Joe Ruby, ‘Scooby-Doo’ creator, dead at 87

Los Angeles, United States, Aug 27 (efe-epa).- Joe Ruby, the creator of “Scooby-Doo,” died Thursday in California (USA) at 87 due to natural causes, leaving behind a series of children’s drawings that transcended generations with adaptations in television, cinema, comics and video games.

Ruby was responsible for creating the mythical cartoon with Ken Spears in 1969 for the Hanna-Barbera studios, where they also worked on formats such as “Dynomutt” and “Jabberjaw,” in addition to other series they produced for American television: “Mister T,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” and “Superman.”

Ruby began his career in animation as a technician for Walt Disney Productions, until he joined Hanna-Barbera Productions, where he met Spears.

There they premiered the animated series “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” in 1969 on CBS, at a time the public was complaining about the violence present in children’s drawings.

Paranormal mysteries and supernatural phenomena starred in the adventures of the group of friends who appeared in a series some channels have broadcast to date around the world, and which continued with sequels such as “The New Scooby-Doo Movies” or “The Scooby-Doo Show.”

“We were worried so that it would last at least one season,” Ruby said in a recent interview for the fictional fan site “ScoobyAddicts.”

Although it celebrated a half-century of history last year, Scooby-Doo still retains a large fan base who hooked up with the gang of this Great Dane and his human friends Norville “Shaggy” Rogers, Fred Jones, Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley.

After the television series, there would also be two films with real actors directed by Raja Gosnell: “Scooby-Doo” (2002) and “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed” (2004), whose cast featured Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini, Matthew Lillard and Freddie Prinze Jr. accompanying a Scooby-Doo created with digital effects.

This same year the film “Scoob!” Was released, in which Scooby-Doo returns to its animated origins in a film by director Tony Cervone and whose dubbing in the original version features the voices of Mark Wahlberg, Gina Rodríguez, Zac Efron, Amanda Seyfried or Will Forte. EFE-EPA

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