4. Who He is
Grimace is a character featured in McDonaldland
commercials. He is a large, purple anthropomorphic
being of indeterminate species with short arms and
legs. He is known for his slow-witted demeanor. His
most common expression is the word "duh" before
every sentence.
He had been voiced by Frank Welker and,
sometimes, Larry Moran in the commercials, and
Kevin Michael Richardson in the VHS series "The
Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald". He was
portrayed by Patti Saunders from 1971-1984 and
Terry Castillo from 1984-2003. :)
5. Orgin
Originally, Grimace was the "Evil Grimace", with two pairs of arms with which to steal milkshakes. After that first
campaign, the character was revised to be one of the "good guys", and his number of arms was reduced by two. These
commercials and merchandise generally portray him as a well-meaning simpleton, whose clumsy antics provide a comic
foil to Ronald McDonald. The character was retained after the streamlining of the characters in the 1980s and was one of
the few members to also be retained until the end of the McDonaldland commercials.
6. Grimace Family :3
As time went on, Grimace's family was seen in commercials and the
VHS series "The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald". 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 (who rules over all Grimaces).
In a 1999 commercial for McDonald's, Grimace has two aunts
named Millie and Tillie, whom Ronald mistakens for actual ants while
on a picnic.
While many family members have been mentioned, most heavily
seen and mentioned is Uncle O'Grimacey who came one month
every year, around St. Patrick's Day in March, to bring Shamrock
Shakes.
7. Trivia!
Though Grimace is a male, he was portrayed by female actors, first Patti Saunders, then Terry Castillo.
8. Evil Grimace >:(
Roy Bergold, the former chief creative officer at McDonald's, shared an interesting anecdote in a
recent column at QSR Magazine.
It's about Grimace — one of McDonald's mascots.
The big purple blob wasn't always lovable. In fact, the original iteration was terrifying.
The character was called Evil Grimace, and he had an obsession with stealing milkshakes.
Instead of luring kids into stores, Evil Grimace scared them away.
Fortunately, the marketing crew at McDonald's quickly realized their mistake and tweaked the
character into what he is today.
Bergold writes:
"There have been characters created as mascots for quick-serve companies that admittedly scare
little kids. We inadvertently created one at McDonald's and had to make some quick changes to
correct our mistake.
The original Grimace was scaly, mean-looking, had four arms, and had no charm whatsoever. He
scared kids. We changed him to a soft, plush, two-armed blob of a sweetheart who only wanted
McDonald's milkshakes and to hang out with Ronald.”