This was mentioned during the bumpers on NPR today but I got better details on his obit here. Even as a kid, his name always stood out during the ending credits of so many Hanna-Barbera productions. I didn’t know he was responsible for Scooby Doo’s design or name. I figured it was the usual concept artists Hanna-Barbera hired like Alex Toth or Jack Kirby.
Today I’m not too keen on Scooby Doo unless it’s a parody of him and the Mystery, Inc. gang; see The Venture Brothers, Johnny Bravo and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. But when I was a little kid, Mr. Takamoto’s creation and style had me glued to the TV every Saturday morning in the Seventies. I think the new Justice League cartoon owes him much for his streamlined look on The Superfriends too.
P.S. I know Joe Barbera died last month. It happened while I was too ill to write so I never got around to posting and when I was functional again, it was “ancient” history.