Iwao Takamoto was a Japanese-American animator, television producer, and film director, who worked for both Disney and Hanna-Barbera, along with Charles A. Nichols, where he would become famous as the character designer for the original Scooby-Doo series.
Takamoto first entered the cartoon world after the end of the war. He was hired as an assistant animator for Walt Disney Studios in 1945. Takamoto eventually became an assistant for the legendary Milt Kahl. He worked as an animator on titles, such as Cinderella, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, and One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
He left Disney in 1961 for Hanna-Barbera, along with Charles A. Nichols. He later returned for one time to help animate The Fox and the Hound with Joseph Barbera.