Well as an animator let me see if I can’t shed some light on the main two reasons why this generally is the case.
Concept art does what it says on the tin. It’s a CONCEPT, an IDEA. It’s not designed to be a character design sheet that all animators can follow. Often times concept art it just to get a feel for flow and colours and general forms, and unless you’re making some swishy independent short film it’s not practical to make finished characters that way.
Would you want to attempt to traditionally animate this design, complete with impeccable lineart and effects while maintaining Scarfe’s very unique art style, for anything longer than a couple of seconds? Yeah, me neither. And bear in mind this is actually a quite simple, stylised example; good for animation compared to others.
You want to animate this traditionally for almost two hours? ARE YOU INSANE?!
Part of the reason the ‘Cal Arts Face’ was a thing is the idea that you have to simplify a concept so multiple modellers, animators, product designers etc can work with it and maintain a consistent design across the media. This is particularly important in shows/movies where the animation is sent overseas and produced by cheaper labour who possibly don’t have as much experience OR don’t have a competent director breathing down their necks to keep things consistent. Simplify the concept, simplify the process.
If you need an example compare the Steven Universe Pilot to the main show.
2) Readability and marketability
Nice little dig at Frozen there, but Disney knows how to make a money spin from character designs. They know the big eyes and plush faces and warm colours will sell to the average joe more than some arty pastel concept (oh but they can sell that too thanks to the art books!)
Plus it’s much easier to convey a characters personality and expressions when the faces are clear and easy to read, ESPECIALLY FOR CHILDREN. Even on the simplest shows some concept designs get tweaked and/or turned away because they have some aspect about them that doesn’t test well with kids. There are hundreds of reasons that the finished products end up much simpler and more ‘mainstream’ than the initial concept, because THAT’S WHAT SELLS.
And if you call shenanigans, tell me. When was the last time you bought a DVD of independent short films?
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Incidentally I like the implication that only Western animation is guilty of this. Go back and look at all those anime art books and find some where the concept art is so wildly different to the finished product. Chances are you won’t find it, but do you honestly think the designers woke up and drew the most perfect character design on the first day? Just because you don’t see all the steps from the initial concept to the finished product doesn’t mean there weren’t dramatic changes to make the characters more marketable/practical.
Bear in mind also that in general anime relies a LOT on still shots with lip flaps. Even on the most complex, action packed shows like One Punch Man or JoJo, go back and watch how many shots there are per episode of still or barely moving characters talking.
Characters moving less means their designs can be more complex.
And when the characters do move fast for big fight scenes you stop noticing animation errors and characters going off model.
This is less of an issue in Western animation where characters move more consistently and have been simplified so the danger of them going off model is lessened.
TLDR: basically while concept art is gorgeous and important it’s not finantially or physically practical as an animation method. Just be thankful that the market for Art of Animation books is so good that you get to see these concepts, otherwise the only people who would ever see them would be the production teams.
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