The Intriguing True Story Behind 2016's The Founder

by Devin Caldwell

Of all the dramatic premises for a movie, the story behind the founding of the international fast-food giant McDonald's probably isn't one of the first ones to come to mind. However, that's exactly the focus of the 2016 film The Founder. The movie follows the story of salesman Ray Kroc, who helped grow the business from a local burger stand into a global empire.

The Story of Ray Kroc

Ray Kroc was a child of Czech-American parents who grew up in Oak Park, IL. He lied about his age to become a Red Cross ambulance driver during World War I. Kroc worked in a variety of sales jobs during the Great Depression and occasionally played the piano in bands. In 1954 Ray Kroc was an ambitious milkshake mixer salesman still looking for his big break. Long before the day of modern techniques, such as sales enablement, Kroc was hustling hard trying to find success in the sales world. That's when he met the McDonald brothers. When the brothers placed a big order for milkshake mixers with Kroc, he recognized the potential in their idea. Impressed with the burger stand's focused menu and fast prep time, Kroc decided he wanted to open some McDonald's locations of his own.

A Franchise is Born

Kroc's decision to franchise the burger stand was a good one. He was so successful that in 1961 he purchased the rights to the name McDonald's from the brothers for 2.7 million dollars. However, the brothers retained the original McDonald's location. Kroc was the acting CEO of McDonald's corporation from 1967 to 1973. He is considered the person primarily responsible for expanding the franchise into a global brand. After Kroc retired from the fast-food giant in 1974, he purchased the San Diego Padres Major League Baseball team. He owned the team until he died in 1984.

The Story Gets Controversial

The story takes a turn for the dramatic when Kroc begins to attempt to erase the McDonald's brothers from the history of the chain and claim that he was the founder of the company. It is even reported that Kroc was jealous of the McDonald's brothers' last name, saying that you can't do anything with a name like Kroc.

The Movie Diverges From the Truth

Most "based on a true story" movies are a mix of real characters and events and fictional ones. The Founder is no exception. The movie portrays Kroc as the originator of the idea of franchising the McDonald's restaurant. In reality, the McDonald's brothers had already started franchising the burger stand before they met Kroc. There were six McDonald's locations operating in 1954 when Kroc sold the brothers that first batch of shake mixers. The film also credits Kroc with coming up with the iconic golden arches featured on the McDonald's sign, but in real life, architect Stanley Clark Meston designed them in 1952.

Alternate Versions of the Story Emerge

The film's departure from reality isn't entirely artistic license. There is some dispute about what really happened between Kroc and the McDonald's brothers. Kroc's biography claims that he is the founder of the company and that his franchise in Des Plaines, IL was the first McDonald's restaurant.

The Film Sticks to the Facts About McDonald's

To obtain permission to use the McDonald's iconography in the film, the filmmakers had to agree to accurately depict the historical branding, restaurant designs and iconography. Production designer Michael Corenblith used blueprints, photographs and other materials from the archive to make sure he got the set design, including two full-sized operational McDonald's restaurants, right. He even made some undercover visits to older McDonald's restaurants to take measurements. 

While the movie version of the story of McDonald's and its founders isn't entirely accurate, it is pretty close. The film makes for some fun nostalgia and an interesting look into how three men turned a small burger stand into one of the largest and most successful corporations in the world.