THE RADICAL SQUADRON

We thank all you readers, for your response to the second poll question. Let us relive our SWAT KAT days..

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SWAT KATS …..the very word sets the adrenaline puming, in my system…

Those were the days, when I would race my schoolmates, compete to be the first person out of school every evening, without even being aware that I had, in fact, on most occasions achieved the then improbable feat. The innumerous wounds my knee has endured, while streaking across the streets with just the clear graphic of CARTOON NETWORK ( which kids of this so called e-era miss) in my mind, anticipating the ‘Tan –Taan’ note which connotes that the electric guitar had concluded the title song, would find a place in my page of the SWAT KATS’ slambook.  With the bags, socks, shoes and the other school stuff strewn around, my poor grandma would be snatched of the TV remote, thanks to the momentary ruthlessness in me. Chance “T-Bone” Furlong and Jake “Razor” Clawson’s  temerity and cool acts, or ‘antics’, as Commander Feral would call it, would be worth the wait for even my dear Mom to hear the utterance of the first word from my mouth.

What made me so crazy about the SWAT KATS ?

The prime source of the attraction that this Radical Squadron gained, was probably the slot they picked, 4 pm, which was the apt time to cover kids, atleast in India .

The story-line goes as follows :

T-Bone and Razor are two disgraced police officers of feline MEGA KAT city, which like Gotham city kinds, exists on its own, with terror on the loose. Continuing their policing work as vigilantes, they find means to build their own jet, from a scrap dumpyard they are left to manage, with all the waste military hardware that end up there. They construct a hangar below the yard and make their Turbokats and Turbomoles. With those most-loved masks, they fly to save the day. Thus were born, the SWAT Kats!  

The plane, with all those sophistications, itself, was a marvel.  The gadgets that the KATS used, would, in my book, be up there, with those of James Bond. The super-bike of Razor, though not a surprise in any episode, would always choose the best spot to land on.  Adding to the appeal, was the presence of Callie Briggs, the romance of Razor, who though would always end up in need of a rescue act, never failed to steal the show. The characterization of the villains also called for praise, as the creepy names they were given, more than served the purpose.

In 1994, SWAT KATS was rated the best cartoon show by the National Television Index - NTI. So astounding was the verve that this series generated, unnoticeable was the fact that it had a total of only 25 episodes. It is a bitter truth that a show like this was so short lived when other less impressive shows were allowed to go on for years. Still, SWAT KATS remains as one of the best ever shows released till date, and will stay in our minds forever.


- Girish