The Uncanny in Animation

There is a spectrum of experiences in my consumer life of simulations which lead to the uncanny. There is a vocaloid concert which is too unhuman to contain the uncanny.  Regardless of what particular people may think of virtual concerts, a lot of people have a strong positive response to them, as testified by the live audience in this video. The voices are too obviously computerized to be in the valley in my opinion. The animation is not attempting at a human realism, rather staying at the anime-style level.

Next is the strangely real in anime, which garners a positive reaction. Actually, it is because it is strangely real that the experience has a positive affect. This is not to say that the uncanny valley is not real or diverges, but that there is something to be said for being really near the drop off point or stylishly uncanny. For instance, the show Angel Beats has a simulation of rock concert which is strangely real for something obviously animated.

Leaning into the valley, there is Tom Hanks in Polar Express (I didn't think it was all that creepy though.)

Finally, there is the newest technology:

My question that I derived from this representative continuum is about the relation of the uncanny to the most positive encounter with a simulation. There are two possibilities:

1. The peak of positive affect is the last point of uncanny simulation.
2. The peak contains just enough uncanny to be just right.

While I think 1 is how people normally think of the Uncanny valley, I feel that 2 is probably correct. To me, the uncanny is like a thrill, and like all thrills, too much produces an negative affect. Just like many people like the Angel Beats rock concert, some people like horror movies or bungie jumping. There is a certain excitement.