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McDonaldland was a fantasy world used in the marketing for McDonald's restaurants from 1971 until 2003. McDonaldland was inhabited by Ronald McDonald and other characters. In addition to being used in advertising, the characters were used as the basis for equipment in the "PlayPlaces" attached to some McDonald's. The McDonaldland commercials along with the characters were discontinued in 2003 but Ronald McDonald is still seen in commercials and in Happy Meal toys.

History

Early years (1970-1972)

McDonaldland was created by Needham, Harper & Steers in 1970–1971 at the request of McDonald's for its restaurants. The early commercials were built on an upbeat, bubble-gum style tune and featured a narrator; many had plots that involved various villains trying to steal a corresponding food item but are foiled by Ronald.^[1]

In 1976 Remco created a line of six-inch action figures to celebrate the McDonaldland characters.^[1]

Lawsuit (1973)

In 1973, Sid and Marty Krofft sued McDonald's by claiming that the entire McDonaldland premise was a copyright infringement of their television show. The Kroffts claimed that the character Mayor McCheese was a direct rip-off of their character "H.R. Pufnstuf" (a mayor himself). At trial a jury found in favor of the Kroffts and McDonald's was ordered to pay $50,000. The case was appealed by both parties to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The appeals court, in the 1977 decision of Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions Inc. v. McDonald's Corp., reassessed damages in favor of the Kroffts to more than $1,000,000.^[1][2] McDonald's was then ordered to stop producing many of the characters and to stop airing commercials featuring the characters.^[1]

Popularity (1980-1998)

In the 1980s, McDonaldland remained a popular marketing device. The characters that remained following the lawsuit were Ronald McDonald, Grimace, Hamburglar and the French Fry Gobblins (renamed the Fry Guys and later the Fry Kids with the addition of the Fry Girls) while Mayor McCheese, Officer Big Mac, Captain Crook and the Professor were used until 1985 (However they did return for a Sears advertisement in 1987). Birdie the Early Bird would join the lineup soon after representing the restaurant's new breakfast line in the early 1980s. Some of the characters' physical appearances were revised in later commercials (notably Hamburglar, Grimace and Birdie). From then on, the characters lived in reality and interacted with real-life people but commercials still took place in "McDonaldland". Soon after the Happy Meal Gang and the McNugget Buddies were prominent features in the commercials (representing the restaurant's Happy Meals and Chicken McNuggets respectively, being the menu items that mainly appealed to kids) along with Ronald.

Merchandise featuring the McDonaldland characters included a kid-friendly magazine titled "McDonaldland Fun Times" which published six issues a year. A direct-to-video animated film titled The Adventures of Ronald McDonald: McDonaldland Treasure Island was released in 1989 featuring much of the McDonaldland characters from the 1980s. Video games based on the McDonaldland characters were also released such as M.C. Kids and McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure.

Later years (1998-2003)

From 1998 until 2003, Rugrats creator Klasky Csupo and McDonald's released an animated direct-to-video series exclusively on VHS titled The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald. The series depicted Ronald, Grimace, Birdie, the Hamburglar and a few new characters like Ronald's pessimistic dog Sundae. These videos would begin in live-action in what resembled a futuristic McDonaldland. Whenever the characters would enter down a tube or other means of travel they would become animated. In all six episodes Ronald goes on adventures with his friends and they learn new things along the way.

In the early 2000s, McDonald's experimented with the possibility of animating the characters to improve ratings. Various spots featuring the Hamburglar and other characters alongside celebrities were planned but were canceled. A conflict emerged between agencies regarding whether to continue using the characters or to follow through the desire of ad agency Leo Burnett by elevating the "I'm lovin' it" campaign and phasing out the characters, resulting in McDonald's choosing the latter option and completely retiring the McDonaldland characters.

Legacy

In recent years, the McDonaldland premise has largely been phased out of advertising campaigns and Happy Meal toys. Despite this, the McDonaldland characters continue to appear in McDonald's PlayPlaces, decorative seats for children's birthday parties and bibs though only Ronald McDonald, Birdie, Grimace, Hamburglar and the Fry kids appear in them. They also appeared on some soft drink cups until 2008 and still appear as cookies in pouches respectively titled "McDonaldland Cookies".

Today, the characters also appear on the windows of some McDonald's restaurants. Modern commercials nowadays depict Ronald McDonald alone in real-world situations with real children whether he visits a local McDonald's restaurant or to visit sick children at a Ronald McDonald House. Grimace however had a non-speaking appearance in an advertisement for Monsters vs. Aliens Happy Meal toys while Hamburglar (in a new live-action look) appeared in an adult-oriented commercial advertising the Big Mac.

Characters

• 
  Ronald McDonald – The primary cultural icon and official mascot of McDonald's. He is a clown with red hair and a big red smile who wears a yellow jumpsuit and red shoes. While his suit has gone through various changes over the years, it has basically remained the same.

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  Hamburglar – A pint-sized burglar who was introduced in 1971 as one of the first antagonists of the commercials where often attempts to steal burgers from Ronald. He was reintroduced in 1985 as one of the main protagonists. From 1971 to 1992, Hamburglar was performed by Frank Delfino, Jerry Maren in some commercials and Tommy Vicini from 1992 to 2003^[3][4] while the character was voiced by Larry Storch from 1971 to 1986, Howard Morris from 1986 to 2003 and sometimes Charlie Adler in commercials during the mid 1980s and in The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald.^[5] In 2015, McDonald's brought back the Hamburglar as part of the promotion of a new sirloin burger.^[6]
  

• 
  Grimace – A large purple monster who was first introduced in November 1971 as the "Evil Grimace". In Grimace's first appearances, he was one of the original main antagonists and was depicted with two pairs of arms which was used to steal sodas and shakes. "Evil" was soon dropped from Grimace's name and he was reintroduced in 1972 as a protagonist. Grimace was performed by Patty Saunders while he was voiced by Lennie Weinrib from 1971 to 1972, Frank Welker from 1972 to 2003, sometimes Larry Moran from 1985 to 2003 and Kevin Michael Richardson in The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald.

• 
  Mayor McCheese – An enormous cheeseburger-headed character who first appeared in 1971 and was removed in 1985. He sported a top hat, a diplomat's sash and a pair of pince-nez spectacles and was portrayed as McDonaldland's bumbling and incompetent mayor who was the subject of a lawsuit filed by Sid and Marty Krofft for being a rip-off of H.R. Pufnstuf. He was performed by Billy Curtis from 1971-1979 and Jerry Maren from 1980-1985, while he was voiced by Howard Morris in the commercials and by Bob Joles in The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald where both actors did an impersonation of Ed Wynn.

• 
  Birdie the Early Bird – A yellow bird wearing a pink jumpsuit, flight cap and scarf who was introduced in 1980 as the first female character. Made to promote the company's new breakfast items, she was depicted as a poor flyer and a somewhat clumsy person in general. Birdie was performed by Patty Maloney while she was voiced by Russi Taylor in the commercials and by Christine Cavanaugh in The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald.

• 
  Captain Crook – A pirate captain who was introduced in 1971 as one of the main antagonists and was dropped in 1985. He steals Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. He was revised in 1984 with a Muppet-like appearance and later became simply known as "The Captain". Captain Crook was performed by Bob Towers while he was voiced by Lennie Weinrib.

• 
  The Professor – A scientist who was McDonaldland's inventor and researcher. He was introduced in 1971 and has invented different devices throughout McDonaldland. In his first appearance, he was a bespectacled man with a long beard. In the 80s, he was a man with a moustache, a long nose, and a helmet with a lightbulb on it. The character was dropped in 1985. He was voiced by Howard Morris in the 1970s and by Andre Stojka in the 1980s.

Officer Big Mac climb-in jail playground.

• 
  Officer Big Mac – Introduced in 1971 and was dropped in 1985, he was similar to Mayor McCheese in appearance that he had a large burger for a head. In his case, his head was a Big Mac (minus the vegetables and special sauce) rather than a cheeseburger. Officer Big Mac was the chief of police and as such he wore a constable uniform with a disproportionately small custodian helmet resting atop his head bun. As the main source of law and order in McDonaldland, Officer Big Mac spent most of his time chasing Hamburglar and Captain Crook. Officer Big Mac was performed by Jerry Maren while he was voiced by Ted Cassidy.

A blue Fry Kid is seen sitting on a McDonald's sign in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

• 
  Fry Kids – Introduced in 1972 as "Gobblins", the Fry Kids are small, shaggy, ball-like creatures with legs and no arms who try to steal other characters' French fries. The Fry Kids were variously voiced in the commercials and were voiced by Kath Soucie, Paul Greenberg and Nika Futterman in The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald.

• 
  The Happy Meal Gang – Introduced in 1984, they were joined by the McNugget Buddies in 1984 and the Happy Meal Box and the Under 3 Toy in 1992. The Happy Meal Hamburger was voiced by Bob Arbogast and later by Jim Cummings, the Happy Meal Fries was voiced by Jeff Winkless and later voiced by Bob Bergen and then Tress MacNeille and the Happy Meal Drink was voiced by Hal Smith and later voiced by Bill Farmer.

• 
  Uncle O'Grimacey – Introduced in 1977 for an advertising narrative of McDonald's both in celebration of Saint Patrick's Day and to mark the annual appearance of the Shamrock Shake, he is depicted as Grimace's uncle. Uncle O'Grimacey was voiced by Lennie Weinrib.

• 
  CosMc – An alien who appeared in commercials during the mid-1980s. CosMc was a character in the video game M.C. Kids. CosMc was performed by Tommy Vicini and voiced by Frank Welker.

• 
  The McNugget Buddies – A bunch of anthropomorphic regular-sized Chicken McNuggets who were introduced in 1984. The McNugget Buddies were voiced by Hal Rayle, Frank Welker, Katie Leigh, Greg Berg, Pat Musick, Don Messick and Pat Fraley in the commercials and by Pamela Adlon, Lisa Raggio and Charlie Adler in The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald.

• 
  Bernice – A strange creature that was introduced in 1992 and that ate inedible things like the script in the three-part "Ronald McDonald Makin' Movies" commercial.

• 
  Catfish – An unnamed cat/fish hybrid.^[7]
  

• 
  Parrot – An unnamed green parrot in a pith helmet who advertises the Discover The Rainforest activity book series consisting of Paint It Wild: Paint & See Activity Book, Sticker Safari: Sticker And Activity Book, Wonders In The Wild: Activity Book and Ronald McDonald and the Jewel of the Amazon Kingdom: Storybook, which are all written by Mike Roberts, Russell Mittermeier, Gad Meiron and Randall Stone and illustrated by Donna Reynolds and Tim Racer.^[7]
  

• 
  Vulture – An unnamed vulture.

• 
  Sundae – Ronald's dog who has appeared only in The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald where he was animated with puppetry. Sundae was performed by Verne Troyer while he was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.

• 
  Iam Hungry – A short-lived McDonaldland character who was introduced in 1998 and was dropped in 2001. Self-proclaimed as the "Vice President of Snacking", the character was a floating, fast-moving green fuzzball with orange arms and a monstrous face. Iam Hungry was voiced by Jeff Lupetin.

• 
  Griddler – A short-lived McDonaldland character only featured in two commercials in 2003.

• 
  Mike the Microphone – A one-time character created especially for the Kid Rhino albums Ronald Makes It Magic and Ronald McDonald presents Silly Sing Along.

See also

• Mac Tonight


• 
  Burger King Kingdom – Burger King's answer for McDonaldland.


• Fast food advertising

References

External links

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