yes, the ones on the left look like people, the thing is that their styles are too much similar, given that they were drawn by different animators/studios.
They obviously have "different eyes, brows, noses, (…)" because, like people, they are different characters so their facial features change between them, but their style doesn't that much.
If the animators of the right side characters were to draw in their style characters who "look like people", they would be different from each other in a bigger way the the left ones.
I think that the point is that this comparison is a throwback to people that deliberately cherrypicked in their comparisons old cartoons against "calsarts face" cartoons that they didn't enjoy to pan the "calarts face" style.

He sounds super smug and condescending just say it.