Disney’s most notorious villains are about to take over the Happy Meal counter.
Starting Tuesday, October 20, participating McDonald's restaurants will swap the standard Happy Meal box for a Boo Bucket for a limited time.
The lineup features five pails inspired by:
- Jafar from Aladdin
- Ursula from The Little Mermaid
- Scar from The Lion King
- Cruella from One Hundred and One Dalmatians
- Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty
our scariest collab yet. disney villains happy meal boo buckets out 10.20 https://t.co/wlMNyMiFtt
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) October 15, 2026
Each bucket comes with a lid inspired by its villain and a sticker sheet that includes "iconic characters and details true fans will recognize," per McDonald’s.
Every sticker sheet is unique to its movie, and all five buckets share the same yellow handle with the Golden Arches.
The Boo Bucket first appeared in 1986 as a trio of orange pails.
And while the fast-food chain stopped making production after 2016, it brought it back in 2022 following years of customer demand.
Earlier designs came from Scooby-Doo, Minions, Mr. Potato Head, Monster High, and Peanuts, making this is the first movie-themed set since the 2022 relaunch.
As a longstanding brand partnership, it gives a tradition that dates back four decades a new face for each pail.
Ordering a Villain Bucket
The Disney Villains Boo Buckets replace the traditional Happy Meal box at participating restaurants for as long as supplies last.
Customers can order one in a restaurant or through the McDonald’s app, with a choice of a hamburger, which can include cheese, or a 4-piece or 6-piece Chicken McNuggets meal.
Each meal also comes with a drink, apple slices, and French fries, with the bucket arriving as part of a full order.
McDonald’s lets each restaurant set its own Boo Bucket price, which means the cost will vary by location.
Past versions have included glow-in-the-dark materials and built-in Halloween cookie cutters, which shows how the pail has always been designed to do more than hold a meal.
The five new designs span a wide range of colors, and the shared handle keeps the Golden Arches visible on every one of them.
A Pail That Doubles as Costume Gear
Halloween is a season when families plan their spending, so a limited-time pail has an audience on the lookout.
The National Retail Federation expects Americans to spend $13.5 billion this year, including $1.5 billion on children’s costumes.
A Boo Bucket can slot into a child’s trick-or-treat outfit as an accessory that arrives with dinner.
Resale prices suggest families hold onto them, too.
The Takeout reports that vintage Boo Buckets sell for around $20 each on eBay.
Each year’s design has to earn that kind of shelf life within a few weeks, making the character choice a real business decision.
Lucky for McDonald's, Disney's trove of IP has become icons in their own right.
Three takeaways stand out for seasonal packaging:
- Tie the drop to a budgeted moment: Brands should time limited packaging to a holiday with a published spending forecast so demand is already waiting.
- Keep the format fixed and rotate the faces: Teams should hold one recognizable shape steady each year and swap the licensed characters.
- Design a second use: Marketers should give packaging a job after the meal, like carrying candy, so the logo travels through the neighborhood.
A Disney villain on a pail puts the Golden Arches in front of every house on the block.
It's the packaging that does the media buying.
Our Take: Why Do Villains Make Better Halloween Pails?
We think the casting is the sharpest choice here.
Few people show up at the door in October dressed as the hero’s loyal sidekick, because villains get the best songs, lines, and costumes.
Ursula, Scar, and Cruella each hand a kid a persona to carry down the block.
We would expect plenty of back-seat arguments over who gets Maleficent, and that is free word of mouth for both Disney and the fast food joint.
Check out our top experiential marketing agencies that design campaigns to spark joy among audiences.
