Troma Entertainment, the longest-running independent movie studio in North America, has officially announced the December 10th release of Toxic Crusaders: The Series on Blu-ray with TROMAtic digital restoration and remastering.
The early ‘90s was an interesting time for children’s television, as R-rated films found themselves transformed into animated shows aimed at kids. During this fascinating era, children across the nation embraced the first superhero from New Jersey. Toxic Crusaders adapted The Toxic Avenger into a Saturday morning delight that paired perfectly with a balanced breakfast. Elements of The Toxic Avenger had to be toned down, including changing the lead character’s title to “The Toxic Crusader,” since “Avenger” was deemed too violent for young audiences. Kids affectionately knew him as the friendly “Toxie.” The origin story remained the same: Melvin was still a nerdy kid, mopping up at a gym in Tromaville, New Jersey, when cruel bullies caused him to fall into an open barrel of toxic waste. The illegally dumped chemicals transformed Melvin into Toxie, a being with super strength and a powerful mop.
Toxie uses his newfound powers to fight evil, targeting the greedy forces willing to poison the environment. His main adversary, Dr. Killemoff, aims to destroy Earth with toxic chemicals and radioactive waste to make it resemble his polluted home planet, Smogula.
Toxie isn’t alone in this battle. He’s joined by other hideously deformed creatures with superhuman size and strength who form the Toxic Crusaders. Nozone, who flew through a hole in the ozone layer, now has powerful sneezes; Major Disaster, from a radioactive swamp, can control plants; Headbanger is the result of an atom smasher accident that fused Dr. Bender, a mad scientist, with Fender, a singing telegram boy; and Junkyard, a man-dog hybrid, resulted from lightning hitting their toxic sludge-covered shelter. Toxie’s girlfriend Yvonne, who is nearly blind without her glasses, also aids the Crusaders. Together, they battle Dr. Killemoff and his evil cohorts to protect Tromaville.
Toxic Crusaders: The Series was made for the whole family, appealing to preteens with its environmental message and featuring jokes that even adults can enjoy. This is a show for families looking to share the Troma experience.
Toxie was voiced by Rodger Bumpass, who also voices Squidward Tentacles on SpongeBob SquarePants. Bumpass also voiced Dr. Killemoff. Other notable voices include Paul Eiding (Ben 10), Ed Gilbert (Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills), Hal Rayle (SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron), John Mariano (The Tick), Kath Soucie (Lola Bunny in Space Jam), Susan Silo (Biker Mice from Mars), and Gregg Berger (Duckman).
Two major guest voices were Michael J. Pollard (Bonnie and Clyde) and Chuck McCann (Far Out Space Nuts, Pac-Man). The first episode was written by Chuck Lorre, who later created Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, and Bookie on HBO. Troma’s co-founders, Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, also co-wrote several scripts.
The bonus features include a new introduction from Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman, commercials for Toxic Crusaders toys, TV spots, lost archival footage, and a documentary on the video game. Toxic Crusaders: The Series includes all 13 episodes on 2 Blu-ray discs.
Jason Price founded the mighty Icon Vs. Icon more than a decade ago. Along the way, he’s assembled an amazing group of like-minded individuals to spread the word on some of the most unique people and projects on the pop culture landscape.
