Scooby Doo owes a lot of its existence to WWII!

Iwao Takamoto was the creator of Scooby-Doo. At the start of the United States' involvement in World War II, Takamoto's family was moved into an internment camp, like many other Japanese-Americans. At Manzanar internment camp, Takamoto received basic illustration training, which compelled him to go into the cartoon world after the war. 

After working as an assistant animator at Walt Disney, Takamoto moved to Hanna-Barbera, where he became a character designer. He went on to design not just Scooby-Doo, but Astro from The Jetsons, as well as Penelope Pitstop from Wacky Racers fame. Takamoto passed away in 2007. Had it not been for him, one of our most beloved cartoon icons could look totally different. 

(Source)