Just so you know, that "cartoon" elf has very solid anatomy. The best stylized artists know that their anatomy still has to be ROCK SOLID for it to look good. So, make sure you understand anatomy first before you attempt stylized characters or they won't look as good as that elf you are using as an example.
Stylization is a process of exaggerating and simplifying areas of anatomy but you can't do this effectively if you don't know the anatomy to begin with.