McDonald's Boo Buckets Enter Villain Era With Jafar, Ursula, Scar, Cruella and Maleficent for Halloween

CHICAGO — McDonald's is swapping its familiar ghosts and pumpkins for some of Hollywood's most famous bad guys this Halloween.

The fast-food chain's Boo Buckets returned to participating U.S. restaurants Tuesday with a Disney Villains theme. Five collectible designs feature Jafar from "Aladdin," Ursula from "The Little Mermaid," Scar from "The Lion King," Cruella de Vil from "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" and Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty."

"This spooky szn, we're entering our villain era," McDonald's said in its announcement, describing the lineup as inspired by Disney's most notorious scene-stealers.

The pails come with a Happy Meal and are available for a limited time while supplies last. Participation may vary by location.

A color for every villain

Each bucket is built around one character and one color. Jafar leads the red bucket, Ursula appears on purple, Scar is on orange, Cruella is on white and Maleficent is on green.

According to McDonald's, each bucket includes a "villain-inspired lid and stickers featuring iconic characters and details true fans will recognize." The company is pitching the set to a wide range of fans, saying there is "a Boo Bucket for every kind of Villains fan," whether customers favor Cruella's flair, Maleficent's dark magic, Scar's ambition, Jafar's scheming or Ursula's sea-witch style.

The theme is a clear break from recent years, when the buckets featured classic Halloween characters instead of licensed figures.

The villains also span more than six decades of Disney animation. "Sleeping Beauty" came out in 1959, "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" in 1961, "The Little Mermaid" in 1989, "Aladdin" in 1992 and "The Lion King" in 1994. That range lets the promotion appeal to children and to adults who grew up with the films.

A 40-year Halloween tradition

The Boo Bucket is one of the longest-running seasonal promotions in fast food. The plastic pails first appeared in 1986 as a pumpkin, a ghost and a witch, and they doubled as trick-or-treat baskets for a generation of children.

The buckets disappeared from menus for several years before McDonald's revived them in 2022. Since then, they have become an annual event that collectors and nostalgic adults watch for.

In 2023, McDonald's released Monster, Skeleton, Mummy and Vampire designs. In 2024, it refreshed the Monster pails in white, orange, green and blue. Last year's lineup, which launched Oct. 21, 2025, brought back Ghost, Pumpkin and Goblin and added Cat and Zombie.

The company has also leaned into the bucket's status as an original. As rival chains and retailers rolled out their own Halloween pails last year, McDonald's told fans that "there's only one OG Halloween bucket, and it comes with a Happy Meal."

Disney ties run deep

The villain buckets are the latest in a long run of partnerships between McDonald's and The Walt Disney Co. From 1996 to 2006, the two companies held a decade-long global promotional alliance that brought Disney characters to Happy Meals around the world.

More recently, McDonald's marked Disneyland Resort's 70th anniversary last December with a Happy Meal that included two toys per box, drawn from a set of 70 Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars characters.

This year's Halloween deal puts Disney's best-known antagonists at the center of the chain's biggest seasonal collectible. It continues a broader industry trend of restaurants using entertainment tie-ins to draw younger customers and adult collectors alike.

Part of a busy fall lineup

The Boo Buckets arrive during a crowded stretch of limited-time offers at McDonald's.

Earlier this month, the chain brought back its Monopoly promotion, with prizes that include a top award of $1 million in cash, 2027 Jeep Cherokees, Carnival cruise vacations, trips to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and Polaris vehicles. Other prizes include $50,000 toward a home down payment, $50,000 toward college debt, gift cards and free food.

McDonald's also brought back Spicy Chicken McNuggets on Sept. 1. On Sept. 15, it launched a SpongeBob x One Piece Happy Meal with 15 collectible toys that pair Bikini Bottom characters with the Straw Hat pirate crew from the Japanese anime series. In August, it introduced a Caramel Apple Pie seasonal coffee lineup that includes a frappe, hot and iced lattes and iced coffee.

Collectible Happy Meals have been a frequent part of the chain's marketing. This year's earlier offerings included tie-ins with BT21, Hello Kitty & Friends x Godzilla and "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie."

What fans should know

The Disney Villains Boo Buckets are sold only as part of a Happy Meal, and McDonald's has not announced a set end date. The company says the buckets are available for a limited time while supplies last, and availability may differ from one restaurant to another.

With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year, the pails arrived about 11 days before trick-or-treating. That gives families a short window to collect a favorite villain, or all five, before the holiday.

Fans hoping to complete the set may want to visit early. In its promotional materials, McDonald's urged customers to head to their local restaurant before the buckets run out.

For a chain that built a Halloween tradition on cartoon pumpkins and friendly ghosts, the shift to Disney's most memorable villains marks a new direction for a 40-year-old icon.