley and on various animated television series, before making Propaganda Message for the National Film Board of Canada in 1971; the film won a gold award at the first USA International Animation Film Festival in New York City in 1972.^[4]

Nelson also worked on the 1978 animated adaptation of Watership Down and the 1990 TV special Garfield's Feline Fantasies.^[5][6]

Films

Nelson also later made the short film Ten: The Magic Number, about the adoption of the metric system in Canada, for the NFB.^[7] In the United States he continued to work on animated films and television series,^[1] and made at least four short films that were submitted for Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film consideration: Keep Cool (1971),^[8] Twins (1974),^[9] Opens Wednesday (1980),^[10][11] and You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks (1984).^[12]

Death

Nelson died in Haiku, Hawaii on September 29, 2021, at the age of 88.^[13]

See also

• Animation in the United States in the television era
• Independent animation