Although I agree with you(Despite still having not seen the image XD), most things like this are dictated by arbitrary social paranoia, which is a discussion for another day. The bottom line, though, is that if Dean Dodrill hadn't removed the image from his site, I think Dust: An Elysian Tail probably would have been sabotaged right out of the gate, and I'm not sure it would have turned out as the big success it became.
Anyway...

I personally think a Jazz cartoon could have been good. If it was in the style of the two manual comics(Or Sonic: SatAM, or Animaniacs), it could have been pretty entertaining. I suppose we'll just have to watch Bucky O' Hare and squint.

Oh, also, thinking about Dean Dodrill, did you know that Epic offered Dean the chance to finish Jazz 3 sometime around the time it was cancelled. The catch was that he would have to move to North Carolina, which was not an option, as he was settling down with his wife.