I think that's why a lot of those good cartoons in the 80's died out. Too redundant to keep them going.

Take GI joe.... Cobra does something GI joe interjects they shoot at each other..... NO ONE FUCKING DIES!!!! and GI joe saves the day. A story follow by a moral and blah blah blah.

I totally admire the Final Fantasy movies for their visual aspect, but WTF happened to the great storytelling that happened in the games? That is the whole reason why I like FF in the first place. It was one of those games that I immersed myself in. I agree that the Japanese take more time to put into their art. Mainly because they have a lot of disposable income and animation is far too popular to get a budget cut. That is the main reason animation has because to die out here. They kept cutting back and cutting back until there isn't much left. One person can make more money posting flash cartoons on a website than a whole team of animators can.

It seems a few companies are still holding on to the traditional themes of animation. There are some really good movies coming out now days in 3D. The problem is we reward the 3D and make cut backs on the 2D animation.