BOOK PARTY FOR 'IWAO TAKAMOTO: MY LIFE WITH A THOUSAND CHARACTERS' NOV. 8

Co-authors Mike Mallory and Barbara Takamoto will discuss their work on the autobiography, Iwao Takamoto: My Life With A Thousand Characters, and their remembrances of the late pioneer animator Iwao Takamoto at a presentation set for Sunday, Nov. 8, beginning at 2 p.m. at the Japanese American National Museum.

Takamoto, who began his career in animation at the Walt Disney Studios, had become famous as the designer of the Hanna-Barbera icon, Scooby-Doo and other familiar television cartoon characters. Yet, few other animators can trace their careers back to a World War II government-run detention camp as Takamoto does in this autobiography. Unlawfully forced with his family by the U.S. government from their home in Los Angeles into the Manzanar concentration camp, Takamoto was encouraged by two fellow inmates to pursue a career in animation because of his natural talents.

Takamoto recalled that his advisors felt that Disney was a viable place to apply for employment because of their willingness "to hire a person who demonstrated ability, regardless of his lack of experience in the animation business (or any business, for that matter), who was also a member of a race that Hollywood was currently vilifying at every opportunity on screen, and the United States Government was judging to be something between a potential danger and a menace to freedom. I was neither, of course."

In 1945, Takamoto was able to return to Los Angeles and set out to see if Disney would indeed hire him. He called to apply for a job and was told to come in with his portfolio, leaving him to wonder "what a portfolio was." Deciding it must be examples of his drawing skills, he bought two pads of paper and began sketching anything that came to mind. Armed with his collection of sketches, Takamoto arrived to find the waiting room filled with seasoned professionals, all looking for a job. Yet, upon viewing Takamoto’s sketches, the Disney representatives asked Iwao to stay put and he took the pads to show others. Fifteen minutes later, the representative returned and offered him a job.

Takamoto describes his rise at Disney, working on such classic animation features as "Lady and the Tramp" and "101 Dalmations" before moving in 1961 to Hanna-Barbera, which specialized in television cartoons. He worked on "The Jetsons" and helped develop a variety of memorable characters, including Penelope Pitstop and Atom Ant. But, Scooby-Doo turned out to be his most famous creation. Remembering someone describing what made a prize-winning Great Dane, "like a straight back, straight legs, small chin and such," Takamoto explained. "I decided to go the opposite and give him a hump back, bowed legs, big chin and such. Even his color is wrong."

Mallory, author of the book Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, was collaborating with Takamoto on his autobiography when he passed away suddenly in January of 2007. He and Takamoto’s widow Barbara worked to finish the book for publication. As Mallory writes, "The voice, then, that narrates this book is Iwao Takamoto as his friends, family, and co-workers knew him. It is in the first person and present tense because that is the way he left it. This is his story, in his words, and it remains as alive and vibrant as his legacy."

Takamoto was honored by the Japanese American National Museum in 2001 with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He donated several original prints to the Museum and participated in public programs as well. Iwao Takamoto: My Life with A Thousand Characters is available through the Museum Store at www.janmstore.com.

This program is free to National Museum members or with general admission. For reservations, or for more information, call the Japanese American National Museum at (213) 625-0414, or go to www.janm.org.