Iwao Takamoto (April 29, 1925 – January 8, 2007) was a Japanese-American

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video gam ...

, television producer, and film director. He began his career as a production and character designer for

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...

films such as ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' (1950), ''

Lady and the Tramp ''Lady and the Tramp'' is a 1955 American animated musical romance film produced by Walt Disney and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. The 15th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hami ...

'' (1955), and ''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

'' (1959). Later, he moved to

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

, where he designed a great majority of the characters, including

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animation, animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative List of Scooby-Doo media, media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the orig ...

and

Astro Astro may refer to: Entertainment and media * Astro (South Korean band), a South Korean boy band * Astro (UB40) (1957–2021), member of the British reggae band UB40 * Astro (Chilean band), a Chilean indie rock band * Astro (Japanese band), ...

, and eventually became a director and producer.

Early life and career

Takamoto was born in Los Angeles, California. His father emigrated from

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

to the United States for his health, and returned to Japan only once, to marry his wife. At 15 years of age, Takamoto graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Los Angeles. After the bombing of

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

and signing of

Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This order authorized the secretary of war to prescribe certain ...

, Takamoto's family, like many

Japanese-Americans are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asia ...

, was forced to move to the

Manzanar Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one o ...

internment camp in early 1940s. They spent the rest of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

there, and it was at the camp that Takamoto received basic illustration training from two co-internees who were former Hollywood art directors. To get a break from camp life Takamoto became a laborer, picking fruit in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

. Takamoto first entered the cartoon world after the end of the war. Without the benefit of a formal portfolio of his work, he created a sketchbook of, by his own admission, "everything I saw." It was based on this sketchbook that he applied to work at the Disney studios. He was hired as an assistant animator by

in 1945. Takamoto eventually became an assistant to

Milt Kahl Milton Erwin Kahl (March 22, 1909 – April 19, 1987) was an American animator. He was one of (and often considered the most influential of) Walt Disney's supervisory team of animators, known as Disney's Nine Old Men. Biography Kahl was born i ...

. He worked as an animator and character designer on such titles as ''

'' (1950), ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...

'' (1953), ''

'' (1955), ''

'' (1959), and ''

One Hundred and One Dalmatians ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (also simply known as ''101 Dalmatians'') is a 1961 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and based on the 1956 novel ''The Hundred and One Dalmatians'' by Dodie Smith. The ...

'' (1961).

Hanna-Barbera

Takamoto left Disney in 1961 and joined Hanna-Barbera Productions. He worked in several positions there, but is arguably best known as a character designer. He was responsible for the original character design of such characters as

, ''

The Jetsons ''The Jetsons'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It originally aired in prime time from September 23, 1962, to March 17, 1963, on ABC, then later aired in reruns via syndication, with new episodes produced f ...

'' dog

, and

Penelope Pitstop Penelope Pitstop is a fictional character who appeared in the 1968 Hanna-Barbera animated series ''Wacky Races'' and the spin-off ''The Perils of Penelope Pitstop'', and was voiced by Janet Waldo. She also appeared in the 2017 reboot of ''Wacky ...

. He worked as a producer at Hanna-Barbera, supervising shows such as ''

The Addams Family ''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over a ...

'', ''

Hong Kong Phooey ''Hong Kong Phooey'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and originally broadcast on ABC. The original episodes aired from September 7 to December 21, 1974, and then in repeats until 1976. The show wa ...

'', and ''

Jabberjaw ''Jabberjaw'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired 16 original episodes on ABC from September 11 to December 18, 1976. Reruns continued on ABC until September 3, 1 ...

''. He directed several feature length animated films, including ''

Charlotte's Web ''Charlotte's Web'' is a book of children's literature by American author E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams; it was published on October 15, 1952, by Harper & Brothers. The novel tells the story of a livestock pig named Wilbur and his ...

'' (1973) and '' Jetsons: The Movie'' (1990). The inspiration for Scooby-Doo's creation as a

Great Dane The Great Dane is a large sized dog breed originating from Germany. The Great Dane descends from hunting dogs from the Middle Ages used to hunt wild boar and deer, and as guardians of German nobility. It is one of the largest breeds in the world ...

came from an employee of the Hanna-Barbera company, who bred this dog. Takamoto was Vice-President of Creative Design at Hanna-Barbera and was responsible for overseeing

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

's many merchandising lines as well as design work for their Animation Art Dept. In 1996, he received the

Winsor McCay Award The Winsor McCay Award is given to individuals in recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation in producing, directing, animating, design, writing, voice acting, sound and sound effects, technical work, music, profession ...

for lifetime achievement and contributions in the animation field. In 2005 he received the Golden Award from the

Animation Guild The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839 is a professional guild and union of animation artists, writers and technicians. It was formed in 1952. In 2002, the organization changed its name from Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists. The full name of the ...

, to honor his more than 50 years of service in the animation field. After

Time-Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

merged with (then owner of Hanna-Barbera Studios)

Turner Broadcasting Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...

in 1996, Takamoto became Vice President of Special Projects for Warner Brothers Animation.

Personal life

Iwao Takamoto married Jane M. (née Shattuck) Baer in 1957. They met at Disney while working on the animated feature ''

'' (1959). They had one son together, Michael. In 1963, he met Barbara Farber, who was the assistant to the public relations director at Hanna-Barbera, Arnie Carr. Part of her job was studio tours, which was how she and Takamoto met. Takamoto married Barbara in 1964 and remained married to her for 44 years, until his death in 2007. Barbara had a daughter from a former marriage, Leslie.

Death

Takamoto died on January 8, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

at the age of 81. Throughout the week following his death,

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

put up a bumper reading "Iwao Takamoto 925-2007. He is buried at

Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery is the largest Jewish cemetery organization in California. History Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries, owned by Sinai Temple of Los Angeles, refers to two Jewish cemeteries in the Los Angeles metropo ...

in Los Angeles in Gardens of Blessing, Section 3, Lot 1390, Space 3. There was a memorial added to the end of the Scooby-Doo film ''

Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! ''Chill Out, Scooby-Doo!'' is a 2007 animated direct-to-DVD comedy mystery film, and the eleventh in the ''Scooby-Doo'' direct-to-video film series, produced by Warner Bros. Animation which began in late 2006. It premiered on Cartoon Network on Au ...

''.

Awards and legacy

Takamoto received the

, the lifetime achievement award from the

International Animated Film Association The International Animated Film Association (French: ''Association Internationale du Film d'Animation'', ASIFA) is an international non-profit organization founded in 1960 in Annecy, France, by the best known animation artists of the time such a ...

(ASIFA) Hollywood. He received an honorary citation from the

Japanese American National Museum The is located in Los Angeles, California, and dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Japanese Americans. Founded in 1992, it is located in the Little Tokyo area near downtown. The museum is an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affil ...

. In 2005, he was given a golden award from the Animation Guild. Takamoto's memoirs were published posthumously in 2009 by

University Press of Mississippi The University Press of Mississippi, founded in 1970, is a publisher that is sponsored by the eight state universities in Mississippi. Universities * Alcorn State University *Delta State University *Jackson State University *Mississippi State U ...

as ''Iwao Takamoto: My Life with a Thousand Characters'' by Iwao Takamoto and Michael Mallory. An intimate memoir, ''Living With A Legend'', was published posthumously in 2012 by TotalRecall Press by his stepdaughter, Leslie E. Stern.

References

External links

*
January 1999 interview in ''Animation Blast'' #3
(archived) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Takamoto, Iwao 1925 births 2007 deaths American film directors of Japanese descent Japanese-American internees Artists from Los Angeles Hanna-Barbera people Walt Disney Animation Studios people Animators from California American animated film directors Film directors from Los Angeles Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery