In a career that spanned more than six decades, Iwao Takamoto assisted in the designs of some of the biggest animated features and television shows, including "Cinderella," "Peter Pan," "Lady and the Tramp" and "The Flintstones." But it was Takamoto's creation of Scooby-Doo, the cowardly dog with an adventurous heart, that captivated audiences and endured for generations.
Takamoto died Monday of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Warner Bros. spokesman Gary Miereanu said. He was 81. "Raggy? . . . Relma? . . ."
Despite a lack of formal training, he landed an interview with Walt Disney Studios when he returned to Los Angeles and was hired as an apprentice. Takamoto worked under the tutelage of Disney's "nine old men," the studio's team of legendary animators responsible for its biggest full-length films before moving to Hanna-Barbera Studios in 1961. There he worked on cartoons for television, including "Josie and the Pussy Cats," "The Great Grape Ape Show," "Harlem Globe Trotters" and "The Secret Squirrel Show." "Woah, Scoob, that's, like, some cray-zee resume!"
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." "Rinatra? Rikes!"
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," Takamoto said in a recent talk at Cartoon Network Studios. "I decided to go the opposite and gave him a hump back, bowed legs, big chin and such. Even his color is wrong." "Jinkies! If Scooby's the wrong color for a Great Dane, then that means . . . the Swamp Monster is really Old Man Winters!"
Takamoto also created other famous cartoon dogs such as Astro from "The Jetsons" and Muttley, the mixed-breed that appeared in several Hanna-Barbera animations. He also directed the 1973 feature "Charlotte's Web." "And I'd've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"
Rest in peace, good sir.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/09/2007 12:57 ||
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PHILADELPHIA, Jan 8 (Reuters Life!) - New Jersey is to consider cutting the word 'idiot' from its constitution so that people with some mental disabilities won't be barred from voting. State Senate President Richard Codey introduced a bill on Monday that would remove language from the New Jersey constitution that was designed more than 150 years ago to prevent people suffering from mental illness or handicap from casting their vote in national, state or local elections.
Codey wants to eliminate a section that says "no idiot or insane person should enjoy the right of suffrage" and substitute with a reference to "a person who has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting."
Codey, a Democrat who was previously acting governor of New Jersey, said in a statement the term "idiot" is "outdated, vague, offensive to many and may be subject to misinterpretation."
He said individuals with cognitive or emotional disabilities may be capable of making decisions in a voting booth, and those people should not be discriminated against. "This is another big step toward removing the stigma of mental illness," Codey said.
The proposed changes will be included in a constitutional amendment which voters will be asked to approve in a statewide ballot in November. It must first be cleared by the state legislature.
#2
Codey, a Democrat who was previously acting governor of New Jersey, said in a statement the term "idiot" is "outdated, vague, offensive to many and may be subject to misinterpretation."
#7
If they can just do a find/replace of that one section and then leave it be I'm fine with it. If they have to scrap the existing docs and reprint them and the thing costs money than this State Senate President is a tool.
Remember the old days when little things like this didn't require a press conference. People just got things done and moved on.
#3
I'd like to taste it before I declare it a drinkable Budweiser. The Czech home-made hooch, though, rivals anything from the mountains of East Tennessee.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/09/2007 17:31 Comments ||
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#2
Jackson bristled at New York officials' finger-pointing at her state, saying she wished that New York instead would help New Jersey look for the source. "It looks an awful lot like jumping to conclusions," she said.
#3
It has been suggested elsewhere that the cause of the odor was Rosie O'Donnell, who got so excised at Barbara Walters recently that she lost control of her emissions... We need a good Rantburg investigation of this report...
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/09/2007 14:00 Comments ||
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#7
A very analytical friend of mine pointed out yesterday that the Big Stink in the Big Apple is a natural occurrence approximately every 100 years.
By estimating how the average New Yorker passes gas weekly, approximately every 100 years they must pass gas in unison, thereby creating the phenomenon known as the Hundred Year Fart.
(Itar-Tass) -- A powerful cyclone has imposed a transport blockade on Sakhalin and the Kuriles again. Planes do not fly to the island, and ships cannot reach them. The ferry service between Vanino and Kholmsk is halted. The vessels that carry people and cargoes between the island and the mainland have taken shelter near the ports of Vanino and Sovgavan at the Khabarovsk territory's coast. Wet snow covers the south of Sakhalin. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk's airport is closed. The Transaero plane on the flight from Moscow to Sakhalin had to land on Kamchatka. The work of all the Sakhalin Region's ports is halted.
The wind speed reaches 21 metres a second on Kunashir Island, the head of the Yuzhno-Kurilsk regional department for emergencies, Alexander Mazunin, said. Fishing and transport ships working in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea have escaped from the storm to the safer side of the Kuriles. The cyclone will rage on Sakhalin and the Kuriles until January 9 and then will leave for Kamchatka.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/09/2007 00:00 ||
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The government of Morocco put two journalists on trial in Casablanca on Monday, charging them with defaming Islam and damaging public morality. Driss Ksikes and Sanaa al-Aji were charged following the Dec. 21 publication of Nichane magazine, which explored popular jokes on religion, sex and politics. The same day, Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou ordered a ban on the sale and public display of the magazine.
Middle East Online reported the courtroom was packed with fellow journalists, members of rights groups and a representative of press watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres when writer Aji took the stand. "I have always respected religion and society," Aji said. "All I did is report to readers a phenomenon Moroccans are seeing in jokes and anecdotes."
Prosecutors claim attacking religion is one of the most serious offenses a journalist can commit, and if convicted, Aji, and editor Ksikes face up to five years in jail and hefty fines, the BBC reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Morocco is a (super-duper) moderate Islamic state.
An Australian zoo has put a group of humans on display to raise awareness about primate conservation – with the proviso that they don't get up to any monkey business. Over a month, the humans will be locked in an unused orang-utan cage at Adelaide zoo, braving the searing heat and snacking on bananas. They will be monitored by a psychologist who hopes to use the findings to improve conditions for real apes in captivity. Audiences can vote for their favorite "ape" via mobile phone text messages, in the style of reality television shows, and at the end of the month, a "super human" will be selected to represent the zoo.
"They're completely mad," said one visitor to the exhibit, as the humans, who are allowed home at night, played up to the crowds and checked each other for imaginary lice.
"It's not as exciting as the animals actually, they're not really doing very much," another onlooker said, clearly unimpressed by the volunteers' shenanigans.
One of the human apes, Josh Penley, said the experiment was a chance to "get myself out of my comfort zone and to get a week off work."
Participants wear microphones in front of Web cams to allow watchers to hear the action in what has been billed as "Big Brother behind bars." Dr. Carla Litchfield, who is conducting the experiment, has laid down firm rules for the new apes: no nudity, no rude behavior and no jumping into the enclosure spa. Zoo vets haven't ruled out using tranquilizer darts if the humans shout Allahu Akbar! misbehave.
There is was a link to Reuters photos, but the people here can do Photoshop manipulation as well as they.
Truly! Mr. Wife was elected captain of his high school soccer team, not because he was the best player (he wasn't) or even the most popular one, but because as a Polish-descended, American-born lad he was the only one the fresh-off-the-boat Serbs, Croats and Bosnians could agree upon. And of course they went to separate churches, as still do the previous generations of Polish and Italian immigrants. In fact, the only reason my darling mother in law was allowed into the family was that as a French Canadian at least she wasn't Italian. They still viewed her innovations with suspician, though.
#5
Opportunity knocks. If suddenly there were a spate of fire bombings there, one could leave a Shia calling card one night and a Sunni one the next. And, valla, urban renewal all over the area.
I thought my Amish/Italian/Pennsylvania German family background had you all trumped. In school I was quite the superstar - I could swear in three four dialects/languages. Almost forgot I can do it in English too.
I've been told when my grandmothers first met, they circled each other warily like fighters in the UFC octogon.
#8
Clear case of US-Zionist Crusader conspiracy against peace-loving and tolerant followers of prophet (PBUH PQYY PRRY PRXY PQZY PQWY PHMY PHCH PBGY PBHY)
#9
Strange. Shiite power is paramount in Deerbornistan, etc. However, the Nation of Islam have Sunni pretences.
Who else knows that NOI doctrine holds that there are dynamite carrying space ships circling the earth, waiting to herald a 5000 year period of black rule? Bring em on!
#10
GORT dear, that's Mr. Wife's side of the family. My side is half German (Mama) and half Latvian-born Israeli (Daddy). And while Mr. Wife's Polish consists almost exclusively of language inappropriate to the drawing room, I can't swear properly in any language, not even English. So you can still win if you want to. ;-)
#11
Who else knows that NOI doctrine holds that there are dynamite carrying space ships circling the earth, waiting to herald a 5000 year period of black rule?
How long before AQ claims they shot it down? (Who knows, maybe they even did shoot it down - or maybe they stole the Halliburton weather machine.)
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- A cargo plane carrying Turkish workers crashed during landing at an airport near Baghdad, killing 30 people and injuring two, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
Initial reports indicated the plane crashed due to bad weather and heavy fog in Baghdad, a Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not yet been authorized.
#1
So legal immigrants pay full out-of-state tuition rates but illegals get the subsidized in-state rate? I guess I should have claimed to be Mexican instead of a New Yorker when I went to school at UNC - could've saved a pile of pesos.
#2
As a father still paying for his kids out of state tutition at UCLA while Illegals get ultra-cheap rates ... I think we should pull all Federal Funds from the California universities and colleges until the state changes it's mindset.
#3
As a non-US citizen this deal sounds better and better. As long as I enter your great nation illegally I can expect subsidized tuition... kick ass! Can I get a house and a car too, please?
#6
The Bill of Rights are for citizens and legal immigrants only.
Fixed that for you SG.
I'm a green-card holder, and totally opposed to any "rights" granted to illegals. Of course, that makes me "anti-immigrant" in the minds of these whackjob protestors. Go figure.
#7
Let the protestors make up the difference! I love the duplicity of these people. They carp about higher tutition but don't understand how illegals are costing them $$$$. Obviously none of them are economic majors.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The government of Morocco put two journalists on trial in Casablanca on Monday, charging them with defaming Islam and damaging public morality. Driss Ksikes and Sanaa al-Aji were charged following the Dec. 21 publication of Nichane magazine, which explored popular jokes on religion, sex and politics. The same day, Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou ordered a ban on the sale and public display of the magazine. 
