Legendary animator passes away

Iwao Takamoto, the animator who created cartoon dog Scooby-Doo, has died aged 81.

The illustrator’s death comes less than a month after that of Hanna-Barbera co-founder Joseph Barbera, who was 95. Barbera’s business partner, William Hanna, died in 2001.

Takamoto’s animation career spans from the late 1940s, when he started work for the Disney Studios.

In 1960, Takamoto joined with Hanna-Barbera, where his designs have been put towards almost every animated figure to come out of the studio, including characters from The Flintstones and The Jetsons.

In addition to creating Scooby-Doo, Takamoto was responsible for several other cartoon dogs, including Muttley.

He is said to have created Scooby-Doo after talking to a Great Dane breeder and named the character after Frank Sinatra’s final phrase in Strangers in the Night, which contained the words ‘dooby-doo’.

In the 1970s, the illustrator’s talents were projected to the big screen when he directed the animation of the theatrical release of Charlotte’s Web.

Takamoto was vice-president at Warner Bros Animation at the time of his death, caused by heart failure.