Kelly Asbury is a Texan…

He may not be here right now, but Kelly Asbury is a Texan!  Born and raised in Beaumont!  Once a Texan always a Texan!  I’m sure one day he will make his way back home to the great country of Texas!  I had the opportunity to meet with Kelly Asbury not that long ago to talk about Gnomeo & Juliet!

When Kelly walked in and seen us his eyes got really big and he said “Hello. Wow, wow, this is sort of like British court or something.”  Right then we new he was going to be laid back and fun to interview.

Kelly was asked what he thought when he got the call asking about doing a movie that had the story of Romeo & Juliet but with Garden Gnomes… “…I was like, wow, garden gnomes have never been done before.  That’s, that’s a brilliant idea, you know, we’ll do something new.  And, it’s the story of Romeo and Juliet.  And then there was this long pause.  And, uh, I thought to myself.  Okay, well, that’s a good story, but boy, that ending, it’s gonna be tough in a, in a family film.  Um, so we knew early on that okay, well, it can’t have daggers and suicide and poison.”  Yes, there isn’t any sex, poison or suicide, yet they pulled this story off awesomely!

Kelly was then asked if the movie was 6 years in the making…”Well, yeah, I, actually from the day I got the phone call asking if I was interested to it being in theaters February 11.  I think it’s almost five years to the day that I got that phone call.  Um, so, that’s how long animation takes, you know, there’s so much development involved in it.  And the movie had been developed for some years in development a little longer.  Animated films and almost all movies, really do go through a lot of trial and error before they finally find their traction.”  Wow, I had no idea that so much time was put into the preparation and making!

Another blogger wanted to know how different is it with real people, and the difference in a movie or animation?  “Um, you don’t yell cut and you don’t yell action and that sort of thing.  Um, and you don’t have a set like this.  But it’s actually, um, it’s actually probably not that different except for the practicalities of how you technically make it.  The actual movie and the editing process and the structuring of it is no different.  Um, I’m actually in, you know, among animation directors, a lot of us sort of feel that, uh, I wish more people understood that, you know, we’re making real movies.”  Kelly has never directed a live action movie, he said that who knows, maybe someday there will be a Stuart Little in his future!

So what are Kelly’s favorite animated movies? “…I’ll tell you, that’s a really hard question, because I like a lot of them.  But if someone said I was on a desert island and I had one animated movie, um, I have to say Dumbo.  I believe, I believe Dumbo’s a perfect film.  Animated or otherwise.   I just don’t think you get better than that. I think Lady and the Tramp is one of the most clever animated films ever made.  Um, can we, can we call Toy Story 1, 2, and 3 all together?  Yeah, let’s just say Toy Story, that is, you know, those are magnificent stories told in an incredible way. And I, I have to recognize that.”

You most likely already know Kelly’s work!  Just to name a few…”Shrek 2” (2004) and “Spirit – Stallion of the Cimarron” (2002).  If you have not been able to get out and see Gnomeo & Juliet yet, hurry as fast as you can!  I promise you will not be disappointed.  This is one of the best family films I have seen in ages!

Disney flew me out to Hollywood for this once in a lifetime event. All expenses (such as travel and accommodations) while in Hollywood were covered by Disney. I received no compensation for my posts and all opinions posted are my own. Photos included in this post were taken by one of the best PR Reps ever, Marshall from Disney!

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Girl on Fire

Photographer at Loudmouth Photography

Brandy is the wife to a carpenter/musician and the mother of 3 amazingly awesome homeschool/unschooled girls. Brandy is a Photographer as well as a Coach for the Weebellion as part of Rolling Rebellion Jr. Roller Derby. Brandy is passionate about many things and suffers from a very painful and degenerative neurological disease called CRPS/RSD.

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