Kelly Asbury and his Extreme Makeover: Gnome Edition of “Gnomeo & Juliet”

Chris Rebholz

14 years ago

You’ve heard about love at first sight, right? Well, how
about love at first sound?

Well, that’s what happened to Kelly Asbury. As a teenager in
the 1970s, he was walking by his brother’s room and heard this amazing music
coming from the stereo. It was the Elton John song, “Levon,” from his “Madman Across The Water” album.

“From that moment now, I was a huge Elton John fan. I
listened to his music all the time,” Asbury remembered. “When I ran for student
council in Junior High, I even went with an Elton John-themed campaign. With all
of the campaign posters that I drew looking just like his album covers.”

Now jump ahead 30+ years. When Kelly – just as he was coming
off co-directing “Shrek 2” – gets a call from his old pal Baker Bloodworth. Who
was looking for Asbury’s help on this animated feature that Bloodworth was producing.

“Baker told me that this film was supposed to be a comic retelling
of the story of Romeo & Juliet. Only with garden gnomes in the starring
roles. Which was kind of an intriguing idea. But as soon as Baker told me that
Elton John would be doing the music for this movie, that was when I knew that I
had to make ‘Gnomeo,’ ” Kelly continued.

(L to R) Featherstone, Gnomeo & Juliet in a piece of concept art for “Gnomeo & Juliet.”
Copyright Miramax Film NY, LLC. All rights reserved

Which isn’t to say that “Gnomeo & Juliet” was a
particularly easy film to make. For five years prior to Asbury coming on board this
project, some of Walt Disney Animation Studios‘ brightest & the best had
tried to figure out how to restage William Shakespeare‘s tragic romance in two genteel
English backyard gardens. But they could never get a handle of the material. Get
the mix of elements just right.

“I never got to see any of the stuff that Disney’s artists
& story people had been created for those earlier versions of ‘Gnomeo.’ And
that was a deliberate choice on my part. I wanted to start fresh,” Asbury said.
“So we basically started from scratch. And then struggled for three years to find
just the right balance between the high art of Shakespeare and the low art of
garden gnomes.”

Mind you, Kelly didn’t do this Extreme Makeover: Gnome
Edition all by himself. He assembled a like-minded group of writers, animators
and directors – the “Friends of Gnomeo” – that Asbury would then run this film’s
story reels by. Get their comments on how the story was playing, whether “Gnomeo
& Juliet” characters were relatable & sympathetic. And line by line, scene
by scene, sequence by sequence, Kelly & his production team slowly built
their movie.

Elton John performs at the world premiere of “Gnomeo & Juliet.”
Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Of course, what made “Gnomeo & Juliet” particularly
thrilling for Asbury was the chance to interact with that “Madman (from) Across
the Water,” Elton John himself.

“I mean, how many people get a call in the middle of the
night and it’s Elton John at the other end of the line? And he wants to play
the new song that he’s just written and get your opinion,” Kelly enthused. “Or
better yet, have Bernie Tauplin fax you the lyrics for this brand-new Elton
John song. And you’re the first person on the planet who actually gets to read Bernie’s
lyrics.”

But to his credit, Asbury never lost focus. Never let the
fact that he was working with this world-famous pop star, this performer that Kelly
had idolized since he was a teen, keep him from trying to make “Gnomeo &
Juliet” as good as it could possibly be.

“As filmmakers, we have a responsibility to the audience to
deliver a film that’s as entertaining as it can possibly be. So you can never make
the mistake of falling in love with your own ideas. You always have to ready to
revise, to be open to new story ideas and concepts,” Asbury explained.

And clearly Kelly’s careful, methodical approach to putting
together this animated feature ultimately paid off. Given that “Gnomeo and
Juliet” made $25.4 million this past weekend. Which gave this Touchstone
Pictures release the biggest animated opening ever for the month of February
(and January).

Which will hopefully make Asbury happy. Given that –
according to what he told me last week – this animation vet would love to make
a sequel to “Gnomeo & Juliet.”

Kelly Asbury on the blue & red carpet at the El Capitan
Theatre for last month’s world premiere of “Gnomeo
& Juliet.” Photo by Frederick M. Brown / Getty
Images North America

“We could use another one of Shakespeare’s plays, even more
of Elton John’s songs,” Kelly laughed. “How’s this for a title? ‘The Merry
Gnomes of Windsor’ ? “

Here’s hoping that Kelly Asbury gets his wish. That the guy
who storyboarded the “Be Our Guest” number in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” as
well as directing “Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron” does actually get the
chance to go back to those genteel English backyard gardens.

After all, there’s no place like gnome.

Your thoughts?