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‘Toxic Crusaders’ Animated Series Heads to Digitally Remastered Blu-ray from Troma
In the late ’80s and early ’90s, it wasn’t unusual for violent movies like RoboCop and Rambo to be turned into Saturday morning cartoons for kids, but The Toxic Avenger still seemed like an unlikely candidate — until the 1984 low-budget gorefest was cleaned up for “Toxic Crusaders” in 1991.
An environmentally-conscious superhero cartoon in the vein of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Captain Planet,” the show ran for one season. All 13 episodes are coming to Blu-ray from Troma on December 10.
While originally animated on 16mm film, “Toxic Crusaders” was mastered on videotape for broadcast, including all digital effects and transitions. To present the series in the best possible quality, Troma has used advanced AI models to upscale the standard definition masters in high definition to capture the original broadcast’s intended experience.
Special Features for the two-disc set include:
- Introduction by Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman (new)
- Original Toxic Crusaders toy commercials and TV spots
- Feature length documentary on the making of Retroware’s Toxic Crusaders video game
- Long lost Toxie archival footage
- Bonus cartoons
Toxie and his nemesis Dr. Killemoff are both voiced by Rodger Bumpass, best known as Squidward on “SpongeBob SquarePants.” The cast also includes Paul Eiding (“Ben 10”), Ed Gilbert (“Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills”), Hal Rayle (“Swat Kats: The Radical Squad”), John Mariano (“The Tick”), Kath Soucie (Space Jam), Susan Silo (“Biker Mice from Mars”), and Gregg Berger (“Duckman”).
Set in the fictional city of Tromaville, the show finds nerd-turned-superhero Toxie leading a group of fellow mutants to stop evil alien Dr. Killemoff and his cohorts from destroying the planet.
The first episode of “Toxic Crusaders” was written by sitcom magnate Chuck Lorre, who went on to create “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory.” The Toxic Avenger co-directors and Troma co-founders Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz worked on the show as well.
Lorre also co-wrote the “Toxic Crusaders” theme song, featured in the video below, which also serves as a preview of Troma’s high definition up-scaling.
After scaring up a strong theatrical run, Oddity director Damian McCarthy’s Hokum heads home to Digital this week.
Settle in for a spooky supernatural chiller as Hokum arrives on all Digital platforms to rent or own beginning June 2, followed by a Blu-ray/4K Ultra HD Combo and DVD release on August 11, 2026.
Adam Scott (“Severance”) stars in Hokum as reclusive novelist Ohm Bauman. When he retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, the staff’s tales of an ancient witch haunting the honeymoon suite take hold of his mind. Disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance draw Ohm into a nightmarish confrontation with the darkest corners of his past.
Peter Coonan (“The Alienist: Angel of Darkness”), David Wilmot (“Station Eleven”), Florence Ordesh (“Departure”), Michael Patric (“Frontier”), Will O’Connell (“Game of Thrones”), Brendan Conroy (“Bodkin”), and Austin Amelio (“The Walking Dead”) also star.
Get a peek at the upcoming physical media release below, including a few special features.
Spooky Pictures’ Roy Lee (Weapons) & Steven Schneider (Insidious) produce alongside Image Nation’s Derek Dauchy (Late Night with the Devil), Tailored Film’s Ruth Treacy, Julianne Forde, & Mairtín de Barra, and Cweature Features’ Ken Kao & Josh Rosenbaum.
I wrote in my review for Bloody Disgusting, “A quaint Irish hotel with a deeply haunted history awaits an American writer in McCarthy’s third outing, continuing his streak for folkloric tales of supernatural karma and spine-tingling terror with a dark sense of humor.”
What’s next from Damian McCarthy? He’s currently writing a haunted house movie, but recent comments suggest he may be moving into other genres beyond that upcoming project.
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