Swat Kats: The radical squadron

Swat Kats: The radical squadron is an American animated television series created by Christian and Yvon Tremblay and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Every episode of the series was directed by Robert Alvarez.

The series takes place in the fictional metropolis of Megakat City,which is populated by anthropomorphic felines, known as "kats". The *SWAT Kats* of the title are two vigilante pilots who possess a state-of-the-art fighter jet with an array of weaponry. Throughout the series,they face various villains as well as competition from Megakat City's militarized police force called the Enforcers.

## **Cancellation and revival:**

#### **Cancellation:**

Due to the program's success,Hanna Barbera Productions planned to release new episodes,posters and other works in 1995. However,the show was ultimately canceled with three unfinished episodes. Ted Turner,owner of Turner Entertainment which produced and aired the show,was reportedly displeased with the level of violence in the cartoon,leading to the delay of its merchandising and its eventual cancellation. Turner went on record in front of Congress and in an early 1995 interview after the show's cancellation,stated that "We have more cartoons than anybody: The Flintstones,The Jetsons,the Smurfs,Scooby-Doo. They're nonviolent. We don't have to worry that we're encouraging kids to kill each other - like SOME of the other cartoon programs do."

#### **Revival:**

On July 23rd 2015,creators Christian and Yvon Tremblay announced a Kickstarter campaign to revive *SWAT Kats*,seeking to produce a new series and if possible,a 70-minute film. On July 24th,one day after the campaign began,the Kickstarter successfully reached its first funding goal of $50,000 needed for production of concept art and promotional material,which the pair had aimed to use to help them find an investor who would be interested in helping with the revival. A more major goal of $200,000 would allow the pair to produce a 22-minute episode,while a pledge total of $1,000,000 would allow them to do a mini-series of five episodes. Their highest pledge,$1.5 million or more,would help them to make a film of the SWAT Kats. The campaign ended on August 22nd 2015 with $141,500 pledged and already passing another goal of $100,000 will help to create a 2-minute-long trailer of how the series should look.

On February 17th 2016,the Tremblay Brothers confirmed they had started development on the trailer which they will show to a TV company in order to have the green light for production on *SWAT Kats Revolution*.

Christian Tremblay confirmed Warner Bros. had expressed interest in "bringing back" SWAT Kats on Boomerang,but were unable to convince the parent network to commit for a new series and thus they passed on the project. Tremblay then started working with investors to create independent episodes of SWAT Kats that will be available online for streaming. However,that would never come to fruition. They have since abandoned the project indefinitely leaving many of their kickstarter supporters left with complete silence since their final update on November 21st 2018. Even though the Swat Kats Revolution has failed,a very few number of fans still cling to hope that Christian and Yvon Tremblay might return again someday with good news.

## **Broadcast:**

The series has broadcast on both Teletoon and its French counterpart in 1998. Swat Kats: The radical squadron no longer air on the channel due to its cancellation.