Hey Scooby

What do Scooby-Doo, Muttley and Astro (the Jetson's dog not Boy) have in common? Besides the obvious ... that they're all cartoon dogs! They were all the work of animator Iwao Takamoto who recently died of heart failure, aged 81. As MSNBC reports: it was his creation of Scooby-Doo, the cowardly dog with an adventurous heart, that captivated audiences and endured for generations. Takamoto said he created Scooby-Doo after talking with a Great Dane breeder and named him after Frank Sinatra’s final phrase in “Strangers in the Night.” The breeder “showed me some pictures and talked about the important points of a Great Dane, like a straight back, straight legs, small chin and such." Of course, anyone familiar with Scooby knows he's nothing like this - because Takamoto decided to go completely counter to this and gave him a hump back, bowed legs, big chin - and the wrong color. Takamoto also worked on “Josie and the Pussy Cats,” “The Great Grape Ape Show,” “Harlem Globe Trotters” and “The Secret Squirrel Show.” Brings back some memories, doesn't it?