Fran, have you seen the animation called "Kiwi!"? I've found it to be very inspiring. The rendering looked very simple, very basic shapes and textures. With the tools available today (listen to me... the thing is only three years old!) I don't think it would be difficult to do an animation of this quality. What was important, I thought, was the character. The whole thing is a set up for a punch line that is both happy and a little bit sad. Somebody told the little guy, "you can't" and he did anyway. The little tear he sheds at the end makes the whole animation.