If you're familiar with the world famous Troma Studios then you might be aware of their Toxic Avenger series of B movies that arrived in the middle of the 1980's. Like Troma's other notable films such as Class of Nuke 'Em High and Chopper Chicks in Zombietown, the Toxic Avenger series offered up lots of gore, racy scenes and crude humor. You might be wondering how in the world this could be developed into a children's cartoon series and rightly so!
In 1991, kids cartoon shows began to shift and new ideas bubbled up to the surface of the entertainment world. Shows like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Captain Planet brought a new message to youngsters: the importance of protecting our environment. With a bit of tweaking, Troma got their infamous anti-industrial hero shaped into Toxie, a hideously mutated but lovable character who served as the star of Toxic Crusaders.
Of course, competing with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles proved to be nearly impossible and after a five run trial, FOX decided not to run the full series even though thirteen 30 minute episodes had already been created. Despite this rather gargantuan setback, the creepily cute Toxie made a valiant stand in stores everywhere in the form of toys, collectible cards and a mountain of other merchandise that cartoon characters often seem to get.
Toxie didn't go up against evil polluters on his own, though. At his side were a cast of imaginative weirdos such as: Yvonne, Toxie's nearsighted blonde girlfriend; Blobbie, a furry pink pet; Mop, Toxie's independently thinking instument of cleaning; Junkyard, a human-dog hybrid of a hobo who hid from lightning in a dog kennel only to be merged with the dog once lightning struck; Major Disaster, a soldier who fell into a radioactive swamp where he gained the ability to control plants; and NoZone, a pilot who flew through a hole in the ozone layer to crash into a silo of nuclear peppers that gave him a legendary sneeze!
Of course, no kids show could be complete without villains who are as compelling as the heroes themselves. Toxic Crusaders didn't skimp when it came to bad guys. Few returned for more than a single episode, but some of those were: Czar Zosta and Doctor Killemoff, two cockroach beings with four arms from a planet called Smogula; Bonehead, a street punk who bullied Melvin Junko, the man who would go on to become Toxie; and Mayor Grody, the corrupt leader of Toxie's hometown of Tromaville. Of course, like other cartoons of the era the series had its own disposable goons, the Radiation Rangers who came in droves and nearly never hit their intended target.
As rich of a series as any on TV at that time, Toxic Crusaders proved to be fertile grounds for merchandising. In most cases, the same companies who held the rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles merchandise also held it for Toxic Crusaders. As a result, we saw an eight issue comic book from Marvel, trading cards from Topps, a card game, board game, Halloween costumes, Colorforms and of course, video games for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis and the Gameboy. Playmates even offered a line of action figures boasting "radical" designs in bright neon colors on characters that retained the creepy charm of the cartoon show. These figures often came with glow in the dark accessories and you could even get canisters of "Toxie's Toxic Waste", a goopy substance suspiciously similar to the Turtle's "Retromutagen Ooze."
Even these days, Toxic Crusaders still captivate fans and in April of 2008, Troma released a DVD of all 13 episodes so if you missed the show yourself there's still a chance to check it out!
I hope you've enjoyed this trip back to the 90's and that you learned a little bit about a great cartoon show that tried hard to bring kids a good message packed with crazy fun. Though Toxic Crusaders may not have toppled the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle empire, they certainly offered a unique take on "environmentally conscious" kids' cartoons.
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