Good Grimace, Bad Grimace

One of the most enduring of the McDonaldland characters is the Grimace, Ronald's good-natured if dimwitted pal. We're so used to seeing Grimace (pictured below on one of the delightful McDonaldland "Action Glass" premiums from my collection) as a friendly, helpful, huggable sidekick that it's easy to forget that he's a monster. And yes, he's a friendly monster, but that was not always so. Grimace was introduced into the McDonaldland family of characters in 1971 as the Evil Grimace. (I think there's even a commercial where the mailbox at his cave says "E. Grimace.") This purple monster started out as even more of a monster, complete with an extra pair of arms that enabled him to snatch up many milk shakes (officially known as Triple Thick Shakes) from the children, just as the Hamburgler stole hamburgers. Soon, however, the Evil Grimace morphed into lovable, non-evil Grimace (which is still a monstrous type name when you stop and think about it) and lost his extra arms in the process. Mad Matt at one of my favorite sites for Halloween fun (and other terrifically written madness), Dinosaur Dracula, reports on the strange evolution of the Grimace. Unfortunately, Dinosaur Dracula is not part of the Countdown to Halloween blogathon, which seems a shame because I think the Countdown was how I discovered the site several years ago. At any rate do visit this very special site (but be aware the site contains strong language and other material that may be unsuitable for young and sensitive readers).  And also visit the many bloggers who are part of Countdown to Halloween 2017.