Discussion

Eh, it happens. But, yes, it is quite annoying.

Statistics: Posted by Kooshmeister — Sat Jan 02, 2021 6:30 pm

Read More

I promised a novelization of the episode script back in 2018 and here it is finally!

https://textuploader.com/1f23b

All my novelizations of the episode scripts got deleted.

That's got to hurt, all that work gone poof unless someone else saved them somewhere.

Statistics: Posted by stancymckatt — Thu Dec 31, 2020 5:28 pm

Read More

And I've got to wonder what exactly killed off their dinosaurs if heavy artilery doesn't do it.

Presumably changes in the environment that they couldn't adapt to.

Statistics: Posted by Kooshmeister — Mon Dec 28, 2020 9:52 am

Read More

Has anyone else ever noticed how the time tunnel that takes our boys into the past looks suspiciously like the old school Doctor Who ones? I wonder if they borrowed it....

And I've got to wonder what exactly killed off their dinosaurs if heavy artilery doesn't do it.

Statistics: Posted by TheRedheadedOne18 — Mon Dec 28, 2020 5:46 am

Read More

Alas, no...

Did you post them anywhere else, then? Or at least print them out?

Statistics: Posted by marklungo — Sun Dec 27, 2020 4:31 pm

Read More

Alas, no...

Statistics: Posted by Kooshmeister — Sun Dec 27, 2020 2:01 pm

Read More

Did you save them on your own computer? Then you can just upload them somewhere else.

Statistics: Posted by marklungo — Sat Dec 26, 2020 10:48 pm

Read More

I promised a novelization of the episode script back in 2018 and here it is finally!

https://textuploader.com/1f23b

All my novelizations of the episode scripts got deleted.

Statistics: Posted by Kooshmeister — Sat Dec 26, 2020 3:08 pm

Read More

There is usually a lot of friendly rivalry, and teasing in male friendships. Believe me, I know: my best friend sometimes makes fun of me in a sarcastic way, or he kind of provokes me.

True, but I don't get that vibe from T-Bone and Razor's scene with the centrifuge here. I know it's definitely what Glenn Leopold was going for, but I don't think he succeeded. Something about their tone and body language suggests, unintentionally, that they're genuinely angry in that scene, especially when Razor is accusing T-Bone of cheating. It made him seem like a sore loser, when that's really more T-Bone's thing, honestly.

Though in fairness to Leopold here, that episode hadn't been written yet, and it was written by Jim Stenstrum and not him.

But we don't take that statement seriously, do we?

Well... yes. We do. Or we should. If the dialogue states the building is 300 stories, then it's 300 stories tall.

For what it's worth, the building's height in the episode changed from the script, where it was only 150 stories, meaning it was originally shorter than the 163-story Burj Khalifa. For what it's worth, at the time Destructive Nature was written, the Burj Khalifa didn't exist. Construction began in 2004 and was completed in 2009. So even 150 stories in 1993 would've been very impressive. But I guess they wanted to make it even more impressive, so the height was increased.

But even though 300 stories is a physical impossibility in our world at present, if the episode says the Megakat Tower is that tall, and if there's nothing to suggest Manx is exaggerating, then I take the episode at its word, just as I take the show at its word that Calico Briggs is Megakat City's deputy mayor. Because they keep calling her that.

Going back to Callie, I think your first theory is right: they didn't know what a deputy mayor was, or rather, WHAT HER FUNCTION IS. From what I read in the Wikipedia, it is not a position that exists - or is called that - in the whole world, and it seems that not in all the United States.

What Wikipedia page were you reading? I just looked it up and it is in fact an actual position.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputy_mayor

In fact, one thing I learned is that there can in fact be multiple deputy mayors at the same time.

However, the comparison with Sarah Bellum is not only mine: the same series treats her as an assistant or Manx's right paw (and two fingers on the left), which in itself is not bad anyway.

While the two characters do serve similar functions, insofar as they're intelligent women serving under incompetent mayors who "really" run the city, Sara is just a secretary, while Callie is a deputy mayor. The fact Manx treats her like a secretary is immaterial. They call her Deputy Mayor Briggs all the time. If she isn't actually the Deputy Mayor, why would everyone call her that? She even refers to herself that way.

She's repeatedly called the Deputy Mayor and despite how she's treated there's no reason to believe she isn't. Because what you're suggesting is that she isn't actually the Deputy Mayor, but everyone still calls her that, which makes no sense. If anything, people treating her poorly and regarding her as nothing more than a glorified secretary ought to reveal more about them than it does about her. They see her as unimportant. Don't downplay her role in Megakat City's government and say she's just the nothing secretary she tends to be treated like. I may not like Callie much, given that she's a bit too biased for my tastes when it comes to the SWAT Kats, but she isn't some low level staff member, even if Manx treats her like one.

There are other reasons that make me doubt that she really is the deputy mayor, but I will comment on that in the corresponding topic, not here, so as not to deviate from the topic.

If you say so, but the fact remains she's called that in the dialogue and in all behind the scenes and promotional material, so... eh.

From the natural and easy way they dealt with the skeletons, I doubt they told you anything about it. It's as if they were saying, "Here he brings this, Dr. Sinnian... oh, and a raccoon tried to bite me."

While they did kill the skeletons (or zombies, as they're called in the script and model sheets) very easily, the living dead are still a bit more serious than a raccoon, so you'd think the fact they encountered them would merit a mention both when reporting back to Headquarters and when delivering the chest to the museum. Standard protocol ought to be to report the circumstances in which something unusual like an ancient burial chest is found, especially when walking skeletons attack your chopper with a pick and shovel.

In fact, Chance is a real name: rare, but real. And curiously, it seems to be of French origin, and also originally a diminutive of Chauncey.

So... Would his name really be Chauncey Furlong? Oh, poor guy... his name is almost identical to that of a Pokemon.

That or Charles, as I said. But I'm gonna go with Chauncey simply because it makes me giggle.

As a curiosity: in the Spanish dubbing of Giant Bacteria, Chance calls Jake "Jack", TWICE. What a nice guy he is to not know his best friend's name well!

It seems like the Spanish dub changed some things. This may be why you don't think Callie is the Deputy Mayor, if the dub you're familiar with doesn't acknowledge her as such.

Knowing Feral, he would have ordered him killed so that he would not pose a threat to the city.

Feral's authority ends at a certain point. Plus, he isn't bloodthirsty. If the animal is safely contained stuck in the tar, and can be extracted and subdued, I'm quite certain he'd be all for it. Plus, I'm sure even if Feral did want to kill the Megasaurus, Dr. Sinian probably has Manx's ear, and the Commander of the Enforcers answers to the Mayor. Provided Sinian can convince Manx that the animal is worth taking alive, he could order Feral not to kill him.

Furthermore... How would they have gotten the Megalosaurus out?

Heavy duty cranes and digging machines, most likely.

And was Manx going to take the trouble to invest money in the proper facilities to keep that thing? Or the employees destined to take care of it?

Um... yes? It's a live dinosaur. Manx is dumb, but he isn't that dumb. It's worth a lot not only as a major scientific discovery but also as an attraction. People would pay to come and see him in captivity. It'd bring in tons of tourist revenue to Megakat City. Yes, he'd be expensive to keep, but I'm pretty sure that the profits would outweigh the cost.

After all, the situation isn't without precedent in fiction. Even leaving aside Jurassic Park, there's the classic Fleischer Superman short The Arctic Giant. After Superman subdues the title creature, an enormous bipedal dinosaur not too dissimilar from the Megasaurus rex, he's put on display at the zoo rather than killed, despite having gone on a far more destructive rampage than the Megasaurus did.

Statistics: Posted by Kooshmeister — Wed Sep 23, 2020 1:55 am

Read More

As Mark already explained, Megakat City's country isn't necessarily analogous to the United States (despite some unused background art showing a US Postal Service mailbox). Ergo, it can have whatever history the writers choose to give it.

I guess you're right

I actually tend to claim the opposite. Namely that the episode portrays their (in my opinion, often petty) competitiveness more than their friendship. The whole "ten seconds at Mach 5" thing and Razor accusing T-Bone of cheating (ironic, as he himself cheats later on in The Wrath of Dark Kat!) might make it seem like they can't really stand one another to a first-time viewer, which is why this episode was, in my opinion, a poor choice to run first, despite its great animation.

There is usually a lot of friendly rivalry, and teasing in male friendships. Believe me, I know: my best friend sometimes makes fun of me in a sarcastic way, or he kind of provokes me.

Callie must be the deputy mayor because that's what she's called.

Well... the Megakat Tower must also have 300 floors because they say so. But we don't take that statement seriously, do we?

Going back to Callie, I think your first theory is right: they didn't know what a deputy mayor was, or rather, WHAT HER FUNCTION IS. From what I read in the Wikipedia, it is not a position that exists - or is called that - in the whole world, and it seems that not in all the United States.

However, the comparison with Sarah Bellum is not only mine: the same series treats her as an assistant or Manx's right paw (and two fingers on the left), which in itself is not bad anyway. There are other reasons that make me doubt that she really is the deputy mayor, but I will comment on that in the corresponding topic, not here, so as not to deviate from the topic.

In fact, Manx is so miserly he has no caddy for when he goes golfing, and no bodyguard detail.

But he already has one: "Caddie" Briggs Sorry; I had to make the joke.

And why is her handling the subject with such seriousness so unusual? The Pastmaster is an established historical figure in their world. There's an exhibit dedicated to him in the museum.

I guess he must have thought the PastMaster was as dead as his saber-toothed tiger on display... And I have no doubt that after that incident he "got used" to paranormal incidents.

This has me wondering: when delivering the chest, did Burge and King tell Sinian about the living skeletons they'd encountered? 'Cause you'd think that would be a pretty important thing to tell the curator of the museum you're delivering a creepy sarcophagus-like box to. If they did, it never comes up when she's talking to Callie. She seems more interested in the press release, and only mentions the chest in a by-the-way manner after Callie points it out.

From the natural and easy way they dealt with the skeletons, I doubt they told you anything about it. It's as if they were saying, "Here he brings this, Dr. Sinnian... oh, and a raccoon tried to bite me."

The real life La Brea Tar Pits are in the middle of Hancock Park, where the George C. Page Museum is located pretty much right next to the tar pit itself. There are also many other, smaller buildings nearby.

I must admit that I am amazed that they have built such a museum in that place. Congratulations to the architect.

Interestingly, Chance (or at least T-Bone) was originally going to be called Chuck, and in fact Chuck and Chance are both nicknames for Charles. Making it possible our heroes' real full names are Charles Furlong and Jacob Clawson.

In fact, Chance is a real name: rare, but real. And curiously, it seems to be of French origin, and also originally a diminutive of Chauncey.

So... Would his name really be Chauncey Furlong? Oh, poor guy... his name is almost identical to that of a Pokemon.

As a curiosity: in the Spanish dubbing of Giant Bacteria, Chance calls Jake "Jack", TWICE. What a nice guy he is to not know his best friend's name well!

The first thing? Most likely. The second thing? Where'd that come from?

Ehm, all that dialogue is fictitious; a joke.

I have always wondered what happened to the Megasaurus rex.

Knowing Feral, he would have ordered him killed so that he would not pose a threat to the city. Furthermore... How would they have gotten the Megalosaurus out? And was Manx going to take the trouble to invest money in the proper facilities to keep that thing? Or the employees destined to take care of it? I stand by my brontoburgers theory.

Anyway: I didn't want to drag this out too long: I just wanted to leave some impressions of mine from the chapter, which I repeat: it was not bad and it was fun.

Statistics: Posted by EditorElohim — Tue Sep 22, 2020 9:00 pm

Read More