Japanese-American animator Iwao Takamoto, who created the beloved Scooby-Doo character, has died in Los Angeles from heart failure. He was 81.
Takamoto died on January 8 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, a spokesperson said.
Takamoto was behind the design of a slew of cartoon characters in the late 1960s while working at the Hanna-Barbera animation studio, including characters in The Flintstones and The Jetsons. He also directed the 1973 cartoon classic Charlotte’s Web.
Takamoto, however, was most acclaimed for creating the cowardly Great Dane Scooby-Doo, who has entertained audiences for generations.
His death comes three weeks after that of Hanna-Barbera Productions co-founder Joseph Barbera, who also helped create some of the world’s best-loved cartoon characters, including Tom and Jerry, Fred Flintstone and Yogi Bear.
Barbera’s partner, William Hanna, passed away in 2001.
Takamoto was born in Los Angeles in 1925. After the bombing of Pearl Harbour, his family was sent to an internment camp where he received basic illustration training from fellow internees.
He first entered the cartoon world after World War II as an assistant animator for Walt Disney Studios. While there he worked on such children’s classics as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
Takamoto joined Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1961 and was vice-president of creative design at the time of his death. — AFP
