Brushing up against the horror genre frequently enough that it was many future fans’ first introduction to monsters and madmen they’d soon encounter in much more adult fare, the 1969 animated series “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” launched a multimedia franchise that’s still going strong today, scaring new audiences with tales of zombies and creepy locales.
That original series was co-created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, and we’ve learned the sad news this week that Ruby has passed away. The legendary animator was 87 years old.
Ruby and Spears also created “Dynomutt” and “Jabberjaw” for Hanna-Barbera. The creative duo later launched Ruby-Spears Productions in 1977 and produced shows including “Fangface,” “The Plastic Man Comedy-Adventure Hour,” “Thundarr the Barbarian,” “Saturday Supercade,” “Mister T,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” “Sectaurs” and “Superman.”
It’s interesting to also mention, as explained by Wikipedia, that “Ruby-Spears was also responsible for the animated sequence in the 1988 film Child’s Play and replaying the sequence as a fictional commercial in the 1991 sequel Child’s Play 3.”
Variety notes, Ruby is survived by his wife of 63 years, Carole, 4 children and 10 grandchildren.