This really reminds me of the old animated Hobbit and LOTR movies, in a good way. Or something like The Last Unicorn.

The minute details, although they tend to make the subjects look timeworn or ugly, are beautiful because of how much time and attention they must take, I think. They always gave me sort of a woven, durable impression, which makes sense for something like the dwarves in LOTR. I'd say it makes sense for Mario, too.