It's because there's two cartoon styles going on here. (I think)
Mr. Ring is clearly the 1940s-50s cartoon style.
However, Bells and the Doctor feel closer to the 60s-70s style of cartoon which Could actually be a call back to their joke earlier in the show about Scooby-doo. (Doctor being Velma and Bels being 'Fred' so to speak)
Because it's clearly more of a 60s-70s styles to me.
Ring feels like it's closer to like...mid 55-early 60s? I can see the inspiration is similar to that era. (Closer to like, Little Lulu than it is to Felix the Cat or even Popeye/Olive Oyl's time frame. Even though there is a homage To Popeye but it's like Which Era Of Popeye though because that cartoon ran from the 40s to literally like the 90s. And now since there is another Popeye movie too.)
I wouldn't say there's a wrongness to it, but like...It tickles the Brain in an odd fashion.
It's like two artstyles are together in one shot almost? I think Sunshine is actually correct for what they were going for to a degree.
It could also be that.. well.. Mr. Ring is Designed like a villain *from* that cartoon era. Maybe that's why it feels odd? Most characters designed like that in the 50s era are usually Villains right off the bat. He doesn't look like the typical hero of the story.
Many of the heroes in those kinds of stories are always like a Sad looking Dude trying to do the Best he Can for his gal. Or like they're short or something. Like there's a rhyme and reason for a lot of those character designs from then.
(The ones I generally remember are: Guys that have a comedic look to them where they're kinda dumb, or they're happy skippy but lack actual confidence in talking to a girl so they 'sweat' first before they go up trying to attempt to be 'cool'. )
And Mr. Ring, who's character is meant to be (within the setting of the Show and in the Actual Cartoon) the 'hero' in his film.. he's designed like a villain straight off the bat.
We're not given a moment to think he's Not a Bad Guy. At least, that's how I read it. If you watch any cartoons from that era, you noticed a pattern between at least three styles of Villain characters. (aside from the obvious) but one of them is the Lanky tall look. The way he's colored. The way his hair is half styled like that and the antennas.
It could also be he's styled after a Bug Type, since Sunshine is a Puppy Type but like...It gives me pause. Lol.
But I like mix mediums. So I enjoyed the episode because the theme is neat, but also Mix Mediums My Beloved.
However, it's just one of those Quirks.
A person not familiar with that era's cartoons would also just..copy. Cup Man and Mug Man as a touchstone too.
-not saying that's what they did or anything, but like it's a recent memory deal.-
also I'm guess-estimating the time frames off the top of my head.
They're going for the 50s look. Around that time frame there were still Other Animation Companies and they all had different styles then. Some copy each other.
This is also less than like.. ten years from Bewitched/Sabrina the Teenage Witch and I love Genie. <- (the latter is probably a lot younger than the other two. I mention them because the artstyle of the Doctor and Bel is similar to That. Especially the Bobble head version of the Doctor resembles the Cartoon Intro of Darrin from the show. (this is ALSO in multiple ads but like I'm just using Big Names for comparisons)
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