Animation backgrounds - Adventure Time

Adventure time is a children's animation program on Cartoon Network created by Pendleton Ward. The style of the characters are simple and minimalistic set in one tone of colour, only shaded when there are drastic changes in light. The backgrounds however are also simplistic but hold more detail through the variation in shade of hues and adding small detail to the area, such as adding a cobbled floor, and blades of grass. This contrasts well against the characters and gives a sense of depth about the area they are in; the audience can have a sense of what type of area that the hero's have wandered to, whether in a dungeon or at a princesses castle. 

Other backgrounds in another children's animation program on Cartoon Network, The amazing world of Gumball is also minimalistic with a sense of detail. The backgrounds differ however through the animation processes used with in the program, for example, Gumball uses CG, traditional and stop motion to create the animation along with the backgrounds, being a mixture of CG and traditional graphics along with the use of photography. The backgrounds feel more realistic through the use of the lighting and shadows as it gives the shape volume and depth, working well with the different characters used with in the show.