Kelly Asbury

Kelly Asbury
Asbury in 2016
Born	Kelly Adam Asbury (1960-01-15)January 15, 1960 Beaumont, Texas, U.S.
Died	June 26, 2020(2020-06-26) (aged 60) Encino, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills
Alma mater	Lamar University California Institute of the Arts
Occupation	Film director, writer, voice actor, illustrator
Years active	1982–2019
Employer	Walt Disney Animation Studios (1983–1995, 2009–2013) DreamWorks Animation (1995–2009)
Notable work	Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron Shrek 2 Gnomeo & Juliet Smurfs: The Lost Village UglyDolls
Spouse(s)	Loretta Weeks ​ ​ (m. 1990; div. 2006)​ Jacquie Boggs ​ (m. 2011)​

Kelly Adam Asbury (January 15, 1960 – June 26, 2020) was an American animated film director, writer, voice actor, and illustrator. He was best known for directing animated films, including Shrek 2, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Gnomeo & Juliet, Smurfs: The Lost Village, and UglyDolls.

Early life[]

Asbury was born in Beaumont, Texas, the son of Josephine Margaret (Lebeouf) and Donald Leslie Asbury. His father Donald died from cancer when Asbury was 12 years old.^[1] He attended Lamar University for two years before transferring to the renowned California Institute of the Arts in 1980, where he studied animation and filmmaking.^[2]

Career[]

Asbury got his start at Walt Disney Feature Animation from 1983 to 1995, and contributed storyboards for several animated films including The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, as well as Pixar's first feature film, Toy Story.^[3] In 1993, he was the assistant art director on Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.^[4]

In 1995, he began working for DreamWorks Animation, and directed two Academy Award-nominated feature films, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) and Shrek 2 (2004). In addition to directing, Asbury provided some of the extra voices in Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third.

Asbury directed and co-wrote the animated film Gnomeo & Juliet (2011), for which he also provided the voices of the tiny Red Goon Gnomes. He was nominated for two Annie Awards for directing and co-writing that film.^[5]

In 2003, he wrote a non-fiction book titled Dummy Days, which is a biography of five 20th century ventriloquists. He was the author and illustrator of twelve published children's books,^[6] including Rusty's Red Vacation, Bonnie's Blue House, and Yolanda's Yellow School.^[7]

In mid-2011 to mid-2012, Asbury briefly returned to Disney to contribute storyboards to Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen. His final directing credits were Smurfs: The Lost Village for Sony Pictures Animation and UglyDolls for STX Entertainment.

Unrealized projects[]

• Shrek – In 1997, Asbury was tapped to make his directorial debut with a film adaptation of the children's book Shrek! alongside Andrew Adamson. He dropped out a year later in favor of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and was replaced by Vicky Jenson; but he remained on board as a story artist on the finished film. He later co-directed its sequel Shrek 2.
• Pooch Café – In 2011, Asbury was brought in by Sony Pictures Animation to write a new draft for a film adaptation of the Pooch Café comic strip.^[8][9]
• Will Gallows and the Snake-Bellied Troll – In 2011, following the success of Gnomeo and Juliet, Asbury was hired by Rocket Pictures to write and direct a live-action/animated film based on the children's book Will Gallows and the Snake-Bellied Troll. The film would've been Asbury's first foray into live-action filmmaking.^[10]
• Kazorn & The Unicorn – In 2012, Deadline reported that Asbury was in the talks with Sony Pictures Animation to make an animated fantasy film titled Kazorn & The Unicorn. It would have followed the adventures of a young man and a unicorn as he seeks to locate a powerful weapon and prove his worth to his true love. Lloyd Taylor was writing the screenplay. Sam Raimi, Josh Donen, and Russell Hollander were producing the film.^[11] Troy Quane was later hired to co-direct the film with Asbury, but the film has since been put on hold.^[12]
• Horacio 3D – In 2013, Asbury was tapped to write a spin-off animated film based on the Monica's Gang character Horacio for Brazil, then scheduled to be released in 2017. According to animator Fábio Mendes, Asbury was intended to direct the film.^[13] But as of 2020, nothing has come from the project.^[14]

Personal life and death[]

On June 26, 2020, Asbury died of abdominal cancer in his Encino, Los Angeles home at age 60, and he was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills.^[15][16] He was featured during the In Memoriam section during the 93rd Academy Awards, and Spirit Untamed was dedicated in his memory.

Filmography[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kelly Asbury.

• Animated Views: Gnomeo & Juliet’s director Kelly Asbury Opens His Secret Garden!
• Kelly Asbury at IMDb
• Kelly Asbury at Find a Grave