Iwao Takamoto, American animator, director, and producer (born 1925)

Iwao Takamoto was a Japanese-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.

January 8 is the eighth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 357 days remain until the end of the year.