What happened to good old 2-D animation ?

So maybe a month ago, I made one of my random trips to the local FYE to peruse their humble anime collection. Believe me, in a small farming community in eastern NC, humble is probably still being quite generous. That said, I do find a few good things now and then, and this time I picked up Evangelion 2.22. Bear in mind I had already seen 1.11, and it was good, so I was definitely looking forward to this one. What I hadn't expected was what I can only describe as a face melting movie watching experience that brought me to the edge of tears (man tears, mind you, and only to the edge). It was hands down the best movie I have seen this year, and easily in the top 10 of the last half a decade. Which led me to thinking, what happened to 2D movie making in America?

Now I know the States will never come close to what the Japanese roll out. To them, 2D magic comes naturally. That said, we've had our moments. Remember The Iron Giant? Kinda childish, yes, but still an awesome cartoon, special emphasis on the word "cartoon". And it had a mech! A+! Anyone remember Titan A.E.? Not the best but still good, a valiant effort. Instead today, while our friends across the pacific are churning out gems like 2.22, and Paprika, the mainstream here no longer believes that animation can be good without being in 3D, with some sort of big bottomed animal dancing in the closing credits. It's a shame I tell you, a damn shame. Thankfully it doesn't look like we'll ever go wanting for quality anime movies, but America makes the best of almost everything else in the world. Why not animation?
BTW if you haven't seen "Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance" yet, get it now. Warning, might melt your face.