As his name suggests, he was Mayor of McDonaldland, a mythical place where McDonald's fries and thick shakes grew magically from the bushes. ins.style.height = container.attributes.ezah.value + 'px'; In The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald the denizens of McDonaldland were shown to be able to travel between worlds using PlayPlace slides. window.ezoSTPixelAdd(slotId, 'adsensetype', 1); They're the stuff of nightmares, and hey, kids have to grow up sometime, right? Known for his crescent moon head, sunglasses and piano-playing, the character used the song "Mack the Knife" which was made famous in the United States by Bobby Darin.Throughout the campaign, Mac was performed by actor Doug Jones in his fourth Hollywood job and voiced by Roger Behr. These commercials and merchandise generally portray him as a well-meaning simpleton, whose clumsy antics provide a comic foil to Ronald McDonald. And it's those last characters that were really a problem, because they were sort of a dead giveaway that McDonald's had essentially stolen the entire idea for their fantasy land. Ronald McDonald was originally portrayed by Willard Scott, a former Bozo the Clown actor. It didn't take long for McDonaldland to come under attack. If we've learned anything here today, it's not just that McDonald's was built on some serious shadiness and copyright infringement, it's also that kids' shows and commercials from the '70s and '80s were legitimately disturbing. Calling Remcos Grimace an action figure is a bit of a stretch, since the toy had very limited poseability: His arms and hands were flaps of furred purple felt, while his hard-plastic purple feet allowed him to stand. Well-loved characters from the Scooby Doo, Tom & Jerry, and DC franchises make up the Warner Bros Happy Meal collection which will be available in McDonald's starting today, January 27. The last appearances of Hamburglar on television were prime time commercials promoting the dollar menu. Shortly thereafter, Marty Krofft telephoned Needham only to be told that the advertising campaign had been cancelled.". var lo = new MutationObserver(window.ezaslEvent); The latter, friendlier form of Grimace was retained by McDonalds even after the corporation shut down their McDonaldland advertising campaign. Euan MacDonald as Simon Mona Marshall as Kids Drew Massey as Pip Julie Merrill as TV Woman Richard Moll as Org's Dad Patrick Pinney as Phantom Head Phil Snyder as Professor Thaddeus J. Pinchworm, Stiles Warren Sroka as King Murray Andre Stojka as Royal Chef Tara Strong as Girl, Boy, Sheep Meshach Taylor as Pink Planet James Kevin Ward as Scotty ins.style.width = '100%'; Put Ronald on stilts for real clown fun. Pufnstuf today, but it was essentially McDonaldland without the nuggets. There was Hamburglar and Grimace, there were Fry Guys, and there was a cheeseburger-headed mayor and police officer. Vinyl! The 1970s were sort of a golden age of advertising, especially when it came to children. Essentially a world built around the fast food chain's long-established mascot, company man and jolly clown Ronald McDonald, were allies like Mayor McCheese and Officer Big Mac, who helped him ward off thieves like the Hamburglar and Grimace. By a letter dated August 31, 1970, Needham stated it was going forward with the idea of a McDonaldland advertising campaign based on the H. R. Pufnstuf series. Of course, Ronald McDonald decides to show the wayward egg some love. Grimace was a friendly purple monster portrayed as clumsy but well-meaning. When McDonaldland came out, Pufnstuf characters were licensed for a slew of merchandising. Free shipping for many products! ins.dataset.adClient = pid; var lo = new MutationObserver(window.ezaslEvent); McDonald's primary mascot, a proud inhabitant of the fantasy world of McDonaldland, Ronald was first created and portrayed by television personality Willard Scott in 1963. Despite being angry at him for his lie and prank, Ronald and his friends go on a mission in outer space to rescue Hamburglar. The Remco Mayor McCheese doll comes complete with a bevy of impressive accessories, including removable yellow pince nez glasses; a removable purple sash emblazoned with the letter M; a fuschia tuxedo jacket with soft white plastic lapels; a removable soft white plastic flower with faux pearl; and a pinstripe sleeveless tuxedo jumpsuit with attached yellow vest. It gets worse. 13), "The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald" by David Hussey (as, Jack Doepke (ep. Buried in the lawsuit is some more evidence of just how much of McDonaldland was lifted. window.ezoSTPixelAdd(slotId, 'adsensetype', 1); Originally sporting four arms and designed to be an adversary of Ronald McDonald, Grimaces initial manifestation was quite different from the sweet, child-friendly dullard we grew to love in the 70s and 80s. 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. lo.observe(document.getElementById(slotId + '-asloaded'), { attributes: true }); Mayor McCheese was a tall bumbling fellow with a cheeseburger head who wore a top hat and spectacles. NOW, Unlimited ad-free access to website articles, Access to subscriber exclusive website contents. Modern commercials nowadays depict Ronald McDonald alone in real-world situations with children, whether he visits a local McDonald's restaurant or to visit sick children at a Ronald McDonald House. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The moon sings a McDonald's rendition of Bobby Darin's Mack The Knife "It's Mac Tonight" with Moon Man His most common expression is the word "duh" before nearly every sentence. Scott (a local radio host who also played Bozo the Clown on WRC-TV in Washington D.C. from 1959 to 1962) performed while using the name Ronald McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown in three television commercials. That's pretty brave. window.ezoSTPixelAdd(slotId, 'stat_source_id', 44); container.style.maxWidth = container.style.minWidth + 'px'; They also appeared on some soft drink cups until 2008 and still appear as cookies in pouches titled "McDonaldland Cookies". His weird Irish uncle, of course. To complement these seven figures, Remco also made a superbly detailed McDonaldland playset, which even came with its own stationery (above). The characters were played by life-sized puppets or people in costumes, and most of the typically inanimate objects (like castles, houses, and plants) had their own personalities and voices. There are no fun murals, and the PlayPlace tends to be more along the lines of tunnels and ball pits instead of Fry Guys you can ride (and kill yourself on), and Officer Big Macs you can climb (and get stuck in). In 1970-71, at the behest of the McDonalds Corporation, the advertising agency Needham, Harper & Steers created a fantastic imaginary world they dubbed McDonaldland, and a cast of characters to populate it: Officer Big Mac, Grimace (a revision of a character who was once a four-armed villain), the Hamburglar, Mayor McCheese, the [Mad] Professor, Captain Crook and, of course, Ronald McDonald. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO, ***Not available for delivery outside of the Philippines. Both fantasylands were comprised of similarly-rendered magical creatures, buildings, and backgroundswhich made sense, since Sid and Marty Krofft had been consulted by Needham, Harper & Steers before they landed the McDonald's account. Although some of these characters have been gone for nearly 40 years, the action figures survive as collectibles, making regular appearances on eBay. The newest collection features Scooby Doo, Tom & Jerry, and DC superheroes in interchangeable heads and bodies to allow kids to mix-up and play their way! He sported long, thinning gray hair with a full gray beard, and wore a long white lab coat featuring pockets bursting with tools and implements. The character was based on Sid and Marty Krofft's H.R. More characters would later join the fray, building up a sizable and vast McDonaldland universe. McDonaldland takes place predominantly in its own high fantasy world, however parts of the McDonaldland world have low fantasy interactions with the real world. 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. A pint-sized burglar who first appeared in March 1971 and was one of the first villains on the commercials, he was dressed in a black-and-white hooped shirt and pants, a red cape, a wide-brimmed hat, and black gloves. Grimace in the early days was used to advertise the happy meal as he will eat anything that comes with a toy. 46) as, Terry Thoren Executive In Charge of Production, Tracy Kramer Executive In Charge of Production, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 14:35. Although the costume was removable, the characters shoes were not, so anyone undressing the figure would have to take carethe delicate fabric tended to snag and pull. He is a large, purple being of indeterminate species with short arms and legs. figures starting in 2019 representing numerous McDonaldland characters including a line dedicated to The McNugget Buddies, as well as some characters thought to be retconned like Mayor McCheese & Officer Big Mac.[9][10]. In a 1999 commercial for McDonald's, Grimace has two aunts named Millie and Tillie, whom Ronald mistook for actual ants while on a picnic. Probably not.). Financed by McDonald's, Ronald McDonald Children's Charities, it was originally simulcast for a limited time on April 21, 1990 on all four major American television networks (by supporting their Saturday morning characters . In the early 1970s, the Hamburglars characteristic speech patterns were absolutely unintelligible to anyone but Captain Crook, who was kind enough to translate for the inhabitants of McDonaldland. ins.style.minWidth = container.attributes.ezaw.value + 'px'; Welcome to the fun and excitement of McDonaldland, the back of the box read. Compare Remcos playset to the corporate image of the real-world fantasyland as built by Needham, Harper & Steers and taken from the McDonaldland Specification Manual. Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh (best known as members of the band Devo and composers of the music for Rugrats, another Klasky Csupo series) composed the score of the series while John Holmquist (who has also directed some Rugrats episodes) directed the first episode of the series. Large rotund being of indeterminate species, and best friend of Ronald McDonald. As Warner Bros turns 100 this year, McDonald's joins the celebration with the release of 24 Warner Bros characters with interchangeable heads and bodies, encouraging kids to practice imagination and creativity as they mix up the characters. If you visited an older, well-established McDonalds franchise during the latter part of the 1990sspecifically one of the corporations two-story restaurants boasting a McDonalds PlayLandyou may have noticed some odd shapes and unfamiliar characters featured on the playgrounds equipment. var container = document.getElementById(slotId); When Hamburglar came back, his story was that he had been living the life of a happy husband and dad in suburban America (although they didn't say how his wife felt about being married to someone who had grown up in a fantasy kingdom stealing sentient hamburgers). Franklin apologizes to the gang for his actions and is allowed to join in their camping trip, becoming their new friend in the process. The series centers on an adventuring magical clown named Ronald McDonald, who has red hair, white and red facepaint, and wears a yellow jumpsuit over a red and white striped long-sleeve shirt with yellow gloves. 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. var alS = 2021 % 1000; Instead, the doll had a furred purple felt outer body, with innards similar to the polystyrene material found inside of a bean bag. Category. While the McDonaldland portion has received somewhat less attention since 2003, several of the characters including Ronald McDonald, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, and the Hamburglar are still seen in commercials, Happy Meal toys, and materials supporting the Ronald McDonald House Charities. So in 1971, the Kroffts, believing that McDonalds characters were based directly upon their own life-sized puppets, engaged in a series of legal battles with the McDonalds corporation. Everything from the feel of the world to some of the character designs was lifted right out of one of the biggest kids' television shows of the late 1960s. Wonder Woman, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Catwoman, Batgirl, Joker, Deadpool and Captain Marvel all place somewhere in the top 20,. As his name suggests, he was Mayor of McDonaldland, a mythical place where McDonalds fries and thick shakes grew magically from the bushes. The campaign made McDonald's not just a fast food chain, but an entire experience. But what happened to the characters? Once McDonaldland hit screens, they were the trendy new thing in marketing and Pufnstuf started losing all their side gigs. H.R. You can watch all McDonald's Happy Meal commercials in one video. Sounds familiar, right? McDonald's went as far as recruiting employees of the Kroffts' who had worked on H.R. All of the below displays are paraded in shops on London 's Oxford Street or nearby. [6], In 1976, Remco created a line of six-inch (15cm) action figures to celebrate the characters.[6]. ins.style.display = 'block'; } From 1998 until 2003, Rugrats creators Klasky Csupo and McDonald's released an animated direct-to-video series exclusively on VHS titled The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald. This site uses third party cookies for analytics and advertising. Unbeknownst to everyone, the letter was actually written by pirate captain One-Eyed Sally and her first mate Blather in a scheme by the two to follow the gang to the island in order to seize the Grimaces' legendary treasure for themselves. A Happy Meal featuring Lego vehicles to build was released at the restaurant chain in 1999, a year after the series originally premiered. Are your kids fiends for the Happy Meal toys, then why not check out more awesome toy ideas here. The role of Ronald McDonald is credited as "Himself.". This seemed to do little other than torment teenagers who were half way through a bad trip with a bad case of the munchies. Well thats it for strange McDonalds characters. No one else agreed with them. I cant help but think that the general theme of weird characters stealing your food may have instilled an unrealistic sense of urgency in the children of the day to eat their meal as quickly as possible. The trial lasted for three weeks, during which time a jury compared television clips, commercials, toys, and merchandising of the two corporations. Pufnstuf went off the air in 1972 (via Sean Munger), but McDonaldland only officially disappeared in 2003. ins.className = 'adsbygoogle ezasloaded'; Happy Meal is a form of kids' meal sold at the fast-food chain McDonald's. You can watch funny Happy Meal commercials. McDonaldland meant that there were a ton of kids out there who had fond memories of the place, and who grew up to take their own children there. The character will be in commercials for the first time since 2002. var ins = document.createElement('ins'); You are leaving the McDonald's web site for a site that is controlled by a third party, not affiliated with McDonald's. The content and policies, including privacy policy, on the site you are entering may vary from McDonald's viewpoints and policies. Fast & Free shipping on many items! ; Speedy Favorites iconic Characters. After a six-year battle, the courts ruled in the Kroffts favor. var slotId = 'div-gpt-ad-slappedham_com-medrectangle-3-0'; The Fry Guys were shaggy mop like things with long legs that spoke with a sped up voice. As time went on, Grimace's family were seen in commercials and the VHS series "The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald". As McDonaldlands Chief of Police, Officer Big Macs appointed task was to prevent Captain Crook and the Hamburglar from stealing Filet-O-Fish and hamburger sandwiches, respectively. ins.id = slotId + '-asloaded'; It's ok to play with your food! Slightly balding with short white hair, a Franz Joseph-style beard, and black glasses worn over a pair of excited bright eyes, the newer Professor was largely unrecognizable from his previously established version of the 1970s. Whenever the characters would enter down a tube or other means of travel, they would become animated. Cartoon Characters Tumbler Wrap Png, Funny Bear Cartoon Art Skinny Tumbler Wrap Digital File. $3.11. It's hard to pinpoint when, exactly, this Grimace-as-Taste Bud thing began. Originally, this character was a truly frightening scoundrel with stringy grey hair and a menacing black mask and cape; McDonalds decided to soften the characters disposition in order to make his personality more palatable for children. Ronald McDonald has taken over the mayors responsibilities since being appointed Chief Happiness Officer. Reduce, reuse and recycle your way to a zero-waste life, SUBSCRIBE What species Grimace is has been debated amongst fans for many decades. We do not believe that the ordinary reasonable person, let alone a child, viewing these works will even notice that Pufnstuf is wearing a cummerbund while Mayor McCheese is wearing a diplomats sash, the appeals court stated. The McDonaldland premise was largely dropped out of campaigns and Happy Meal toys. They mention them specifically in the suit, comparing their oversized heads and their attire, including the fact that they both wore mayoral sashes. McDonald's brings together favorite cartoon characters, The newest collection features Scooby-Doo, Tom & Jerry, and DC superheroes. var ffid = 2; In the 1970s, Crook was a major antagonist of Ronald and his friends who also had the ability to actually understand and translate The Hamburglars murmurings. The trial Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions, Inc. vs. McDonald's Corp. was a little different in that it was looking at not just whether or not McDonald's had stolen the characters. Ronald McDonald and more. According to AdAge, children had been targeted by advertising for a long time, and in 1968 the Action for Children's Television was established to keep a close eye on what was becoming a hugely controversial practice. The characters were used as part of advertising and marketing for McDonald's from the 1970s through the 1990s. This character went from having two pairs of arms to one pair he has today. McDonald's had a strange sort of defense, and according to the lawsuit, they fully admitted that they came up with the idea for a fantasy land based on the success of H.R. Though many assume it had something to do with the lawsuit, this might be incorrect as Mayor McCheese and Officer Big Mac both appear in the 2020 Funko McDonaldland Pop! ins.dataset.adChannel = cid; . Yet it's a familiar sight everywhere. Hot World Cup fans that will make you cheer. Jim Cummings Russi Taylor Frank Welker Lorenzo Music Don Messick George C. Scott Jason Marsden Music by Paul Buckmaster Richard Kosinkski Bob Mann Guy Moon Bill Reinchenbach Sam Winans Editor (s) Jay Bixsen Studio (s) Southern Star Productions Distributor Various networks Released April 21, 1990 Running time 32 minutes Language English Was it enough? The series depicted Ronald, Grimace, Birdie, the Hamburglar and a few new characters, like Ronald's pessimistic dog Sundae. He is Ronald McDonalds best friend and sidekick. The early commercials were built on an upbeat, bubblegum-style tune and feature a narrator; many have plots that involve various villains, like the Hamburglar, Evil Grimace, and Captain Crook trying to steal a corresponding food item but are constantly foiled by Ronald. He stuck around for decades, until approximately 2003. Throughout the years, however, the essence of McDonaldlands preeminent villain remained the same: a compulsive criminal obsessed with burgling hamburgers. The figure has one non-removable gold earring in its right ear. McDonald's Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. As Warner Bros turns 100 this year, McDonalds joins the celebration with the release of 24 Warner Bros characters with interchangeable heads and bodies, encouraging kids to practice imagination and creativity as they mix up the characters. There were some McDonaldland characters that ended up being super popular in the '80s, but weren't a part of the lawsuit. He loved playing tricks on his friends and still loved burgers. Eventually, the Hamburglar would issue forth an occasional exclamation of Robble, robble!. Remcos Grimace action figure wasnt constructed of solid plastic like the other dolls. Despite a few changes made to his appearance over the years, he has always been endearingly loved by fans all over the world. First appearing in the early 1970s, the Hamburger Patch was a garden of sentient hamburgers. During their visit, Ronald and his friends quickly become disappointed to find that most of the park's rides are broken and/or malfunctioning; they then ride a roller coaster which turns them into toddlers and babies with a ray. Renowned for beginning each sentence with the word duh, both versions of Grimace are quite fond of McDonalds Triple Thick Milkshakes. It depends on your point of view. Pufnstuf. It featured a human boy who got shipwrecked on "Living Island," where he had all kinds of adventures and befriended a dragon named H.R. Those children are all grown up now, in the middle of an obesity epidemic and still seemingly afraid a food stealing muppet will take their hamburger. Birdie the Early Bird would join the lineup soon after representing the restaurant's new breakfast line in the early 1980s. All this on a 28 x 30 Playland surface enhanced by an 11 colorful backdrop. var pid = 'ca-pub-1641696673124925'; 6.. Tika, Hamburglar, and Birdie fail each riddle and are swept into traps, leaving only Ronald, Grimace, and Sundae to solve the final one, which they do. The agency generated these characters and their world out of essentially nothing, using the McDonaldland Brand Specification Manual. Leaving McDonald's Web Site. And that meant some of the small details that might have allowed McDonald's to argue that clearly, they didn't rip them off entirely didn't matter. 4-Pack Retro Throwback Fun classic iconic mascots ; McDonald Exclusive Classic Speedee Original Burger Mascot With Sign #147 Ad Icon The icing on the cake, as it were, was Mayor McCheese. [2] He has since appeared with Ronald and the Hamburglar in the 2021[3] and 2022[4] Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades and a Super Bowl commercial in 2022. ins.id = slotId + '-asloaded'; Grimace is the purple McDonald's guy who debuted in 1971 and was known as the Evil Grimace. The namesake for McDonaldLand is the McDonald's restaurants founded by Richard and Maurice McDonald, popularized by Ray Kroc. Officer Big Mac had a giant Big Mac head and wore a police outfit and hat. var ffid = 2; The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald is an American animated miniseries of retail direct-to-video episodes produced by Klasky Csupo in association with the McDonald's Corporation, centering on McDonald's mascot Ronald McDonald and the gang in McDonaldland. The Hamburglar, also originally a villain, was a thief that targeted hamburgers and sandwiches, but he is now more of a lovable rogue character. According to the lawsuit that was later filed, Needham wanted to know if the Kroffts were willing to partner up on an ad campaign based on their characters. The character, like Grimace, started out as a villain, only he was old, had a long nose, gray hair, and was called the Lone Jogger in some 1970s commercials, sporting a shirt that said "Lone Jogger". You may be surprised to learn that it is also filled with terrifying, Thanks to the digital age, scary videos have the ability to travel far and wide across the internet. In Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions Inc. v. McDonald's Corp., the Kroffts also claimed that the character Mayor McCheese was an infringement on their copyrighted character "H.R. The fully poseable dolls had multi-piece cloth outfits with stenciled and dyed fabric details, hard and soft plastic outfit accoutrements, and, with the exception of Grimace and Ronald, an interesting character-specific accessory. Remco was infamous for cobbling together inferior action figures in record time, but the McDonaldland action figures stood out against the companys simple fare. (Remember McDonaldland's wacky-but-handy professor? He has an unnamed mom, an unnamed dad, a grandma named "Winky", a great, great grandma named Jenny Grimace, and a possible brother named King Gonga. At trial, a jury found in favor of the Kroffts and McDonald's was ordered to pay $50,000. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2011 McDonald's Ben 10 Blue Echo Alien Toy Figure Cartoon Network Happy Meal Toy at the best online prices at eBay! The front of each vehicle had an image of one of the McDonaldland characters in the Klasky Csupo style, as depicted in the series. Put him next to Pufnstuf's title character, and the similarities are unmistakable. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! Their exact geographic layout is unknown, but within these regions are several locales, including; Grimace Island, a Western themed area, several portals to real world McDonald's restaurants, the Moon, and Ronald's home. That's the sort of stuff they don't tell you when you're a kid, so let's talk about the whole shady saga right now. [6], In 1973, Sid and Marty Krofft sued McDonald's by claiming that the entire McDonaldland premise plagiarized their television show. Both McCheese and Pufnstuf were rendered as live-action, life-sized puppets with ridiculously large heads, and both had mayoral sashes as heads of their respective governments. These videos would begin in live-action in what resembled a futuristic McDonaldland.