Bootleg SWAT Kats Art Book

[MoDaD]

This has been making the rounds on eBay for the past few months. Managed to get some of these and put them online for everyone to get a better idea of what it is and what they contain.



Includes gallery for all 250 pages, PDF download and some background details concerning the item, located on SWATKATS.info here: https://swatkats.info/exclusives/the-ar ... kats-book/

Appearing on eBay in mid-2020 from seller toonmag56, this 250-page perfect bound book, titled “Hanna-Barbera presents ‘The Art of SWAT Kats: Character Designs'” contains a collection of show production materials, some never-before-seen.

SWATKATS.info sent one of these to Tremblay Bros. Studios, and according to Christian Tremblay, the assorted artwork and materials it contains is authentic, though the book itself is an unofficial release/bootleg produced from copies. Compared to previously obtained model sheets such as those obtained by Strike for the SK Zone, these all have the 9400 prefix, indicating they are all for season two of the show. Of note, this collection also contains model sheets for Lt. Felina Feral, which were nearly impossible to find previously. The item itself is assembled from photocopied materials. The cover is not embossed and has defects present from the source copy on the front and back.

The seller’s eBay profile can be found here. They have not replied to any inquiries regarding the origin of the item’s contents or if they plan to sell these at fixed prices instead of bids.

You can view all 250 pages online here, or alternatively download this PDF.

eBay Listing Description:

RARE THE ART OF SWAT KATS – PRODUCTION / MODELS Book

SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron is a 1993-1994 American animated television series created by Christian and Yvon Tremblay and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. 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.

The show originally premiered and ran on the syndication block The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, as well as TBS Superstation (as a part of the Sunday Morning In Front Of The TV block) from 1993 to 1995. Every episode of the series was directed by Robert Alvarez. Jim Stenstrum contributed two episodes, while David Ehrman, Von Williams, Eric Clark (with Lance Falk), Mark Saraceni and Jim Katz all contributed one episode each.

this book collection / reproduction Includes sections:

Cast & Credits
About SWAT KATS Production
Biographical Features
Special Features on CHARACTERS and MODEL SHEETS and more
Language – English
Pages – 248
Dimensions (inches) – 8.5 wide x 11 tall

Binding Perfect-bound
Paperback Interior Ink Black & white

[Poecat]

Thanks for posting this MoDaD! This is really cool.

[MoDaD]

Fairly certain that these ones in particular are "new" in that they've not been publicly seen before. You can view the complete gallery here.

[MoDaD]

The new Felina items were posted elsewhere, but re-posting here, as this book is the source for them.

[Cody Furlong]

Wow! while I would love to have one of those, that price for something that's not even an official book. Way way too much.

[Cait]

One of the best things of this book is that we now know about all the first 224 reference sheets, as they all are numbered X3

[Kooshmeister]

Digging the new (well, never seen before) Felina model sheets, and, wow, we finally have model sheets of the guys' season two looks, although it's weird that they're under misc. poses and the main models still use the season one designs. This suggests that the season one look was what was encouraged and that the tweaked designs under the new misc. poses were suggestions which Mook ran with.

Also, since Burke and Murray were still part of the main models as of 1994 (when these are dated), does this mean that, at least when they began the season, they still intended to use them but just never got around to it?

[EditorElohim]

I love the models; many look great; especially Jake and Chance's as mechanics.

It's rare to see Swat Kats with weapons that look like fire, but it's still cool. Although I guess that made "Evil Double T" look even worse.

On the other hand, how come there are no Steel models, and only one for Johnny, but there are quite a few Burke and Murray ones?

[Kooshmeister]

On the other hand, how come there are no Steel models,

Steel was a character created for the episode The Wrath of Dark Kat, so he isn't part of the main models. His model sheets would be filed under what's termed "episode design," i.e. the models for The Wrath of Dark Kat and Enter the Madkat.

All of the villains, even Dark Kat, Dr. Viper, the Metallikats and the Pastmaster, are also not part of the main models for similar reasons.

On the other hand, how come there are no Steel models, and only one for Johnny, but there are quite a few Burke and Murray ones?

Burke and Murray were planned as major recurring characters, which is why they are not only featured in the main models. As we all know, they got phased out halfway through season one (although their presence in 1994-era season two main models suggests someone thought they were worth keeping for possible future use, even if nothing came of it).

As for Jonny, he was not originally part of the main models. Originally, he was filed under "episode design." He doesn't even have a name in the script and model sheets for Destructive Nature. He's just "Ann Gora's cameraman."



The model sheets for Chaos in Crystal appear to be the first time he's identified by name:



This tells me he was originally a nothing character that someone took a shine to, and he got promoted to the main models late in the game (along with Al the news chopper pilot), with Chaos in Crystal being probably the first time he was actually named in production materials, and The Ci-Kat-A the first time he was named in dialogue.

So, TLDR, Burke and Murray were going to be more important than they ended up being, but got phased out, hence why they have tons of models despite being in only three episodes, whereas Jonny began as a nobody, without even a name, and got upgraded to a recurring supporting character, but they never bothered doing any new models for him.

[LAKenji]

This unofficial artbook looks interesting although its price is exaggerated compared to the quality of the book. Also lacks the design of scenarios, storyboard and other things.
I think that the original creators should be encouraged to publish an official artbook.