Joe Ruby was an American producer, writer, and animator.

A co-founder of the television animation production company, Ruby-Spears Productions, alongside Ken Spears, Ruby was perhaps best known for co-creating the animated series Scooby-Doo.

The animation veteran met Spears when both were sound editors and then staff writers at Hanna-Barbera. Ruby would go on to create the character of Scooby-Doo and oversee Saturday morning children's television programming at CBS and ABC.

He executive produced a number of animated series including Heathcliff, Mister T, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Punky Brewster, Centurions, Police Academy: The Animated Series, and Rambo; and he wrote for Space Ghost, Planet of the Apes, Jabberjaw, Wonderbug, and Magic Mongo.

In the 1980s, he earned four Daytime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Animated Program for his work on Alvin & the Chipmunks, and Punky Brewster.

Ruby died August 26, 2020, in Westlake Village, California. He was 87.