Prior to leaving for the trip to Hollywood we were told that we were invited to interview (as a group) some of the talent from the film Gnomeo and Juliet. The people we were going to get to interview included Sir Elton John, the lovely Emily Blunt, James McAvoy and the film’s director Kelly Asbury.
I’ll be honest with you when I say I had no idea who Kelly Asbury was. Many directors are very well known and you can name the films they worked on when you hear their names. People like Steven Speilberg, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola are easily recognized and their work is well known. So who exactly is Kelly Asbury?
Kelly Asbury is a director, writer, actor and author. He began his career at Walt Disney Animation in 1983. During the 12 years he worked for the company, Kelly worked as a storyboard artist for such classic films as Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, James and the Giant Peach and The Little Mermaid. Kelly also worked on Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
In the 1990’s Kelly moved to the DreamWorks Studios. There he worked as a storyboard artist for the films The Prince of Egypt, Shrek 2 and Chicken Run.
Kelly’s first animated feature that he directed was Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, which was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Animated Feature category.
Kelly voiced a few characters in the movies Shrek 2 and Gnomeo and Juliet.
In addition to animation, Kelly has also written and illustrated several children’s books including such titles as Candy Corn, Where is Snow’s Nose? Thanksgiving Parade and Frankensquare. Kelly also wrote a non-fiction book called Dummy Days – America’s Favorite Ventriloquists from Radio and Early TV. Kelly has always appreciated the art of Ventriloquism.
If you look Kelly up on the International Movie Data Base (www.IMDB.com) you’ll learn a lot more about him.
After I learned more about who Kelly Asbury was I excited to meet him.
I have never met a director before. For some odd reason I pictured a director as someone who was very serious and wore a stuffy suit. Perhaps even someone who might talk too “technical” and “by the book” rather then in layman’s terms for those of us who are not familiar with what exactly a director does.
The group of Mom Bloggers that I was with were blessed with an amazing opportunity to interview Kelly Asbury, Elton John, Emily Blunt and James McAvoy at the Four Season’s Hotel in Beverly Hills. The first person we were invited to interview was Kelly Asbury. I was expecting some stern looking guy in a suit. Instead in walked a very jovial man with a warm and friendly smile. Right away I knew this was going to be a very interesting Q & A (questions and answers) session.
After listening to Kelly talk for a few minutes I couldn’t help but think to myself that Kelly is someone who you’d love to have over for a backyard BBQ. He’s very entertaining to listen to and he has a fabulous sense of humor. He’s very animated when he talks, no pun intended (ok, maybe a little). He has a lot of inflection in his voice which keeps you very interested in what he has to say. Kelly is far from monotone and boring.
The Mom Bloggers (myself included) were given 20 minutes to talk with Kelly about the movie Gnomeo and Juliet and anything else that came to mind.
One of the first questions asked of Kelly was how the whole idea of Gnomeo and Juliet came about in the first place? According to Kelly he received a phone call from producer Baker Bloodworth (Dinosaur, Pocahontas), with whom he worked with on Beauty and the Beast a few years earlier. Baker asked Kelly if he was interested in a new project. Kelly had just finished Shrek 2 (2005) and he was looking for a new project so it was perfect timing. Baker went on to tell Kelly that the new movie would feature the music from Elton John. Right away Kelly was intrigued and wanted to learn more. After all who wouldn’t want to work on a movie that featured the songs of Elton John? Then Baker hit Kelly up with something totally unexpected. The movie was going to be about garden gnomes. At first Kelly was a bit taken by the idea of a movie about garden gnomes but after he thought about it he thought it was a brilliant idea because it has never been done before.
When Kelly learned that the movie was going to be loosely based on the classic love story Romeo and Juliet he knew he was going to have a tough time with a few elements of the film. He wanted the movie to be family friendly so the use of daggers, poison and suicide was out. It did present him with a bit of a challenge but eventually he figured out that he would let the characters of Gnomeo and Juliet take control of their own destiny.
Kelly explained to us that the idea of Romeo and Juliet has been played out before in many films, each with its own twist on the Shakespere version. Kelly cited such films as West Side Story, Bonnie & Clyde, Titanic, Avatar, Brokeback Mountain, Grease and the ever popular Twilight series. Each one of these films features a boy and a girl who fall in love but their parents or families don’t approve. In each story the couple either found a way to finally be together or were met with a tragic ending. Kelly knew that Gnomeo and Juliet could eventually find a way to over come their families feuding ways and make their family and friends realize that you can’t judge a gnome by the color of it’s hat.
It took almost five years to the day from that phone call, until the opening of Gnomeo and Juliet. That is how long animation takes. There is a lot of development involved in making a movie like this. Movies and animation go through a lot of trial and error before they find their traction. As soon as the planets aligned and things started working they were given a budget and a release date to work with.
One of the ladies in our group asked Kelly what is the difference between directing live action movies compared to animated movies? Kelly has never directed a live action movie. He did work on a live action movie several years ago. He’s also been on a lot of movie sets. He told us that live action movies and animated movies are both forms of storytelling. They have the same considerations. You have to create the story’s structure, develop characters and create a film where the audience can really appreciate the characters and care about the outcome of the film.
The other practicalities of making a film such as the film’s structure and the editing process are hardly different for live films compared to animated films. The only real difference is that with animated films you don’t have to yell cut or action.
Kelly told us that other animation directors he knows, including himself, are not very fond of people suggesting to them that they make a “real” movie. Kelly’s response is that Shrek 2 is a real movie. Just check out the box office numbers. LOL!
One day Kelly would love to direct a live action movie and encompass some animation into the film. He mentioned the movie “Staurt Little” which had both live action and animation.
Kelly was also asked if Gnomeo and Juliet was slated to be a 3-D animation from the start? Kelly said that he did want the movie to be done in 3-D. Kelly liked the idea because he wanted the audience to be brought into the gnomes world (he calls it “Gnome-Cam”). Back when the movie was still being developed 3-D animation was just coming into it’s own. The studio wasn’t fully convinced it was worth the money and extra time to turn Gnomeo and Juliet into a 3-D animation. That is until Avatar came out, then there was no question about the movie being in 3-D.
Someone in our group asked Kelly if there was any movie that influenced the making of Gnomeo and Juliet? Kelly said that the movie called Millions was his biggest visual influence, and it happens to be a live action movie. The movie was directed by Danny Boyle who directed Slum Dog Millionaire and 127 Hours. The story is about two children who find a lot of money by the train tracks. The story was told from the child’s point of view. The film used a lot of primary colors and each character and environment had it’s own color. When he saw the movie it made him think about the gnomes world with a lot of red, blue and a green overgrown gardens. Outside the gnomes world everything just seemed washed out and hazy.
Another interesting question asked of Kelly was what are his top three favorite films? He said that was a tough question to answer but he finally gave us his list.
1. Dumbo – He said that Dumbo is the most perfect film and it doesn’t get any better then this.
2. Lady and the Tramp – Kelly said that this was one of the most clever animated films every made.
3. The whole Toy Story series (1, 2 and 3) – To quote Kelly these are “magnificent stories told in an incredible way“.
Kelly also loves To Kill a Mockingbird. He says its a good movie for both kids and adults, even though it has an adult theme.
Since Gnomeo and Juliet is based upon a Shakespeare story, Kelly was asked if he thinks the gnomes might become a franchise and if we could expect to see other Shakespeare themed gnome movies in the future? Kelly would love to direct other gnome movies but he says there are no plans for additional gnome movies at this time. It all depends on how well received Gnomeo and Juliet is and ultimately its up to the studio whether or not they wish to pursue other gnome movies. Romeo and Juliet is not a story that has a sequel therefore none was ever planned for this movie. Kelly joked that he would be open to doing the Merry Gnomes of Windsor (a play on the Merry Wives of Windsor).
Kelly went on to tell us more about how the story of Romeo and Juliet (in this case Gnomeo and Juliet) was turned into a movie that was good for all ages. Kelly never knows what a film be be rated when he’s making it. His main goal is to make a good movie that is appealing to all audiences. He strongly believes that it’s possible to make a movie that is not “too adult” or “too child” like. His goal is to make an enjoyable movie for families.
There were some aspects of Romeo and Juliet that he could not use in this version of the story. Take for example consummating the relationship. Since gnomes are not human and their anatomy is something that they really didn’t want to bother going into there was no need to include that in Gnomeo and Juliet. Kelly also wanted to avoid things like blood. After all, gnomes don’t bleed, but they can be easily cracked or chipped.
Kelly’s main goal is to make a movie the is appealing and fun for everyone. He also doesn’t want to make a movie that parents need to explain to their kids. That sort of takes the fun out of it.
Sometimes animated films do have some innuendos. Most adults can pick up on them but not usually children. Movie makers are constantly testing things to see what works and what doesn’t. The ultimate goal is to make a movie that hits at different levels. He wants to make a movie that parents have something to enjoy that goes over the kid’s head while offering something for the kids too.
Movies such as Gnomeo and Juliet have multiple screenings. Some are shown to only children where as others are shown to only adults. Kids will often laugh at things adults won’t and vise versa. The hope is to have a movie where people, young and old, laugh through the whole movie.
Gnomeo and Juliet features the music of Sir Elton John throughout. All of us were really interested in learning how they chose the songs that they did for the film? Kelly went on to explain that from the very beginning they wanted to use songs by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. If you are unfamiliar with Bernie Taupin he writes the lyrics for the majority of the Elton’s songs, making his lyrics some of the best known in pop-rock’s history.
Since this is a love story they mainly wanted to use love songs. Deciding on which songs to use took time. They tried out different songs to find the right song that offered the best energy or best emotion for a particular scene. Kelly wanted to use the music in the movie the same way they did for the movie The Graduate. In that movie what they are singing about doesn’t necessarily match what you are watching but the emotion of the song supports the scene. James Newton Howard and Chris Bacon did a score of Elton John’s cataloged pieces. The whole process took a lot of time and they tried out different things and a different song here and there until they found what worked. They also had to take a few things into consideration. For example they couldn’t use the song The Bitch is Back (at least not the lyrics) but they were able to use the melody in the movie so that older people would recognize the song. Kelly joked that he didn’t want kids leaving the movie singing The Bitch is Back. Ha Ha.
Not to give away any of the movie but you will find that the characters all have British accents. The question was posed to Kelly about how the cast was selected? Kelly explained to us that this had nothing to do with who was friends with who. For example Sir Elton John is friends with Sir Michael Cain. That is not the reason why Michael Cain was selected for the film. It was his voice that landed him the role of Lord Redbrick.
Kelly explained in great detail how the voices for each of the characters was selected. He told us that he would put an image of the character in front of him. The casting director then gave him voice samples from various actors and actresses. Kelly would then listen to each voice while looking at the image to see if he heard a voice that suits the character well. Sometimes Kelly can identify the voice samples, other times he can’t. In the case of the main character of Gnomeo, Kelly listened to about 100 voice samples before deciding on using the voice of James McAvoy.
Kelly joked that he has royalty in the film – Sir Elton John, Sir Michael Cain, Sir Patrick Stewart, Dame Julie Walters and Dame Maggie Smith.
They knew from the beginning that the characters were going to be British. The movie is set in Stratford on Avon which is the birthplace of William Shakespere. Since the movie is based upon a Shakespeare story it seems only fitting. They wanted the characters living in the soil that Shakespere sprang from.
Even though mostly everyone has a British accent there is a multi-cultural cast including Dolly Parton, Ozzy Osbourne and a little Spanish speaking gnome who parades around in a “mankini”.
I really wish that we had more time to speak with Kelly. He was a pleasure to listen to. He really gave us some great insight into the making of Gnomeo and Juliet. Knowing all of this background information really made me appreciate all the time, effort, blood, sweat and tears (OK, maybe not THAT far – ha ha) that went into the making of this film.
On a side note, I rode on the elevator with Kelly while we were at the Four Seasons Hotel. We chatted a bit and he insisted that I call him Kelly. He told me not to call him Mr. Asbury because that is his grandfather’s name. LOL!
I don’t want to spill the beans but I did have the opportunity to chat with Kelly a bit more at the after party. I have to say that I was thrilled that he took the time to talk to us. Even though he was “the man of the hour” at the after party he still took time to chat with me and another mom blogger (Lee from My Sentiment Exactlee). You would think that famous people in Hollywood wouldn’t have time for the “little people” (and I don’t mean people like me who are “vertically challenged” – ha ha) because they are constantly being pulled in a million different directions. Even though Kelly was very busy talking with everyone at the party it really meant a lot to me that he took the time out to chat with us.
Kelly doesn’t have anything planned right now. He was so busy with Gnomeo and Juliet that he spread himself thin. He is going to take a few months off, even though he does have plenty of ideas he’s working on. He’s also engaged to be married this May. CONGRATULATIONS Kelly!
Kelly is an awesome guy and a pleasure to talk to. He has a great sense of humor too. If you would like to follow Kelly on Twitter to keep up to date on Gnomeo and Juliet and other projects he has planned for the future you can find him on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/KellyAsbury. You can also follow the conversation about Gnomeo and Juliet on Twitter by searching for the hashtag #GnomeoandJuliet.
Kimberly
*I was not compensated for this review post. I was a guest of Disney. All opinions expressed are my own.
PHOTO CREDITS – Katie Stratton Getty Images, Eric from LeStudioPhotography.com and Marshall Weinbaum, Disney.
Louise says
I thought talking with Kelly was pretty amazing.
TerriAnn says
What a great experience for you. Sounds like the put together a fabulous event with very influential women. Thanks for sharing the details of your trip.
Tricia @Nightowlmama says
YOu just knocked it out of the park Girl . Where on earth do you find the time. I so enjoyed Kelly as well. He’s a sweetheart and yes a pleasure to know. I can’t wait to hear about his next project
Judy Bradley says
Wow! Thanks for all the info. I will have to read it a couple more tmes to absorb it all! I never really thought I would want to see Gnomeo & Juliet but I love Elton John’s music so now I am rethinking. Thanks again. Glad you had a safe, fun, & mind-blowing experience!
april yedinak says
Love this post, so interesting and informative.
Texmom says
Kelly sounds like my kind of guy. I love the fact that he has exercised his creativity by not only working on storyboards, but directing, writing and more.
I also appreciate their attention to leaving out elements which don’t need to be in a children’s movie. Fewer and fewer are paying enough attention to that these days.
Glad you got to meet him. He sounds like a delightful, creative person.
Cheri says
Great article! I am intrigued by Kelly’s background info and insight, it will give another dimension to the film when I see it. Of course, since Elton is involved I have to see the movie. (And how do I get a pair of those glasses? Too cute!)