Kelly Asbury

“Films like 'The Wizard of Oz' and 'Shrek' are hits because they hit on different levels with different age groups. Striking that balance is what I strive for. But I won't know if I've done it until the audience sees it.”

“I don't approach my movies with a target audience in mind. I try to make something that's true to the subject matter as much as possible, while still being entertaining and fun.”

“Shrek is the Mickey Mouse of DreamWorks.”

“My favorite films left the camera rest, and the actors and characters have a stage to act. Move the camera when it's motivating.”

“We are all rebellious teenagers. Sometimes we grow out of it, and sometimes we don't.”

“Every animated film that I've worked on - whether it was as a story artist or as Head of Story or even as director - where we originally started out with our story and where we eventually ended up were often very different places.”

“If you look at it, 'The Lion King' is very similar to 'Hamlet.'”

“I'm in the entertainment business, and I make commercially entertaining animated features.”

“On 'Shrek,' Eddie Murphy was locked in as the donkey before we'd even designed the donkey.”

“What I want to impart on any movie I work on is I want to make it entertaining. That's what I feel I do.”

“I love all sorts of movies, whether made by Scorsese or Frank Capra. I love them all.”

“When you have a name actor, with a face that people recognise and a name that can go on posters or billboards and be able to appear on the talkshow circuit and tout the film, that's always a plus.”

“I want the audience to walk out of the theater feeling they got their money's worth. Every movie that I enjoy, I leave the theater with something to take with me.”

“Star-crossed lovers who have a destiny that isn't necessarily going to work in their favor - that's a universal story; that's an archetypal story.”

“I think a film should be appropriate to what it's trying to say or the characters in it.”

“I think Baz Luhrmann's 'Romeo + Juliet' is a work of genius.”

“Tim Burton, let's face it: he's into stitches.”

“I think 'West Side Story' is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, musicals ever put onscreen - or stage, for that matter. I, frankly, like Zeffirelli's 'Romeo and Juliet' very much, too. I grew up with that... I loved it. I loved the score; I loved the acting.”