The classic Disney style is due to technical constraints. Animation was inked and painted on transparent sheets overlayed on static backgrounds. The animated f

The classic Disney style is due to technical constraints. Animation was inked and painted on transparent sheets overlayed on static backgrounds. The animated figures have to be simple and well-defined shapes because otherwise it is just too much work to ink and paint consistently over thousands of sheets (12 sheets per second of film!). The backgrounds are static though, so they can be arbitrarily subtle and detailed. Movements over backgrounds is done by moving the camera over a larger painting. The stylistic difference between background and animation can be quite jarring though, and ligne claire actually attempt the opposite effect, that figures and backgrounds have exactly the same style and level of detail.