The Greatest McDonald's Cartoon Tie-Ins of All Time
Back when a Happy Meal toy was a reason to beg your parents for a ride.
There was a time when the toy in your Happy Meal was a big deal. Kids traded them at school. Parents drove across town to finish a set. And a lot of the best ones came from cartoons.
Here are the greatest, ranked.
8. Tiny Toon Adventures (1991)
Little cars that flipped over to show a different character on each side. Two toons for the price of one.
7. Snoopy
McDonald's has done several Snoopy sets. REAL: a late-'90s set dressed Snoopy in outfits from countries around the world, and kids tried to collect them all. The beagle is forever.
6. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Sulley, Mike and the gang, right when the movie was everywhere.
5. Toy Story 2 (1999)
The toys from the movie, as toys. It doesn't get more fitting than that.
4. Batman: The Animated Series (1993)
Batman and friends styled after the classic show, at the height of its popularity.
3. The Little Mermaid (1989)
Ariel, Flounder, Sebastian and friends. Some of them squirted water, which made them perfect bath toys. This set arrived at the start of the Disney Renaissance.
2. Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990)
Mario, Luigi and friends, with springs and jumping features. It landed the same year as the game and its Saturday-morning cartoon.
1. The Mulan Szechuan Sauce (1998)
Not a toy. A dipping sauce. REAL: McDonald's made a limited-edition Szechuan sauce to promote Mulan, and fans talked about it for decades. When McDonald's brought it back in 2017, crowds lined up and many locations ran out.
Honorable mention: the Changeables
McDonald's food items (a burger box, a fry carton, a milkshake) that transformed into robots. Not tied to a cartoon, but every kid who had one remembers it.
Final thoughts
The best tie-ins weren't just plastic. They were part of the fun of loving a cartoon. You couldn't watch the show all day, but you could carry a piece of it in your backpack.
What's your favorite Happy Meal toy of all time? Tell us in the comments.
New episodes drop on YouTube first. Subscribe to Mr. Bray Labs so you never miss one.
