>>102764491The medium has been and will always be part of the message. Name a show that /co/ unironically loves and you will find that the aesthetic was complementary to the tone or message of the show.
Mission Hill was very colorful and utilized iconography gags (sight lines, floating hearts, etc.), which gave it a very "Sunday newspaper comic" feel, which in turn complemented it's overall tone of comedic yet realistic urban life. Courage the Cowardly Dog, meanwhile, presented many of its characters with faux-grotesque features (bulging eyes, disgusting teeth, bony frames, etc.), which enhanced the horror atmosphere the show built.
This is something I feel many animators have forgotten, or at least are willfully ignorant of. Many animators use a safe, basic animation style (the "Cal-Arts style") as a template for their cartoons, even though doing so results in a bland starting point for their overall message. A responsible creator will ask themselves what their overall theme is, then they will make sure their show sticks to that theme in every aspect, starting with the animation.
