Sometimes you need to snap out of fantasy to tell a story. That doesn't mean that fantasy in sound effects for animation has disappeared. But when it comes to fantastical sound effects for animated projects, the current trend is musical. Though the client wanted the sound of a real calculator, Dykes added the beat of a ceramic Arabic drum backed by an upright bass. The music worked better as an effect, it wasn't heavy-handed and it tied in better with the music itself.
Younger kids expect it.
It's back to basics. Pomann is one of those sound designers using mouth sounds. He reports that all the footsteps in Doug are his tongue against his upper palate. It's amazing what sounds you can create with your mouth. We replaced it with more cartoony sounding bonks which lightened the action.