Toxic Crusaders
Series, 1991, The cartoon, Set in Tromaville, for kids
Toxic Crusaders is #4 of 6 in release order and #4 of 6 in chronological order in the The Toxic Avenger.
The story
Loosely based on the 1984 B-horror comedy film The Toxic Avenger, Toxic Crusaders is a syndicated 13-episode animated series created by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz. 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 entity 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.
Toxic Crusaders recap
Toxic Crusaders (1991) recasts Toxie as the leader of a team of mutant superheroes fighting polluters from outer space in a children's cartoon. Thirteen episodes in one season ran in first-run syndication from January to May 1991, with a few aired as a trial in 1990. Toxie (Rodger Bumpass) keeps his origin as a janitor dunked in toxic waste, but his mop now talks. His team includes Nozone (Paul Eiding), a pilot with a giant sneezing nose; Major Disaster (Ed Gilbert), who controls plants; the two-headed Headbanger; and Junkyard (Gregg Berger), half man and half dog. They face the bug-like Dr. Killemoff (also Bumpass) and Czar Zoster from the planet Smogula, the sarcastic henchman Psycho (Michael J. Pollard), the bully Bonehead and Tromaville's corrupt Mayor Max Grody (Chuck McCann). Toxie's girlfriend Yvonne (Kath Soucie) plays the accordion. Stands apart from the films and needs none of them.
Toxic Crusaders ending explained
Toxic Crusaders ends with "That's No Villain, That's My Mom!", in which Czar Zoster tries to invade by toxic hot-air balloon while Dr. Killemoff keeps the Crusaders busy with a convention for deformed creatures, and a mishap swaps the minds of Killemoff and Toxie's mother. The show stopped after 13 episodes, though the toys, comics and video games outlasted it. A live-action film at New Line fell through and ended in a lawsuit that Troma won.
Where to watch Toxic Crusaders
Toxic Crusaders is streaming on Prime Video, Philo, Plex, Troma NOW, and Tubi in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon.
Ratings
IMDb 6.5/10
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie, before Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV.
- Chronological order: after The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie, before Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV.
What to watch before Toxic Crusaders
In release order, the essentials before Toxic Crusaders (1991) are The Toxic Avenger (1984), The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989), and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989). Toxic Crusaders itself is optional in the The Toxic Avenger order.
Cast
- Rodger Bumpass as Toxie / Dr. Killemoff (voice)
- Gregg Berger as Junkyard (voice)
- Susan Silo as Mrs. Junior (voice)
- Ed Gilbert as Major Disaster (voice)
- Hal Rayle as Bonehead (voice)
- Patric Zimmerman as Czar Zoster (voice)
- Chuck McCann as Mayor Grody (voice)
- Susan Blu as Mona (voice)
- Kath Soucie as Yvonne (voice)
- Michael J. Pollard as Psycho (voice)
- Paul Eiding as Nozone (voice)
- John Mariano
Created by Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz.