NEWS: Creator of Scooby-Doo, Iwao Takamoto, Dead at 81

CULTURE: Creator of Scooby-Doo, Iwao Takamoto, Dead at 81

During his career that lasted more than six decades, Iwao Takamoto assisted in the designs of some of the biggest animated features and TV shows. The Flintstones, Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Lady and the Tramp all bear his creative touch.



Though it is Takamoto's creation of Scooby-Doo, the cowardly dog with a brave heart, that captivated audiences and has endured for generations.



Takamoto died Monday due to heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 81.



Born in Los Angeles to parents who had emigrated from Japan, Takamoto graduated high school when World War II began. He and his family were sent to the Manzanar internment camp in the California desert, where he learned the art of illustration from fellow internees.



Though lacking formal training, when he returned to Los Angeles he landed an interview at Walt Disney Studios and was soon hired as an apprentice.



Takamoto worked under the tutelage of Disney's "nine old men," the studio's team of legendary animators responsible for its biggest full-length films before moving to Hanna-Barbera Studios in 1961. There, he worked on cartoons for television, including "Josie and the Pussy Cats," and "The Great Grape Ape Show."



Takamoto said he created Scooby-Doo after talking with a Great Dane breeder. His name comes from Frank Sinatra's final phrase in "Strangers in the Night."



"[The breeder] showed me some pictures and talked about the important points of a Great Dane, like a straight back, straight legs, small chin and such," Takamoto said in a recent talk at Cartoon Network Studios.



"I decided to go the opposite and gave him a hump back, bowed legs, big chin and such. Even his color is wrong."



Takamoto also created more famous cartoon dogs such as Astro from "The Jetsons" and Muttley, the mixed-breed that appeared in several Hanna-Barbera animations. He also directed the 1973 feature Charlotte's Web, which won the Geneis Award for Classic Eature Film in 1998.



Takamoto is survived by his wife, Barbara, son Michael and stepdaughter Leslie.

It's like everything I ever looked forward to on sick days home from school as a kid just died this week.

Godspeed, Takamoto-Senpai.

Join the club.

Nooooo!

I always wanted to be Shaggy (despite be a straight chubby (now middle aged) guy) - sigh...

Nobody ever called me a Velma tho

first the Ramen noodles guy, now this guy...why are all the cool Japanese people dying?

NPR just did a great piece on him. Loved Scooby.

RIP Mr Takamoto and Domo

Now my name is legend.....

I still like the older episodes, despite them all having the same plot. There was an ever so slight edge of horror to them, which was later lost. Shaggy and Scooby's eating habits were always fun. Velma was best.

Zoiks!!!

Agreed . Loved & still love that first season of episodes . And even the girl playing Velma in those live action movies looked great . Who wouldn't love having a Velma to call their very own ?

He also directed the animated version of Charlotte's Web which was one my favorite movies as a kid. He was a genius like Hanna-Barbera, I would loved to know how he and based Shaggy on by a person he knew.

Even though, His employer Joseph Barbera died 4 weeks ago before Takamoto.

Thank you for making my childhood more brightful and happy :-)

Scooby-Doo was my favorite show growing up, next to Transformers. RIP Sir. Now, I notice there was no mention creating Scrappy-Doo; hopefully that abomination was the creation of someone else!

May he ride the etheral Mystery Machine to the great big Scooby snack in the sky. Thanks for the meddlesome kids!

That was my childhood right there...

The scooby doo cartoon as a kid scareed the shit out of me.Thanks for the good times.

It's good to see he lived to the ripe old age of old.
Ah! Lookit that, he died where I was born, the great cross-circle of life comes to a close, or something like that.

Even more than Scooby Doo, I LOVED that Charlotte's Web movie as a wee-e-er me - ABSOLUTE adoration. I saw that thing over and over again. It was perfect.

He seems to have worked on a massive amount of The Classics. Bless his dearly departed soul.

Iwao Takamoto was clearly THE man and jut to think I'd never heard of him before today - I just hope it was somebody else that created scrappy doo

Funny, I just checked the Wikipedia article and it makes no mention on who was responsible for creating the little mongrel. It would seem that information has been lost in time.

Though he got his comeuppance on Harvey Birdman, so all is well.

-TM

rip
it's sad that this is the way i found out who created scooby-doo and muttely (one of my favorites).

I always wonder why it takes a death realize how truly important someone's life was. This man was a visionary, without his cartoons, cartoons wouldn't be where there are today. I hope he receives the respect he deserves from the industry. If for nothing else, the millions of smiles his cartoons brought to people's faces. My best wishes go out to the family. Rest in peace and know the world was a better place because of you.
-Sbyrd

They just did a bump in his name on Cartoon Network.

ruh roh. Very sad news indeed. We lost one of the greats, may he rest peacefully.

Bummer.

I'm stoked to see an article by Oyron though!