TOM Walton is too young to remember the day in 2001 that terrorists destroyed the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center.

But he has used the events of 9/11 to make an animated film – and has now won a national competition with his work.

Tom, a nine-year-old Nottingham High Junior School pupil, entered the one-minute film, called Twin Towers, in the UK Schools' Computer Animation Competition.

It starts by depicting the impact of the two aircraft on the towers and the response of the emergency services.

Cartoon footage is broken up by facts, including the number of people who died and how long it took for the towers to collapse.

"When I decided to enter the competition, I had a choice of what to base it on," said Tom, who lives in Cossall, near Ilkeston.

"I got my idea for the film during a brainstorming session in one of the ICT lessons.

"I knew the film had to be good technically but also needed a powerful historical story.

"The tragedy of 9/11 seemed to be perfect and would educate boys who were too young to understand the horrific day, including myself.

"So I researched the facts, found music inspired from the tragedy and set to work using the characters and scenes available.

"I probably spent over 30 hours on it. The challenge was to get all of the characters to move how I wanted them to."

Modestly describing the project as "quite a lot of work", Tom used software called Storytelling Alice to produce the film.

His work was rewarded when he was given the top prize in the Best Human Interest category in the awards.

He saw off competition from more than 800 other entrants from across the country.

He was presented with his prize of Amazon book vouchers at the Schools' Computer Animation Festival and Awards Ceremony at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

Professor Norman Paton, from the School of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, handed the prize to him.

Tom said: "It was really good to be able to win the prize. I'm really proud of the film.

"I really enjoyed doing it and I would be interested in making other animated films or computer games in the future."

Anthony Simpson, head of ICT at the school, said he was pleased Tom had won the prize.

"This is a fantastic achievement for Tom," he said. "He was up against some tough competition, with over 800 entries, so winning the award is no mean feat.

"I speak for everyone at the school when I say we are all very proud of him."

marcus.boocock@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk