Iwao Takamoto, the guy who created Scooby Doo, died.
Scooby was my favorite cartoon when I was a kid.
Thanks for all the laughs Mr. Takamoto.
Slee
ZOINKS!
Yeah, sure he died, next year it’ll turn out he was alive all along disguised as a ghost pirate scaring away people from the old haunted pier so he can sell it to a big city developer.
He’ll succeed, too, assuming no meddling kids show up.
Although Scooby-Doo could be repetitive at times, there’s no denying that he and his pals are some of the most memorable characters to come out of the Hanna-Barbera studios. Why is Scooby so popular? Well, there’s no scientific way to figure it out, but I think that children can relate to Scooby-Doo, not only because he’s silly, but because he thinks and acts like a child. Children often act as if they aren’t afraid of anything, but if something scary comes along, they show their true colors and hide, just like Scooby does. And kids love to eat- if they would, they would eat whatever they wanted to. And their love of food can be used to parents’ advantage. Just as a trip to the doctor’s may seem less of a chore if the child knows he’s going for ice cream afterwards, Scooby can be coaxed into doing anything for the promise of a Scooby Snack for a job well done. And Iwao Takamoto deserves a pile of Scooby Snacks for the wonderful job he did creating such a memorable character, along with all of his other work both at Disney and Hanna-Barbera.
“So long, man! Thanks for all the fun!”
“Reah! Rank you! Rooby-dooby-doo!”
It’s not him at all! It’s…a mask!
Scooby singlehandedly saved the dying Saturday morning lineup.
Unfortunately, it led to imappropriate dog sidekicks turning up in other cartoons.
And their stupid dog.
I’m gonna have to pour out a box of Scooby Snacks for my homie tonight.
As Eddie Izzard says:
Shaggy and Scooby are interesting characters. They’re two of the most major characters in American literature. Because, and I mean this sincerely, and I think it’s fantastic, because they are cowards. They are cowardly characters - they believe in cowardice and sandwiches. And can you think of any in the whole realm of the English-speaking literature that are characters like that? Cowardly characters that you identify with. ‘Cause you identify with them, you’re with them all the way! “Go Shaggy! Go Scooby!” The rest of the guys who drive the van, “Fuck off!” Scrappy Doo, a Magnum… ( shoots ) “Thank you, Granddad.” ( general laughter ) Well remembered.
But Shaggy and Scooby; the only other character, I mean, tell me now if you can think of any character ‘cause I’m willing to learn, but somebody mentioned Falstaff. A Shakespearean character! It’s that level of greatness! Falstaff, you sort of identify with him, but he has a melancholy with him. But Shaggy and Scooby are upbeat all the time, saying ( imitates Scooby Doo talking ) And you love 'em! You’re with 'em! There’s part of us that - Shaggy and Scooby at every stage of the way.
So if you travel around the world, and, you know, ‘cause your American foreign policy does give you a difficult time to exist around the world, two tricks: one, say you’re Canadian, that helps. It works in Europe, it’s very good! And the second is just say, “Shaggy and Scooby.” And they go “Shaggy and Scooby!” International credit card, I think! So yeah.
But in his case, the meddling kids work for him! In fact, they can serve as a counter-meddling unit in case a second set of meddling kids wander in.
My husband wanted to know if he was killed by Scrappy?
In the annals of low-stress professions, ‘Scooby Doo animator’ must rank right up there alongside ‘Maytag repairman.’
*“Hey, Iwao? This is Bill Hanna… listen, for the next season, we’re going to need another three, maybe four animation cels.” *
But I kid the late Mr. Takamoto. The man could illustrate a haunted voodoo mask like nobody else in the business. Few people could effectively sell the notion of a properly eerie space alien ghost, but he managed to do it.
**Scooby-Doo ** was just about Hanna Barbera’s only worthwhile product other than Jonny Quest. To the best of my knowledge, it was also the only cartoon on TV that consistently promoted a genuinely rational worldview (other than the talking dog, I guess). For a show that focused on spooks and supernatural beasties, they always pointed out in the end that such mysterious goings-on were trickery to fool the gullible.
Lastly… thank you, Ivao Takamoto, for helping bring to life that most seductive of cartoon temptresses: Velma Dinkley. May your heavenly reward involve saucy pleated skirts in some manner.
Oh Velma, sweet Velma… have you lost your glasses again, my precious? I know how helpless you are without them…
I never knew how many guys had the love for Velma until I used it as an internet name. Now suddenly I can’t do a vanity search without hearing about the lust for the skirt and the glasses. I thought she was like the least desired person ever.
I actually looked like Velma as a child. Brown hair, bowl cut, glasses. I somehow grew into a more Daphne look though, but no one seems to think of her as fondly.
But-- you could still dress like that if you wanted to, right? With the skirt and the glasses? And the turtleneck sweater? And the orange stockings! I mean, I’m not trying to pressure you about this, but I think you should dress up like that right now.
Say “jinkies.”
Frederator Studios posted this Takamoto sketch that was used by Hanna-Barbera as a limited-edition cel of all of their characters. Very cool, and a nice tribute to not only Takamoto, but Bill and Joe as well (who appear to be amused by whatever Fred Flintstone is telling them).
You mean… you mean… you look like Daphne? Jinkies!
Um, cite please?
Scooby was the lame response to the censors who were outraged over Johnny Quest. Violence on television was going to ruin us all! I mean Johnny and Hadji exercised their 2nd amendment rights! Can’t have that!
So from the point of view of a kid for which all this was very relevant at the time, we lost kick-ass Johnny Quest and got lame-ass Scooby Doo, and all because of some meddlesome old fart that in our minds resembled and was a cohort of our grotesquely fat and humorless sixth grade teacher. Thank you very much, Mrs Grundy.
I then developed a certain fondness for the show, but I wonder if it was only because it was forced on us and we had no alternative.
None of this diminishes a great man’s work. I would like to learn what other characters he had a hand in. I am sure links will follow…
According to most of the obituaries, Takamoto was one of the major character designers for Hanna-Barbara. Although it would be difficult to acertain which characters he had a hand in developing, most of the obituaries list The Jetsons’s Astro, Wacky Races’s Muttley, and The Flintstones’s Great Gazoo as Takamoto creations.
Jeepers, there are a lot of characters there I’ve half-forgotten!