In
June 2003, the infamous Ronald McDonald was given a redesign.
This was the first major revamp since 1966 when Willard Scott
was dropped from playing Ronald (the version with a cup for a
nose) in the commercials and Ronald went national.
This
time round though Ronald was given more cartoony features
along with the rest of the gang compromising of Grimace,
Birdie and Hamburglar.
This
revamp started a huge campaign to get Ronald recognised once
more amongst children as it had been about 7 years since the
last toys featuring the characters were in Happy Meals.
Ronald
was given the most prominent position over the 4 characters -
it was obvious really, he started it all!
Small
cups were decorated with pictures of him, a new comic was
published, and at last toys were appearing as bonus's with
regular toys. However, this revamp seemed to be short-lived at
least in the UK, as now in 2008 he has once again disappeared
from being anywhere in McDonald's restaurants.
Below
you can find images of the new bonus Happy Meal toys featuring
Ronald McDonald. There have been 5 to date, but looks unlikely
as if we'll see any more.
Skateboarding Ronald
appeared with the second Tweenies promotion in June 2003.
Surfing Ronald appeared
with the Finding Nemo promotion in October 2003.
Bobsleighing Ronald
appeared with the Fox Kids promotion in February 2004.
Footballer Ronald
appeared with the Disney PIXAR Fun! set in May 2004.
Hoopla Ronald
appeared with the Crayola Artist Stations set in August 2004.
