Toxic Crusaders is a 1991 animated series aimed at children, loosely based on The Toxic Avenger films. It features Toxie, the lead character of the films, leading a group of misfit superheroes who combat pollution. This followed a trend of environmentally considerate cartoons and comics of the time, including Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Swamp Thing, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, as well as cartoons based on R-rated proterties like RoboCop and Police Academy. As this incarnation was aimed at children, Toxic Crusaders is considerably tamer than the edgy films it was based on (although it nevertheless contained many adult-oriented jokes that would go over most children's heads).
Thirteen episodes were produced and aired, with at least a few episodes airing as a "trial run" in Summer 1990 followed by the official debut on January 21, 1991.
It aired on YTV 1991 to 1997 in Canada. The US cable network G4 aired the first two episodes on July 25, 2009.
Prior to Toxic Crusaders, cartoons based on R-rated (under-17s must be accompanied) films had indeed been attempted with programs like Rambo: The Force of Freedom. However, the content of the Toxic Avenger films was arguably more controversial than many such films, featuring strong sexual content in addition to intense violence. Created by New York-based Troma, Inc., a company famous for such low-budget classic films as Chopper Chicks in Zombietown, Class of Nuke 'Em High, and Sgt. Kabukiman, NYPD, the animated Toxic Crusaders departed significantly from its live-action source.
The Toxic Avenger film series starred Melvin Junko, a scrawny nerd who, through exposure to toxic waste, was mutated into a "hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength." In the films, "Toxie" took his revenge on industrial America by means of gory violence and bloodbaths. True to Troma's reputation, other R-rated material abounded as well.
Only thirteen syndicated episodes of Toxic Crusaders were produced, but like the feature films, the episodes became cult favorites, spawning a string of merchandising.
Toxic Crusaders cleaned up Toxie's act considerably. Toxie was still a grotesque mutant endowed with superhuman powers, but underneath it all, he was a good-hearted, law-abiding citizen of the fictional town of Tromaville, New Jersey (the setting of most of Troma Entertainment's films). Another change from the films was that the toxic waste also mutated his mop into a sentient being that would sometimes battle enemies by itself or motion to Toxie ideas on how to solve problems. The villains were still polluters, albeit polluters from a different world. Hailing from the planet Smogula, Czar Zosta, Dr. Killemoff, and Psycho wreaked ecological havoc with the help of Tromaville's corrupt Mayor Grody. Bonehead, a street punk who bullied Melvin, joins them in the first episode.
Dr. Killemoff and Czar Zosta were cockroach-like extraterrestrials from the planet Smogula, which is a world where pollution is natural as fresh air and water is natural to Earth. Natives of Smogula thrive on pollution and need it to survive. For unexplained reasons, Czar Zosta and other Smogulans were able to withstand Earth's atmosphere without problems while Dr. Killemoff wears a breathing apparatus to survive. Dr. Killemoff, like most villains, also had a seemingly endless army of foot soldiers called Radiation Rangers.
Other villains and heroes made their appearances on the show with equally ridiculous origins as the Crusaders. Few if any of these characters made more than one appearance.
Cast[]
| Image | Character | Actor |
|---|---|---|
|
Toxie / Melvin Junko | Rodger Bumpass |
|
Junkyard | Gregg Berger |
|
No-Zone | Paul Eiding |
|
Major Disaster | Ed Gilbert |
|
Dr. Bender | Hal Rayle |
|
Fender | |
|
Dr. Killemoff | Rodger Bumpass |
|
Czar Zosta | Patric Zimmerman |
|
Mrs. Junko | Susan Silo |