If Lee Cronin’s The Mummy looks too gross for you, try this lighter 1990s animated Mummy series

Mummies Alive! was a solid late-1990s cartoon that's mostly been forgotten Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is in theaters now, and by all accounts, it’s a really gruesome, terrifying horror movie that updates the mummy genre for a new age (and has nothing to do with the Brendan Fraser franchise). That’s all well and good, but in case you’re not into that level of gore, allow me to recommend some late-'90s mummy material that’s a bit lighter — and arguably overdue for a reappraisal. The Mummies Alive! animated series debuted in syndication in 1997, airing on weekdays on different channels across the country. The main character is a San Francisco kid named Presley, the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Prince Rapses. When Presley visits an Egyptian museum exhibit about Rapses, an evil living mummy named Scarab discovers the kid’s connection to the long-dead pharaoh. Scarab was once Rapses’ advisor, before stealing his life force in order to live for centuries. Now, he’s after Presley, to steal his life as well. To protect Presley, four mummies who were Rapses’ guards come back to life. There’s Ja-Kal, the leader; Rath, the sorcerer; Armon, the strongest of them; and Nefer-Tina, th