Script Notes

The Metallikats

Contributed By

These are notes regarding the differences from the official episode script and what appeared in the finished episode.

Instead of the warehouse/tuna factory, the script opens on the outskirts of Megakat City, with the Metallikat Express smashing through a sign that says “Megakat City Welcomes You.” Evidence of this original scrapped beginning was seen as far back as some unused background art on Cartoon Network’s old website. It survived as late as the storyboarding phase and, of course, had background art done for it. I dunno why it was cut.
The name of the factory is Mercury Tuna, Inc. A very unfortunate name! By the time they did the storyboards, it’d been renamed to Megakat Tuna.
The crate containing the katnip is labeled “Fresh Tuna.” In the finished episode, it has no markings on it at all (although the label survived into the storyboards).
When Fango opens the crate, there was supposed to be a closeup of the other mobsters reacting with anticipation. This too survived as far as the storyboards but was ultimately nixed. Incidentally, in the storyboards, the mobsters are drawn with a bit more individuality instead of being “all alike” as the model sheets put it (a detail not in the script).
Katscratch’s name is spelled with “Catscratch.” So is the catnip. It appears that early on, the writers were unsure whether everything with “cat” in it ought to be spelled with a “K” or not. For the purposes of simplicity, I’ll just keep calling them Katscratch and katnip.
Fango is said to “grin so wide he’s bearing his teeth.” He doesn’t smile in the episode. Also him sniffling and rubbing his nose (often interpreted as him having “sampled” the katnip beforehand) isn’t mentioneds. This was something added during the storyboard phase, and why he does it is still open to interpretation.
Mac is called Mace Mange throughout the script. I’ll continue calling him Mac, though. He’s also mentioned as wearing a double-breasted suit, when in the finished episode (and any time he’s wearing a business suit), it’s single-breasted.
The Manges aren’t described as having red eyes without pupils until after they unmask themselves. Their metallic-sounding voices are noted, though. Additionally, a detail about them dropped for the final episode is that they have jerky movements with lots of clanking metallic noises (in all of their appearances in the show, they have very smooth, noiseless movements except for the occasional heavy footstep).
When Mac says he ran “a couple” of stop signs, he calls them signals, Molly corrects him thusly: “Five signals, and here they all are…”
Extra dialogue: When the Metallikats bust in, Katscratch follows up his exclamation of “Who the–?” with “What’s goin’ on?”
As the Metallikats enter, Fango closes the crate lid rather than reaching for his gun as he does in the episode. Speaking of which, throughout the ensuing scene and presumably until they draw them, all of the mobsters (including Katscratch and Fango) keep their hands inside their jackets close to their guns, instead of relaxing and putting their hands in their pockets.
When Katscratch shoots Mac and Molly, his laser blasts don’t leave holes in their clothes. They don’t suffer any clothing damage until the much larger laser barrage from all of the mobsters later.
Katscratch’s death is slightly different. After being shot, he falls behind some crates completely out of sight. No description of his burned hand sticking up into view. This was something added in the storyboards.
Another detail is there were supposed to be two shots of the other mobsters gathered around looking down at Katscratch, and it was cut down to one. The first shot was boarded, but cut.
Instead of one guy yelling “Nuts to that!” and impulsively shooting at the Manges, with just one other guy joining him, all the assembled mobsters (presumably including Fango) shout that line together and fire at once.
The mobsters don’t bend down and stick their faces close to the beeping cigar before it explodes. They do walk over to it, but the shot pans up to them looking confused, instead of them leaning down into the shot with the cigar.
As the Metallikat Express speeds off and whips past the screen, we were supposed to see Mac and Molly through the windshield. Although this was nixed in the boards, it’s entirely possible we would’ve gotten this detail of Mook had animated the episode.
As they’re flying along on patrol, T-Bone and Razor sing a song: “When evil rears its ugly head / And the wheels of justice fail / Here come the SWAT Kats to save the day / And whip that villain’s tail!” This suggests a much more lighthearted cartoonish approach to things (some of which survived into the actual episode, such as Chance’s rapid change of clothes offscreen when Jake tells him Callie might be in danger).
A small detail, but as the Enforcers arrive, Feral parks much closer to the door of the warehouse than in the episode, where he parks some distance from the building. As he gets out and notices the Turbokat, paramedics are described being inside the building in the background searching the rubble for survivors.
When Ann appears, Stenstrum says to “Check ‘The Giant Bacteria’ for Ann Gora design”), suggesting that either Ann’s design had only recently been finalized, or that she wasn’t originally intended to reappear after that episode and Stenstrum and others just kept using her in lieu of the other reporters from that episode (similarly, Lance Falk’s script for Destructive Nature refers to her as being “from show one” as if she was originally going to appear in just The Giant Bacteria).
Jonny isn’t explicitly described. Ann is only said to be accompanied by “the Kateseye News TV crew,” suggesting that we were originally going to see those other two reporters accompanying Ann and her (as yet unnamed) cameraman here. The fact this was written before Destructive Nature, but Lance Falk calls the news agency Ann works for “WKAT” in the script for that suggests a lack of communication between the writers.
Callie rolls her eyes at Feral’s rant instead of pouting and crossing her arms.
Feral is explicitly described as being jealous of the SWAT Kats. This is important as him being jealous of the SWAT Kats is a popular interpretation among fans, and it’s pretty much made canon here, or at least that it’s canon that his supposed jealousy is something thought of him in-universe (the way it’s phrased can be interpreted to mean Callie thinks he’s jealous of them, not that he actually is).
Not a difference, but the reason Fango’s crowbar is wrapped around his neck when he’s brought out is said to be that it was from “the force of the explosion.” I’m surprised this didn’t kill him if that’s the case, although what does and doesn’t kill people in this show is sometimes inconsistent (see Hard Drive in Night of the Dark Kat, who definitely looks like he should’ve died from taking a bazooka blast).
Paramedics are the ones who wheel Fango out, instead of a single fireman as in the finished episode. I think it’s a paramedic in the storyboards too; although they don’t give us a good look at the guy pushing the gurney there, he isn’t wearing a fire fighter’s helmet.
As Fango is wheeled off when Feral is done interrogating him, Ann and “the TV crew” follow after him. For some reason this irritates Feral.
Scaredy-Kat is called “Fraidy Cat” (or “Fraidy Kat” if you prefer). This was a name for him that definitely survived well into production, as that’s what he’s called on the model sheets for this episode. I’d really like to know why it was changed. Also, when Chance tells Jake he’s watching Fraidy Kat, Jake gives the TV a look. In the episode, he just ignores it.
Extra dialogue: “Fine. Let Feral handle it. He’s the hot shot who wants us behind bars.”
We finally get the answer as to what Chance means by Scaredy-Kat opening the closet door “again.” There’s an extra bit preceding the scene where the girl hands him the bomb: When he opens the door the first time, he sees her, and reflexively shrieks and slams the door in her face. Then, upon realizing it was a hot chick, he breaks the fourth fall, gives a “Why the heck did I do THAT?” look at the audience, then opens the door again and his handed the bomb, which he unthinkingly accepts.
After the quick change of clothes, Chance is still referred to as Chance even though he’s in his “SWAT Kat uniform” and masks and therefore should be T-Bone at this point. I guess this is another bit of early installment weirdness where “T-Bone and Razor” and “Chance and Jake” were used more interchangeably (Glenn Leopold did the same thing during the centrifuge contest in the script for The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice, even though they’re technically supposed to be T-Bone and Razor in that scene, not Chance and Jake). I believe, as the show went on, the rules about what they were referred to and when got slightly stricter.
Extra dialogue: When the Metallikat Express gets hooked by the Shark Missile, Molly warns her husband, “Careful, Mace! They’re trouble!”, prompting Mac(e) to say, “They don’t know what trouble is!” before launching the Relentless Missile.
Before settling on the Relentless Missile, Mac goes through a few different other options on the vehicle’s weapons selections board, including a laser, depth charges and a regular missile function as well as an eight track player; Hackle thought of everything! The eight track player leaves Mac confused, promptly Molly to urge him to hurry up. Upon selecting what he wants, Mac says “This one!” instead of “The Relentless Missile!”
When the missile is fired at the SWAT Kats, Razor comments, “Guess we ticked him off.”
After Razor says the Relentless Missile is twenty meters and closing, he adds “Fifteen” before T-Bone explains that it’s a heat seeker.
Extra dialogue from T-Bone: “We can’t outrun it, but maybe we can outmaneuver it.”
When Molly says she doesn’t know why she married Mac, Mac says he doesn’t know, either; “Certainly a mystery to me.”
The script definitely describes bullets being fired at the Metallikats.
When Mac grabs Feral, the Enforcer Commander has some extra dialogue: “Stop! I order you to–” and “Ugnnh!” as he’s thrown. When thrown, Feral lands on the Metallikat Express instead of the pavement. Still no indication of how he breaks his arm, though.
The fight with the Enforcers on the steps happens a little differently. Instead of the commandos jumping on the robots, they shoot at them before being thrown aside, despite this having been proven earlier to be useless.
Mac’s grappling hook grabs onto a window washer’s platform rather than a balcony above the window.
T-Bone precedes “One crisis at a time!” with “Kinda busy right now” when Razor tells him Callie is trying to call them.
When the Turbokat is plummeting, a computerized voice informs the SWAT Kats “Pilot warning: This craft is in freefall. Please restart engines at once.” This startles T-Bone, and Razor explains he programmed the onboard computer to vocally inform them of any trouble “in case you ever fell asleep at the stick.” I’d say this was a reference to The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice, but this episode was written before that one, so perhaps it was intended as foreshadowing? Either way, this idea of the Turbokat having an onboard computer that spoke out loud to the SWAT Kats was obviously dropped from the final version of the episode.
More of the computer voice telling T-Bone stuff he already knows, prompting him to yell, “Please shut up! I’m doing everything I can!” When it won’t stop, he finally loses his temper and smashes the speaker. “Aww, T-Bone,” cries Razor, weirdly more concerned about his equipment than their impending deaths. “That wasn’t necessary!” Although T-Bone is somewhat justified here, he won’t be when he does something similar later.
When T-Bone refuses to eject, Razor urges him to abandon the Turbokat and that it’s not worth their lives (“T-Bone, forget the plane! Not worth it!”). T-Bone really likes putting himself and Razor at risk to save the Turbokat. It’s possible he’s a little too attached to it. If he phrased his objections to ejecting and sacrificing the jet as them needing it to fight the villains after they’ve pulled themselves out of the dive, then it’d make sense, but he always frames his argument emotionally, refusing to abandon the Turbokat simply because he’s really attached to it. This would be fine if it was just him, but every time he does this he’s also risking Razor’s life as well.
Not a difference between the script an episode, but there’s an amusing handwritten correction; originally, Jim Stenstrum wrote that Mace pushes the engine restart button. He (or someone else) crossed Mace’s name out and hastily scribbled “T-Bone” above it.
In a bit completely cut from the finished episode, it turns out T-Bone’s frantically pressing the start button isn’t what saved them; Razor, explaining that sometimes you need to give the Turbokat “a helping hand,” reveals he did some quick wire splicing after T-Bone refused to bail, and it was him, not T-Bone, who saved their lives. This would’ve put a much different spin on how the problem gets solved if it’d been included. As presented, it seems like T-Bone just trusts to luck and is rewarded, whereas in the script, Razor doesn’t leave their fates up to, well, fate and fixes the problem himself.
When Callie calls again and T-Bone answers, he says “Hiya, Cal!” instead of “Yes, Ms. Briggs?”
When T-Bone says they need to get to the Mayor’s office, Razor adds “Like pronto!”
The window isn’t open when Mac climbs in, so he smashes through the glass. When Callie smacks him with the golf club, he taunts her, “Oh, please! I was just hit with a bazooka shell! Did ya really think a putter was gonna stop me…?”
Mac just pushes Callie aside instead of full-on throwing her like he does in the episode. She still hits the wall and gets knocked out, though. There’s no mention of her glasses being knocked off. This was a detail added during storyboarding.
Instead of just pacing in front of the elevator, Manx repeatedly (uselessly) presses the button.
In another error that wasn’t correct, Stenstrum writes that “Molly is still unconscious in the corner” as Molly enters with Manx.
Some extra dialogue showing Molly’s temper and her anger at (she thinks) Manx turning down their parole. When he pleads ignorance, she gets angry and demands that Mac let her kill him right then: “Why, you lying creep! Let me pull him apart, Mace.” Mac however refuses to let her kill him just yet, and Molly complains that he gets “all the fun.” Mac puts his foot down, though, insisting that they not kill the Mayor until he says so.
While pleading with his captors, Manx has some extra dialogue when explaining “There are good days and bad days.” He says: “Why just this morning I hit two balls right into the water! I feld bad, but I didn’t go around hurting people!” I love how Manx is comparing having a crummy golf game is comparable to what befell the Manges.
Different dialogue from Mac: “Shaddup, you! I’ll tell ya about a coupla kats who really had a bad day. And you better lissen, ’cause there’s a moral at the end.”
Deleted Scene, Part : We were originally going to see more of the prison, particularly Mac and Molly’s actual escape. Escaping the attention of a guard patrolling along the ramparts, the Manges (who were apparently allowed to share a cell) use a bedsheet rope to climb down the outside wall from their cell window. They manage to just barely avoid being spotted by a searchlight. There’s also some dialogue that was deleted along with the scene. Molly complains “Ow, that’s my foot you’re stepping on!” Mac replies “Be quiet, you imbecile! Ya want us to get caught?”
Deleted Scene, Part : Molly is the one who arranged for there to be a rowboat waiting for them, as Mac asks “You’re positive you arranged for the boat?” His wife replies “Yes, I’m positive! I told you that a hundred times already. The boat will be there!” I’m unsure if this means Molly bribed a guard to leave the boat for them or she had someone else on the outside do it. As the Manges continue climbing down, Mac complains “Stop pullin’ on the sheets!” because the bedsheet rope is coming apart. “I’m not doing it,” says Molly. “Your stupid rope is coming apart!” “Uh oh,” whines Mac. “We’re in for it–” but he’s cut off as he and Molly suddenly drop (whether because they let go on because the bedsheet rope finally comes apart). “–NOOOOWWWW!!” cries Mac as he and his wife fall.
Deleted Scene, Part : Mac and Molly fall fifty feet and tumble down a slopping (Stenstrum mistypes this as “slopping”) cliff to “the rocky beach below.” Mac yells “OW!” Dang, these two survive this? They were tough even before ending up as robots! They land safely, regardless. Even though Stenstrum doesn’t describe there being a boat anywhere near where the pair land, Molly tells her husband “Told you the boat would be here.” I can see why the escape sequence was deleted; as amusing as it is, it’s rather lengthy and eats up time. That said, considering this episode’s structure and how it just kind of spins its wheels following the extended flashback (which seems to have been something of Stenstrum’s specialty; he built a good chunk of The Wrath of Dark Kat around a lengthy flashback scene that takes up much of the episode), this bit, had it been included, would’ve made it feel like there was more going on, since the SWAT Kats’ battle with the Metallikats at the end is a little underwhelming.
Instead of insisting “First Katscratch!”, Mac insists “Okay, we’re gonna get the Mayor, then Katsctratch, then a coupla banks.” Then he changes his mind: “No, first Katstctratch…” Despite her husband just saying they’d hit some banks, Molly asks “What about money and transportion?” Although I think she means starting with Katstctratch when they have no money or a car is foolish. Mac has some slightly different dialogue as he says “First a bank, then Katsctratch…” as opposed to “First the bank, then Katscratch…”
Molly is the one who says “Can’t see a thing in this soup,” not Mac. She says before asking Mac what he hears. When Mac replies and says “I dunno…” he adds, “like a ship or somethin’.”
Hackle’s robot servants are simply referred to as “two robot-kats.” They’re described as being of very limited intelligence (Stenstrum notes that upon finding Mac and Molly’s bodies, they “look at each other dumbly”). Stenstrum explicitly spells out what the episode only implies, even though I’m pretty sure everyone knew this already: “These robot bodies will eventually become the bodies for Mac and Molly.”
Interestingly, Hackle is first mentioned in all caps as “PROF. HACKLE” before he actually appears. This is odd since this is typically reserved for the first physical appearance of a character, but (at least in the script) Hackle doesn’t actually appear until the next shot.
Deleted Scene, Part : Unlike in the episode, Hackle is introduced in the front room of his house as the robots bring Mac and Molly in. He is described as having “a strong accent of vague origin.” He asks the robots “What have you found there, my children?” The fact he calls the robots his children makes the fact he uses their bodies to save Mac and Molly a bit disturbing. Anyway, he checks the Manges’ necks for pulses. Getting none, he says “Quickly. Take them down to my laboratory.”
Deleted Scene, Part : The two robots both try and walk through the doorway at the same time and get stuck. “One at a time! One at a time!” yells Hackle. “Oh, my children. If you only had half a brain between you… you would be something indeed.” Once they finally get the bodies into the lab, Hackle describes them thusly: “These bodies are shattered beyond repair. They haven’t long to live.” Meaning Mac and Molly are still alive but dying. Apparently Hackle’s original intention was to use his lab to provide first aid and then call for an ambulance. But when he notes they’re fading fast, he adds “But perhaps… I can still save their brains.” Then he “looks up at his feeble-minded robots and smiles.” This is, again, a little disturbing. It honestly would’ve been better if he’d built entirely new bodies for the two. Even though these two robots are clearly of limited intelligence, the way the otherwise kindly Hackle just sort of decides to use them is a bit cold. The robots don’t even realize that they’re basically about to have their heads cut off, as they “turn to each other, giving each other a stupid look.” Stenstrum tries to excuse what Hackle does to them by noting the pair are “empty of any of thought processes,” but if that were true, they’d be mindless, not stupid. Which isn’t the same thing. If they’re capable of being idiots, then they’re capable of being considered alive to some extent, so the way Hackle just tosses aside his “children” here is kind of creepy. Stenstrum has no idea how unintentionally creepy a lot of this is because he keeps talking about how charming and absentminded and friendly Hackle is. Anyway, after this second deleted bit, the scene continues as normal with Mac and Molly awakening on the operating tables “days later” (woo, now we have a timeframe for long it took Hackle to create the Metallikats!).
The masks Mac and Molly wear are described as “plastic.”
When Molly pulls her face mask off, she is described as looking at her own torn off face “in horror.” Jeez.
Mac asks both “Who are you?” and “Why have you done this to us?” instead of Molly asking the second question (as “Why’d you do to us?”). In explaining himself, there’s some slightly different dialogue from Hackle as he calls the robots who them as “my robo-kats” instead of “my robots.” He justifies his actions by adding, in some deleted dialogue that really should’ve stayed in, “There was no time to ask permission.” This would’ve made Hackle’s decision seem less casual, with Mac and Molly not being dead but dying and there being no time for an ambulance, so I think the previous scene with Hackle examining Mac and Molly first in his living room and then in his lab before making his fateful decision should’ve been kept.
Extra dialogue from Hackle: “I know this is a shock, but I promise you you have profited from this exchange. In every way you are faster, stronger, and will live longer lives than you have had before.” This last bit implies that the Metallikats, despite being robots, will still have finite lifespans, albeit longer ones than normal kats.
When asking about their brains (which she says as “What about brains?” and not “We’ve still got our brains, right?”), Molly adds, “Is there any part of us left?”
Extra/different dialogue from Hackle as he answers Molly’s question: “Yes and no. I’ve imprinted your memories on an indestructible hard disk. You’re robots now, and much, much more.” When Molly says she isn’t sure she likes what’s happening, and Mac disagrees, his dialogue is mostly the same, but he emphasis “like” instead of “get” (as “I think I could get to like this.”). He for some reason seems unsure of himself he says he can rip apart the whole town with his bare claws, since he says it like “bare, um, claws.”
Deleted dialogue from Hackle: “Come with me, you two. I want you show you something.”
Molly’s multi-weapon is introduced more prominently here as “a second version of the device.” The exploding cigar is also described among the weaponry on the table. Hackle’s list of the weapons differs: Not “Laser weapons, rockets, even bombs,” but “Laser weapons… electric blasters… rockets… Yes, even a real exploding cigar.” This last bit is directed at Mac, who seems to zero in on the cigar. Mac describes the assorted weaponry as “Hot stuff!”
More different dialogue from Hackle: “These days, however, I have turned my efforts toward making a contribution to katkind, rather than creating weapons to destroy it” and “Imagine the great minds that be saved with this form of brain transplant!” Yes, Stenstrum forgot the “might” in there. “You will become history!” Hackle enthuses. Then adds, sadly, the more familiar line, “And history… will forgive me.”
Molly also says goodnight to Hackle, instead of just Mac.
Extra dialogue from Mac as he mocks Hackle for being stupid enough to leave him and his wife alone with all the weapons: “What a sap that perfesser is!” As for Molly, instead of saying “Yeah, what a sucker!” she says “There’s one born every minute.” Which amounts to the same thing, really. Meanwhile, as Mac grabs the weapons, he notices Molly isn’t helping him (she’s busy finding the hovercraft “in all its war machine glory” that’ll become the Metallikat Express), he asks, “Hey, Molly? Where’d you go?” before his wife directs his attention to the vehicle.
Mac’s line “End of story, end of you is absent entirely.” Instead, the flashback ends with Manx laughing nervously and saying, “Good story, but I’m afraid I missed the moral.” Additional deleted dialogue from Mac as he explains “The moral is, ‘Don’t mess with the Metallikats!'”
Deleted Scene (albeit a short one): Between Mac finishing the story and Callie waking up, there’s a scene of the Turbokat flying towards City Hall.
When Callie gets up, there’s no mention of her putting her glasses back on (this was added in the storyboards, at the insistence of someone’s handwritten notes). Anyway, Mac says “Who are you?” instead of “And who are you?” The “And” was also added in the storyboarding process.
Interestingly, Stenstrum describes Callie as not being confident in confronting the Metallikats, and that she is “trying to appear more in charge than she feels,” as opposed to in the episode, where there’s no indication she feels any fear in getting up and approaching the villains. It’s possible it was still meant to come across this way, but either Tress MacNeille sounded too confident or the not terribly great animation made Callie’s attempt to feign confidence look genuine (she honestly comes off as a bit smug). I’m pretty sure a lot of fans definitely prefer the episode suggesting Callie is not scared of the Metallikats at all, but I find it makes her look braver if she actually is afraid of them, but stands up to them anyway.
Molly grabs Callie by the lapels of her blazer rather than by the back of it. As she drops Callie out the window, it’s described as “wrecked.” A remnant of an earlier notion Stenstrum had where the window was closed and Mac smashed through the glass? Looking back at the earlier scene, Mac does indeed smash through the glass and I just missed it. Meanwhile, there’s no mention of Callie’s suddenly appearing purse, which she wasn’t wearing when she confronted the Metallikats but suddenly has when Molly grabs her. The purse suddenly appearing never leads to anything in the episode and so it’s an odd blooper for the animators to make. Checking the storyboards, this is in fact a blooper the storyboard artists made and which the animators didn’t pick up on, as Callie suddenly has her purse on the first panel of the st page, despite definitely not having it on previous pages, and with no notation that she should. She just suddenly has it.
A deleted bit of the SWAT Kats arriving, and Razor, seeing Callie falling, says “Someone’s just been pushed out the Mayor’s window.” Looking through a “view scope,” he says, weirdly without urgency (as if Callie is about to be dropped, not already falling), “It’s Callie.” “Callie!!” cries T-Bone.
Deleted line from T-Bone after Callie is saved by the Spider Missile: “Hey, Cal! Need a lift?” I think this episode is the only time he or Razor ever calls Callie anything over than “Callie” or “Ms. Briggs.”
Since this was the second script written, the Glovatrixes are introduced here for the first time. Well, Razor’s is, anyway. Apparently, Stenstrum’s idea was that the SWAT Kats wore them on their belts (which they don’t have, only G-forces harnesses). In the episode there’s no way of telling whether Razor has his Glovatrix where Stenstrum describes here; there’s no good shots where his waist is visible when he and Callie are outside, and it’s definitely not visible anywhere on his person as the two run inside. It just kind of appears from nowhere as he puts it on.
As the Metallikats shoot down at the courtyard and Razor runs inside with Callie, there’s a deleted bit where T-Bone takes off… although Stenstrum misnames him as Razor, so Razor gives himself a thumbs-up and then “hits the hoverjets” and lifts off. Man, a lot of characters in this script sure are beside themselves!
When Molly mimics Mac asking her if she can “handle the Mayor,” her dialogue is different: “Think you can handle him? Think you can handle him?”
Callie is explicitly described as following Razor after being told to stay put and lingering a moment, as opposed to her seeming to stay put and then showing up out of nowhere later.
Mac uses a cutting laser on his multi-weapon to cut the elevator doors open instead of melting them. They open in response and reveal the empty interior, rather than Mac looking in through the hole he just melted through the metal. His confused “Huh?” is absent.
The Mini-Scrambler Missile is named a Scrambler Rocket here. Mac also says “Hmph!” instead of “Huh” when it has no effect on him.
Mac crushes Razor’s Glovatrix beyond use when he grabs Razor’s wrist, explaining why Razor needs to hit him with the ashtray.
Although it’s crossed out with a pen and there’s a handwritten correction (“Razor”), Stenstrum accidentally once again has a character do something to themselves, as he says “As Mace smashes the ashtray across the back of Mace’s head.” This is the third time this has happened and the second time Stenstrum accidentally confuses Razor with Mac (or Mace, rather).
As he starts malfunctioning, Mac’s dialogue is a little different. Firstly, he never says “Party’s over!” And when describing what’s happening, he says that “the sand got inside the parts,” meaning the parts of the multi-weapon, instead of “the sand jammed gun.” He also says “…Got inside my parts, too” as opposed to “And my parts, too!” Instead of cutting directly to Manx’s office where Molly is threatening Manx, this bit ends with Razor and Callie watching Mac “warily,” as though they’re unsure he’s really short circuiting.
Molly has Manx by the shirt rather than his vest when she’s threatening him in his office. She also never asks him if he has any last words. The malfunctioning Mac walks in before she can say anything to Manx. When Mac says he doesn’t feel good, Molly doesn’t cry out his name as she walks over.
After crying out Mac’s (or rather Mace’s) name (for the first time here), Molly adds “They killed Mace…!”
T-Bone says “Get off the darn jet!” instead of “Get off my jet!”
There’s a deleted bit with Razor and Callie standing outside in the City Hall courtyard watching T-Bone trying to shake Molly loose from the Turbokat.
Different dialogue from T-Bone: “Yes, my dear. Right this way.”
Instead of saying “I asked you nicely,” when he actually didn’t (unless we’re meant to think he was being sarcastic), T-Bone does actually go, “Lady, will you please get off my airplane!” Bizarrely, the line “I asked you nicely!” doesn’t follow this in the script. It replaces it, despite T-Bone never actually asking nicely (so I think in the episode, T-Bone is meant to be cocky and sarcastic as opposed to exasperated).
Molly doesn’t laugh crazily as she falls.
As the Metallikat Express is being towed away, Feral, with his injured arm, isn’t standing with Callie and Manx on the City Hall steps but overseeing the (not described) tow truck. He never interacts with either of them.
After the bit about “SWAT Kat Day,” Manx doesn’t order Feral to get rid of the pieces of the Metallikats. Instead, he leaves the decision up to Callie, asking her, “What are you going to do with that?” Callie says “Well, I know of a pretty good salvage yard. Maybe they can find someone who’ll put such advanced technology to good use.” This means it’s Callie’s decision here to send the Metallikats’ parts to the salvage yard, where they’re then given back to Hackle by Chance and Jake. Callie’s deleted dialogue here also implies Hackle never claims the Metallikat parts are his property and that he just shows up and asks for them, and Chance and Jake give them to him, none the wiser that they’re talking to the guy who created the robots they just got done fighting. If true, this version of events makes Callie look irresponsible and Hackle look deceitful.
Jake refers to the Metallikat parts as “this stuff” instead of “the stuff.” Chance also calls Hackle “prof” instead of “Professor.” Which I guess is better than calling him “Doc” in The Deadly Pyramid (I know Hackle would likely have a PhD and thus calling him “Dr. Hackle” would be accurate, but clearly he prefers the honorific “Professor,” though it’s unclear whether he ever taught at a university).
Deleted Scene: After Hackle drives off, Chance walks to the closed door of the garage (I believe the only time it would’ve ever been seen closed). As he’s about to open it, Jake tells him, “Chance, wait. I’ve got a surprise.” He takes out a garage door opener (which Stenstrum calls “a remote control unit”) and activates it. The garage door opens “but not just that.” A “computer voice” announces “Welcome to Chance and Jake’s Garage, Megakat City’s premiere auto mechanics.” Chance snoops around for Other surprises.” He finds the device responsible, referred to as a “contraption.” Jake asks, “And here it is, my talking garage device. What do you think?” This being a callback to the talking computerized voice in the Turbokat earlier, which greatly annoyed T-Bone, he seems greatly annoyed. The computer voice continues, “Our special today is two tune-ups or two transmission checks for the price of one. It’s too, too much!” Chance asks “Does it always talk like that?” “You bet!” Jake says enthusiastically. When the voice begins speaking again, Chance smashes the thing, prompting an exasperated Jake to cry, “Aww, Chance. That wasn’t necessary…” As amusing as this is, I’m glad it got deleted. I can do without Chance’s constant temper problems… and Jake being bizarrely okay with them. Chance really does have anger issues. Anyway, after Chance destroys his friend’s latest invention in a fit of petty spite, we then cut to Hackle driving home, and the script more or less continues as normal.
Hackle is described as driving along a dirt road “toward the beach.” For a long time, because it fades from him driving from the salvage yard to the road, it was assumed Hackle lived relatively close by and that the salvage yard was near the ocean due to the water seen between it and the city in the background all the time. But had the scene with the talking garage door opener been left in, it would’ve been more obvious that this wasn’t the case and that more time had passed since Hackle left the salvage yard. But because the scene was deleted, it does seem like Hackle is still near the salvage yard as he’s driving down the road. As it is, this means we don’t actually know how far away Hackle lives from where Chance and Jake do, and whether or not the salvage yard is in fact by the bay. It’s more likely it isn’t and the water we see behind it is a river.
Slightly different dialogue from Hackle: “I’ve been looking for you for two days!” Although we can’t know how much time passed since Mac and Molly were killed and found washed up on the beach, due to Stenstrum only specifying “days later,” we have no complete timeline for the entire story. But Hackle’s dialogue here makes it plain that it’s been two days since they stole the weapons and hovercraft and escaped, meaning the bulk of the story takes place over two days.
Deleted dialogue: When Molly says Hackle should make Mac taller, Mac replies “And make her shut up!” (in the episode, this request, phrased as, “Hey, Professor, can you make it so she can’t talk?” comes later). Hackle is a bit more gentle in his request for them to stop fighting; “Shhh, please you two. Must you always argue?” In hindsight, a strange thing to say, as he was not aware the two had a penchant for bickering until now, yet he is acting like this is not the first time he’s had to endure one of their arguments. Anyway, Molly doesn’t directly respond, but insists to Hackle, “Well, he’s the one who’s always got to have the last word!” “Am not! Am not!” whines Mac. “Are too! Are too!” insists Molly.
Deleted Scene: An entirely alternate ending in which Hackle frickin’ abandons the Metallikats’ severed heads on the side of the road! He says nothing, just dumps them there and then leaves. What a great guy. I get why Stenstrum thought this would be a funny bit, but unless Hackle is just leaving them there and intends to come back for them later after they’ve gotten the point that he wants them to shut up (which is risky), he’s basically rendering the work of several days completely pointless by doing this. Anyway, as Hackle drives off, the Metallikats are understandably upset. “Hey perfesser! You can’t leave us here!” cries Mac. “Come back! We’ll be good!” promises Molly. Mac blames his wife; “Now ya done it! Ya got the perfesser mad at us!” “I done it! You done it!” Molly insists. The two heads then “hop down the road” after the pickup truck to try and catch up with it (no spider legs, which was definitely an invention of either Lance Falk or Eric Clark for Metal Urgency, but this is an example of the Metallikats’ heads moving on their own long before that episode) as the two continue bickering.

Well, that was quite an adventure. It’s interesting how the earlier episodes seem to have more deleted or alternate scenes and dialogue than later ones, likely as the show’s writers honed their craft and such.