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Kelly Asbury

       Kelly Asbury’s feet haven’t touched the ground since he attended the Oscars this year for his animated feature film project “Spirit: Stallion
of the Cimarron.”

          Asbury, who attended Lamar University in 1980, is “breathing a big sigh of relief” after years of work on a project that involves an ogre of another color — “Shrek 2.”

          “No one knows how a movie will be accepted by audiences,” Asbury said. “It feels great to find out that all that hard work by all those creative artists and technicians - about 400 people - is being so well received.”

           In “Shrek 2,” the lead character takes on a dangerous mission: meeting Fiona’s parents. The new Shrek film explores the “comic ramifications” of the marriage between Fiona and Shrek and how it impacts the natural
balance in fairy tale land, Asbury said during an online interview.

         “If you'll remember in the first film, Fiona was locked in a tower
expecting a handsome prince to rescue her, but an ugly green ogre came
along and contaminated that ideal,” he said. “What will her parents
think when they meet their new son-in-law? How will they feel when they
see that their beloved daughter is now a full-time ogre herself? And
what about the handsome prince who was supposed to rescue Fiona?” This
comedy of errors makes up “Shrek 2,” he said.

          So, how does Asbury feel with several great animated films under his belt?

          “Over the last 22 years, I've been privileged to work on some really great, popular animated movies - from ‘the Little Mermaid’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ to ‘Toy Story,’ ‘the Prince of Egypt,’ ‘Shrek’ and ‘Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron’ - but having played a role in the direction of a hit like ‘Shrek 2’ is a wonderful new emotion for me.

          “I'm so full of pride, not only for myself, but for the community of artists I am so honored to have worked with in making the movie.”

          “Shrek 2” wasn’t a project that developed overnight.

          “Animated movies take a long time to create - ‘Shrek 2’ took 3 years -
and there's a real family atmosphere that occurs among the people
working on it. I'm thrilled to have been part of the ‘Shrek 2’ family,”
said Asbury.

           Between movies, Asbury writes children’s books. Asbury illustrated the book “Wild Witches’ Ball.” The book, which will be released in August by Harper-Collins, was written by poet Jack Pretlusky.

          Asbury also is working on several movie concepts. “I'm developing two live-action film projects I hope to write and direct. One is based on Clive Barker's best selling children's novel ‘the Thief of Always,’” he said. The other project, titled “Imaginary Children,” tell the story of a comic strip artist whose characters come
to life, Asbury said.

          “I'm talking to several studios about both of these films. There are a few other things too embryonic to mention yet. But stay tuned,” he said.

          Asbury, a Beaumont native, saw his first animated movie at the Jefferson Theatre in 1966. In 2003, Asbury screened his animated film “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron” at the Jefferson. He showed rough excerpts from that film at the 2001 Spindletop/Lamar University Film Festival.

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