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Kelly Asbury died: how did the director of “Shrek 2” and “the Smurfs” die?
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The entertainment world is in mourning, after the death of Kelly Asbury, the Oscar-nominated entertainer and director, who died at the age of 60, after waging a battle with cancer. Asbury worked for Disney and DreamWorks during his career.
According the IMDb page Asbury directed five animated feature films. His first, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, was released in 2002. Then came Shrek 2, in 2004. Asbury co-directed the film with Conrad Vernon. Asbury’s next release was Gnomeo & Juliet in 2011.
In 2017 Asbury directed Smurfs: The Lost Village (The Smurfs). His last directorial effort was Ugly Dolls in 2019.
In addition to directing, Asbury also contributed vocals for Shrek 2 and Gnomeo and Juliet.
Asbury’s death was confirmed in a publication by Facebook by Inside Out writer Ronnie del Carmen.
Kelly Asbury passed away. I am sorry to hear this today. Everyone loved Kelly, it is impossible not to be charmed by him or fed by his positive energy. We worked together on the Prince of Egypt and when I joined Pixar, the stories of the great “god Kell” were already legendary. I’ll miss him a lot. Rest in peace, dear friend, ”said Del Carmen.
The Secret Life of Pets writer Brian Lynch paid tribute to Asbury on Twitter saying: “Rest in peace, Kelly Asbury. A legend in animation, her name is in so many beloved movies.
Rest in Peace, Kelly Asbury. A legend in animation, his name is on so many beloved movies. Co-directed the underrated SPIRIT, and directed one of the funniest animated movies ever made, SHREK 2. His work will be discovered and adored by audiences for generations to come. pic.twitter.com/EjBznonQQE
— Brian Lynch (@BrianLynch) June 26, 2020
He co-directed the underrated Spirit, and directed one of the funniest animated films ever made, Shrek 2. His work will be discovered and adored by audiences for generations to come. ”
Fellow animator Tom Sito wrote in a Facebook post that Asbury “has been dealing with cancer for several years.”
“He fought bravely and he didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for him. He faced all the challenges, including the latter, with a smile, “said Sito.
Asbury worked on some of the most famous animated movies of all time. In 1991 Asbury was credited as the writer of Beauty and the Beast. In 2013 Asbury worked as a story artist on Frozen. A year earlier, Asbury worked on Wreck-it Ralph in the same role. Asbury was also the story artist in Toy Story in 1995, Kung Fu Panda, and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, both in 2008.
Asbury hailed from Beaumont, Texas, but lived in Encino, California, at the time of his death.
A tribute to social media said Asbury was known as “Kell-go” in the animation industry.
Asbury said in an interview with Cinema Blend in 2011 his producer Baker Bloodworth involved him with directing Gnomeo & Juliet in 2006. Asbury said he was a great Elton John idol growing up and loved the idea of the singer writing the music for an animated musical. about garden gnomes.
Asbury said: “I met with Elton John, Elton John really wanted me to lead the project, he asked me to lead it.” Asbury compared the use of the music of John and Bernie Taupin as similar to the use of the music of Simon & Garfunkel in The Graduate. Asbury said: “The emotion that is on the screen is backed by the music that plays and a kind of emotional queue.” He went on to describe the film as “a kind of this dream project.”
After a lack of box office success in his last two directing efforts, Asbury wrote an essay in the Cartoon Brew website on how to deal with emotions related to creating a box office failure.
In the essay, Asbury said he had been “spoiled” for the financial successes of his first three films, especially Shrek 2. Asbury referred to The Smurfs as a “tired franchise.” The director said the need for a job was the reason he signed on to direct.
Asbury mentioned that the production of the film took four years, but there were positives along the way, including making “friends for life.”
Writing about the financial failure of Asbury’s latest film, Ugly Dolls, she said, “This time, I didn’t waste time playing the blame game. Difficult fact: we built it and they didn’t come ”. Asbury said he felt the film would have a “fight chance” of “involving families.”
“Maybe next time, if I have another chance to direct, I will have artistically evolved to a place where I will not care at all, or at least less, if the film makes money. After all, the real joy of working in my beloved animation industry is more about the fun anecdotes I can share from all the really wacky experiences from past productions, and every movie has them. Whoever said for the first time, ‘Joy is on the journey’ (first heard of the late great story artist, Joe Ranft), was right. Next time, I’ll hold on to that wisdom more, ”said the late director back then.
