2020 isn’t taking the lives of some of the brightest and greatest, but it’s certainly seeing the passing of many individuals as old age and other factors take over as Ken Spears, one of the creators of Scooby-Doo, passed away just recently due to a form of dementia that he’d been fighting for a while. Along with Joe Ruby, he helped create an animated series back in the 60s that would become insanely popular and iconic over the years as people have grown up watching this cartoon and have come to value it as a big part of their lives. There are quite a few people that can honestly state that they grew up watching Scooby-Doo and thanks to Spears and Ruby this show was one of the best on TV for quite some time. Since its inception, it’s been done and redone a few times, but the basic idea has been kept over the years even as people have tried to toy with it. To think that Spears started out as a sound editor is kind of amusing since it shows how one can move up if they show that they have the talent and the drive to perform wonders that might not appear that impressive at the time. But as it’s been seen throughout history, there are those moments when a small, almost innocuous idea can take hold and really go somewhere.
Scooby-Doo wasn’t the only cartoon that Spears had anything to do with since he went on to produce and executive produce several others throughout his career, some of which a lot of people might not remember. Spears kept himself plenty busy over the years and there are likely plenty of people that never gave a single thought to his contributions to the cartoons, but thankfully there are plenty behind the scenes that realized his genius and were willing to just let him work as he ended up enjoying a long and prosperous career. The kind of cartoons that he helped to push to the masses weren’t always those that were entirely successful but they were interesting and innovative ideas that were intriguing at the time. From being a writer to a producer to an editor he was wrapped up in one aspect of the process or another and had a great deal of influence in the business since he was one of those that people tended to listen to thanks to the fact that he and those he worked with managed to come up with a great number of ideas that didn’t always work but were still fun enough to try and managed to create a lot of memories that a lot of people are still likely to remember.
Older ideas such as Heathcliff, Punky Brewster, Houndcats, and many others were projects that Spears worked on during his career, and given how well some of these have been remembered over the years it’s easy to think that he had a hand in making them memorable enough that people were willing to hold onto them. As kids we likely never gave much thought to who wrote, edited, or produced the cartoons or shows we were watching since that’s pretty normal, kids just want to be entertained and don’t worry about who’s voicing their favorite character or who wrote the dialogue that goes into the show. But those that work behind the scenes are to be thanked over and over since their ability to bring their imagination and personality to the various shows that they’re responsible for have done a great service to pop culture over the years since they’ve created a following that has been nothing less than impressive since so many of us can remember good times sitting in front of the TV and watching our favorite animated characters as they embark on yet another adventure. Spears’ work in the entertainment industry was highly appreciated by many people and his eventual decline was something that a lot of folks couldn’t help but feel sorry for since the diminished capacity of any human being is a saddening thing, but watching someone that had once helped to create such entertaining stories would be more than a little difficult.
As with everyone, however, time isn’t bound to be kind and it’s not going to wait until a person has done everything they wanted to do. In Spears’ case, it does feel that he managed to do quite a few things in his career and led a very successful life. Whatever he might have felt that he still had to do, if there was anything, is over and done with at this time as we mourn the loss of another great mind that helped entertain generations of people that have absolutely loved what he had to give. Rest in peace sir, you’ll be remembered.
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