This set of Back to the Future toys, which was distributed by McDonald’s in the early 1990s, featured characters and vehicles from the animated television series Back to the Future based on the Back to the Future film trilogy. The first film, Back to the Future, was a science fiction comedy adventure film directed by Robert Zemeckis and was released on July 3, 1985. The film followed Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, who was accidentally sent thirty years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his friend, the eccentric scientist Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown. The film was a success and became the highest grossing film of 1985, and launched a successful franchise for Universal Pictures, which included two theatrical sequels, an animated television series, comics, video games, and toys.

After the final film, Back to the Future III, was released in 1990, an animated television series based on the film trilogy aired on television between 1991 and 1992. The series picked up where the final film ended and focused on Marty McFly and Doc Brown, along with Doc’s family and Marty’s girlfriend Jennifer Parker. To promote the television series, McDonald’s distributed a set of four Back to the Future toys featuring Marty McFly riding a hoverboard, Doc Brown driving the DeLorean, Einstein the dog riding the Jules Verne Train, and Doc’s son Verne driving the Junkmobile. The animated television series, along with these Back to the Future Happy Meals toys, introduced a new generation of children to the trilogy.