Shrek 2 director Kelly Asbury no more

Kelly Asbury, best known for directing Academy Award-nominated animation films Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) and Shrek 2 (2004), has died. He was 60.

Asbury died on Friday morning in Los Angeles following a long battle with abdominal cancer.

Asbury, who started his career at Walt Disney Feature Animation in 1983, directed five animated feature films during his career — Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Shrek 2 in 2004, which he co-directed with Conrad Vernon; Gnomeo & Juliet in 2011; Smurfs: The Lost Village in 2017; and his final directorial effort was 2019’s Ugly Dolls, for which he got stars like Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Janelle MonAie, and Blake Shelton on board.—IANS