Toxic Crusaders is an American animated series 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 animated series and comics of the time, 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.
Thirteen episodes were produced and aired, with some episodes airing as a "trial run" in Summer 1990 followed by the official debut on January 21, 1991.
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.