McDonald's Characters: Who Are Grimace, CosMc, & More?

In the 70s, McDonald's created McDonaldland with Ronald McDonald and friends to attract kids to its restaurant. The chain wanted to seem like a fun, delicious place that kids would beg their parents to visit. The campaign worked, as the golden arches now sells upwards of 1 billion Happy Meals to kids around the world each year. However, over time, the McDonald's multiverse continued to expand. Many characters have both joined and then faded into obscurity — each with a unique personality, look, and marketing objective.

Some characters served to remind us that McDonald's sells breakfast and we should stop by first thing in the morning. Others were created to celebrate the introduction of such classic menu items as Chicken McNuggets. Others still might have appeared in one Saint Patrick's Day campaign, never to be seen or heard from in McDonald's lore again. Here is a list of the McDonald's characters from the chain's inception in the 1940s until today. How many do you remember?

Ronald McDonald is arguably the most famous of the McDonald's characters. The smiling clown was first introduced in 1963 as the official mascot for the brand. However, he was all but retired for many years due to a growing phobia of clowns by the public and a negative perception of directly targeting minors with advertising. When promoted by the company again, Ronald went through many makeovers. The fast food giant changed his looks to make him friendlier and more appealing to the mass market of consumers.

McDonald's takes a severe stance on this character, refusing to shatter the charade that Ronald is even a character at all. Instead, corporate is insistent, at least to the media, anyway, that Ronald is a real clown and there is just one of him. This has led to some sticky situations for the many actors who have played Ronald over the years. One such incident includes one actor nearly getting arrested because he would not give his government name when involved in a small car accident. He was in costume, so according to his corporate contract, he was Ronald McDonald.

The Hamburglar is another one of the more iconic, recognizable McDonald's characters. The masked bandit was first introduced in a March 1971 commercial. McDonald's created the character through a marketing firm. Hamburglar's appearance and personality evolved to become a less scary and more likable character. He started as a creepy fiend who looked like he had just escaped from prison but changed into a fun-loving, more childlike person who just couldn't get enough McDonald's hamburgers.

Unfortunately, although the Hamburglar had achieved a loveable goof status akin to the Trix Rabbit over the years, he was still retired by the fast food giant in the early 2000s. After McDonald's stock fell 39% in 2002, the company made some major changes, including cutting the red-haired, fedora-wearing thief from its campaigns. In recent years, Mcdonald's has periodically made Hamburglar posts in advertising campaigns aimed to inspire nostalgia in adults. However, there are no signs of him once again becoming a permanent fixture in the stores.

In the 1980s, a new character joined the McDonald's family — CosMc. The loveable alien creature has an extensive backstory with lore explaining every aspect of its behavior, including his eventual disappearance. CosMc would only come to visit McDonaldland on occasion to steal food for CosMcland, his home planet. The idea was that CosMc was trying to replicate the menu and vibe of McDonald's in a far-off galaxy. During one visit in the 1980s, the legend states CosMc finally had done enough research, so it never returned. But things are once again changing in the McDonald's multiverse, as a full side brand inspired by CosMc's exploits began undergoing beta testing in late 2023.

He spoke in a fun mixture of robot sounds and human speech. CosMc also didn't just seem like he took a spaceship to Earth; his outfit might even suggest that he is the spaceship — or at least some sort of astronaut. In fact, McDonald's staff were given strict instructions not to obscure CosMc's planetary shape during any local restaurant appearances he made.

McDonald's quirky, mad scientist known as The Professor leans into nearly every stereotype about the role. He has round glasses, zany white hair that sticks up in all directions, and even a hard safari hat. He didn't talk much, but when he did, his voice was high and squeaky. He was first introduced by the brand in 1971, when he had a very minor role. As time went on, the corporation began using The Professor more often in its advertising until his eventual retirement around 1987.

Although The Professor appeared in dozens of commercials and print ads for the company during his run as an advertising character, his most famous contribution was in 1983. That year, McDonald's officially added Chicken McNuggets to its menu. That same year, The Professor is credited with creating the McBugget Buddies, another member of McDonaldland, in his lab. By crediting The Professor with their creation, McDonald's gave the character even more authenticity by further feeding into his mad scientist persona.

The beloved creations of The Professor first burst onto the scene in the 1980s. They were based on the introduction of Chicken McNuggets in 1983. The chubby, chatty chicken nuggets were meant to promote all the different chicken nugget combo options available at the restaurant. 

The commercials they stared in were often quite slapstick and would have lots of plays on words. The McNuggets often played different sports in these commercials, only further enhancing the silly vibe. They would encourage viewers to try things like the 20-count nuggets instead of smaller options, as well as explore all the different sauces McDonald's had on offer by dunking themselves in the tubs.

Although the puppets have long since been retired from McDonald's, no one has seen them since the early 2000s at least, they were also available as toys during their advertising runs. They often pop up on sites like eBay, where collectors are all too happy to snap them up.

Birdie the Early Bird was a special addition to McDonaldland in an attempt to encourage McDonald's diners to eat breakfast there. She first arrived in 1979 but was redesigned in 1986 so that she would appear more friendly and cartoon-like, increasing her likability. Birdie is the first markedly female character to appear in any McDonald's advertising. Her commercials often showed her cheerfully waking up or waking up her other McDonald's friends to encourage them to enjoy breakfast. 

This focus on sleeping and the bedroom cemented her role as the breakfast bird in the public's mind. Items like sausages, pancakes, milk, and orange juice feature heavily in her ad spots, reminding viewers that the fast food giant sells a lot more than just hamburgers.

If Birdie's voice sounds at all familiar, it is because the actress who voiced her throughout her campaign was Russi Taylor. Taylor was also famously the voice of Minnie Mouse, as well as Huey, Dewey, and Louie, who were Donald Duck's nephews, in the Disney cartoons.

Sundae is a little-known, hardly used McDonald's character. Sundae was a dog with white fur and distinctive blue stripes under his eyes. He also had a tuft of red hair on top of his head to match his owner, Ronald. Sundae could talk just like any other character and was known for his deadpan delivery, which endeared him to some viewers. He was in a few commercials in the early 2000s but is best remembered from the short direct-to-VHS movies "The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald."

The films aimed to bond young diners to the corporate giant. The McDonald's advertising executives hoped to cement brand loyalty by introducing more loveable characters and having them go on adventures that could be viewed over and over again at home. Unfortunately for Sundae, he never appeared too much outside this video project, which was abandoned not long after it started and has since faded into obscurity.

Mayor McCheese was a prominent feature in most McDonald's advertising throughout the 1970s. He took his role as Mayor of McDonaldland very seriously, as the man with a cheeseburger head even had an ad campaign focusing on his campaign for reelection of the land. He was successful in his quest, but the character still had an untimely end not long after due to a third-party lawsuit.

In Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions Inc. v. McDonald's Corp, the TV production company claimed that Mayor McCheese and McDonaldland was a direct ripoff of their show "H.R. Pufnstuf." The show was named after a mayor who, the lawsuit stated, looked and acted a lot like Mayor McCheese. The lawsuit was successful, and McDonald's had to pay the Kroffts close to $100,000 in 1977 as a consequence. After the lawsuit, McDonald's also stopped using Mayor McCheese in its commercial campaigns.

Like many other McDonald's characters, Grimace started with a more negative slant. When he was launched in November 1971, he looked a bit more threatening. His prime activity was stealing milkshakes from citizens of McDonaldland, kind of like The Hamburgler, but for milkshakes. Eventually, Grimace had a redesign that made him a bit more friendly and dopey. He still liked to enjoy milkshakes but acted more like a silly superhero sidekick to Ronald McDonald instead of being a thieving menace.

Grimace has a purple, potato-like appearance. He was originally imagined with four arms so he could snatch milkshakes more easily, but upon redesign, he dropped down to just two. This was a part of fully completing his transformation from the evil Grimace into just Grimace. In 2023, Grimace seemingly got back to his bad roots when McDonald's brought back the berry-flavored Grimace Shake for a limited time. There was a viral social media trend featuring users enjoying the treat, then suddenly finding themselves in scary situations. McDonald's had no official part in the trend, but the sales of the dessert skyrocketed thanks to it.

Uncle O'Grimacey is a lesser-known McDonald's character. He only appeared in advertising for a short time. He was created for a McDonald's commercial promoting their green Shamrock Shakes around Saint Patrick's Day. It was one of the first times that the McDonald's multiverse expanded to include a blood relative of an existing character, as this creation is canonically Grimace's uncle.

This character is a green grimace, unlike the classic purple of his nephew. He also delivers Shamrock Shakes in McDonaldland every March. He wears a green cob hat, much like a Leprechaun might. His vest is covered in shamrocks, and he carries a shillelagh, which is a traditional Irish walking stick. It is a popular symbol of Irish identity and is featured heavily in Irish folklore, only cementing the character's apparent authenticity. Although the Shamrock Shake is still on the McDonald's menu, Uncle O'Grimacey hasn't been seen in years.

The Fry Kids first appeared in McDonald's advertisements in 1972. The Fry Kids were a bit like the McNugget Buddies but celebrated french fries instead of nuggets. They look a bit like a colorful Cousin It from "The Addams Family" or rainbow upside-down mops but with large cartoon eyes. When first launched, the critters were called The French Fry Goblins, but later changed their name to Fry Guys, after a lawsuit in the late 1970s. When female characters were added to the bunch in the late 1980s, the name was further rebranded to include them.

The Fry Kids were large puppets who didn't speak much, but when they did, it was high-pitched and squeaky. It was kind of like a chipmunk. They were happy sidekicks to Ronald McDonald, and commercials often showed them singing, dancing, and playing. They encouraged children to associate eating McDonald's french fries with fun and joy. The company retired The Fry Kids in the early 2000s, along with the rest of the McDonaldland characters.

Way back before Ronald McDonald, there was Speedee. He was the first McDonald's mascot. The company used him as a logo in the 1950s and 1960s. However, as journalist Alan Hess points out in the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, "Market research showed that people identified McDonald's primarily with the golden arches." So, he was eventually downgraded from logo to mascot.

Speedee is a human-like creature who wears a chef's outfit. His head is in the shape of a hamburger. Speedee doesn't have much of a personal story, like the rest of the McDonald's characters. However, unlike most of the popular characters of the late twentieth century, Speedee can still be seen at a few of the oldest McDonald's locations. One example is in Downey, California — just about 15 minutes away from Los Angeles. Speedee is perched atop the sign, and the Golden Arches are noticeably smaller. He seems to be pointing customers towards McDonald's.

The character of Mac Tonight was an attempt by the fast food giant to make things a bit more suave and grown up. In 1986, McDonald's had succeeded in selling breakfast and lunch to American diners. However, the chain was still struggling to get a handle on the dinner market. Executives drew from the song "Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin to create a crooning creature who would encourage adults to stop by for their evening meal.

The character is a human-like creature in a suit, reminiscent of the singers from the 1950s. However, one distinctive feature sets him apart: His giant mood-shaped head. This strong visual link between McDonald's and nighttime was a pointed attempt to get the public to associate fast food with dinner. Mac Tonight was a popular feature at McDonald's restaurants from the late 1980s well into the 1990s. He was eventually retired as McDonald's dinner caught on, and the company moved away from mascots in general.

Iam Hungry was another one of the loveable and hungry villains in the McDonald's franchise. He wasn't used in as much advertising as others like Grimace or the Hamburgler, but his overall theme was the same. The creature wanted to eat as much McDonald's as he could. He was often shown pestering Ronald McDonald and his friends for just a bite of their lunch. 

The pun of his name was often played up in the commercials. Like the audience, the other characters thought Iam Hungry was describing his state of being — until he pulled out a name card. Then everyone is in on the joke. It's how he feels, as well as his name.

The character was a fluffy, floating green ball of fur. His official title, per his commercials, is the VP of Snacking. He also appeared in the 1999 movie "The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald: The Visitors from Outer Space."

Captain Crook was the loveable pirate of McDonaldland. He was introduced in the 1980s as a part of the original trio of bad guys, along with The Hamburglar and Evil Grimace. He has the classic cartoon pirate look. Captain Crook wears a billowing white pirate shirt along with a red naval jacket and pirate hat. McDonald's drew on existing pirates that appealed to kids, like Captain Hook from "Peter Pan," to make sure he looked the part perfectly.

Captain Crook was obsessed with the Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. His commercials were often nautical-themed, so his interest in the food makes sense. While other characters promoted hamburgers, nuggets, or french fries, the captain shined a light on a menu item that often didn't get a lot of love. In early commercials, the captain tried to swipe the Filet-O-Fish for himself, while later media showed him making sure everyone had one to try.