Quote - I think the likes of "Despicable Me" nod back to an older tradition by the way.

Thinking back to classic cell animations, like Tom and Jerry, for example... the backdrops tend to be painted, often, sometimes, almost a fairly realist style... I'd say... certainly quite a different style to the character animations. But stylistically, I think, it does somehow still gel.

Obviously an entirely different set of artists tended to work on the background / environment paintings... to those who did the character animation and cell overlays.

 

You're right on all counts there. The Warner cartoons also had fairly realistic backdrops for a time and simply let the characters play in that realistic world. I think it all falls on the characters and the people lighting the scene to make it work in 3D.  If the characters look like they can almost be in the same universe, you're ahead of the game. The reason I reference the Incredibles the most is, if you look at the bulk of the main characters: Bob, Helen, Dash, Bob's boss, Frozone, etc. , taken individually, you'd be hard pressed to see them in the same film. Edna is so far removed from Helen and Bob that she pretty much doesn't belong in the same world but they make it work and make you believe.  With Dispicable me, the outsiders stylistically were the minions and yet they too, seemed to happily co-exist along side the human characters. It's an interesting thing and something I'm being super aware of as I sculpt out my designs. Keeping a unified look as much as I can but if there's a character that stands apart, finding something about it to tie it back to the others.