SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron

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Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron (1993)
Image:Swatkats.jpg
Format Action, Cartoon
Created by Christian Tremblay
Yvon Tremblay
Starring See Main Cast
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of episodes 24 completed episodes, 3 unfinished
Production
Executive
producer(s)		 Buzz Potamkin
Running time 30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel TBS
Original run September 11, 1993 – February 16, 1995
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron is a Hanna-Barbera American animated series created by Christian Tremblay and Yvon Tremblay. The show ran in syndication from 1993 to 1995, when it was canceled. There were a total of twenty-five finished episodes and a special episode, that features a report on the SWAT Kats and of all their missions and gadgets as well as three unaired episodes and two unfinished episodes.

The show was based in the fictional metropolis of Megakat City, which is populated entirely by anthropomorphic felines, known as "kats".

Contents

[edit] Background

Chance "T-Bone" Furlong and Jake "Razor" Clawson were members of Megakat City's paramilitary law enforcement agency, known as the Enforcers. While in pursuit of Dark Kat, one of the main arch-villains of the series, the two rebelled against Enforcer Commander Feral's orders to fall back and leave Dark Kat to him. When they objected, citing their already-acquired target lock, Commander Feral used his jet to slap their wing, sending Chance and Jake's jet crashing into Enforcer headquarters and allowing Dark Kat to get away. In his anger, Feral discharged Chance and Jake from the Enforcers and reassigned them to work at a city salvage yard to pay for the damage to the Enforcer Headquarters.

Using discarded military parts and weapons from the salvage yard, Chance and Jake built themselves a three-engine jet fighter called the Turbokat (resembling several different aircraft, most notably an F-14), along with a handful of other vehicles (including a motorcycle built into the jet and a militarized Jeep). All this is stored in a secret hangar below the yard.

They now patrol Megakat City as the SWAT Kats, defending it against any kind of menace that threatens the city. Their enemies include the criminal mastermind Dark Kat; the undead sorcerer Pastmaster; the mutant evil genius Doctor Viper; and the robotic gangsters the Metallikats).

T-Bone and Razor keep their identities secret from everyone, even from the deputy Mayor Callie Briggs (who is, ironically, a character more important than the mayor himself). Their methods do not endear them to Commander Feral, and the series often has the three clash.

Common rating
Australia G
Canada C8
United States TV-Y7/TV-Y7-FV (Cartoon Network/Boomerang reruns)

SWAT Kats briefly returned to Cartoon Network on February 13, 2006, airing on Cartoon Network at 2:30 PM Eastern, with several of the season 1 episodes being shown in no particular order.[citation needed] This was only for one week, then Swat Kats was replaced by Ozzy & Drix in the 2:30 time slot on February 21, 2006. SWAT Kats is not currently listed on Cartoon Network's official schedule, but can now be seen on Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang at 12:30 AM EST. The show has not yet been released on DVD, although select episodes of the show were released on VHS in NTSC format. Since the early days of eBay, VHS copies of the entire series (recorded from television) have sold for considerable amounts.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Heroes

Jake and Chance aka. Razor and T-Bone
Jake and Chance aka. Razor and T-Bone
  • Chance Furlong (alias: T-Bone) (Charlie Adler) - The larger member of the Swat Kats and pilot of the Turbokat jet. Loves aerial warfare history and Scaredy Kat cartoons. Has a strong dislike of bugs, and was previously unable to swim. Gets extremely upset if something happens to his partner or to the Turbokat. He had a huge crush on Callie but never got any attention and soon starts liking a she-kat related to Commander Feral.
  • Jake Clawson (alias: Razor) (Barry Gordon) - The smaller member of the Swat Kats and the technician who designs the various gadgets and weaponry used in the Turbokat; he serves as the radar interceptions and weapons control officer in the Turbokat. Loves the late night show David Litterbin (a pun on David Letterman).
  • Commander Ulysses[1] Feral (Gary Owens) - Head of the Enforcers and has a strong and obvious dislike for the Swat Kats. Has worked with the Swat Kats when the situation calls for it, but often says "The Enforcers will handle this" & "Get me chopper back-up." The Swat Kats themselves hold him in contempt since, while they themselves were Enforcers, he demoted them for their reckless flying. Callie herself thinks more of the Swat Kats than Feral, but it could be said that he is a lot bolder and efficient than they give him credit for.
  • Lieutenant Felina Feral (Lori Alan) - Commander Feral's niece (his brother's daughter) appeared in season 2. Being something of a reckless hothead herself, she appreciates the help of the Swat Kats, unlike her uncle, and will work openly with them out of the two of them she seems to like T-Bone the best. Feral himself faces something of a dilemma over her: trying to keep her out of danger but not show any favorable treatment.

[edit] Supporters

  • Calico[2] "Callie" Briggs (Tress MacNeille) - Deputy Mayor of MegaKat City and the one who does the real work of City Hall. The Swat Kats' biggest supporter, she has a radio which enables her to call them directly when danger threatens. Although she does not know who they are, Callie usually trusts her life to the SWAT Kats if that's the case. In a parallel Universe she is a evil twin ally of Dark Kat; in the back in time epsiodes of the series she was Queen of the city when it was a medivial kingdom. Her name is a pun on Calico cat breed.
  • Mayor Manx (Jim Cummings) - Mayor of Megakat City for 10 terms. Spends nearly all of his time working on his golf game, as Callie has stated he hasn't done an ounce of paperwork in years. Also tries to rent out Megakat Towers to investors (a first season running gag had the building constantly being ruined). He is descended from a famous and brave fighter pilot called the Blue Manx whose sworn enemy was the Red Lynx. In contrast to his ancestor, Mayor Manx is a coward who usually runs and hides when danger arises, but he did act bravely once to shoot down the ghost of the Red Lynx (after Razor goaded him into action on the grounds that he would not be re-elected if he did not fight back).
  • Enforcer Sgt. (Jim Cummings) - Feral's unofficial second-in-command who is actually competent, but is largely unseen in season 2. He normally says nothing more than "Yes, sir!" in repsonse to Feral's commands and has won the award for Most Patriotic Enforcer.
  • Ann Gora (Candi Milo) - the star reporter for Kats Eye News. She is usually on the scene whenever the Swat Kats are in action, even have been rescued by the Swat Kats. Besides the Deputy Mayor Briggs, Ann has also warned the Swat Kats a few times of dangerous situations. Her name is a pun on the cat breed angora, or Turkish Angora.
  • Lt. Commander Steele (Hal Rayle) - Feral's official second-in-command. Wants to be in charge of the Enforcers, but is usually a coward who'll let Feral stay in danger just to get his job. Disappears after season 1, implied to have been replaced by Lieutenant Felina Feral.
  • Jonny K. (Mark Hamill) - Ann Gora's cameraman, who often cares about Ann's safety, whenever she gets herself in danger. He doesn't talk too much and is seen always wearing sunglasses and a red baseball cap.
  • Dr. Abby Sinian (Linda Gary) - the curator of the Megakat City Museum of History. She helped the Swat Kats defeat a couple of villains, by giving them detailed information about their weaknesses, like the Pastmaster and the Ghost of Red Lynx. Her name is a pun on the Abyssinian cat breed.
  • Dr. Lieter Greenbox (Robert Patrick[3]/Nick Chinlund[4]) - Dr. Greenbox is the scientist and creator of the diamond-miner in Chaos in Crystal that turns Rex Shard into a crystal colossus, and also of "Zed" in Unlikely Alloys, where he temporarily becomes insane, when he fused himself with its creation.
  • Prof. Hackle (George Heam) - Prof. Hackle was the one who built the robot bodies of Mac and Molly Mange, and transplanted their brains into them. He spent his life as a military researcher (creating the Metallikats' hovercraft, as well as two giant robots called the Pumadyne -Macrobots, the centerpieces of Metal Urgency), but renounced his profession and turned to the civilian sector.
  • David Litterbin (John Bryner) - Litterbin is the undisputed "King of Late Night" and host of The David Litterbin Show. Razor is his biggest fan. He is believed to have descended from the jester responsible for making Madkat insane, as years later, he won the title for "King of Late Night," making Lenny Ringtail insane.
  • Captain Grimalken (Michael Bell) - blue-furred, elderly cat who leads the Aquian tribe seeking peace with Earth. His ship is stolen by Mutilor and later recovered by the SWAT Kats and Lt. Felina Feral. As a thank-you, he uses some of his "high-speed space technology" to rebuild and upgrade the Turbokat that was damaged by Mutilor in his escape attempt.
  • Fango (Charles Adler) - a catnip smuggler injured from the fire caused by the exploding cigar Mac Mange tossed after he and Molly killed Katscratch for his betrayal. Fango later reports to Commander Feral everything that happened, and is awarded for his deed.

[edit] Villains

  • Dark Kat (Brock Peters) - Very large, intelligent, and evil; Dark Kat wants to destroy Mega Kat City to create a new lawless town, Dark Kat City. He is responsible for the birth of the Swat Kats. Being highly intelligent and calculating, Dark Kat often anticipates his foes' actions with great accuracy. He is served by small pink bat-like creatures called Creeplings.
  • Dr. Viper (Frank Welker) - Dr. Elrod Purvis, who worked at MegaKat Biochemical Labs, before being covered with an experimental regenerative formula he was trying to steal. The shock ultimately killed him, but the chemicals revived him from death, mutating Purvis into a snake-like creature. With knowledge in the fields of biology, genetics and robotics, he seeks to turn MegaKat City into Mutation City, where he will reign as its absolute ruler. He is an obvious take-off on the Spiderman villain, The Lizard.
  • Mac Mange (Neil Ross) - One-half of the husband-and-wife criminal team, the Metallikats. He was drowned while attempting to escape from prison and his mind was placed in that of a robot. He was supposed to be a robot-chauffeur (ironically, he is a terrible driver), but instead remained a criminal. He often bickers with his wife but will come to her aid when she's in trouble. He's the "muscle" of the team, for he's not very smart.
  • Molly Mange (April Winchell) - the other half of the husband-and-wife criminal team, the Metallikats. She went through the same process as her husband, but her fate was to be a robot-maid. Usually insults her husband about his driving skills but will help him when he needs it. She's considered to be the "brains" of the team.
  • Pastmaster (Keene Curtis) - A sorcerer from the Dark Ages who tried to conquer his home city. Travels through time using his magical mechanical pocket watch, and with his magical book, The Tome of Time, he's able to bring back extinct creatures, like dinosaurs, although the tome was destroyed in his first appearance. Seeks to transport MegaKat City back to the Middle Ages. He was supposedly killed in The Deadly Pyramid.
  • Dr. Harley Street (Robert Ridgely) - A brilliant astronomer who was bitten by an alien creature, and later mutated into one himself. Dr. Street tried to help the alien queen to achieve its full power by letting her eat the radioactive material from the nuclear power plant. He was supposedly killed when he was thrown out of the Megakat Tower but was supposed to appear in an unfinished episode.
  • Madkat (Roddy McDowall) - Ages ago, Madkat was an insane and powerful court jester who was replaced. He sought revenge on the jester who replaced him and the knight, queen and king who imprisoned him in a jack-in-a-box. Centuries later, once brilliant comedian turned asylum patient Lenny Ringtail would escape and fuse with the jester's spirit. Together they would take revenge upon those who symbolized the ones' who imprisoned Madkat. After T-Bone destroyed Madkat by hitting the weak spot, Ringtail's sanity and career were restored, although interrupted by Ringtail's appearance on the David Litterbin show and his book, "Madkat and Me."
  • Hard Drive (Rob Paulsen) - Hard Drive is a technological thief who generally dons his “Surge Coat” when working. This coat gives him a number of abilities focused around electricity and electronics, as the name suggests. Primarily seen is his ability to transform himself into electrical energy, thus allowing him to travel along power lines and enter electronic devices. Aside from this he appears to be able to manipulate electronic devices with a simple jolt of electricity from his fingertip and download and delete data quickly with a “plug” on his coat. Works for whoever pays him the most.
  • Rex Shard (John Vernon) - A convict sentenced to life in prison, who was accidentally exposed to the radiation of an experimental digging machine created by Dr. Greenbox, turning him into a crystal colossus, and giving him the ability to turn into crystal anything he touched. He was stopped by the Swat Kats, reverted back to normal and sent back to prison.
  • Red Lynx (Mark Hamill) - The ghost of a Mega War II flying ace who flies a red biplane, (he is a parody of the Red Baron). T-Bone says he learned a lot about dogfighting from studying the Red Lynx's maneuvers. This is ironic as the Red Lynx was described as evil. The Red Lynx stole a prototype plane from the Enforcers and tried to kill Mayor Manx, who was the descendant of his greatest opponent, the Blue Manx, but in the end, the SWAT Kats, along with Mayor Manx sent him to his doom by destroying the plane.
  • Turmoil (Kath Soucie) - A villainous she-kat that wants to conquer MegaKat City, by controlling the air space, with the help of her flying fortress and her squadron of female pilots, if the citizens of MegaKat City don't pay her her due first. She tried to seduce T-Bone, by showing him some of the modified airplanes that supposedly never went as far as the drawing board. But in the end, T-Bone fooled her, and with the help of Razor, put Turmoil in jail.
  • Mutilor (Michael Dorn) - Mutilor is an alien warlord who attacked Earth, and used a stolen Aquaian spaceship to steal all of its water so he could sell it to a desert world. In the end, the SWAT Kats were able to destroy him by blasting his spaceship and saving Captain Grimalken and his crew from harm.
  • Dark SWAT Kats (Charlie Adler and Barry Gordon) - Villainous variations of the SWAT Kats from a parallel dimension accessed by the real SWAT Kats by accident. They serve the alternate dimension's Dark Kat, and plot with the alternate Callie Briggs to overthrow Megakat City's government. They exhibit alternate characteristics to the real SWAT Kats, such as T-bone being a clumsy pilot, Razor being a lousy shot, and the two of them hating each other. They were killed when a bomb they were carrying exploded.

[edit] Episodes

For more detailed information, see List of SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron episodes

[edit] Season 1

[edit] Season 2

  • Mutation City
  • A Bright and Shiny Future
  • When Strikes Mutilor
  • Razor's Edge
  • Cry Turmoil
  • SWAT Kats Unplugged
  • The Deadly Pyramid
  • Caverns of Horror
  • Volcanus Erupts! / The Origin of Dr. Viper
  • The Dark Side of the SWAT Kats
  • Unlikely Alloys

[edit] Extra

  • (Kat's Eye News) A Special Report (Clip show)

[edit] Unfinished episodes

  • The Curse of Kataluna
  • Turmoil II: The Revenge
  • Doctors of Doom

[edit] Never produced

  • Cold War
  • Blackout

[edit] SWAT Kats in other languages

  • Norwegian: Superkattene (The Super Cats)
  • Russian: Коты быстрого реагирования (Emergency Response Cats)
  • Spanish: SWAT Kats - El Escuadrón Radical
  • Portuguese: SWAT Kats - O Esquadrão Radical
  • Croatian: SWAT Mačke
  • Swedish: Swat Kats - Katter med klös (Cats with claws)
  • Italia: Gatti Volanti
  • Hindi: Mahan Billay (Great Cats) or Bahadur Billay (Brave Cats)
  • Polish: Chwaty Koty-Koty Chwaty
  • Arabic:القطان الطائران(The Flying Cats)
  • Chinese(Taiwan): 霹靂特警貓 ( Thunderbolt(Bang) Special Police Force Cats)

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Episode 23, Unlikely Alloys
  2. ^ Episode 5, The Metallikats
  3. ^ IMDB profile (Chaos in Crystal))
  4. ^ Unlikely Alloys

[edit] See also

[edit] External links