Image rotationY, scaling issue

Can anyone tell me why in example #1, the image, when rotated (by -45 degrees on y axis), is scaled properly, but in example #2, it’s stretched so it’s wider than it should be? the main difference is, in example #1, the carousel items consist of an image within a movieclip; whereas, in example #2, the carousel items consist of an image within a movieclip, within a movieclip.

(the main reason i switched each item to be the image, within a movieclip, within a moveclip, was so that when you nagivate through the items, and hover over the larger item in focus, it rotates so that it remains upright & parallel with the screen. if i kept it like example #1, the movieclip would rotate based on the axis of the carousel container (it wouldn’t always be upright & parallel with the screen)

example #1

example #2

my theory is it has to do with the perspective and/or items being 3d or not (having a matrix3D object)…but i need a push in the right direction…thanks!