Kelly Asbury

Kelly Adam Asbury (January 15, 1960 – June 26, 2020) was an American film director, writer, voice actor, and illustrator. He was best known for directing the animated films Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Shrek 2 (2004), Gnomeo & Juliet (2011), Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017), and UglyDolls (2019).

Early life Asbury was born on January 15, 1960, in Beaumont, Texas, the son of Josephine Margaret (Lebeouf) and Donald Leslie Asbury. His father Donald died from cancer when Asbury was 12. 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.

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. In 1993, he was the assistant art director on Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.

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, he provided some of the extra voices in Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third.

He 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.

In 2003, he wrote a non-fiction book, Dummy Days, a biography of five 20th-century ventriloquists. He wrote and illustrated twelve children's books, including Rusty's Red Vacation, Bonnie's Blue House, and Yolanda's Yellow School.

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, Dreamworks hired Asbury to co-direct the film adaptation of the children's book Shrek! alongside Andrew Adamson, which would have been his directorial debut. He left production of the film a year later in order to work on Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and was replaced by Vicky Jenson, but remained as a story artist and received special thanks on the finished film. He later co-directed its sequel, Shrek 2. The Thief of Always – In 2006, following the success of Shrek 2, it was announced that Asbury was hired to write and direct a live-action film based on Clive Barker's children's book The Thief of Always, for 20th Century Fox and Seraphim Films. The film would have been Asbury's first foray into live-action filmmaking, but the rights would revert to Barker. Pooch Café – In 2011, Asbury was appointed by Sony Pictures Animation to write a new draft for a film adaptation of the Pooch Café comic strip. 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 have been Asbury's first foray into live-action filmmaking after his attempt at The Thief of Always failed. Kazorn & The Unicorn – In 2012, Deadline reported that Asbury was in 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. Troy Quane (Spies in Disguise, Nimona) was later hired to co-direct the film with Asbury, but production of the film was suspended and eventually canceled. Horacio 3D – In 2013, Asbury began writing a Brazilian animated film based on the Monica's Gang character Horacio, originally scheduled for a 2017 release. According to animator Fábio Mendes, Asbury was intended to direct the film. But at the time of Asbury's death, nothing was released about the project.

Death

Asbury died of abdominal cancer on June 26, 2020, in his home, Encino, Los Angeles, at age 60. He was cremated, his ashes were buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills. He was featured in the In Memoriam section of the 93rd Academy Awards, and Spirit Untamed was dedicated to his memory.

Filmography Year Title Notes 1984 The Littles Storyboards (8 episodes) 1985 The Black Cauldron Inbetween artist 1987 Sport Goofy in Soccermania ShortLayout Artist 1989 The Little Mermaid Visual development artist 1990 The Rescuers Down Under Character designer, storyboard artist, visual development Roller Coaster Rabbit ShortArt Director 1991 Beauty and the Beast Story, visual development artist 1993 The Nightmare Before Christmas Assistant art director 1995 Toy Story Story artist 1996 Quack Pack Storyboard: Ducky Dearest James and the Giant Peach Storyboard supervisor with Joe Ranft Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story Video gameAdditional story and writing 1998 Histeria! Storyboard artist: The American Revolution The Prince of Egypt Artistic Supervisor: story with Lorna Cook and Ronnie del Carmen 2000 Chicken Run Additional story artist 2001 Shrek Story artist, special thanks 2002 Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron Director with Lorna Cook [directorial debut] 2004 Shrek 2 Director with Andrew Adamson and Conrad Vernon, voices: Page, Elf, and Nobleman, ADR group 2005 100 Greatest Cartoons DocumentaryHimself 2007 Shrek the Third Voices: Master of Ceremonies and Fiddlesworth, special thanks 2008 Kung Fu Panda Additional story artist Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa 2009 I'm No Dummy DocumentaryHimself The BackStage Pass TV specialHimself 2011 Gnomeo and Juliet Director, screenwriter, story, voices: Red Goon Gnomes Made in Hollywood Himself (1 episode) Jeff Dunham: Birth of a Dummy TV specialHimself 2012 Made in Hollywood: Teen Edition Himself (1 episode) Wreck-It Ralph Story artist 2013 Frozen 2014 Lennon or McCartney Documentary shortHimself Achmed Saves America Original character designer 2017 Smurfs: The Lost Village Director, voice: Nosey Smurf Cake Wars Himself: guest judge 2018 Sherlock Gnomes Based on characters, creative consultant, storyboard artist, voices: Goons 2019 UglyDolls Director, voices: Gibberish Cat, Oliver, and Chef The Addams Family Story consultant, special thanks 2021 Spirit Untamed Dedicated