I remember first seeing an advertisement for this show on Cartoon Network when I couldn't have been more than six or seven years old. I didn't really think much about it since I was so young but one Saturday afternoon, I ended up actually catching an episode (ironically, it was the very first episode of the series: The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice). At that point, I mainly only watched classic cartoons like the Looney Tunes and wasn't used to this type of serious action show. But, I guess something must have hit a chord with me because I began watching the show whenever it was on and eventually, I became a big fan. Nowadays, I look back on this show with much more appreciation than I did when I was a kid (as is the norm with most stuff we saw as kids). I truly consider it one of the best and most underrated cartoons of the 90's. Hell, even that's not doing it justice. It is freaking awesome!
The show takes place in Megakat City, which is inhabited by anthropomorphic feline-people called Kats. The city is often under attack from evil villains and monsters and their main protection is a vigilante duo called the SWAT Kats. The SWAT Kats, T-Bone and Razor, are the aliases of two former pilots who work as mechanics in a hangar outside of the city. They're often contacted by Deputy Mayor Callie Briggs whenever trouble brews but neither she nor anyone else know who they really are. The leader of the city's military-like law enforcement organization, the Enforcers, Commander Feral, despises the SWAT Kats, seeing them as dangerous vigilantes who must be brought to justice. In the end, the SWAT Kats usually end up not only saving the city but Feral himself from time to time.
As with any successful TV show, the best thing about SWAT Kats was its varied ensemble cast of heroes and villains. Chance/T-Bone, voiced by the great Charlie Adler, is the pilot of the SWAT Kats. He's an incredibly skilled pilot and very brave, refusing to eject whenever their jet, the TurboKat, was in danger, knowing it could get them out of danger. He was my personal favorite of the two because of his tough, never say die attitude and his sense of humor. Jake/Razor, voiced by Barry Gordon, is the weapon specialist of the team, always sitting in the back seat of the cockpit and using his sure-shot expertise to take down bad guys. He's definitely the more tactical of the two, always trying to come up with a plan instead of just charging in like T-Bone often would. What always comes across with these guys is that they were very close friends; one would give his life for the other without a second thought. Mind you, they are quite competitive with each other, often partaking in challenges like pepper-eating contests, G-force tests, and the like but it was all in the spirit of two friends ribbing each other. Their likable personalities and close friendship with each other is what made them such great characters and why you wanted to see them succeed.
The SWAT Kats' biggest supporter was Callie Briggs, the deputy mayor of the city. Voiced by Tress MacNeille, Callie was the one who did the real work for City Hall, whereas the real mayor was more concerned with playing golf and had Callie write all his speeches. (Now that I think about it, that bugs me. She should be the mayor, not this putz! We'll get to him later.) What I liked about Callie is that she was a lady who wasn't a coward. She did scream when she was attacked but often fought against villains herself when she needed to. Sure, she did need to be rescued by the SWAT Kats many times but you got the feeling that she would not go down without a fight. She also trusted the SWAT Kats completely, despite what Feral would say, and even when they were framed in one episode, she gave them the benefit of the doubt and helped them clear their names. In fact, she genuinely cared for them, shedding a tear when it seemed like they were killed in one episode. She was just a caring person. On top of all that, she was an anthropomorphic cat and yet was so damn sexy it was ridiculous. (Granted, "furrys" tend to freak me out most of the time but with characters like her, I can see how some people become part of it. Meow!)
Command Feral, voiced by Gary Owens, was without a doubt the least likable of the show's good guys. He's the leader of the Enforcers and as such, is really arrogant and hot-headed. He despises the SWAT Kats, writing them off as dangerous vigilantes who should let the real authorities protect Megakat City. In fact, you eventually discover that he's the very reason the SWAT Kats exist. Chance and Jake were once Enforcers themselves but while pursuing their archenemy Dark Kat, Feral ordered them to fall back and leave Dark Kat to him. When they refused, Feral swiped their jet away with his own, causing it to crash into Enforcer headquarters. Feral kicked them off the force and demoted them to junk-men to pay off the bill for the damages... damages which were mainly his fault! Because of the grudge between them, the SWAT Kats generally mock him as incompetent, which he and the Enforcers honestly are and the fact they're infinitely better than him may be the real reason why he despises them so much. And yet, despite his unlikable blowhard attitude, I can't help but admire his devotion to protecting the city. I also love his voice; Gary Owens' voice really is what you'd expect a commander to sound like.
In the second season, Feral's niece, Lieutenant Felina, voiced by Lori Alan, was introduced. As a kid, I honestly never liked her as much as Callie. But once I saw more episodes with her, I warmed up to her. She's as hot-headed as her uncle but trusts the SWAT Kats, often helping them fight villains. She often said that she wouldn't take "No" for answer (which she never did), would stand her ground against danger, and proved to be quite a skilled pilot herself. She's definitely no damsel in distress!
Of the other supporting characters, the most irritating was Mayor Manx, voiced by the great voice actor Jim Cummings. As I've said, Callie did all the paperwork and wrote all of Manx's speeches, whereas he cared mainly about improving his golf game. He was an absolute coward, running and cowering in fear whenever danger arose. At one point, he even pushed Callie out of the way so he could get to safety first! What a cowardly asshole! I loved how, even though he was supposed to follow his orders, Feral knew Manx was a fool whose antics would probably get someone killed. The only time Manx did anything brave was when his chance for reelection was in danger. It was clear this guy was only the mayor because it was a cushy job that offered a lot of benefits and one where he wouldn't have to do anything. I know he was meant to be a comic relief character but he just gets on my nerves.
Other notable characters were Ann Gora, voiced by Candi Milo, star reporter for Kats Eye News, whose ambition for getting good stories would often end with her and her cameraman Jonny (Mark Hamill) getting caught in the middle of a dangerous situation and needing to be rescued. Dr. Abby Sinian, voiced by Linda Gary, was curator of the Megakat City Museum of History and a really good source of information. Like Callie, she was every bit as brave as she was beautiful and never panicked in the face of danger. As seen in one episode, she's not above getting down and dirty at an archeological site. I actually liked her character and wished the show's writers did more with her, like putting her in the situations more and having her be proactive with the SWAT Kats instead of just sitting around the museum for pure informative purposes. There was also Professor Hackle, voiced by George Hearn, a well-meaning old scientist who ended up unknowingly turning two gangsters into deadly cyborgs. Finally, there was Lt. Commander Steele, voiced by Hal Rayle, an arrogant high-ranking Enforcer who hoped to replace Feral as commander but was actually almost as cowardly as Mayor Manx and even got airsick during a tense battle (which caused Feral to say, "And you want my job?", which makes me crack up every time).
The show also had an interesting lineup of villains as well. The SWAT Kats' biggest enemy was Dark Kat, voiced by Brock Peters, a seemingly demonic criminal mastermind who planned to turn Megakat City into Dark Kat City, which often involved destroying the city with weapons such as powerful bombs and other terrorist-like schemes. His henchmen were bizarre, purple bat-like creatures called Creeplings. As I mentioned earlier, he was the villain Chance and Jake were pursuing when they got get kicked off the Enforcers. My personal favorite villain was Dr. Viper, voiced by the legendary Frank Welker. (Seriously, look up this guy's track record. It's just amazing!) In a flashback episode, you find out that he was once a scientist Megakat Biochemical Labs but when he tried to steal a new type of mutagen, it spilled on him and changed him into a half-snake creature. With his expertise in biology, he created hideous monsters to help him try to conquer the city and turn it into Mutation City. In fact, his monsters killed quite a few innocent people. Then there was the Metallikats, Mac and Molly Mange, voiced by Neill Ross and April Winchell, husband and wife gangsters who were turned into cyborgs. Like Bonnie and Clyde, their main intentions were to rob banks, as well as kill Mayor Manx for denying their parole when they were in prison. The two of them often bickered but they clearly did truly care for each other at the end of the day. The Pastmaster, voiced by Keene Curtis, was an undead sorcerer from the Dark Ages who tried to warp Megakat City back to that time period in his first appearance, often tried to conquer the city in his own time, and marry the Queen of the city, who was an ancestor of Callie. (He once went after Callie in the present because of that.) Notable recurring villains included Hard Drive, voiced by Rob Paulsen, a technology thief who used a special coat to become an energy source and use electric lines to travel into buildings; Rex Shard, voiced by John Vernon, a convict exposed to the radiation of a special diamond mining machine and changed into a creature made of crystal and able to turn anything he touched into crystal; Madkat, voiced with great zeal by Roddy McDowall, a former comedian who went insane and fused with the spirit of a mad jester like himself, with the power to warp reality to his will; and the Red Lynx, voiced by Mark Hamill, an undead fighter pilot whose goal was to kill Mayor Manx, the ancestor of his greatest enemy, the Blue Manx.
The animation was another aspect that put this show above most cartoons of the time. At first, some of the character designs and movements were a little suspect to be honest but as the show went on and the animators honed their craft more, it became very impressive. The animation on Dr. Viper's mutations were particularly awe-inspiring. It's also apparent that the creators may have used a different team of animators for different shows or even for different parts of the same episode because the look of the characters and the way they moved tended to change slightly from one to the other. (But that tends to be the norm with most cartoon series.)
The music by Richard Stone has to be some of the best, adrenaline-pumping music ever composed for a cartoon. The main title music for each season's opening sequence alone was enough to get you pumped. I always preferred the score for the first season's main title because it starts off scary, turns to frantic as you see Megakat City being attacked, and then becomes kick-ass as the SWAT Kats hop into their jet and take care of the problem. The second season's main title, in keeping with the ramped up look and tone of that time of the show (which I'll elaborate on shortly), was hard edged rock music throughout and while it is good, it didn't hit me as classic as the first one did. The main theme for the SWAT Kats themselves changed between seasons and the second season didn't play certain music cues that I really liked, which disappointed me. Besides great action music, Stone was adept at composing creepy, atmospheric music for the show's scarier moments. Take the music that plays in the opening scene of the very first episode, The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice, where two graverobbers are digging in a cemetery. Really eerie music. Or the freaky as hell music that played for Dr. Viper and similar villains. Finally, there was some nice, smooth music that just fit the tone of the job Chance and Jake did as mechanics as well as the idea of two buddies just hanging out on some downtime.
As I mentioned, the show's second season is quite different from the first. It was always seemed to be much more hard-edged, with tougher character designs, more emphasis on shadow and shading in the design of the show itself, and even the actors voiced their characters in much tougher tones. The animation was also much different and smoother than before. In fact, the show looks and feels like an anime in the second season. This second season didn't begin airing on Cartoon Network until a little bit later, as I remember, although I do remember catching one episode of it on TBS. While the second season had some great episodes, I never liked it as much as the first, mainly because that was the one that I saw more often (but that's just me).
Favorite Episodes
The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice: As I said, the first episode ended up being the first one I ever saw and it was a great intro to the series. Two grave-robbers accidentally release the Pastmaster from the coffin he was imprisoned in and he proceeds to try to send Megakat City back to the Dark Ages. The opening scene in the cemetery is very creepy, you get introduced to the SWAT Kats' friendly competitive nature with each other, the Pastmaster unleashes a Godzilla-like dinosaur and pterodactyls on Megakat City as well as sending the SWAT Kats back to the time of the dinosaurs. The climax where the SWAT Kats return to the present and take down the Pastmaster is just all kinds of awesome and Stone's music just adds to it.
The Giant Bacteria: A pilot named Morbulus, who has an extra set of eyes in the back of his head(!), is shot down by the SWAT Kats after attempting to destroy all of the city's oil refineries. He manages to escape and meets Dr. Viper, who transforms him into a disgusting bacteria monster. Viper plans to use the monster to raid Megakat Biochemical Labs and obtain a mutagen he can use to take over the city. This episode is downright disturbing. The scene where Viper changes Morbulus into the bacteria monster is quite nightmarish and the monster divides into two new monsters whenever it's split in half. One scene in particular that was a source of confusion was one where the monster attacks a farm and devours a cow (which you see in shadow). The farmer comes out to see what's going on and after he sees the monster, it always cut to the shot of Viper leading it into the sewers. On a recent DVD release, the missing section was restored where, once again in shadow, you see Viper actually feed the farmer to the monster. I can guess that part was deleted because it was way too shocking. There's also a scene where one of the bacteria monsters attacks a subway car and apparently kills all the passengers inside! Really dark imagery for a cartoon meant for kids.
The Wrath of Dark Kat: Dark Kat steals the materials he needs to build a nuclear bomb to destroy the city and after Feral sneaks aboard his ship to stop him, the SWAT Kats are faced with not only stopping the villain but saving the guy who kicked them off the Enforcers. I didn't really appreciate this episode when I was a kid but as I've gotten older, I've come to really like it. This is the episode that has the flashback where you see Chance and Jake get kicked off the Enforcers and become the SWAT Kats. The ending battle in the air between the SWAT Kats, the Enforcers, and Dark Kat is really awesome.
The Metallikats: As the title suggests, this is the episode that introduces Mac and Molly Mange. After returning as the Metallikats, they kill their former crime boss and proceed to embark on a plan to kill Mayor Manx for denying their parole. The action scenes in this episode are really top notch. A highlight is when the Metallikats fire a relentless heat-seeker at the SWAT Kats and the guys have to do everything they can to shake it. This is also shows how awesome Callie is. She takes on the Metallikats herself (she calls Molly a brass bimbo at one point!) and later helps Razor fight off Mac.
The Ghost Pilot: A old war bi-plane is pulled from Megakat Bay and when it's put on display at the museum, the spirit of the pilot, the evil Red Lynx, is resurrected and wreaks havoc as he tries to kill Mayor Manx, a relative of his old enemy, the Blue Manx. I like this episode because you find out that Chance/T-Bone has always admired the Red Lynx and therefore, he has to take down someone he's admired. This is never really brought up as a dilemma but just the thought of it is cool to me. Mark Hamill does a great job as the voice of the Red Lynx, who is quite a threatening villain. As always, the final battle is great and Manx is the one who ends up saving the day!
Metal Urgency: Prof. Hackle reactivates the Metallikats in order to reprogram them from their evil ways. Needless to say, the plan doesn't work out and the two robots escape. They eventually discover who the SWAT Kats really are and when they hijack two enormous robots, the boys must stop them before they reveal their identities to the world. That very dilemma is why I like this episode. I also like the fact that even though Feral puts out an arrest warrant for them, when the Metallikats offer to tell him who the SWAT Kats really are in exchange for their freedom, he declines, saying, "I don't make deals with scum." I like that because it shows that Feral does have good intentions, despite his attitude.
Enter the Madkat: An insane former comedian escapes from the asylum and finds a jack-in-the-box which houses the spirit of an ancient mad court jester. The two fuse together to become Madkat, a powerful jester whose magic proves to be quite powerful, even for the SWAT Kats. Roddy McDowall absolutely steals this episode as the voice of Madkat. He is just hilarious. This is also one of the few times Feral actually acknowledges that the SWAT Kats saved him, which also makes it a standout in my book.
Katastrophe: After their plans are both thwarted by the SWAT Kats, Dark Kat and Dr. Viper team up, along with the Metallikats to destroy the SWAT Kats once and for all. Just the sight of these four villains working together as a team makes this a great episode. The climactic scene, where the SWAT Kats try to save Mayor Manx and Callie from the villains is great because the villains turn on each other and the fight is awesome. This is also the episode that shows that Callie truly cares for the SWAT Kats because she sheds a tear when it seems like they're destroyed at one point. Also, this one seems to end with the death of all the villains (although, they all would return eventually).
Mutation City: This is the episode of the second season that I saw most often as a kid. Dr. Viper floods the city an ooze created from a chemical he stole, which turns all animals and plants it touches into mutants. This is where you learn that T-Bone can't swim and that comes into play during the middle of the episode and the ending. T-Bone is also bitten by one of the mutants and eventually becomes one himself. It culminates with Dr. Viper mutating into a giant, Godzilla-like monster and Razor having to fight him by himself in a really great action scene.
Razor's Edge: While battling Dark Kat's new, spider-like machine, Razor misfires two missiles and blows up a building, injuring two civilians in the process. Razor is so shaken by this that he can't bring himself to fight anymore, which may be the city's doom because Dark Kat plans to destroy it with his new weapon. It's easy to see why I like this. Stories like this are always great because they give more depth to the characters. Razor is clearly rattled when he discovers he accidentally hurt two people and it's very touching. The best scene is when he goes to the hospital to visit the two civilians but discovers that it was a setup to destroy his confidence. The final scene of the episode is really triumphant as well.
The Origin of Dr. Viper: This short episode, one of four that were put in pairs for a show, reveals how greedy scientist Dr. Elrod Purvis became the twisted mutant, Dr. Viper. Although I like it, I see this episode as a missed opportunity because it's so short and a story like this should have been used for one episode or even a two-part one. Still, it's interesting to see Viper before he was mutated. He comes off as really slimy and shifty as Purvis and Welker even does a Peter Lorre type voice for him.
The Dark Side of the SWAT Kats: While out for a test flight in a thunderstorm, a stray lightning bolt sends the SWAT Kats into an alternate dimension where there are a pair of evil versions of themselves that work for Dark Kat and they're mistaken for them by Feral. It's weird that nobody in this dimension can tell the good SWAT Kats from the bad ones because they look and sound completely different but anyway, this is a great, unique episode. You even find out that in this dimension, Callie is evil and working with Dark Kat. (This evil version actually looks ugly, just so you can hate her even more.) The ending scene with Feral is hilarious as well.
Yeah, SWAT Kats was an awesome show but after the second season, it was abruptly cancelled. Why? I'm not completely sure but I think that idiot Ted Turner accused the show of being far too violent for kids. That annoys me because the dark edge of the show is what made it and other cartoons of the time awesome. Our generation didn't feel like we were being talked down to and that these shows were treating us like adults by giving the impression that characters actually died, some rather gruesomely from what we could gather. It's just annoying and sad that this great show had to end way too soon because of dumb adults thinking that shows like this could inspire kids to commit murder. Are you kidding me? There wasn't even a DVD release until like 2010 and even then it wasn't perfect (although I think another release is planned at this time).
Today, SWAT Kats remains a cult favorite among those, like me, who saw it growing up but to the general public, it's not very well known. I honestly believe that if it hadn't been cancelled so soon, it would be as popular as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There was some talk of reviving the show and since classic cartoons like Voltron and Thundercats have been revived in recent years, maybe SWAT Kats will too at some point (though I kind of doubt it). Anyway, those who know and love the show will have fond memories of this ass-kicking cartoon for the rest of our lives and for those who are interested in seeing it, by all means do so. Cartoons don't get much cooler than this!
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