By Mia Dias Laia Spragg
My earliest memory of watching Scooby-Doo is from some time in the early 2010s. I was in primary school and every evening at 4pm I turned on CBBC after school knowing an episode of Mystery Incorporated or The Scooby-Doo Show would light up the screen. Now Scooby-Doo fills me with nostalgia and comfort, with the soundtrack, character design, and distinct voices, all taking me back to those evenings sat in front of the TV. One character that always stood out to me, and to many watchers across the globe, was Scooby-Doo himself. At the age of seven I convinced myself I was going to adopt a great dane one day and name him Scooby-Doo (of course with the iconic collar too).
From the early 1970s, Scooby-Doo merch has been released (both officially and unofficially) and this beloved dogs’ face has been plastered on t-shirts, water bottles, backpacks, and more. For decades this goofy and endearing dog has been a staple of various generations’ childhoods. However, for a character with such a quirky and charming character design, it occurred to me that I never wondered who was behind this.
It all started in the early 1940s.
Born in Los Angeles in 1925, Iwao Takamoto’s journey as a character designer was born from bleak origins in 1940s California. At the age of 16, Takamoto and his family were displaced from their home following the bombing of Pearl Harbour, and were sent to the Manzanar internment camp. This surprise attack by the Japanese Empire on Pearl Harbour resulted in Japanese-Americans being perceived as threats to the state and thus over 120,000 Japanese-Americans were sent to one of the ten concentration camps across America. Takamoto was stuck in Manzanar internment camp for the rest of the duration of World War II, until 1945, when he was 20 years old.
During his time there, Takamoto came across two former Hollywood art directors, from whom he gained illustration training and from there, his passion bloomed. He compiled his many designs into a sketchbook, drawing scenes and people he observed at the Manzanar camp. He applied to work at Disney shortly after being discharged from Manzanar, beginning his prosperous career at Walt Disney Studios in 1945 which spanned for 16 years. He left Disney for Hanna-Barbera, the production company who created the Scooby-Doo franchise, where he became most renowned for his role of character designer.
The creation of the Scooby-Doo franchise began in 1969, and the animation studio at the company set Takamoto with the task of creating the design for Scooby-Doo (no pressure!). Taking inspiration from one of his colleagues who bred Great Danes, Takamoto’s vision manifested into the iconic design we know and love today. Instead of creating the “perfect” dog, Takamoto decided to design Scooby-Doo in a way that defies all the “pure” qualities of a show bred Great Dane. His legs are crooked, his eyes never straighten, and his wiry tail are all things that would add to his charm.
Scooby-Doo’s bendy, prehensile tail often added a comedic element to the series too, with its abnormally long length leading it to catch on fire, and with Scooby-Doo being able to use it to press buttons and swing from (see:https://youtu.be/s538GwcuQO0?feature=shared). His crooked paws also meant he could cover his eyes when something (inevitably) went wrong while the gang solved mysteries. Thus, without Takamoto’s unique and norm-defying approach, Scooby-Doo’s entire character just wouldn’t have been the same.
In 1969, CBS aired the first Scooby-Doo series, Scooby-Doo Where Are You!, where Takamoto’s illustrations for the franchise were first seen. After Warner Bros. took over Hanna-Barbera in 1996, Scooby-Doo’s character design was revamped slightly, but Takamoto’s original design did not disappear. With the release of What’s New, Scooby-Doo? in 2002, Takamoto helped staff with redesigning, updating the character’s clothing to accommodate the new series. Scooby-Doo’s design remained fairly consistent across the series, with the exception of a few tweaks made in the early to mid-2000s, notably the 2002 live-action where he was created with CGI (this attempt at modernising Scooby’s look turned out quite uncanny). Although changes have been made to Scooby-Doo’s look since Takamoto’s late 60s original, his initial design is still very much present despite the increasingly modern and ‘animated’ look of Scooby-Doo over the years.
After researching Takamoto’s story, and the history behind the character designs of one of my all time favourite series, I now love it all the more. A quote from Tokyo Weekender on Takamoto has really stuck with me; Takamoto was “gifting the world joy that his own childhood lacked”. My childhood certainly wouldn’t have been the same without Scooby-Doo. In a way, Takamoto gave himself the childhood he missed, in his later life. From designing and bringing to life many beloved characters for children’s TV series and films, his passion for character design was able to shine through, especially with such a goofy and playful character like Scooby-Doo. Although Takamoto’s name isn’t widely recognised, his designs will forever prosper in the worlds of both Disney and Hanna-Barbera.
Surround Sound 