Kelly Asbury, animation writer and voice actor whose credits include Shrek 2, Smurfs: The Lost People and Beauty and the Beast, died today after battling cancer for several years. She was 60 years old. Her representative Nancy Newhouse Porter of Newhouse Porter Hubbard confirmed the news to Deadline.
“He was one of the most admired and loved people in the industry,” he said. “It is heartbreaking for everyone.”
Three times nominated for the Annie Awards for directing 2004 Shrek 2 and writing and directing 2011 Gnomeo and Juliet, Asbury was also twice nominated by the Cannes Film Festival: he was nominated for the Palme d’Or for Shrek 2 and the Camera d’Or for the best debut film of 2002 Spirit: The indomitable steed.
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He also directed last year. UglyDolls, and her writing credits included writing the story for the 1991 Disney animated classic. Beauty and the Beast.
Born on January 15, 1960 in Beaumont, TX, Asbury enrolled at CalArts in 1980 and early in his career worked on the multinational ABC series. the little ones and 1985 count The black cauldron. In the late 1980s, I was working for Disney on toons including The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach.
Asbury also worked as a story artist on the groundbreaking 1995 Pixar classic. Toy Story and in that capacity he later contributed to features as successful as Chicken Run, Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen and Sherlock Gnomes.
His debut as a feature film director appeared Spirit: The indomitable steed, and Asbury went on to write Gnomeo and Juliet, the unconventional 2011 feature that the 2018 spin-off would generate Sherlock Gnomes.
Asbury also voiced characters in Shrek Third and Sherlock Gnomes along with several of his own movies, including Shrek 2, Gnomeo & Juliet, Smurfs: The Lost Village and UglyDolls.
