‹ FIRST FOUR EPISODES OF 24 SEASON 6 LEAKED!!! •
Iwao Takamoto, creator of Scooby Doo and other characters for Hanna-Barbera, died of a heart attack Monday. He was 81.
Takamoto was responsible for bringing Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Vilma, and Daphne to life (and presumably many old bankers who would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling kids…) while working for Hanna-Barbera in the late 60s. He also created characters for other Hanna-Barbera shows, including Mutley from Wacky Races and Astro from The Jetsons (hmm…I’m beginning to see a theme here…)
Perhaps his oddest creation was for Hanna-Barbera’s smash hit The Flintstones: The Great Gazoo. Gazoo was an alien who had been banished from his home planet for creating a weapon to destroy the universe. He was visible only to Fred, Barney and children, because they were the only ones that believed in him. He could fly and apparently teleport. Pretty plausible, right? Gazoo was part of Hanna-Barbera’s last ditch effort to keep The Flintstones on the air, and he failed.
Takamoto’s death comes exactly three weeks after the death of his old boss, Joseph Barbera.
