In forming the show's central cast, they found themselves limited in the number of historical figures they could depict, in consideration with avoiding "litigious estates" (such as the families of Albert Einstein or Marilyn Monroe) and keeping in mind the viewership of MTV. The show also parodies teen dramas, such as "Dawson's Creek", which Lord and Miller watched in preparation to create the series. The show's art design has been described as angular and "evocative of UPA at its best." It is characterized by a flat and very stylized appearance resembling the animation used in Cartoon Network animated series from the 1990s and early 2000s, such as "Dexter's Laboratory", "The Powerpuff Girls" and "Time Squad" (Lord and Miller specifically cited "Samurai Jack" as an influence). The character designs were all done by Carey Yost, known for his work on "Dexter's Laboratory", "Samurai Jack", "The Powerpuff Girls", "The Ren & Stimpy Show", and "Timon & Pumbaa". The characters and backgrounds were traditionally drawn, and frames and cels were frequently recycled. Co-creator Chris Miller explained, "We like the snappy pose-to-pose animation, more for reasons of comic timing than anything else. Things that aren't expected are funnier: If an anvil's going to fall on your head, it had better not take more than three seconds. That's why we like the quick pose-to-pose stuff. For scenes with more emotional content, the characters move a little slower and more fluidly". Phil Lord added, "But we never want the viewer to be paying attention to the animation, because it's there to serve the jokes and the story. We strip out extraneous movements, because we don't want to draw your eye to anything that's not part of a joke." Gandhi is the most animated character on the show; he requires twice as many story-board poses as any other character. "Total Drama" character designer Todd Kauffman did designs for the show's intro.