1991 animated series on Syndication
Toxic Crusaders is an American animated series loosely based on The Toxic Avenger films.[1] 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 animated series and comics of the time,[2] including Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Swamp Thing, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, as well as animated series based on R-rated properties like RoboCop and Police Academy. As this incarnation was aimed at children, Toxic Crusaders is considerably tamer than the films it was based on, although it contained adult-oriented jokes that would go over most children's heads.[3]
Thirteen episodes were produced and aired, with some episodes airing as a "trial run" in Summer 1990[4] followed by the official debut on January 21, 1991.[5]
The show aired in Canada on YTV from 1991 to 1992. The US cable network G4 aired the first two episodes on July 25, 2009.
Overview
Prior to Toxic Crusaders, cartoons based on R-rated films had been attempted with programs such as Rambo: The Force of Freedom. However, the content of the Toxic Avenger films was arguably more controversial, featuring strong sexual content and intense violence. Created by New York-based Troma, Inc., a company famous for low-budget films such as Chopper Chicks in Zombietown, Class of Nuke 'Em High, and Sgt. Kabukiman, NYPD, the series was significantly different from its live-action source material.
The Toxic Avenger film series starred Melvin Junko, a scrawny nerd who, after being exposed 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 were produced, but like the feature films, the show became a cult favorite, spawning a string of merchandise.
Plot
Like the source material, Toxie is a grotesque mutant endowed with superhuman powers, but is still a good-hearted and law-abiding citizen of the fictional town of Tromaville, New Jersey; the setting of most of Troma Entertainment's films. In a change from the films, the toxic waste mutated his mop into a sentient being that sometimes battles enemies by itself or gives him ideas on how to solve problems. The villains include Czar Zosta, Dr. Killemoff, and Psycho, polluters from the planet Smogula who wreak ecological havoc with help from Tromaville's corrupt mayor, Grody. Bonehead, a street punk who bullied Melvin, joins them in the first episode.
Dr. Killemoff and Czar Zosta are cockroach-like extraterrestrials from the planet Smogula, a world where pollution is natural as fresh air and water is to Earth. Natives of Smogula thrive on pollution and need it to survive. For unexplained reasons, Czar Zosta and other Smogulans are able to withstand Earth's atmosphere without problems, while Dr. Killemoff wears a breathing apparatus to survive. Dr. Killemoff, like most villains, has a seemingly endless army of foot soldiers called Radiation Rangers.
Other villains and heroes appeared, with most being one-off characters.
Other media
Marvel Comics released an eight-issue comic book series. It had no regular writer. Each issue was written by such notables as Steve Gerber (issues #3 and #5), Ann Nocenti (issue #7), David Leach and Jeremy Banx (lead strip script and artwork) and David Michelinie (back up strip) (issue #8), Hilary Barta (issue #2), and Simon Furman (issues #1, 4, and 6). A four book mini series was written and drawn by David Leach & Jeremy Banx. The series was solicited and the first issue written and drawn before being canceled along with all of Marvel TV tie-in titles. One issue was a direct parody of Captain Planet and the Planeteers. Issue #8 was the only mainstream US comic book ever published to carry an 'Approved by the Comic Code Authority' stamp while at the same time featuring a man sat on a toilet defecating.
In the UK, Fleetway published their own Toxic Crusaders comic book which would last for ten issues.[6]
Playmates Toys, the same company responsible for Ninja Turtles action figures, released a line of similarly styled Toxic Crusader figures in 1991. The majority of characters featured bright neon colors and glow-in-the-dark accessories. TV commercials for the figures used the tag line "They're gross, but they still get girls!" A total of nine characters as well as some rather unorthodox vehicles saw toy shelves. Similar to the Ninja Turtles' Retromutagen Ooze, Playmates also marketed a canister of slime labeled Toxie's Toxic Waste. The toy line was principally conceived by Aaronian and the design team at Troma and Pangea Corporation. Some of the toys came packed with "Toxic Tips," which instructed kids how to make messes in their homes and otherwise muck up the environment. Similarly to the development of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pangea Corporation provided much of the original design, packaging, and logo development. Additionally, John Schulte and John Besmehn, worked in tandem on story premises with veteran writer and show runner, Jack Mendelsohn, and scriptwriter, Chuck Lorre.
Other tie-in products included coloring books, junior novels, Halloween costumes, Colorforms, Topps trading cards, a board game, a card game, and puzzles. Video games of the same name were also produced by Bandai and Sega, which were released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, and Sega Genesis.[7] A Super NES version was planned by Bandai around at the same time with the NES and Game Boy versions but it was cancelled for unknown reasons.[8] A new beat-em-up game based on the series, developed and published by Retroware, is planned for release on Steam and consoles sometime in 2024.[9][10]
Several years later, Troma released two Toxic Crusaders DVDs. The first was Toxic Crusaders: The Movie which consisted of the first three episodes of the series spliced together to form one story. The second release, Toxic Crusaders: Volume 1, is a collection of the first four episodes. A box set, featuring all 13 episodes and all four Toxic Avenger movies, was released on April 29, 2008.
Troma was in talks to make a live action version of Toxic Crusaders at New Line Cinema. In Lloyd Kaufman's first book, "All I Need to Know about Filmmaking I Learned from The Toxic Avenger", he claims that New Line did not live up to their end of the contract and the film was not made. Kaufman has speculated that New Line bought the rights because they were in negotiations to make the sequels to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and wanted to use the Toxic Crusaders movie as leverage against the owners of the rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Troma sued New Line Cinema and was awarded an undisclosed amount in damages.[citation needed]
