Iwao Takamoto, 1926 - 2007
LA TIMES: Scooby-Doo creator Iwao Takamoto diesFrom Associated Press 8:05 AM PST, January 9, 2007
In a career that spanned more than six decades, Iwao Takamoto assisted in the designs of some of the biggest animated features and television shows, including "Cinderella," "Peter Pan," "Lady and the Tramp" and "The Flintstones."
But it was Takamoto's creation of Scooby-Doo, the cowardly dog with an adventurous heart, that captivated audiences and endured for generations.
Takamoto died Monday of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Warner Bros. spokesman Gary Miereanu said. 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.
Despite a lack of formal training, he landed an interview with Walt Disney Studios when he returned to Los Angeles and was 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," "The Great Grape Ape Show," "Harlem Globe Trotters" and "The Secret Squirrel Show."
Takamoto said he created Scooby-Doo after talking with a Great Dane breeder, and named him after 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 other 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."
Takamoto was survived by his wife, Barbara, son Michael and stepdaughter Leslie.
Funeral arrangements were pending.
Labels: animation, hanna-barbera, iwao takamoto, kidvid, la times, obituary, scooby-doo
posted by Jeff Pidgeon at
6:46 PM
4 Comments:
Network honcho Fred Silverman earlier took credit for copping Sinatra's "Scooby Dooby Doo..." scatting (audible only on the original 45 rpm recording, BTW, during a long fadeout, which Silverman allegedly heard during a plane trip) for the character's name. Iwao kept right on drawing until the day he died, and drawing very well. The obits mention nothing about how Iwao survived the Disney massacre layoff after Sleeping Beauty. Had to be one hell of an artist to hang onto a job at that time and place, and Iwao did.
I've always had a fondness for his design work. Most folks tend to toss him aside in favor of Ed Benedict. I do prefer Ed's simplicity, but Iwao's stuff has a sense of goofy fun that I still enjoy.
The rap on Iwao's stuff was that it was much tougher for H-B's animators and assistants to draw than were Ed Benedict's more direct designs. This argument had merit, particularly once H-B's animation started to all get shipped overseas, at a point when those shops weren't capable of working near Iwao's level of draftsmanship. They still aren't, in truth. How many of those cats in Taiwan, Australia or even Japan could've cut it as the volatile Milt Kahl's assistant for so many years, as Iwao did?
That makes sense - they're not nearly as simple or as modular as Ed's, so I can see why Iwao caught some static.
But I still like his work, especially in the late '60s/early '70s...
...and he would have to be unflappable (and a great draughtsman) to work with Milt for so long, it's true!
Post a Comment
<< Home