Prior to Toxic Crusaders, cartoons based on R-rated films had been attempted with programs such as Rambo: The Force of Freedom.

Created by New York-based Troma, Inc., a company famous for low-budget films such as Chopper Chicks in Zombietown, Class of Nuke 'Em High, and Sgt.

Only thirteen syndicated episodes were produced, but like the feature films, the show became a cult favorite, spawning a string of merchandise.

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 being 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.

Dr. Killemoff and Czar Zosta are cockroach-like extraterrestrials from the planet Smogula, a world where pollution is natural as fresh air and water is to Earth.

For unexplained reasons, Czar Zosta and other Smogulans are able to withstand Earth's atmosphere without problems, while Dr. Killemoff wears a breathing apparatus to survive.

Similar to the Ninja Turtles' Retromutagen Ooze, Playmates also marketed a canister of slime labeled Toxie's Toxic Waste.

A Blu-ray was release on December 10, 2024, Toxic Crusaders: The Series, including a new introduction featuring a live-action Toxie and Dr. Killemoff, played by James T. Mills and Matthew D’Angelo.

In Lloyd Kaufman's first book, "All I Need to Know about Filmmaking I Learned from The Toxic Avenger", he claims that New Line did not live up to their end of the contract and the film was not made.