Iwao Takamoto (1925-2007) was an American animator, character designer, television producer, and film director. After his family had been sent to the California internment camps in the early 1940s, Takamoto learned to draw, presented his sketchbook to Walt Disney Animation Studios and was hired on the spot.

Noted for his career as a production and character designer for Disney, on films including Cinderella (1950), Lady and the Tramp (1955), and Sleeping Beauty (1959), Takamoto subsequently moved to Hanna-Barbera Productions, where he designed a great majority of the characters, notably the characters Scooby-Doo and Astro. He eventually became a director and producer.

Takamoto received the Winsor McCay Award, the lifetime achievement award from the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA) Hollywood. He received an honorary citation from the Japanese American National Museum. In 2005, he was given a golden award from the Animation Guild.