@blogdiva I've said this elsewhere, but I had a huge book of Bible stories for children (1960s era) and it was that level of gooey, smarmy illustration. VERY slick. And I know it's still in my head. 
Before AI, the late Thomas Kinkade hit a similar sweet-spot for soft generic Christians with his "light"-filled paintings. He was semi-local in my part of California, took over a historic house that was a Mexican restaurant, made it a gallery. Bleahh.