Scooby-Doo creator dies at 81:

Takamoto died Monday of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Warner Bros. spokesman Gary Miereanu said. He was 81.

[…]

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.”

[…]

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.”

So it would seem that he had a fixation on dog’s with speech impediments!

While I have no doubt read his name before, I never knew who the creator of Scooby-Doo was.  And it is interesting to note the origin of the name–something I have actually wondered about in the past.

At any rate Takamoto brought a lot of joy into the lives of children for decades.  May he rest in peace.

His passing comes on the heels of the death of Jospeh Barbera a few weeks back.