I've always been interested more into the cartoonish style of graphics rather than realistic, partly because I think no matter how good your realistic graphics are, they can never be actual reality. Second of all because I think that cartoonish graphics provide for an artistic style that nurtures a carefree attitude, and an attitude that is just about having fun. I've been thinking about cartoon style graphics and trying to analyze exactly what makes them cartoony. This is what i've found:

• Number of colors
• Where those colors are placed
• Shading and shading technique's
• Overall shape of the object

Forgive me if these seem overly simplistic and general, i wouldnt exactly call myself an artist :p . I'd like to know how someone can take the same exact object and provide 2 different texturing/coloring schemes and have one of them be cartoony and the other realistic looking. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter, and if you have any suggestions or references, that would be great.

You've got most of what I consider although a dark/black outline gives a cartoony feel (either complete or 'selective outlining : search on 'selout')
I use WorldCreator so this is useful for me.

Yes, I think you pretty much pointed it out, yeah! Cartoons can be serious too, like manga art or anime movies. But I guess they are still somewhat "cute" and "simple". Cartoons are usually not very detailed, but instead they have one or two major "characteristics" (correct word?). Like for example, a cartoon may have this huge, muscular torso but tiny-tiny legs. Or take a look at The Simpsons, where each of the adult characters look more or less the same, but they have maybe exlusive hairstyles or clothes (and voice), so that we can distinguish them easily.