I finally dredged up the fanboy-mail letters that I sent to the Brothers
Tremblay (via HB). Fancy that they would be in my briefcase! Who'd have
thought to look there?
The first letter follows:
Swat Kats
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc.
3400 Cahuenga Blvd. West
Hollywood, CA 90068-1376
Dear Sirs:
The message at the end of last week's episode asked to "write and
tell us what you think." I now do so, if only to let you know that
it is not only young children who enjoy this cartoon. There are no
such young children in my household, and yet the television is
always tuned to Swat Kats early every Sunday morning.
[editorial note: SK is on Sunday mornings on TBS at 7:35 AM Eastern, and
again in the afternoon around 4 or so]
I am not certain what it is that makes Swat Kats so appealing to an
old scientist. Surely, the imagination behind the furturistic
technology is one factor, as is the humor. Perhaps it is because
the Kats are former government employees who have rebelled and now
surpass the abilities of their former masters? Definitely a plus!
[editorial note: I was an employee of the U.S. Government at the time!]
The fact that the show does not appear to cater to the lowest
common denominator of its audience is also very refreshing to me.
In this age of oversanitization of cartoons and the cry for less
violence, I am glad to see that someone is bold enough to portray
both the violence and its inevitable, tragic aftereffects. This,
I think, is a greater lesson for our children than trying to shield
them from all unpleasantries.
But then, it is not necessarly for the lessons that I wake up so
early on Sunday; I just like the Kats. And the monsters -- let us
have more monsters, if you please! And if it would not be stepping
over the lines of decency for a Sunday-morning cartoon, couldn't we
allow poor T-Bone just one small kiss from Callie now and then? He
certainly has earned it, time and again!
Do keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
Dr. Samuel Conway
Senior Chemist, Synthesis
National Center for Toxicological Research
+++
Some months later I received the standard fan-letter reply that we all have
gotten, and then shortly after that, to my extreme delight, I received the
following, with a postmark from Quebec:
Montreal, March 11, 1994
Dear Dr. Conway,
My name is Christian Tremblay, and my brother
Yvon and I are the creators of "Swat-Kats".
[editorial note. "ee-YOW!"]
It is very rewarding to know that people like
you understand what we tried to achieve in
our animated show. It is difficult as creator
to exactly translate the vision we had in our mind
to the many and many other artists involved in
a project like this one, and done in such a
restricted schedule. But even with that, we're
quite happy with the end result!
But wait!!! There is a _second_ season coming out
September '94! And this time, the people involved
understand more our vision, and more time has
been given to us to produce it!! This second
season will be _much better_ than the first one and
yes, there will be more monsters!!! So stay tuned!
Oh! I forgot, there is even a character called
_Dr. Konway_ in the episode called "Mutation City".
(which I include a small drawing).
So, see you, with new adventures of Swat-Kats in
September '94, and thank you for liking our show!
Christian Tremblay.
PS (We are French Candien from Province of Quebec, so
sorry about my English).
[editorial note: de mon avis, son Anglais est bon! Ils y ont
beaucoup des etudients Americains qui ne peuvent pas ecriver
un sentence en leurs seul lange.]
PSS. If you wonder what the back of this sheet is,
it's a copy page from a storyboard of "Mutation City".
Once the script is written, artists transfert [sic -- that's
French!] the script into a succession of drawings, and once
the storyboard is done, animators animate each
drawing. Then the drawings are painted and shot
with a 35 mm motion picture camera.
[a very bitchin' drawing of T-bone and Razor, along with the Turbo-Kat
in flight, was at the top of this page. On the back, as promised, was
a section of storyboard from "Mutation City". A third page had a
character sketch of "Dr. Konway", who at least in his early incarnation
looked suitably old and fat.]
+++
I was moved to reply, and penned a second note directly.
Dear MM. Tremblay,
I was very happy to receive your reply. My fellow chemists thought that
I was far too old to send fan mail to the creators of a television cartoon,
but I wanted to let you know that your work is appreciated. Your English
was superb, so you need not worry. It is far, far better than my French!
the picture of "Dr. Konway" delighted me! I have put it on the wall over my
desk. Il me ressemble -- vieil et gros! [ed. note: It looks like me -- old
and fat!] I was curious as to whether he was named after you received my
letter. If so, I am very flattered; if not, then I am astonished at the
coincidence!
[seems he was. oboy!]
You should know that I am not the only scientist who likes to watch Swat Kats.
I recently met a young student who is studying for an advanced degree in
atmospheric sciences, who also watches it every week. [ed note: Don't tell
anyone that I was talking about Dana Uehara! :)] He and I were discussing
the appeal that it has for us: two dedicated, hard-working kats who are
very good at what they do, who rise above the arrogant, incompetent manage-
ment who fired them. In fact, the very message that Swat Kats holds for
today's children seems to be "question authority" -- do not let those in charge
prevent you from doing a good job. It is a message that our children need
very much to learn. We realized, too, in our discussion, that both of us have
worked at one time for someone very much like Commander Feral: someone who
deep-down is actually very talented, but so caught up with maintaining his
image and stature that he constantly bungles the situation, and then blames it
on someone else. It is good to see the talented worker prevail over such
people!
So indeed, that is true....but mostly, he likes the TurboKat, and I still like
the monsters!
I am looking forward to the second season! I still wake up early on Sundays
to watch the first season's episodes, even though I have seen them all before.
That is probably the best illustration of how much I enjoy your creations.
Once again, thank you for writing, and keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
Dr. Samuel Conway
National Center for Toxicological Research
Jefferson, Arkansas, USA.
+++
I received no reply to this one. I do hope they received it, and that the
mailroom goons at the FDA didn't confiscate the letter to make sure I wasn't
giving away any government secrets. We all know how the Food and Drug
Administration has to worry about national security. >:6
Any questions?
------
Samuel Conway, Ph.D.
Senior Staff Monster-lover
Avid Therapeutics
Philadelphia, PA
flogistn_at_netaxs.com
Received on Wed May 17 1995 - 08:28:34 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0
: Mon Feb 22 2016 - 19:57:25 PST