‘The Poisonous Crusaders’ Are Again In Excessive Definition [Blu-ray Review]

What do Robocop, Police Academy, Rambo, and The Poisonous Avenger have in widespread? Should you answered that these had been all rated R film franchises become kids’s cartoons, then you definitely’re completely right. It was an odd phenomenon, however the 80s (and into the early 90s, when The Poisonous Crusaders was launched) had been a bizarre time for kids’s programming. Hell, it’s not as if we weren’t watching these things anyway, proper? I used to be six or seven after I noticed First Blood, and I used to be 10 after I noticed The Poisonous Avenger, for higher or worse. However, I imply, why not base a cartoon on a comedy-horror film whereby a child’s head will get graphically run over and explodes just like the piece of fruit they used for the impact? No less than The Poisonous Crusaders, which was simply remastered and launched on Blu-ray, taught youngsters about defending the atmosphere!

The Poisonous Crusaders seems higher than it has any proper to be. For the Blu-ray launch, the image was upscaled to the purpose the place it seems even higher than its unique launch. Personally, I appreciated the best way the sequence appeared after I watched just a few episodes on Tubi. It was like watching it on an previous TV again within the early 90’s. This switch is somewhat too pristine for my liking. However you’ll be able to actually see each element. That’s good in its approach as a result of it does have a novel model. Typically backgrounds seem like ink pen on development paper, giving the present an nearly impressionistic vibe at instances.

As for the cartoon itself, it’s all fairly fundamental. Dangerous guys have names like Dr. Killemoff, Psycho, and Bonehead. Toxie is the chief of the nice guys, and he’s accompanied by Main Catastrophe, Nozone, Headbanger, and Junkyard. Other than Toxie, the nice guys have mainly one gimmick that they depend on. Main Catastrophe, as an example, controls crops. Nozone has a large nostril with which he is ready to blow objects round. Hey, nobody accused this present of being refined.

The staff is charged with defending town of Tromaville towards Dr. Killemoff and his numerous schemes to pollute town. Why is he making an attempt to do that? As a result of he’s really a four-armed alien from the planet Smogula. The aliens from Smogula thrive on air pollution, and so they’re ready for Tromaville to be terraformed in order that they will transfer in.

Toxie’s cartoon origin is much like the film for those who can consider that. It’s 99.9999% much less raunchy, in fact, and it doesn’t contain a sheep in lipstick. Quickly he results in his acquainted shack in a poisonous waste dump, together with his acquainted blonde girlfriend who can break glass together with her singing voice. Talking of voices, it was a great name to present Toxie a kid-like voice as a substitute of the deep faux-superhero voice he has within the films. It makes him extra of a relatable fellow for the younger ones.

There’s one factor in regards to the present that undoubtedly needs to be mentioned: the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ affect. First, the Crusaders are mutants by one other identify (Hideously Deformed Creatures of Superhuman Measurement and Power), and so they’re generally even known as mutants. Should you’re in any respect aware of the plot of the Turtles, you’ll know that the Shredder is meant to get Earth prepared for an invasion from Dimension-X, a bizarro place with all types of bizarre creatures. In The Poisonous Crusaders, Killemoff is a soldier of the planet Smogula, who’s planning an invasion of Tromaville. Hell, the toys had been even manufactured by the identical firm that made the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures. The toys had been so comparable that you may simply combine them together with your turtle figures, which I did myself as a younger lad.

This all is sensible while you understand that TMNT was nonetheless massively common in 1991. However regardless of the affect, Poisonous Crusaders isn’t a ripoff. For one factor, TMNT is an journey sequence with comedy components, whereas The Poisonous Crusaders places humor on the forefront. It’s a comedy sequence first and an journey sequence second. 

The humor is…attention-grabbing. It’s principally pun-based, stuff that may make an older individual groan, but it surely’s humor {that a} child would perceive, for essentially the most half. And there’s loads of gross-out humor, too. Nothing excessive, characters like Mayor Grody and places like Burp-O-Burger will be discovered all through. 

Consider it or not, the present is even barely subversive. You could have the fully corrupt Mayor Grody who, hopefully, taught not less than some youngsters to query authority. That was actually the purpose, anyway. This is likely one of the issues taken immediately from the film. And, in fact, it makes youngsters take into consideration the risks of air pollution, as imprecise and fantastical because the idea is offered within the cartoon. Hell, within the twenty first Century, even acknowledging that air pollution exists is subversive.

There are 13 episodes of The Poisonous Crusaders. After watching all 13 in a row, every thing began to mix collectively, and I began having a bizarre kids’s cartoon nightmare imaginative and prescient. So I wouldn’t suggest watching them multi functional sitting. One or two at a time, and attempt to get into the mindset of a child. That is so essential. It’s important to neglect you’re an grownup and reconnect together with your internal youngster. You possibly can both roll your eyes on the punny humor or you’ll be able to settle for it as a part of the world-building. I selected the latter and had a rattling good time doing it. 

This new Blu-ray is filled with particular options divided fairly equally between the 2 discs. There’s no commentary, sadly. Should you like toy commercials, although, there’s a ton of them right here, in addition to quirky featurettes like Toxie and Nozone within the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. One of many weirder issues on the primary disc is the inclusion of three quick Christmas cartoons from again within the 40s or 50s. I do not know why they had been included. 

That is undoubtedly a group geared towards the grownup collector able to get their nostalgia on. Whether or not you want these cartoons or not will in all probability have loads to do with how previous you had been in 1991. Nevertheless it’s additionally good old style kids’s leisure. So we forty-somethings can present it to our youngsters or different small people in our lives, and so they’ll in all probability get a kick out of it.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• New introduction by Lloyd Kaufman
• Authentic Poisonous Crusaders toy commercials and TV spots
• Characteristic-length documentary in regards to the making of The Poisonous Crusaders online game from Retroware
• Lengthy misplaced archival footage of your favourite mop-wielding mutant
• Bonus cartoons

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Categorized:Evaluations