Toxic Crusaders: The Series Blu Ray Review (Troma)

Toxic Crusaders is a 1991 animated television series created and produced by Lloyd Kaufman (Tromeo and Juliet, The Toxic Avenger franchise, Nuke Em High franchise, Poultrygeist, Terror Firmer, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Combat Shock, Zombie Island Massacre, Blood Hook, Def by Temptation, and Sgt. Kaubukiman NYPD). It was directed by Bill Hutten (RoboCop, Pac-Man, Superman, Super Friends, Police Academy: The Animated Series, and James Bond Jr.) and Tony Love (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dino Babies, RoboCop, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, Yogi’s Treasure Hunt, and Super Friends). It was produced by Walt Kubiak (Alvin and the Chipmunks, Sitting Ducks, Speed Racer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Smurfs, and Rambo). It only lasted for one season. They had a popular line of toys during it’s original release. In 1997, they edited a few episodes together and Troma released “Toxic Crusaders: The Movie”. Go through the chaotic adventures of that lovable deformed creature of superhuman size and strength, Toxie (played by: Rodger Bumpass from SpongeBob SquarePants, Teen Titans Go!, Toy Story 2, and The Running Man)! Along with his new friends Yvonne (played by: Kath Soucie from Tom and Jerry franchise, Rugrats, Futurama, Space Jam, Young Justice, and Curious George), No-Zone (played by: Paul Eiding from Transformers franchise, The Death of Superman, Ben 10, and Incredibles 2), Junkyard (played by: Gregg Berger from The Adventures of Garfield, Transformers franchise, G.I. Joe franchise, and Batman Beyond) / (played by: Patric Zimmerman from Metal Gear Solid franchise, Eddie Presley, Kid N Play, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), and others watch as Toxie stands up for truth and justice against the evil Dr. Kilemoff (played by: Rodger Bumpass from Escape from New York, Heavy Metal, The Real Ghostbusters, Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future, Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, and Bio-Dome) and his hoards of heinous henchmen which includes the dangerous Psycho (played by: Michael J. Pollard from Bonnie and Clyde, House of 1000 Corpses, Scrooged, Dick Tracy, American Gothic, Split Second, and Sleepaway Camp III)!!!! Toxic Crusaders was a very ambitious project from Troma. They took their Rated R superhero and they turned him into a kid friendly Saturday morning cartoon. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were very popular at the time and Toxic Crusaders tried to be similar to that. Unfortunately, it never took off and it only lasted for 13 episodes back in the day. The animated television series did spawn a cool line of action figures, merch, a great theme song, and a full length movie was put together in 1997 to try to resurrect it to the public. That film was just a few episodes here edited into one to promote this. It was well written by some very experienced TV writers including Chuck Lorre (Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, The Kominsky Method, Young Sheldon, Mom, Cybill, Roseanne, and Grace Under Fire). It always had interesting subplots and concepts especially for something aimed at children. Creator Lloyd Kaufman added some really talented people when it came to Toxic Crusaders. The main cast included voice actor veterans like Rodger Bumpass, Kath Soucie, Michael J. Pollard, Gregg Berger, and Paul Eiding. The rest of the supporting cast includes Susan Blu (Friday the 13th: The New Blood), Ed Gilbert (The Transformers), John Mariano (Animaniacs), Chuck McCann (DuckTales franchise), Hal Rayle (Predator 2), Susan Silo (Curious George), and Lloyd Kaufman (Rocky). Toxic Crusaders definitely had a TMNT vibe but with a Tromaville twist. It was supposed to be for kids but it still felt more like something for adults. It had a good mix of comedy, action, and some crazy situations. I really appreciate that it wasn’t afraid to put it’s own stamp on it despite trying to appeal to the mainstream. It’s a very unique entry for The Toxic Avenger universe and I still think it holds up today. The animation style was similar to most of the other cartoons from the 90’s. Toxic Crusaders is so much fun and really entertaining in every possible way. This is worth checking out or revisiting especially if you are a fan of Troma. RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Troma! These 1080i (1.33:1) transfers on all 13 episodes look much better than expected. I know it’s just an HD upscale but it’s a major improvement over the previous DVD version. The restoration was done by Retroware. It’s the best that you can do with it considering it’s original source material. It has English: Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks for every episode. The audio is solid but don’t expect anything groundbreaking when it comes to it. All the dialogue is very clean, the action is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it especially it’s awesome theme. It has English SDH subtitles. Disc 1 has the first 7 episodes which includes The Making of Toxie, This Spud’s for You, Club Fred, Tree Troubles, The Pollution Solution, A Site for Sore Eyes, and Mr. Earth – Superhero. Disc 2 had the other 6 episodes which includes Toxie Ties the Knot, Invasion of the Biddy Snatchers, The Snail must go Through, Nab that Toxie Cab, Still Crazy after all these Shears, and That’s no Villain, That’s my Mom. Just a warning most of the extras besides a select few are upscaled SD but they look better than before for sure. On the first disc, it has the almost 2 minute “Lloyd Kaufman’s Gonna School Ya”. Troma’s founder goes over syndication. It has the almost 2 minute “Who Are The Toxic Crusaders?”. It’s just a quick overview of the cartoon. It has the little under a minute “Toxie and No-Zone March in the Macy’s Day Parade”. It’s a short clip from an event. It has the almost 2 minute “Message from Space” that has commercials for the toys. It has the little under a minute It has the under a minute “Toxic Toy Jingle”. This is another commercial related to the action figures. It has the under a minute “Toxic Crusaders in 3D”. It has test footage for commercials for the toys. It has the almost 8 minute “Christmas Comes But Once a Year”. It’s a late 30’s Fleischer animated short. It has the little over 6 minute “Snow Foolin'” cartoon from 1949. It has the little over 6 minute “Hector’s Hectic Life” (6:01, SD) animated short from 1948. The bonus material from the second disc has the little over 2 minute “Lloyd Kaufman’s Classic DVD Intro” which is your classic Uncle Lloyd set up. It has the brand new exclusive full length documentary that’s almost 74 minutes “Making ‘The Toxic Crusaders'”. It has interviews with Lloyd Kaufman, Ryan Schott, Sam Beddoes, Justin Silverman, Jon Lock, Jerky, Rob Kersey, Matty Rzemyk, Josh Key, Ryan Rasing and Christian Czmar. Everyone was involved with the show for various reasons and it’s great to see different points of view on the 90’s cartoon. Lloyd said that they were mainly doing raunchy sex comedies at the time but there was too much competition with the same sub-genre with the mainstream so they switched to horror movies. They chat about the origins of The Toxic Avenger, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Toys, Music, and an upcoming video game project. They go into great detail about all kinds of subjects related to Toxic Crusaders. The video game is covered heavy here but it’s really fascinating. Apparently, the main reason for this home video release was to prepare the general public for the upcoming game. They wanted Toxic Crusaders officially be available in it’s highest possible quality so people knew what they were getting into when it came to the upcoming game. This is the reason why this home video release is worth adding to the collection. If you ever wanted to know more about this wild animated series, watch this documentary. It has the almost 5 minute “Original Toxic Crusaders Retail Presentation”. This is a fun promotional piece for the cartoon. It has the little over 3 minute “File Footage”. It has the little over a minute “Toxic Toy Commercials” that’s 3 different spots advertising the toys for Toxic Crusaders. It has the little over a minute “Toy TV Spots”. It has the little over a minute “Lloyd Gets Bent Over by the Studio System”. Lloyd Kaufman is hilarious while talking about the feature-length “Toxic Crusaders” movie. It has a little over a minute “Toxic Crusaders: The Game” commerical. It has the iconic almost minute “Radiation March” that used to be featured on almost every Troma DVD back in the day.it has the little over a minute “TA in 4K” that promotes the 4K home video release for “The Toxic Avenger” set. It has the little over a minute “The Toxic Avenger in Ukraine”. It’s a fast look at the Toxic Avenger fighting in Russia. One thing that you can always appreciate about Troma when it comes to their home video releases, they always load it with special features. Lots of commercials and interesting extras that are related to this 90’s production. Like I said above, the documentary alone makes this blu ray worth the purchase. This is a must own for any Troma, Toxic Avenger, or 90’s cartoon fans. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!