Grimace

Grimace
A photo of Grimace pointing into the upper right corner of the frame
Vital Information
Gender:	Male
Hair Color:	Purple
Character information

Grimace is a character featured in McDonaldland commercials. He is Ronald McDonald’s best friend.

Grimace is a large, purple, rotund being of indeterminate species with short arms and legs. He was known for his slow witted yet optimistic demeanor. Grimace sometimes went for long periods of time without speaking; when he does speak he is known for saying "duh" before every sentence.

Grimace originally debuted as a large purple being with four arms and two legs who loved milkshakes and sodas. After that first campaign, Grimace is reintroduced in his modern form, with his number of arms reduced by two.

The modern commercials are really cool and merchandise generally portray him as a well-meaning simpleton, whose clumsy antics provide a comic foil to Ronald McDonald. The character is 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. Grimace in the early days was used to advertise the happy meal.

Following an appearance at Dodger Stadium on July 18th, 2012, vs. the Philadelphia Phillies, dancing to Ram Jam's "Black Betty" (1977), Grimace seemingly disappeared.

For a number of years Grimace vanished from public life, appearing only in Malaysian Happy Meal toys. His first public appearance after his 2012 disappearance was at the 2020 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade alongside Ronald McDonald. Grimace also appeared in a parody cryptocurrency tweet on Twitter by McDonald's known as "Grimace-Coin", and in a 2022 Super Bowl Commercial.

On June 6th, 2023, Grimace took over the McDonalds Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts to announce a birthday celebration beginning on June 12th. The birthday celebration includes limited-edition Grimace inspired purple shake and merch, a browser game and a charity campaign for the Ronald McDonald house.

Trivia

• Grimace’s birthday is June 12
• He is purple (obviously).
• Though Grimace is canonically male, he have been portrayed by women: first Patti Saunders, then Terry Castillo.
• The current voice of Grimace is voice actor Daniel Ross, who has also voiced Donald Duck, amongst other characters.
• It has neither been confirmed nor denied that Gritty, the NHL mascot of the Philadelphia Flyers, is the same species as Grimace.
• He might have a crush on Birdie.
• He almost resembles Mr. Munch from Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza.
• Grimace has a canonical uncle, Uncle O'Grimacey.
• Grimace's species is a bit undetermined. Originally, he was conceived as the physical manifestation of a milkshake headache, however The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald claims his species to also be named "Grimace". Yet another argument is that he is an anthropomorphic taste bud.