Grimace might be getting the lion’s share of the attention this week, with McDonald’s declaring June 12 to be Grimace’s birthday. Even though people of the internet did their unsurprising dirty work with unsavory Grimace memes, and even though questions arose about the pricing of the celebratory McDonald’s birthday meals, people were ready to embracing one of the more enduring McDonald’s characters.
But Grimace isn’t the only denizen of the fictional McDonaldland, created in 1971 for kid-centric commercials. As a child of the ’70s and ’80s who once had a birthday party at McDonald’s, I can personally attest that McDonald’s characters were an integral part of the landscape for kids growing up in a time before the internet.
Here’s a look at the McDonald’s characters and their connections to one another.
Ronald McDonald
The OG, created in 1963 as “Ronald McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown,” was initially portrayed by Willard Scott in three Washington, D.C.-area TV spots, according to Wikipedia. A 2001 USA Today article commented on his evolution, saying that at his inception, “he was a clown with a paper cup nose. Soon, his features became more exaggerated—with redder hair, wider lips, and bigger feet. More recently, the stripes in his shirt have widened. His red shoes have been revised to look more like Doc Martens. And his hair has recently been softened from tight curls to something looser and more flowing. In his animated videos, he even wears something akin to dreadlocks.”
Fandom notes that since 2003, McDonald has bore the title “Chief Happiness Officer.”
Grimace
Our just-published examination of Grimace notes that he’s a giant purple taste bud made anthropomorphic, though a recent People article quoted a McDonald’s spokesperson intimating Grimace could be “a taste bud, a milkshake or just your favorite purple blob.”
Grimace made his debut in 1971, initially—according to Fandom—as “a villainous character called Evil Grimace who stole people’s shakes. But he quickly morphed into someone known for sharing the joy of shakes with his friends. Toward that end, he is occasionally portrayed as having birthday parties involving several McDonaldland characters.” (That, of course, extends to the 2023 Grimace celebrations.)
Fandom maintains that Grimace and Ronald are best friends.
Hamburglar
The name is not subtle. Hamburglar’s aim is to steal as many McDonald’s hamburgers as possible, yet Fandom maintains, “Even though he has always attempted (and failed) to hoard all the hamburgers in McDonaldland for himself, he has always been looked upon as a valued member of the McDonaldland community.”
The criminal branding of a black-and-white striped suit has been core to his look since the beginning, though Fandom revealed, “In 2015, new images were released by McDonald’s depicting the Hamburglar as a grown man wearing a fedora, a macintosh jacket atop a black-and-white t-shirt, with black jeans and with high-top sneakers. He still has a mask, but his face now also sports a good half-inch of designer stubble.”
Officer Big Mac
Hamburglar’s foil, Officer Big Mac, is the prime police presence in McDonaldland. Fandom notes that the fictional chief of police is engaged with keeping Hamburglar from pilfering burgers and Captain Crook from similarly depriving McDonaldland of Filet-o-Fish sandwiches.
Captain Crook
As you might surmise from his name, the ersatz McDonaldland embodiment of crime is modeled after Peter Pan villain Captain Hook, and according to Fandom, fell out of McDonald’s character favor in the 1980s.
Mayor McCheese
The other voice of authority aside from Officer Big Mac (and, really, Ronald himself), Mayor McCheese had H.R Pufnstuf and Monopoly Guy vibes. Fandom notes “lawsuit made by H.R. Pufnstuf creators Sid and Marty Krofft, who said McDonaldland itself was a ripoff of H.R. Pufnstuf” threatened the Mayor’s existence. But he returned, resplendent with giant cheeseburger head and tiny tophat, in The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald, a direct-to-video offering in the late ’90s and early ’00s.
Fry Kids
These characters have evolved through several different name changes (again, a big nod to Fandom for the intel) since debuting in 1973 as the awesomely monikered Fry Gobblins. Round, furry, speaking their own unintelligible language and beset with giant googly eyes, the creatures were fond of French fries and rolled with Captain Crook. They later became the Fry Guys, added Fry Girls to the mix in 1985, and later became the more gender-inclusive Fry Kids.
Birdie the Early Bird
This character deviated some from the early, established McDonaldland pattern: Not overtly connected to food—though introduced in 1980 to help trumpet McDonald’s breakfast options—and the first female character to join. As Fandom tells it, “Birdie’s origin is explained in one commercial: A giant egg falls from the night sky into McDonaldland, and is found by Ronald McDonald, Grimace, Hamburglar, and the Professor,” the latter being a minor character responsible for creating the relatively-unknown McNugget Buddies, which are unsettling.
“When the egg won’t hatch,” the narrative continues,” Ronald decides to show the egg love. When the egg hatches, she is so happy that she has already made friends and decides to stay in McDonaldland.”
Beyond McDonaldland: TikToks about McDonald’s food
McDonaldland was a fictional place that kids could be transported to think about eating McDonald’s. Today, TikTokers are doing a lot of this work for them. The Daily Dot’s coverage of McDonald’s content includes videos featuring food and food hacks. These include:
- A viral Oreo McFlurry Hashbrown sandwich hack that is just what it sounds like
- A poker pro who bet he could eat $1,000 worth of McDonald’s food in 36 hours
- A $2 breakfast hack via the McDonald’s app, and
- How some people are beginning to treat McDonald’s points as a viable currency
