Idiolexicon

John K, creator of Ren and Stimpy, has been teaching me a lot about art and animation through his blog, John K Stuff. Putting aside whether you're a fan of his cartoons or not, he understands the craft much more deeply than most animators working in television.

Here he is, talking about forced perspective in cartoon backdrops:

Here is an example of what today would be misinterpreted as "No perspective". We are looking up at this shed, yet the lines all converge down rather than up and away from us as they would in reality.

Today's wacky layout artists think this means there are no rules in cartoons and they draw no perspective at all and the lines don't converge anywhere. Windows don't fit on buildings. Every building twists and turns in a different angle. This is sometimes referred to as "wonky" design. It started in Ralph Bakshi's Mighty Mouse, was copied by Beetlejuice (the Nelvana cartoon), Tiny Toons and A pup Named Scooby Doo and now is everywehere used as an excuse to not have to design anything with control or purpose or visual appeal.

This shed's backwards perspective is consistent with its bending of one rule--every edge doesn't follow its own way, so the shed holds together as a solid, yet cartoony form.

The whole article is an interesting read. I wouldn't have been able to identify it consciously, but the "wonky design" he describes has definitely turned me off of a lot of recent cartoons.

Ironically, it's a little too easy to blame John K for the new design. Ten years after Ren and Stimpy, people are still trying to replicate that style, but they miss the point. Without solid technique behind your silliness, it's flat.