Horror and science fiction have always been a part of the television canvas, and constant attempts have been made over the years to produce classic entertainment. Some have fallen by the wayside, while others became mainstream phenomena. With “TV Terrors,” we take a look back at the many genre efforts from the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s, exploring some shows that became cult classics, and others that sank into obscurity.

This month we embrace ’90s nostalgia with the “Creepy Crawlers“!

• Aired from 1994 – 1996
• Aired in Syndication

For the majority of the 1990s, whenever I would turn on my television in the afternoon (or Saturday Mornings) to watch cartoons I would basically be bombarded with commercials for Mattel’s “Creepy Crawlers.” The ad played about eighteen times a day, and even with the bombardment of commercials urging me to buy it, it just seemed so much more fun as a concept than an actual toy. 

“They’re squirmy, they’re wormy, they’re purple and green. They’re the grossest little creatures that you’ve ever seen,” the commercials would proclaim.

With the toy, you could play mad scientist by taking various tubes of liquid plastic and making your very own multi-colored (occasionally neon) creatures with a variety of molds and some “baking.” Marketed as “Easy Bake Ovens,” but for boys, with “Creepy Crawlers” (Originally called “The Thingmaker”) you were capable of creating your own critters and monsters like worms, millipedes, spiders, scorpions… and basically anything that’s sticky, squirms, or goes splat.

The toy line gained enough steam and popularity with kids that it eventually spawned its own animated series in 1994. In the eighties and nineties cartoons became toys, and toys became cartoons. An interesting thing about the ’90s is that superhero shows had an odd habit of telling stories about good guys or villains that were byproducts of radioactive slime, sludge, or gooey substances. It stemmed from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze, and this inspired a myriad of mutants or monsters of some kind that would either do battle with one another or fight crime. 

What’s unusual is that the “Creepy Crawlers” series was spearheaded by none other than Saban Studios who, at the time, was in the business of making money off of imported color-coded superheroes (ie. Power Rangers, VR Troopers, et al.). So, it’s pretty odd they’d put money into an animated series about slimy superheroes no one was all too familiar with. 

Developed by James Cross and Judy Martin, “Creepy Crawlers” centers on two warring groups of evil and heroic mutants brought to life from a young boy’s “Magic Maker.” Due to a once-every-thousand-years planetary alignment, the “Magical Millennium Moment” (because the 90s) rains down cosmic energy on the shop one fateful night. This somehow makes the “Magic Maker” capable of creating strange, man-sized mutant bug creatures. 

After building and perfecting its machinery, the boy (named Chris Carter) accidentally creates a group of large bug warriors named the Goop-Mandos. From the goop, three bug-like heroes inexplicably emerge with a friendly personality and ready to team up with their young creator. There’s the trickster Hocus Locust, the electric creature Volt Jolt, and strong man T-3. With the help of their new creator, they decide to perform missions of crime fighting of the utmost toyetic nature. 

The catch is that the heroes need Creepy Crawler goop to function. If not given enough, they simply can’t respond to Chris’s commands. To top it off, they have a sweet action vehicle they drive around in and, of course, each Goop-Mando has his own unique power. Enter the evil Professor Googengrime, an old crusty magician who steals the “Magic Maker” and creates his own creatures, but with an evil bent. Among them there’s “Spooky Goopy,” a green skeletal monster with a Peter Lorre accent (and a talking hat that helps his master in creating monsters from the Magic Maker), the cockroach themed “Shockaroach,” the bug themed “Squirminator,” and many more. Granted the designs for the Creepy Crawlers characters were pretty good (especially the villains!), but “Creepy Crawlers” is a mostly generic but serviceable animated vehicle for the decade.

Chris Carter, and his sidekick Samantha Reynolds, act as avatars for the target audience, while the monsters do most of the work and take center stage. Saban and the producers don’t entirely build charismatic characters as memorable as the Ninja Turtles, however. Googengrime’s Spooky Goopy is incidentally the only character with a ton of personality; he’s almost like a moving tattoo. That’s likely because of his horror roots and the very interesting character design that definitely warranted him a separate fan base. 

As with most of the cartoons from the decade targeted toward kids (and parents’ wallets), the primary focus of the show was getting the toy line off the ground, and they pulled it off. “Creepy Crawlers” did (almost immediately) even release their own line of action figures for the show, each with their own accessories including goop, a mold, and their own “goop” functions. Since its cancellation, the toy line has since pretty much forgotten the whole animated property altogether, which is pretty sad.

The series only lasted about two seasons before cancellation while the toy line did continue, eventually reverting back to the original monster/bug making device that kids loved so much. I’d suggest the “Creepy Crawlers” series primarily for nostalgia fans, or hardcore fans of “Creepy Crawlers” toys. Sure it wasn’t as dynamic as the Ninja Turtles, but it garnered some nifty character designs, and a concept filled with potential.

Is It On DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming? There has yet to be an official DVD or Blu-ray release for “Creepy Crawlers,” which may be because of rights issues between ToyMax and Mattel. However, various episodes can be found on YouTube.