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 (2002), Shrek 2 (2004), Gnomeo & Juliet (2011), Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017), and UglyDolls (2019).

[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.

[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).

He wrote and illustrated twelve children's books,[6] including Rusty's Red Vacation, Bonnie's Blue House, and Yolanda's Yellow School.