Asbury was born in Beaumont, Texas, the son of Josephine Margaret and Donald Leslie Asbury. He attended Lamar University for two years before transferring to the renowned California Institute of the Arts in 1980, where he studied animation and filmmaking.
Career
Asbury got his start at Walt Disney Feature Animation from 1983 to 1995, and contributed storyboards for several animated films including The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, as well as Pixar's first feature film, Toy Story. In 1993, he was the assistant art director on Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. In 1995, he began working for DreamWorks Animation, and directed two Academy Award-nominated feature films, ' and Shrek 2. In addition to directing, Asbury provided some of the extra voices in Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third. Asbury directed and co-wrote the animated filmGnomeo & Juliet, for which he also provided the voices of the tiny Red Goon Gnomes. He was nominated for two Annie Awards for directing and co-writing that film. In 2003, he wrote a non-fiction book titled Dummy Days, which is a biography of five 20th century ventriloquists. He was the author and illustrator of twelve published children's books, including Rusty's Red Vacation, Bonnie's Blue House, and Yolanda's Yellow School. In mid-2011 to mid-2012, Asbury briefly returned to Disney to contribute storyboards to Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen. His final directing credits were ' for Sony Pictures Animation and UglyDolls for STX Entertainment.
Unrealized projects
Shrek – In 1997, Asbury was tapped to make his directorial debut with a film adaptation of the children's book Shrek! alongside Andrew Adamson. He dropped out a year later in favor of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and was replaced by Vicky Jenson; but he remained on board as a story artist on the finished film.
Pooch Café – In 2011, Asbury was brought in by Sony Pictures Animation to write a new draft for a film adaptation of the Pooch Café comic strip.
Will Gallows and the Snake-Bellied Troll – In 2011, following the success of Gnomeo and Juliet, Asbury was hired by Rocket Pictures to write and direct a live-action/animated film based on the children's book Will Gallows and the Snake-Bellied Troll. The film would've been Asbury's first foray into live-action filmmaking.
Kazorn & The Unicorn – In 2012, Deadline reported that Asbury was in the talks with Sony Pictures Animation to make an animated fantasy film titled Kazorn & The Unicorn. It would have followed the adventures of a young man and a unicorn as he seeks to locate a powerful weapon and prove his worth to his true love. Lloyd Taylor was writing the screenplay. Sam Raimi, Josh Donen, and Russell Hollander were producing the film. Troy Quane was later hired to co-direct the film with Asbury, but the film has since been put on hold.
