Summary of Yesterworld: The History & Downfall of McDonaldland and the Disney-McDonalds Happy Meal

00:00:00 - 00:25:00

This video explores the history and downfall of McDonaldland and the Disney-McDonalds Happy Meal. The video argues that McDonaldland and the Happy Meal were never really a good idea, and that they ultimately failed because they were too commercialized.

• 00:00:00 McDonald's first opened in 1940 in San Bernardino, California, and it was owned and run by Maurice and Richard McDonald. Ray Kroc bought the restaurant in 1961 and quickly turned it into a nationwide chain. In the 1960s, Ronald McDonald became a popular mascot, appearing in two commercials that year. In the 1970s, McDonald's moved away from its walk-up counter-style approach and began focusing on creating an experience for customers, including moving to sit-down restaurants. This led to the development of new characters such as Ronald McDonald and the introduction of the iconic golden arches logo. In the 1970s and 1980s, McDonald's became one of the world's most popular fast food chains.
• 00:05:00 This video discusses the history and downfall of McDonaldland and the Disney-McDonalds Happy Meal. The commercial series for McDonaldland was a huge success, and the playground was one of the most popular features of the campaign. Eventually, other fast food restaurants began to use world building in their marketing strategy, but one of the most iconic and nostalgic parts of the phenomenon was the McDonaldland playground.
• 00:10:00 In the 1970s, McDonald's introduced a new land called McDonaldland with attractions such as the captain crook spiral slide, the mad professor slide, and the grimace bouncing bend. However, the creator of the show, HR Puf and Stuff, sued McDonald's for copyright infringement, and the court found in their favor. The verdict led to the redesign of the world and characters of McDonaldland, and McDonald's slowly caught on to the idea.
• 00:15:00 In the early 1980s, McDonald's faced a lawsuit from the Craftsman tool company, and as a result, began to make alterations to its world, scaling back its "magic and wonder" in favor of features from the real world. This included redesigning its characters, Mayor McCheese among them, and introducing the Happy Meal, which became an iconic and nostalgic restaurant integration. In 1987, McDonald's became the Disney-McDonalds Happy Meal sponsor, and in 1989, introduced a tie-in promotion with Disney's upcoming Splash Mountain ride. However, the partnership between the companies deteriorated after the underperformance of Dick Tracy, with McDonald's bowing out of promoting Disney's subsequent animated features.
• 00:20:00 In the late 1990s, McDonald's and Disney had a successful, decade-long happy meal partnership. However, in 2006, Disney chose not to renew the partnership, leading to the decline of the McDonald's character franchise. In 2018, McDonald's and Disney announced a new happy meal partnership, which may help to revive the character franchise.
• 00:25:00 This video explores the history and downfall of McDonaldland and the Disney-McDonalds Happy Meal. The video argues that McDonaldland and the Happy Meal were never really a good idea, and that they ultimately failed because they were too commercialized.