Quote - yes, is true.  tom hanks (supposedly child-friendly) cast in "polar express" as "mr. hollywood nice guy" in attempt to sell it, but unanimous consensus: his character too creepy.  adults call it creepy, but they're scared by it, same as kids.  same reason they would reject poser romance novel covers: dead-doll-look, dead eyes, no expression shown in eyes, mouth et al..  on similar note: do not break "fourth wall" rule of telly sitcoms, on pain of death.  it's too confrontational and intimidating for the masses who watch them.  no names, please.

Unlike the fourth wall, the uncanny valley has nothing to do with societal norms, uncultured masses, or cultural issues. It is built into our cognition. A recent experiment showed that macaque monkeys have the same issues. They were fine looking at pictures of cartoon monkeys, or at photos of monkeys, but close but not good CGI monkeys bothered them.

Another reason why the Polar Express was so creepy (IMHO) was that it rather resembled a Soviet Socialist Elf Republic, complete with barracks, manditory social activities, and red stars.