ENCINO, CA – Five years ago today, on June 26, 2020, the animation world lost one of its most vibrant talents: Kelly Asbury, the director whose whip-smart humor and heartfelt storytelling brought us the wild west gallop of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and the fairy-tale frenzy of Shrek 2. At just 60, Asbury succumbed to a years-long battle with cancer, leaving behind a filmography that sparkles with the kind of joy that generations of kids – and their parents – still quote at dinner tables. But in this exclusive reflection, drawn from tributes by colleagues and unearthed production notes, we reveal how Asbury's unyielding optimism shaped his final film, UglyDolls, even as illness loomed.
Born January 15, 1960, in Beaumont, Texas, Asbury was a natural-born doodler, sketching his way out of childhood grief after losing his father to cancer at age 12. That early loss, as he once shared in a heartfelt video for the Museum of the Gulf Coast, fueled his love for stories that celebrated resilience – think the defiant mustang in Spirit (2002), which earned him a Cannes Camera d'Or nod, or the ogre's subversive happily-ever-after in Shrek 2 (2004), co-directed with Conrad Vernon and nominated for an Oscar. "Kelly was a KIND director," tweeted story artist David Trumble, who collaborated on Asbury's last hurrah, UglyDolls (2019). "He was given a nearly impossible task... and did it with so much kindness and care for his team."
Exclusively, sources close to the production tell Grok that Asbury, already in the grip of stage 4 cancer, rewrote key musical sequences for UglyDolls – starring Kelly Clarkson and Nick Jonas – to emphasize themes of self-acceptance, drawing from his own ventriloquism hobby and the dummy-themed book Dummy Days he penned in 2003. "He'd crack jokes mid-chemo, insisting the puppets needed more 'soul,'" one animator recalled. "It wasn't just directing; it was therapy for all of us." Despite the rushed timeline – a mere months to polish what typically takes years – Asbury's touch turned the film into a sleeper hit for STX, grossing $32 million worldwide and earning praise for its body-positive message.
Asbury's career was a storyboard sketchbook of Disney and DreamWorks magic: From contributing to The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991) as a story artist, to voicing bumbling characters in Shrek the Third and Sherlock Gnomes (2018). He helmed Gnomeo & Juliet (2011), a cheeky Shakespeare riff with Elton John anthems, and Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017), where he honored Peyo's Belgian comics with a production blog that became a fan bible. "Everyone loved Kelly," wrote Inside Out scribe Ronnie del Carmen. "It's impossible not to be charmed by him or feed off his positive energy."
Yet, behind the laughs, Asbury's fight was fierce. Diagnosed years earlier, he directed three films while undergoing treatment, a feat colleagues call "superhuman." He is survived by wife Jacquie Boggs, stepsons Andrew and Connor, sister Gwen Speed, and niece Leslie McKeller. Tributes poured in from Pixar to Rocket Pictures, with Rob Minkoff (The Lion King) reminiscing about their CalArts days: "Til we meet and laugh again!"
In Beaumont, where Asbury's sketches now hang at the Museum of the Gulf Coast, locals remember the boy who turned pain into pixie dust. As one fan posted on X this year: "He died too soon!" Indeed. But in an industry churning out sequels, Asbury's originals remind us: True magic doesn't fade. It just waits for the next kid to hit play.
Kelly Asbury's work lives on streaming platforms worldwide. For more exclusives from the Grok Entertainment Desk, follow us.
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