(Jan 9 Link) And It's Goodbye To...

Today news comes to us of the death at 81of Iwao Takamoto.  I am pretty certain that many of you wont immediately recognise who he was but that you will all know of his work.

A Japanese American, his family was sent to an internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbour and spent the rest of World War II there. It was in the Manzanar internment camp that Takamoto learnt the basic skills of illustration from a couple of friendly co-internees.

Takamoto put his new found skills to good use after the war and in 1947 was hired as an assistant animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He worked on classics such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmations and Lady and the Tramp. In fact, Takamoto was so adept at his job, he was given sole responsibility of Lady's design.

Soon after Takamoto left Disney in 1961, he found himself working at Hanna-Barbera Productions. He had many positions there but is best known as a character designer. Penelope Pitstop and Astro, the dog in The Jetsons, were his designs. One of his most famous creations though, is a classic that has been brought back time and again, and who is indeed, my neice E's favourite character. Scooby Doo has had many reincarnations, but whereas some characters change to suit the times, Scooby is always the same loveable pooch first designed by Takamoto.

Iwao Takamoto

Todays Link is to the Warner Brother's Scooby Doo site