The mascots and cartoon history of McDonald's

The Founder is a movie that tells the history of McDonald's, the biggest fast food restaurant company in the world.  While the story focuses on Ray Kroc and how he turned the McDonald Brother's restaurant into a full fledged franchise, there is another history on McDonald's that should be mentioned: their mascots over the years.  McDonald's mostly had one mascot that superseded all of them: Ronald McDonald, but McDonald's had more than one mascot over the years.  That is our story.

When McDonald's first started in the late 1940's, they used this character named Speedee.  He was a hamburger headed chief named after the idea that you can get your food quick and easy.  Burgers of course were the #1 thing to get at McDonald's (still are), so it was only natural to use a burger as a mascot.

When McDonald's began to be fully franchised, it was decided that the new logo should represent the golden arches.  The logo used at the time around 1962 was so not the same as the one we know today, and their mascot was made specifically to advertise the arches.  Archy McDonald was the next mascot as a result and was used right up until the 1970's.  In 1963, TV personality Willard Scott who played Bozo the Clown in his market help come up with the idea of another mascot.........

Of course this version of Ronald McDonald was much different compared to the one we know today.  He wore a tray on top of his head and around the waist.  His nose was a cup.  His hair was kind of whitish.  Many deem this version of Ronald very creepy.  In time, Ronald began to be redeveloped.

 A little bit baggier than today's Ronald, this was the beginning of the Ronald McDonald we know today.  As the McDonald's logo changed, so did Ronald.

Pretty soon by the late 1960's, McDonaldland was developed for TV advertising which would be seen on Saturday Mornings and some children's TV specials.

Characters like Mayor McCheese came out around that time.

Big Mac was another.  Big Mac was named after the new idea of a burger first started at a Pittsburgh location and continues to be a big seller to this day.

A creepier version of Hamburglar debuted at this time as did Grimace.

Originally he had multiple arms but was soon reduced to just two.

By the 1980's, the characters were slightly re designed to be more appealing.  Some like Mayor McCheese were long retired.  Replacements like Birdie and the Fry Kids became the replacements.  

But the characters were only in live action costume form until 1990 with its first animated video, The Adventures of Ronald Mcdonald McTreasure Island

Animated by DIC (Inspector Gadget and Heathcliff), this tape was only sold at McDonald's (no TV specials staring the characters or series are allowed on TV according to the FCC).  It featured the voices of Howard Morris (Atom Ant, Ernest T Bass on Andy Griffith) and Russi Taylor (Minnie Mouse and Gonzo and Piggy on Muppet Babies).  

Next came The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald.  This time made by Klaspy Csupo on Nicktoons fame like Rugrats and Wild Thornberries.  These tapes released at McDonald's from 1998 until around 2002 sold like hot cakes.  This series also brought about a new character to the roster, Sundae.  

While Ronald kept going, most of the other characters were left to retire by the mid 2000's, although sometimes they would be used again by franchises or other countries.  The latest character is this minion like character.

He debuted in the 2010's.  He promoted Happy Meals.  

Finally in Japan, they did this anime version of a McDonald's commercial around 2016.  This character is just another anime girl looking for a job. 

Many of these characters were a part of our childhood, and while the conspiracy is out there saying they were made to brainwash us into life long customers, there was still a quality used by characters like Ronald and Grimace that continues to make them beloved to this day.

The best (and worst) of 2016

Yeah I'm very late I'm sorry.  I've been busy these last few days.  However, this is a comprehensive list of some of the best (and for sure worst because it is 2016 after all) that the year has to offer in terms of animation.  This is based off of what's new, what's hip, and what's great.

Best animated feature of the year:

This is based off of box office numbers, what's popular, and more importantly, what good reviews had to be said.  This year's winner is.........

Yeah...we know.......this got the furries involved big time, but it was more than that.  Disney proved themselves to be in the funny animals division as opposed to sticking to it's fairy tail department.  The film also received the most good ratings of 2016.  This gives it the best animated flick of 2016.  Runner ups include Finding Dory (which almost won it), Moana, and Trolls

Worst animated feature of the year:

This dishonorable mention goes to.....

Ugh.....why does this even exist?  This Seth Rogen film (which you don't wanna know my opinion about him) tries to get the adult audiences into animation, but the only way they knew how was to dirty it up.  Dirty joke after dirty joke, and what's more, there is a hidden message saying that there is no God.  We hear that it could be up for an Oscar nomination......I hope not.  Other bad ones include Norm of the North, Robinson Crusoe, and Storks.

Best animated TV series of the year:

This next category goes to the best animated series in terms of television or streaming.  There were some pretty good ones this year, but the winner does have to go to......

This brand new series from Disney may be a Disney first: a Disney princess not originating from a movie, but from television.  This is the latest Disney Channel hit, although you'll mostly find her on Disney Junior.  There are a lot of runner ups this year including The Lion Guard, Bunnicula, and Miraculous Ladybug.

Worst animated TV series of the year:  

Ok, now for the bad end of the spectrum.  The biggest loser goes to believe it or not

THE POWERPUFF GIRLS REBOOT

This series gave everyone high hopes, but so many things brought it down.  First the voice over changes (and the way that Cartoon Network handled that one....every one of these girls were willing to come back, but the network went another direction).  Then the idea that Craig McKraken and Lauren Faust was NOT gonna be involved.  And of course.....TWERKING......I thought that wasn't allowed in a family show.  Geez.  Other dishonorable mentions include Teen Titans Go and ALVIN and the Chipmunks.

Best anime series of the year

This next category refers to an animated series being made in Japan.  It must have had intentions to be released in Japan first in order to qualify for this category.  The winner of this category is.......

This has been a great year for anime, but this was the big winner of this year.  This anime is based around being in an ice skating competition.  Yeah, there's no people blowing up or dark stories or anything like that.  It's just basically another feel good anime.  Some other titles this year were reboots of Gundam which was well received.  There was also a much better season for Sailor Moon Crystal.

Best anime feature of the year

Like its predecessor, this category only focuses on it being made for Japan first.  This year's winner is easily..........

 Now I've not seen this one yet, but like Yuri on Ice, it has nothing to do with traditional anime.  This story involves a boy and a girl who don't know each other and live far away, but somehow they see each other in their dreams.  I think that's the plot anyways.  It's up for an Annie Award in the independent features category, and is critically acclaimed.

Best anime dub of the year

The same rules apply for this category.  It must have been made in Japan for Japanese audiences, but must be well adapted for an English speaking territory.  There were a lot of them this year, but this year's dub award goes to.................

A major hit last year, this anime received an English adaptation this year with a great cast.  Because of the themes that have been underlined throughout the series, they used great voice over actors to do the job.  Thus, giving it the best dub of the year.  Some runner ups include Love Live School Idol Project, the Gundam reboots, HunterXHunter, and the new dub of Sailor Moon S

Worst anime dub of the year

For the second year in a row, the dishonor goes to......

Saban's adaptation of Gliter Force (formerly known as Smile Precure) proves once again terrible.  It not only fails to market the Pretty Cure franchise, but made several changes to the characters and the show.  But hey, what did you expect from an adaptation of a kids show?

Best DVD/Blu-ray release of the year

This category goes by what is a real collector's item in terms of content, quality, and bonus features.  Not necessarily best selling.  Keep in mind, DVD sales are not where they used to be thanks to streaming, but thankfully there were some good releases this year.  The winner, however, goes to............

Fans have been waiting for a long time for the new dub of this series ever since it was announced that Viz would have all the Sailor Moon titles, and here it is.  Sailor Moon S is uncut and unaltered, bringing the relationship between Uranus and Neptune back to the way it should be.  Not as cousins, but as lovers.  While some may question the quality, please remember, this series was sourced from 16mm prints, not glorious 35mm.  A few titles also include Peter Potamus and a few Gumby releases.

Worst DVD/Blu-ray release of the year

This one goes to...........

Many studios have been rehashing their titles in cheaper packaging to save costs.  This is to be expected in a dying or dead DVD sales.  Vintage Video is one of them.  There was a Felix the Cat one, an Underdog one, and an Archies one.  But the worst part is that these discs come from the Classic Media discs from the 2000's.  Thus, not the best collections to have in your home.  Be thankful this Underdog one comes from Classic Media and not Golden Books.....yuck!  Other runners up include Merry Faces from Universal and the And Friends line once again from WB.

And finally, best news of the year

This one belongs to.............

NBC/UNIVERSAL BUYS DREAMWORKS

There are two reasons for this big deal.  1. This helps expand Dreamworks a bit with their line up of movies since they have been losing money like crazy.  2. Dreamworks also had the rights to what used to be the Classic Media library.  This means that Universal now has one of the biggest cartoon libraries adding on to what they already own with Walter Lantz and original films like An American Tale. Titles include Shrek, Trolls, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Harveytoons, Underdog, Frosty the Snowman, Mr. Magoo, and more.  What more, we had more exposure to these characters like Rudolph and Felix the Cat with even more plans for 2017 such as Casper and Underdog.  Best of luck to them.  Other runner ups include The Simpsons reaching 600 episodes and Pokemon moving to Disney XD (which I don't know if that happened yet).

Happy New Year everyone.