Scooby-Doo creator Iwao Takamoto dies

Harry Mok
January 9, 2007

Takamoto graduated from high school when World War II began, and he and his family were sent to the Manzanar internment camp. He learned about illustration from fellow internees.

I used to watch Scooby-Doo every week when Saturday mornings were cartoon time on TV. Until I read the obits this morning, I didn't know Takamoto was Scooby's creator. I should have paid more attention to the credits when I was a kid.

Takamoto had a great career that spanned more than 60 years. He worked on some other animated classics, including Charlotte's Web, Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp and The Flintstones.

Associated Press obit with video via LATimes.com

Wikipedia on Iwao Takamoto

Contributor: 

Harry Mok

Editor in chief

Editor in Chief Harry Mok wrote about growing up on a Chinese vegetable farm for the second issue of Hyphen and has been a volunteer editor since 2004. As a board member of the San Francisco and New York chapters of the Asian American Journalists Association, Harry has recruited and organized events for student members. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was also a graduate student instructor in the Asian American Studies Department.

Comments

Comments

Zork wrote on Tue, 01/09/2007 - 10:29pm
Takamoto was a stoner who modeled Shaggy after himself (always had the munchies, paranoid and squirrelly)
Jay wrote on Wed, 01/10/2007 - 12:57pm
Wow I never knew the creator was Asian Am. Crazy stuff.
Craig King wrote on Wed, 01/10/2007 - 4:23pm
IWAO TAKAMOTO DID NOT CREATE SCOOBY DOO!! The actual, real, proven creators of Scooby Doo were Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. Go to www.rubyspears.com and find "The History of Scooby Doo" and read the real story! Iwao Takamoto only designed Scooby based on Ruby & Spears written description.
Anonymous wrote on Wed, 05/30/2007 - 3:02pm
Iwao Takamoto was the designer and the creator of scooby-doo, ok! He is the best animator I've ever heard of. He is an amazing man. God bless him!thank you :)